Page 23 of Crash
“How long?” I asked, pushing the unwelcome thoughts from my brain.
Ash shrugged. “A month or so.”
“A whole month?” I swallowed hard.
“You’ll be right. Lincoln knows the deal with downstairs. That kid’s switched on. The instructors know their shit, and Bobby, the kitchen wiz, knows his shit. This place runs like clockwork.”
Lincoln. My stupid heart twisted yet again.
“Oh, and I know you’ve been bringing your lunch to work so you don’t have to go down into the kitchen,” Ash said, “so I ordered you a bar fridge for the office.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I know, I need to go out there more…”
“Yeah, you do, but it’s only been a little while.” A grin split his face. “I know you bring chocolate and sugary crap, and the guys will be tempted.”
I knew he was trying to make light of the situation, and I shook my head. “Stop trying to be nice. I need a kick up the bum.”
“Then I expect results by the time I get back, squirt.”
I made a face. “Only if you promise to stop calling me that.”
“Deal.”
Eight
Lincoln
Never thought I’d say it, but I actually liked working at Pulse.
Not even two weeks into the gig and I hadn’t missed the AUFC once. I was too busy to dwell on that shit, what with training the guys and trying to figure out Violet Fuller.The frightened little mouse with the smoking hot body.Motherfuckin’ puzzle if I ever saw one.
Andrea, the chick from the party, had been sniffing around from day dot, and I almost took her up on her offer for some casual sex, but I soon got it in my head that fucking where I worked was bad news. Andrea certainly wasn’t one of substance and only seemed interested in what was on the outside and what was in my pockets.
Glancing into the other room, I saw her running on a treadmill, her tits bouncing. Realizing I was staring, I glanced away, turning my attention back onto Cole and Ryan, the two fucking idiots I was helping Ash train. They wanted to try for the AUFC, but as far as I was concerned, they had a long way to go before they could try for anything.
Unlikeme and Dean,they’d started late and had been training on and off with some fuck, who didn’t know his asshole from his ear, over in the eastern suburbs. I don’t know how Ash found them, but they were better off here if pro was where they werewantingto go.
“What’s with the office chick?” I heard Cole ask.
Turning with a sigh, I gave him a warning glare. He was almost as tall as me, maybe six-one, with anarmfullof tattoos and a shaved head, his physique pretty toned for a twenty-year-old guy.
“She’s just shy,” I said thinly, not liking him talking about her like that.
“But I heard—”
“She’s just shy,” I repeated more forcefully. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”
Cole shrugged. He was a good guy, just fucking young for his age. Everything he did and thought about was fueled by testosterone, and it was a good thing he was in this gym focusing it on a goal rather than sticking his dick in random women and beating up on every prickwholooked at him funny. Ash recruited him for a reason, and I knew it was because once upon a time, Ash was that dickhead kid.
“You want more of a challenge?” I nodded at the bench press and whistled for Ryan. “Spot this fucker, will ya?”
“On it,” he called out.
I nodded to the rack of weights. “Go up five kilos.”
Cole narrowed his eyes in challenge. “Ten.”
“Five.” I jabbed a finger at his chest, and just to spite me, he went for ten.Little fuck. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
