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There is a gym located on every residential floor in Eden. It is equipped with everything a normal gym has in addition to a boxing ring, which is currently where Aiden is beating my ass.

“You claim to know how to fight, yet you have gotten your ass kicked twice since coming to Eden.”

I glare at him. “I’m not that bad.” I am rusty for sure. I used to go to the boxing gym almost every day, but work got extremely busy.

“You could be better,” he says. “I want you to be able to protect yourself.”

“I’m not going to be going on anymore collection joy rides. I’ll be fine.”

“You will be fine, because I will make sure of it. Hands up,” he commands. I throw a jab, which he blocks. Before I can pull my arm back, he sweeps his feet under me, and I fall back flat onto the mat with a grunt. I look up to him to see him smiling down at me. I raise my hand for him to help me up. He grabs it and I use the opportunity to kick out my feet to trip him. He roughly lands beside me.

I burst into laughter, rolling to my side to face him. “I guess you’re rusty too.”

He turns his head towards me and narrows his eyes. “No. You play dirty.”

“You think a soul won’t play dirty?” I sarcastically reply. In a rush of movements, he ends up on top of me, his arms on either side of me, and his hard body pressed against mine. I run my eyes over his sweat covered face.

“I’m interested in seeing what other dirty tricks you’ve got,” he teases, his eyes drooping in anticipation.

I lick my lips. “Lean closer and find out.” He leans down. Just as his lips are about to touch mine, I push my knee up and slam it into his stomach. He grunts in pain. I push my hips up to force him to lose balance, and he lands on his back with me on top of him.

A sly grin forms on his face. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that.” He rolls us, so that he is on top again.

I arch a brow. “And how exactly am I going to—”

I’m interrupted at the sound of someone clearing their throat. We look in that direction and see Joey leaning against the wall. His sense of timing is horrible.

Joey grins wide as he points a finger between Aiden and me. “A lot of things that weren’t adding up…makes sense now. How long have y’all been at it? Wait, no. Let me guess. It was before the collection’s incident. That’s why Aiden was all in my ass about it.”

“You better not say a word to Director Jackson,” Aiden threatens. Hopefully, Joey doesn’t.

“Now, why do you think so little of me?”

Aiden gives him a look. “Because you have a big mouth.”

“The ladies love it though. Right, Joy?” He winks as Aiden rises off me. He grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet. Joey obviously has a death wish.

“Keep her out of your horny mind, you bastard.”

Joey makes eyes at me. “Joy Joy, are you going to let him talk to me like that? I thought we had something special?” Aiden moves towards him, but I stop him with a hand. Knowing Joey is messing with Aiden, I play along.

I pull my bottom lip between my teeth then sigh. “We’ve been over this Jo Jo. We can never be. We are star-crossed lovers.” Joey drops his head to look at the ground. Aiden looks between the two of us, annoyance echoing off his face.

“I hate both of you,” Aiden states. Joey and I look at each other, then burst into laughter. It’s so fun to mess with Aiden.

* * *

“I think I can move back into my apartment,” I casually mention to Aiden. It’s an hour after our workout session. We showered and got dressed for his second day of trial. Currently, we are riding in the elevator to the Collection department’s floor. I need to print out some documents before we go to Reaper’s Court.

“Okay, I’ll help you,” Aiden replies nonchalantly.

“That’s it?” I push. I was hoping for some type of reaction. Some sign that maybe he cares more for me beyond being friends and having sex.

He shrugs a shoulder. “No one has tried to break in or harm you and we have found no proof yet. At this point, you are probably fine.”

“Oh,” I reply, sulking at the fact that he does not seem to care.

He grabs my shoulders and turns me to face him. “Plus, we are usually together. We will take turns going to each other’s apartments. I know you miss your colorful apartment,” he says. His words bring me comfort that he hasn’t grown tired of me.