Page 45 of Quake
“A guy like you?” I snorted. “I imagined I was just one in a long line.”
“Looks are deceiving, aren’t they?” He laughed and shook his head. “Anyway, I’d hardly call it a line…”
I slapped him on the arm and wiggled out of his grasp.
“It’s quiet in here today,” I said, noticing how empty the gym was. Usually, there would be some people lingering after the self-defense class that wrapped up just before I arrived. Today, it looked like it’d been canceled.
“There wasn’t a class today,” Caleb said, grimacing. “The schedule is a bit up in the air at the moment.”
“Why?”
“Ah… I had to fire Tommy,” he replied sheepishly.
“What?” I couldn’t believe it. Tommy had been so nice to me when I first rocked up.
Caleb shrugged. “Turned out he wasn’t who he said he was.”
My breath caught as the truth in his words hit home. I wasn’t who I said I was, either. Not quite.
“What do you mean?” I asked, my heart beginning to sink.
“Jules, he was using his position to manipulate vulnerable women onto his cock. I can’t let that fly.”
I screwed up my face. “Then…”
“He had his sights on you.”
“Me?”
My hands started to shake as I jumped right to the worst possible conclusion. If Tommy was trying to manipulate me into sleeping with him, then this thing with Caleb. Was it the same?
“Is that why you…” I began, not wanting to believe it.
“No,” he said firmly. “It wasn’t. It was always more than that.Ismore. That’s why you train with me for free from now on. No professional boundaries.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Free?”
“Free. You’re my girl, Jules.”
You’re my girl.There was no way I wanted to run from this—the beginning of something that could be great. I’d done enough hiding from the world and assuming the worst, so I believed him.
“I got these for you,” Caleb said, producing a pair of bright red boxing gloves. “They’re the right size and won’t move around when you hit the bag.”
I stared at them, not knowing what to do. No guy had ever bought me something before. It was just a pair of boxing gloves, not a diamond ring or anything, but it still knocked me off balance.
“For me?” I blinked hard, caught by surprise.
“For you,” he replied with a chuckle. Gesturing for my hands, I held them up, and he slipped the first glove over my left.
“How romantic,” I retorted, my lips quirking.
“What kind of music do you like?” he asked, strapping me into the gloves.
“Music?” I shrugged, knocked the other direction. “All kinds really. Why?”
“There’s a band playing at Cherry Bar in the city tonight. They’re really great.”
“Cherry Bar?” I asked. The name sounded familiar, but I wasn’t sure where I’d heard it before.
