Fight for Her by Kelly Favor

gathered around Gunner and were asking him questions.
    He was even signing an autograph or two.
    This was the perfect time to call Drew and tell him she was done working for his company. She felt a sense of relief, realizing that somehow she’d lost herself in trying to prove her worth to him. Meanwhile, he was never going to truly be impressed with her, no matter how hard she worked.
    Drew Ellis was only out for himself. He played a zero sum game and everyone else always lost.
    Well, she was going to tell him what she thought of his business practices.
    Except that her call kept going straight to voicemail.
    So just do it on a message, she thought. Tell him to go screw and be done with it.
    But somehow that didn’t seem right. Then she would be almost as bad as him. She wanted to say it to his face—or at least to his voice.
    Gunner was finishing up with his fans, so Krista texted Drew Ellis and told him to call her back as soon as possible. Then she put her phone away, as Gunner sat back down.
    “Sorry about the distractions,” he said, watching as the small crowd dispersed.
    “It’s totally fine.”
    “Funny how people are,” Gunner said, smiling a little. “I’m aware that most everyone thinks I’m a total coward for pulling out of this fight. But in real life, everyone around here treats me with nothing but respect. They don’t say all that nasty shit to me.
    It’s only on the Internet that people are calling me a loser and all of that nonsense.”
    Krista realized that she’d been operating off the assumption that people would be treating Gunner disrespectfully, but in actuality she was seeing that regular folks were happy to get an autograph or a picture—they appreciated him.
    Maybe she’d been wrong about a lot of things. Maybe his legacy wouldn’t be destroyed simply because he had walked away from one fight.
    One poor decision didn’t define anyone—not even her. Maybe Gunner would appreciate that more than most.
    Cole brought their breakfast over—hash and eggs for Gunner and a broccoli and cheese omelet for her.
    “So when your car finally gets repaired and you go back,” Gunner said, after a few bites of his meal, “will I see you again?”
    Krista looked at him, surprised that he even needed to ask. “Of course. You didn’t think I’d want to see you again?”
    “I don’t know.” He smiled at her and his eyes were warm and kind. “I just know how I feel.”
    Krista was stunned by how much had changed in such a short time between them.
    All she knew was that she was thankful he felt it too.
    “I can’t wait to see you again,” she said. “Even though I’m seeing you right now.”
    “So it’s settled, then.”
    She nodded, taking another bite of her eggs. “Definitely.”
    Gunner said, raising his cup but not drinking just yet. “I want to take you on a real date.”
    She felt her cheeks flush. “You do?”
    “Yeah,” he said. “Like, when we see each other again.”
    “Definitely. I can fly back from Vegas anytime, and we can…” she stopped cold, shocked at her own stupidity.
    Gunner was looking at her, his cup still raised halfway to his lips. He squinted at her, like she was some strange new creature he’d never seen before. “Wait a second. Did you just say, fly back from Vegas? Why would you be in Vegas?”
    She stuttered, her words babbling, nonsense. She tried to formulate a response, but the lies were piling up in her mind like a car crash. She didn’t even want to lie.
    She’d wanted to say the truth—just…not like this.
    “Krista,” he said, his voice lowering. “Please tell me why you would be flying here from Vegas. Tell me why.”
    She looked down at her plate. She could already feel tears stinging behind her eyes. Her hands twisted against each other nervously. “I wanted to tell you this before now,” she said. “But I just…I got confused.”
    “Confused about what? Confused about where you live?” He put his cup down.
    “I don’t