Page 1 of When Annika Met Thom

Prologue

April 9, 2022—New Jersey

New Jersey. Meesha came out of the train station and looked around, certain she’d arrived at the end of the world.

Maybe it was the suburban lifestyle or the comparatively empty sidewalks. Either way, the only thing New Jersey did for her was make her yearn for the energy of a big city.

And yet she was here. Willingly. She’d even volunteered.

It was impressive to realize how much she’d do for Flatiron Five Fitness and the team there.

She could see Manhattan in the distance, taunting her with its proximity, like the Emerald City and its big promises. The thing was that she didn’t even love Manhattan anymore. Had the pandemic stolen all the joy from her life? She couldn’t be sure, but she felt a lot less energetic, and much less enthused. Maybe she just missed the infusion of enthusiasm from people like Kyle on a regular basis.

Maybe it was because everyone she knew was married or about to be. Two of her cousins were getting married, as well as her sister. Her favorite auntie was remarrying. One of her roommates was getting married and the other was moving in with her boyfriend. Even the whole team at F5F were married.

Meesha was abandoned in the wasteland of singledom.

Which had always been a place she really liked. Being alone there kind of spoiled the fun, though. There was no one to conspire with, no one to club with, no one to dissect conversations and relationships with. Not anymore.

She had to mix things up, somehow, and rediscover her joy.

That was unlikely to happen in New Jersey.

Of course, there were no cabs and, of course, it was starting to rain. Meesha held her rose pink laptop bag protectively close and stepped away from the station, determined to get this assignment behind her as soon as possible. She heard the roar of a motorcycle but didn’t look up. She was too busy making sure she avoided the growing puddles. The bike’s engine revved at the curb, as if the driver was showing off.

Meesha could do without the macho display. She was in a mood and didn’t care who knew it. She kept walking, knowing it wasn’t far.

“Want a ride?”

She wouldn’t have turned, but that voice was familiar. Sure enough, it was Thom on the bike, Thom she was coming to interview, Thom whose expression revealed that he understood her mood a bit too well.

“You’ll kill yourself walking six blocks in those boots.” Thom was a big guy, really big, who could usually be found instructing on the rock-climbing wall at Flatiron Five Fitness. He had dark hair and dark eyes, a whole lot of tattoos and tended to be quiet. A gentle giant, but imposing all the same.

Meesha propped a hand on her hip. “You don’t put a gloss on it, do you?” She held out a foot, admiring her own very retro pink platform boots. “I think they’re hot.”

“They look uncomfortable.”

“I don’t think they come in your size.”

“I’m inconsolable.” He offered a helmet.

She smiled despite herself and indicated the helmet. “For six blocks? Don’t you like to live dangerously out here?”

“Maybe I don’t want to take chances with you.”

“Because I’ll blow up the internet if I get stuck out here, never mind if I get hurt,” Meesha agreed. She narrowed her eyes when he didn’t seem to take that seriously. “That’s a promise not a threat.”

“I know it.” He glanced at the helmet pointedly. “And Kyle would kick my butt.”

“He couldn’t take you.”

“He could fire me.”

There was that. She considered the helmet and thought about the hour she’d spent on her hair. “It’ll crush my do.”

He shrugged. “Fashionably dead, if you prefer.”

Meesha exhaled, handed over her laptop bag and pulled on the helmet, then fastened the strap beneath her chin. She got on the back of the bike behind him, securing her bag in front of herself, then crushing it between them. Thom checked on her, then lowered his visor and pulled back into traffic as she hung on.

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