Page 43 of The Breakaway

“Huge scene.” He led me down a hallway and stopped in front of a door marked 'Janitorial'. “Washrooms first. Hope you're not too delicate for that."

“Dude, you promised piss. Don’t get all soft on me now.”

He smirked and tossed me a pair of rubber gloves. Armed with mops, buckets, and a truly alarming array of cleaning products, we set to work.

It was every bit as disgusting as I'd feared. Stall by stall, we scrubbed toilets, wiped down sinks, and mopped floors that had seen unspeakable horrors. Rob seemed to be fully enjoying my misery.

"What's the matter, princess? Not used to getting your hands dirty?"

I flicked a sudsy sponge at him, and that earned me a genuine laugh. Rob moved to the next stall. "This is nothing compared to the messes I had to clean growing up. Six siblings in one washroom? That's a warzone."

I paused, arm deep in a toilet bowl. "Six siblings?" How did I not know that about him?

"It had its moments." His voice echoed off the tile.

I realized, with a pang of guilt, that I knew next to nothing about Rob's life outside of the Outlaws. "What about your parents? What do they do?"

"My mom works two jobs. At a local bank during the week and then staff at the hockey arena. My dad’s not really in the picture."

“So you come by the asshole stuff honestly.” I snapped my mouth shut, about to apologize when Rob laughed out loud. I straightened and walked out of the stall, peering past the door into his. “I was kidding.”

He turned, his hair falling over his forehead. He was in a washroom stall. In the science building. Wearing rubber gloves. And still, my heart somersaulted. “I laughed.”

“That was rude, though.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What are you going to do to apologize?”

My throat grew thick, and I swallowed hard. “I’m already cleaning toilets for you. What else do you want?” My stomach swooped, not hearing how that would sound until it left my lips. “I—sorry, that didn’t come out the right way.” I turned and nearly smacked into the open door.

I rushed into the next stall, my face burning up. We didn’t talk much until the washrooms were clean. I wished I had my Walkman. A little Ace of Base would’ve gone a long way as I sprayed down the urinals.

We finished, threw away our gloves, and moved to the classrooms. On the fourth one, I had to break up the monotony of wiping down desks and sweeping floors.

“Why did you move in with Logan?” It seemed like an innocuous enough question until Rob didn’t answer right away. I glanced up. He reached high on the chalkboard, his shirt lifting above the waistband of his jeans. I quickly looked away.

“I didn’t have a place to live.”

I frowned, wiping the table in front of me for the third time. “Like your contract ended?”

“Like I was living in my truck.”

My hand froze mid-swipe. I lifted my chin. Rob was watching me, still holding his chalk-covered cloth. “Are you serious?” I asked.

He nodded, walking to the next board.

“How did that happen?” I crossed the aisle and started on the next section, my head starting to pound.

“I had money saved up, but then my truck needed some work done. I did some of it myself, but with the parts and everything, plus I had a lab fee I wasn’t expecting. I couldn’t pay rent.”

“They kicked you out?” I had no idea where he lived before, but I couldn’t imagine a landlord forcing someone out for a few missed rent payments.

“No, I left.”

I straightened. “You left? Why?”

He turned. “Because I couldn’t pay.”

I blinked, walking down the steps toward him. “Yeah, but you could’ve waited until you had the money.”

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