The Last Round Read Free Page B

my head low. My gaze to the concrete as I think and think and think some more.
    Fuck ! I want to scream, yell out my frustration for all of Los Angeles to hear.
    How did our relationship get here? I know I’ve screwed up. I know I haven’t been the best husband she deserves, but that’s us. We argue, we makeup, we brush it under the rug, we move on.
    It worked for us for so many years, hell, even the first day we met we argued. It was the first day of high school and I was a junior. I always kept to myself. I had less than a handful of acquaintances; I was never surrounded by many. I liked it that way, to be a loner, it was easier for me. I hated dealing with people, until her.
     
    I adjusted the strap of my gym bag as I walked down the hall. Each year we were assigned a locker. If you registered early enough, you’d have the privilege of choosing your own. Since I was lucky enough to have an aunt who worked in the administrative office of Bensalem High, she knew which locker was mine and she’d choose it for me. Everyone who wasn’t a freshman knew which one was mine. I claimed it every year, and no one dared to take it otherwise. It was the first one by the entrance on the second floor. It was easy to get to, near all my classes, and closest to the exit.
    Well, color me fucking surprised when I found a cute, tiny Latina fumbling with the combination lock to my locker. I approached her and said, “You must have the wrong one. This one is mine.”
    She looked up and blinked, a smug grin stretched across her pretty face. “Oh really? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I was assigned to this one,” she said, matter of fact, raising a blue slip held between her painted fingertips.
    I snatched it.
    Locker 452.
    “This is a mistake. This is my locker; everyone knows it’s mine.”
    Her brows pinched. “Well, it’s mine now.” She faced the locker and fumbled with it again.
    “You must be a freshman—everyone knows this is my locker. Look.” I stepped in closer, bumping her aside.
    “Hey!”
    Ignoring her, I punched in the combination I’ve used for the last three years and unlocked the bolt. I opened it and placed my gym bag and backpack in. Before I could close it, she hurriedly shoved her textbooks in as well. “What’re you doing?” I demanded.
    “Like I said. This is my locker now.”
    I rushed to the administrative office and demanded to see my aunt. Apparently, she wasn’t a part of assigning the lockers that year. Fuck me.
    Later that day, after fourth period, I had to exchange my books and of course I see her. She smiled at me with a triumphant grin as if she won some fucking game. I narrowed my eyes as I approached her.
    She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m Natalia Jimenez, by the way.”
    I raised a brow, indicating I didn’t care to know her name.
    “If we’re going to be locker roomie’s, we should at least be acquainted, Julian.”
    “How do you know my name?”
    She smiled again, lifting my chemistry book from her hand. “You scribble in your books and I may have asked around.”
    “You need to ask for a new locker or you’ll find all of your crap in the dumpster out back.”
    Her nose wrinkled as her lips flattened. She leaned in, shoulders squared, and pointed a finger into my chest. “If you throw my stuff away, I will hit you with a three-hook combo and knock you out.”
    I laughed so hard, tears were forming. “You seriously think you can knock me out?”
    “I know I can.”
    I laughed again. “You’re cute.”
    My comment was not what she was expecting. It made her hesitate and stumble over her words as her lightly-tanned cheeks flushed. “Yeah, well, test me and see what happens.” She slammed the locker door, turned on the heels of her all-white Converse and stormed down the hall.
     
    It was the beginning of all things. The beginning of our life as a couple. An angry, passionate couple. It was just always us. It will always be us.
    “Julian! Julian!”