While Kelly talks, Ezra gives me an intense but brief sideways glance. I have no idea what to make of it. Kelly hasn’t missed it either—of course not. And I know she’ll ask me how I know him as soon as he’s out of earshot. Kelly is here because of him. After all, I know her, and Ezra is beautiful… and Kelly is… well, Kelly.
“That’s right. After my father’s death, I fixed up his club. It’s really great to see that the renovations have made a difference and brought in lovely new clients like you two,” Ezra replies charmingly and gives Kelly his best smile.
“This is your club?” I say, a little too horrified, so they both look at me with irritation.
Surprised at my outburst, I bite my lower lip and flinch. I didn’t mean to be rude or disrespectful… I’m just surprised that this is his club. I wonder what this must look like to him. Like I’m stalking him. Good God!
Kelly shakes her head imperceptibly after an awkward silence before looking at him again.
“Oh. Your father died? I’m so sorry,” Kelly expresses her condolences, placing her hand on his, which he rests on the desk.
“It’s all right. He was gravely ill, and somehow, I couldn’t part with the club after he died. I spent half my childhood here,” he says, a genuine smile sliding across his full lips as if he’s caught up in memory and can’t help but smile in response.
“You’ve done a great job polishing up the old place, and the idea of the new courses is clever,” Kelly praises him. Sometimes, I feel embarrassed for her because her intentions are pretty obvious. But of course, I remain silent and hope this charade ends soon.
“Thank you. So, do you want to join? Or have a look first? I could offer you a trial session right away,” Ezra suggests, and I want the ground to swallow me whole.
So I quickly shake my head and attract their attention again.
“No. That’s all right. I’m sure you have a lot to do, and we don’t want to impose,” I say quickly, grabbing Kelly’s arm to pull her with me.
With her eyebrows furrowed, she looks at me, then at him. Ezra grins ear to ear and then makes a throwaway motion with his hand.
“Nonsense. I’m happy to make time for two lovely ladies like you. The changing rooms are upstairs. Get changed, and we’ll meet back here in a few minutes,” he explains, sealing the deal. Wonderful! “Oh, and you’d better take your jewelry off,” Ezra adds, his gaze momentarily sliding to my wedding ring.
I automatically reach for it before turning away. I leave his office with Kelly in tow, a fake smile on my face and a strong desire to leave immediately. But I realize that won’t happen and I have to get on with the training session. Kelly will also have many questions for me, and I’m not looking forward to answering them.
Next to the office is a small spiral staircase to the next floor. A narrow corridor leads us to the changing rooms. From up here, you can see the entire club.
As soon as the door to the changing room closes behind us, Kelly tugs on my arm, turns me to face her, and looks at me with expectant eyes, just as I predicted.
“Tell me everything!”
I roll my eyes, break away from her, and put my bag down on one bench so I can pick out my—or, rather, Kelly’s—gym clothes.
“There’s not much to tell. Ezra is our new neighbor. He bought the house next door, which had been empty for ages. I’ve seen him once or twice, and we’ve chatted briefly. End of story.”
“And why didn’t you tell me about your super-hot, young, and very single new neighbor who was hinting at your wedding ring?” Kelly asks with mock anger as she’s also getting her gym clothes out of her bag.
“Because there’s nothing to tell. And he didn’t even mention my wedding ring. He asked us to take our jewelry off, which is sensible when you’re working out,” I say, rummaging through the bag Kelly has packed for me.
I wrinkle my nose and realize it was a pretty stupid idea to borrow sports clothes from Kelly, even though I had no choice. The outfit she picked is far too revealing for me and my figure.
Kelly is shorter than me and doesn’t have big breasts, but she has curves I’ve always envied. She has always been sexy and probably always will be. Her blonde hair and blue eyes do the rest.
In our youth, we enjoyed driving men crazy. Not anymore—at least not me, since I’m married. On the other hand, Kelly is living her single life to the fullest and loves it. Although sometimes I think it’s more pretense than reality; I believe that deep down, she wants a stable and happy partnership.
Shaking my head, I stand in front of the mirror and look at my outfit in horror. The sports bra, which is too tiny, pushes my breasts up even more. And the pants are also a little too tight, as I’m taller than them. It usually wouldn’t bother me, and I would laugh about it, but I don’t find it particularly funny now or here. At least we have the same shoe size. We’ve always swapped shoes back and forth.
“I can’t work out looking like this!” I complain to her, glaring at her over the mirror as I tug at the top to somehow hide my protruding breasts.
“Don’t be like that. You look fine,” she shrugs it off, slapping my butt and nodding for me to put my stuff in the locker so we can go downstairs to Ezra.
I roll my eyes again but still comply with her silent request.
After I’ve put everything away, I tie my thick curls into a ponytail. I take off my necklace and earrings. When I reach my wedding ring, I pause briefly because taking it off now feels so wrong.
“Cora, are you coming?” Kelly urges me to remove the heavy diamond and put it in my locker.