Page 94 of The Sidekick

“We could do it for her.” The second adds in.

I interrupt to say, “Switch.”

As we begin on the left leg, they continue their mocking banter, and I ignore them. I get the feeling this is a ploy of some kind, and I want no part in it.

Once we’ve finished and I’m wiping sweat from my face, one of the twins comes to me with a grin.

“Hey, if we sign up a friend for -”

“She’ll have to pay like everyone else,” my voice comes out bored as I wrap the towel around my neck.

“Yeah,” he looks confused before he continues. “Of course, man. I was going to ask if you could keep an eye on her.”

I give him a flat stare. “She’ll get treated like everyone else.”

If I give her any special attention, the rest of the class will consider it open season on me. I shudder at the thought.

“That’s fine,” he waves his hand to dismiss the comment. “I mean, she’s sensitive. We want to know if anything goes wrong or she gets upset.”

“Maybe a public class isn’t a good idea if she’s that delicate,” I frown. I do not want some whining, crying brat in any of my classrooms. The groping ones are bad enough. Making a woman cry rubs me the wrong way to begin with.

“So you do one on one?” His eyebrows go up in surprise.

“No, I don’t.”It’s a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. No thanks.

“Ok, then a class it is. She’s supposed to be meeting new people anyway. Thanks, man.”

This poor girl. Have they even checked in with her to make sure it’s ok? Whichever one of them is dating her is falling down on the job.

Babygirl,

This is how shitty I am. I wanted you to be unhappy out there so you would come home. I didn’t mean to. I tried hard not to. I just can’t let you go. Not again. Not if this is what it does to us. Hate me. I do. Just don’t leave.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Tera

“Tada!” Blaze enters the living room, where I’m flipping through movie options, and tosses something into my lap. When did Shade give him a key?

I pick up the plastic card and frown down at it.

“Evergreen Gym?”

“Yup!” He grins with pride as he drops his bomb. “I signed you up for yoga. Paid it up for a year, too.”

“What?” I stare at the card as if it has the answer as to why this jerk would do that.

“If that class doesn’t work out, you can always sign up for another. Whatever you want,” Blaze shrugs and starts to look unsure as I stay quiet.

“I-” I don’t know what to say.

“It’s number 18 on your list, right? We did 17 yesterday with the debriefing, so we can’t lose the momentum. Right?” He says the last word warily.

Tears start to well up, and I sniffle, “You guys are helping me with my list?”

“Uh, no?” He starts backing towards the door.

“Thank you,” I whisper and clutch the card to my chest as I give him a grin. “Thank you so much!”

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