CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE –
Megan POV
The punching bag swayed violently with the impact of my assault, the rhythmic thudding echoing through the gym.
Sweat poured down my face and back as I drove my fists into the battered leather with merciless precision.
“That’s it, kiddo!” Jane’s gravelly bellow cut through the haze of exertion. “Channel that pent-up hellfire and give it hell!”
I grunted, redoubling my effort and slipping into the trance-like state where the rest of the world melted away.
Just me, the bag, and the relentless need to exorcise the roiling turbulence from my mind through punishing physical output.
Thrust, pivot, weave, strike – the sacred dances of violence ingrained into my very marrow over years of spilled blood and sacrifice.
They flowed through me as naturally as breathing now, unlocking a profound inner tranquility no external chaos could ever touch.
Eventually, even the howling din of my own ragged breaths faded to white noise as I surrendered fully to the ritual.
Each strike bled off another ounce of the churning tempest within until I felt something akin to buoyant weightlessness setting in.
Only Jane’s insistent barking finally managed to pierce the trance-state and reel me back to the present moment.
With a mighty exhale, I stilled my assault and pivoted to face her appraising stare, chest heaving.
“Looking nice and feral there for a bit,” she commented, features set in that familiar impassive mask that gave nothing away.
“Whatever’s got your panties all knotted up today? Even after the run.”
I opened my mouth to retort, but the words shriveled up in my throat under her patented soul-piercing stare.
“That bastard Josh says I should make him my boyfriend.” I muttered.
“Really, what stops you from dating him?” She winked.
Oh yeah, wrong place to rant. ni rolled my eyes.
As always, Jane saw straight through to the heart of me before I could even process the emotions myself.
“Save it, kiddo,” she grunted with finality, tossing me a towel. “I don’t need the gory details on this one. Just get your head straight before that whirlwind assistant of yours sashays in here dragging you off to some fresh hell of social obligations.” She accompanied the words with a vaguely longsuffering eye roll.
I smirked ruefully, well accustomed to her disdain for the exhaustive media frenzies that perpetually swirled around me these days.
Swiping at the sheen of perspiration coating my face and neck, a few barbed threads of unease began to coalesce into coherency in my mind.
Lilly… shit, I’d completely zoned out and forgotten our tentative plans for the evening in the midst of my gym-assisted self-exorcism.
Stifling a groan, I made a beeline for my duffel to retrieve my phone and handle damage control text before the diminutive dynamo blew up my notifications in that brand of relentless brusqueness I’d already attuned to over these past few whirlwind weeks.
‘Lil – gym session ran late today. Still up for drinks tonight?’
I fired off the message, gaze flickering upwards as Jane continued circling the ring to dismantle one of the setups with characteristically gruff mutters of impatience.
Honestly, part of me hoped the kid had made alternate arrangements to occupy herself this evening.
As grateful as I was for her steadying presence and shrewd capabilities in navigating the choppy waters of my public-facing turmoil, her company also felt… heavy, in a sense.
Like a stark reminder of all the scrutiny and expectation that no amount of preternatural intensity in the ring could allow me to escape or outpace lately.
The very notion of attempting to socialize or “unwind” under her attentive watch made me bristle against some instinctive urge to rebel.
My phone buzzed in my palm, jarring me from my restless reverie. With a sinking sense of inevitability, I glanced down at the incoming message.
‘You’re in luck! I was just finalizing details for an excursion to one of the trendier clubs in the area. Coordinates attached.’
Of course she had.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, considering how to gracefully decline the invite.
The very last way I wanted to spend my evening was dolled up in some flashbulb filled nightclub swatting away gawkers while nursing overpriced cocktails.
‘Idk Lil, I was thinking something more… lo-key tonight. Just grabbing a quiet drink or two to unwind, you know? Not really feeling like the whole scene right now.’
Her response was almost instantaneous, as if she’d been anticipating my attempted backpedal and was primed to counterattack swiftly.
‘Nonsense! After the kind of headache week you’ve endured, you more than deserve to let off some steam in an atmosphere that has zero relation to boxing or scrutiny. Supplements and green juices can wait for another night — just this once, it’s time to refreshen that hard body AND spirit of yours with a night of good old-fashioned indulgence!’
I groaned out loud this time, unable to stifle the sound of utter exasperation.
Of course she would frame her hectoring in such an obnoxiously chipper, watertight argument.
Yet another reason she made such an infuriatingly effective handler – she anticipated every contingency and dodge maneuver before I could even map out an escape route.
My phone chimed again before I’d even mustered a rejoinder.
‘I’m sending a car to the gym in thirty minutes with the latest outfit and primping supplies from your team’s closet. This is NOT a debate! You’re going to relax and live a little tonight whether you want to or not, dammit!’
I blinked owlishly at the authoritative flurry of messages, mouth hanging slightly ajar.
Well… shit, Lilly clearly wasn’t pulling any punches on this one.
“Ugghh, the girl wove the end of me!” I whined.
Before I could wrangle together a response, another message lit up my screen, punctuated with a disarmingly sweet-faced emoji for someone currently wielding such a steely insistence.
‘Trust me, hon! This is going to be EXACTLY what you need after the week from hell. Let the team take care of dolling you up and handling the rest, your only job is to show up clearheaded and ready to let your hair down for once! xoxo.’
Well, when she put it like that… my resolve began wavering in earnest.
It had been more cycles than I cared to count since I’d last afforded myself anything resembling carefree indulgence and revelry just for the sake of pure, unbridled hedonism.
My lifestyle of late was an unremitting, monastic dedication to training and immaculate preparedness with no allowances for deviations or cathartic lapses.
Perhaps Lilly was onto something – a chance to simply… unmake me from the monolithic mythos for an evening, if only temporarily.
Decision made, I quickly fired off an acquiescing reply before pocketing my phone again resolutely.
If Lilly insisted on railroading me into a night of debaucherous self-care, who was I to argue?
After rehydrating and toweling off, I emerged from the locker rooms to find Lilly already installed on one of the benches just inside the entryway, garment bags and what looked like an entire pop-up salon worth of cosmetic supplies covering every available surface around her.
“You, ah… really weren’t messing around about getting me glammed up, were you?” I asked warily, eyeing the veritable SWAT team assembly of primping artillery.
Rather than respond, Lilly simply grinned and made a ‘tsk’ing motion, grabbing my wrist with surprising strength and tugging me fully into her staging area.
“Less talking, more getting that sweat-drenched mop off you and prepped for hair and makeup,” she commanded cheerily, already unzipping one of the hanging garment bags to reveal a shockingly daring evening dress.
My eyes widened slightly as I caught a glimpse of the sheer, silky fabric accented by scandalously high side-slits and a neckline that plunged dangerously towards my navel.
“Wait, hold up – is that seriously what you expect me to wear out in public?” I sputtered, already instinctively crossing my arms over my chest.
She arched an eyebrow at me over the rims of her glasses, entirely nonplussed by my sputtering.
“What, you thought we’d be armoring you up in reinforced titanium sweats and a parka for a night out at one of the city’s most notorious clubs?”
Her look clearly said she brooked no further argument on the attire situation.
With a sigh of resignation, I relented under her implacable stare and trudged towards the showers, already dreading whatever flat iron fresh hell surely awaited me at her hands.
After forty-five arduous minutes of follicle torture and makeup chair imprisonment beneath Lilly’s meticulous hand, I finally emerged from her ministrations in the backless dress that accentuated every indelicate curve and taut muscle in unforgiving definition.
“Well?” She looked me up and down critically. “It’s not my typical preferred aesthetic, but I think we managed to strike a nice balance between edgy and bombshell here.”
I squirmed self-consciously, unaccustomed to feeling so… bared and on display, even to myself.
Shifting from foot to foot, I could feel the delicate silk whispering over my body with every micro-movement, the high slits leaving my toned legs scandalously exposed from thigh to ankle.
“I look like a freaking centerfold, Lil,” I muttered, hands automatically drifting across my abdomen protectively. “There’s no way I can pull off this vibe without looking like a total poser.”
Her manicured hand suddenly clamped around my wrist in that same surprising grip, halting my fidgeting instantly.
I glanced up to find her hazel eyes sharp and implacable behind the lenses of her glasses.
“Chin up, eyes forward, and strut,” she commanded in a tone that brooked no equivocation. “You don’t ‘pull off’ anything, tonight, gorgeous – it’s simply who you are at your molten core. An uninhibited, mercurial goddess evident in every hypnotic line and lioness stare.”
I blinked owlishly, momentarily robbed of breath under the weight of her ardent, almost… worshipful cadence.
Lilly met and held my incredulous stare, allowing the unvarnished appraisal of my physical form to linger until it bordered on inappropriate intimacy.
Then, just like that, the moment fractured as she broke into a sunny grin and shooed me towards the exit with a theatrical flourish.
“Now get outta here, your incandescent siren! There are plenty of poor, unsuspecting civilians out there just gasping to be reduced to quivering awe when you make your entrance.”
As if on cue, the purring growl of an engine pulling up to the curb outside filtered into the gym.
I rolled my eyes and huffed out a defeated laugh – of course she’d orchestrate this entire spectacle down to the punctual chariots and choreographed pep talks.
Affecting my best sardonic, indulgent smirk, I slung my discarded gym bag over my shoulder and sashayed towards the exit with as much insouciant swagger as I could manage in the skyscraper heels.
Lilly’s delighted applause following me every step of the way out into the evening.