Free Fight or Fall by Anne Leigh

coming back to you. What we have now is a business relationship. And if you cross the line, I’d have no problem giving you your two weeks notice.”

    Silence filled my car.

    “Okay, I just…” Her voice starting cracking. “I’ll always love you, Milo. I wish I never did what I did. I’ll see you in three weeks.” She lived in San Jose now. She moved there after college. We both planned to move there after college. But plans changed. How things have changed.

    “You don’t have to be here for every fight,” I tried to discourage her. She wasn’t needed here. I didn’t need her here. “I’m not even sure if I’ll be fighting. It depends on who they pick.”

    “You may not want me anymore, but I’ll be there, Milo,” she said firmly.

    I glanced at the dashboard of my car – 80 mph. I was driving really fast. Maybe she’ll still be sleeping. I didn’t want to leave her, but I had an appointment with Red Cross.

    “Fine. Just don’t expect anything more from me.” My words came out with finality. When you break someone’s heart, the shards, the broken pieces remain littered on the ground. You hoped that the person who broke your heart will be the one helping you piece it back together, and I did it for Dia once. She broke mine and I broke hers, and together we tried to make our hearts whole again. But I won’t be doing it again. Not for her. Not for anyone else. Ever.

    The gleaming white Tesla was nowhere to be seen.

    Before I had left the house, I had carried her over to my bedroom. It was the only bedroom in the house that was clean and habitable. She weighed practically nothing, and while asleep she was breathtaking. When and where the hell did I start thinking about her as breathtaking?

    Since your mouth touched hers, you idiot.

    Ava’s flowery scent lingered in the air and the side of the bed where I had left her was still indented from her body laying on it.

    I had to erase that kiss, delete it from my memory, or else I would be jacking off to her scent.

    The thought of jacking off to her image just made me hard. Shit. I need to go on a date or something. It’s been too long since I’d had sex. I knew guys who drowned their sorrows in a bunch of meaningless pussies. What was the point? I could probably jack myself off better than having random, meaningless sex. Plus, the alarming trends and pictures of STD’s and VD’s that I’d seen from Bee’s nursing shit were enough for me to wrap it up or just stay the fuck away from women I haven’t gotten the chance to know.

    I removed the compression wrap on my right arm and saw that there was no bleeding or anything. I’d donated blood enough times to know that after half an hour it was okay to remove it. I dropped my keys on the small desk by my bed and scrolled through my phone. No calls either. When Ava fell asleep, I called her phone with my phone so she’d have my number and texted her too, in case she woke up before I got back.

    So that’s how you want to play it, Princess? Fine.

    I walked to the kitchen, my phone in my right hand, grabbed a banana off the counter, and sat on the couch. Channel surfing sounded good right now.

    Stopping at some old time movie channel, I let my mind drift at what happened today.

    It was probably all a delusion. Ava was so tired that she was dreaming of someone else when she kissed me. Maybe a fucking frog prince or some shit. Most of the time, when I hung out with my sister, she was also there. I’ve heard her talk about some Greek dudes or some Russian models. She went for those eye-candy kind of guys, though I never really heard of her dating anyone. Not that I cared.

    Now just the thought of her pressing those soft lips on someone else made me clench my jaw so hard that I might have broken a facial bone. Who does she think she is? All high and mighty? Just because she’s all rich and shit? Her father had warned me against going anywhere near her. He didn’t have to warn me. I sure as