Read Fix You: Bash and Olivia for Free Online Page B

apartment, taking a quick jab at the speed bag as he passed.
    I didn’t follow him. Instead, I made good use of the heavy bag and just let my wheels grind. By the time I climbed into bed an hour later, I was mentally and physically exhausted but had gotten nowhere. Olivia was still haunting me, and I still had no clue  where I was going to look for work to make up for losing the Shorty's gig. I had less than a week to figure it out.
    Jamming a hand under my pillow, I tried to get comfortable, but something felt off. Like I had a live wire loose in my stomach. Bone-tired, but my thoughts too chaotic for sleep. I stared at the neon-blue numbers on my alarm clock and willed myself to relax. It was already well past two, and 7:00 a.m. was right around the corner. If I didn't get close to five hours of sleep, it would be a rough morning in the ring. Matty would be stoked for the chance to torture me over it, too.
    My cell phone lit up from its docking station on the nightstand and bathed the room in an eerie light. I eyed it consideringly. Only two things ever came from calls at 2:00 in the morning. Death-in-the-family-serious kind of bad news, or bring-that-ass-over-here-and-spend-some-time kind of good news. Since my whole family was either already dead, dead to me , or sleeping in the other two rooms down the hall, a booty call from a past hookup was a safe bet. I wasn’t interested in the least and considered leaving it on the table, but curiosity got the better of me.
    I snagged the phone and peered down at it. Not a call at all, but a text from an unknown number.
    Are u still awake? It's Olivia.
    I stared at the message, heart hammering against my rib cage. No good could come of me answering.
    I hadn't even finished the thought when a second message came.
    Beckett. Olivia Beckett. In case u know another Olivia. This isn't her.
    Another few seconds.
    It's the other Olivia.
    I smiled for real then. The first time in weeks. Maybe longer. Probably longer. Olivia Beckett might be wounded, but she was also pretty funny.
    Okay, I guess you're asleep. Sorry to bother you.
    Before I could think better of it, I thumbed out a quick reply.
    Sorry, I was in the shower.
    The lie came too easily. I hated lying, but I couldn't deny the very real feeling of wanting to impress this girl, and telling her I was lying in bed staring at her message like a chickenshit instead of answering wasn't all that impressive.
    I waited for her to send another text, but a full minute passed. She didn't seem like the booty-call type, so what was up? Maybe something had happened with Andy. What if he decided not to get on the plane to Cabo at all, or had come back?
    Everything okay?
    I waited, curiosity ramping up to concern at lightning speed. If that motherfucker laid another hand on her…
    Yeah. Fine. I'm just awake and wondered if you could…talk to me for a couple minutes?
    The words “Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad idea.” blared in my head like an ambulance siren. But it didn’t stop me from replying, S ure. Call me.
    I left the light off but crabbed backward until I could sit up against the headboard. Lying in bed in the dark with only a pair of boxers on while talking to a hot girl was a recipe for trouble. Already, I could feel my dick getting hard. While my mouth was saying, “How’s things going?” my brain would be asking, “What are you wearing?” Not on purpose. It was hardwired into my DNA.
    The phone rang a second later and I answered it.
    "Hey."
    She launched right in. "I know you probably think I'm some kind of psycho, but I'm really not. This is the first time I've ever totally slept alone.” Silence. “Wait, that came out wrong. I mean, I've always lived with my parents, and then came straight to a dorm with roommates, and even once I got my single, you could always hear people out and about. Now that no one’s around, it's…creepy. And really quiet," she murmured with an embarrassed laugh. "That sounds so lame, I bet."
    Not to