I have a temper. I'm angry. That's a given. How I take it out? At my job in the boxing room of our gym. I've spent over a year trying to harness it, but I wasn't by myself. Almost every night, like clockwork, he's there on one side and I'm at the other. He is big, rugged, but handsome. He's also scary. Silent. Deadly. When I hear the name Bullet, you would think I would have gone running in the other direction. I didn't. I should. He has a past. He has secrets. Danger. Pain. Sorrow. Little did I know that it would just bring us closer together.

_\This does contain mature content, explicit language, and sensitive subjects pertaining to abuse.\ \Mature audiences advised.\_ _He's been there to help through it all. Every touch, every sound, and every breath._ I was starting to get better. I was starting to live again the way a normal girl should. That is until we graduated college and life got in the way. I didn't think I would see Dem Dabbs again, at least I hoped I would soon, because now I'm falling back. I'm back into my habits. I don't think I'm strong enough, but somehow, I have. I'm living on autopilot... until I get that hope back. I can see him. Will it be the same? Will we pick up where we left off? Will his touch bring me back to normal? Or does he need me more than I need him?

I’m supposed to be strong. Until I found I was in a relationship I swore I would never be in. I didn’t know how trapped I was until Dean Sailer walked into the diner, making me question who I turned into. Dean reeked of overconfidence.He’s sarcastic and thinks he’s funny. The worst part is I find myself smiling when I don’t feel like it. He brought out something inside me that I locked away a long time ago. _I wanted nothing to do with him. I wanted to stay contained in my world._ When tragedy threatens the life of me and my best friend, he’s the one I find myself relying on. He’s there for me when no one else is. No matter how much I try to resist Dean Sailer, he seems to delve deeper into a place I thought was gone. Can I change?Or will I be the definition of what I’ve made myself out to be?

He showed me what love is really like. They showed me how happiness affects the heart. They showed me that I still have one. And then my violent past comes to rip it out of my chest. Fine, let it. Happiness. Love. I have to leave it behind. Violence. Hate. I have to accept it all over again. Because I will do anything to keep the ones I love safe. Including going back to the cold, toxic soul I once had.