Page 7 of Hearts on the Table
“Sammy, what the hell? Burpees, dude. Now. Not even my big brother gets to slack off during warmup.” Will punched me in the shoulder hard enough to hurt, pointing to the mats in the other corner like he was sending a puppy to its crate.
“William—”
“No excuses. You’ve taken enough of the good doctor’s time. And you”—he turned to Lainey, giving me his back—“gorgeous form. You done a lot of kickboxing before? Tell me about it while you’re on the battle ropes.”
I wanted to wrangle my brother into a headlock, but Lainey shot a smile at me from over her shoulder. It didn’t matter how many burpees I did, I still felt lighter than I had in ages.
Chapter 3
Sam
“You can express your gratitude by taking this out to my car so I can drop it at the laundry place.” Will shook a trash bag filled with used sweat towels in my direction.
“Gratitude for…?” I asked, re-racking the last of the weights. Nearly everyone had cleared out, with only a few people lingering around, chatting by the water fountain or leaving the locker rooms. Lainey had ducked out the door a few minutes ago with a little wave in our direction. I was still riding the high of that look from earlier, that smile she’d given me.
Will’s eyebrows bounced on his forehead. He looked so smug, it was ridiculous. “I saw you two hitting it off once she finished whaling on that bag. Thanks to me.”
“Thanks to you?” I eyed him as I walked back to the front. “In what fucking world?”
“Who paired you two up? Who told you to get the ball rolling and ask her out? All me, bro.”
“No.” This morning was all me. No way Will was taking the credit.
Somehow, a single, honest conversation had done more to improve our relationship than three years of working together had accomplished. By the end of class, she looked like she actuallywantedto talk with me or share a smile when Will said something completely ridiculous. Considering where we’d started when she’d walked in this morning, it was a miracle.
Except for the oatmeal thing. I’d be nursing that wound for a while. But once we’d gotten over that, she’d stuck around my vicinity for most of my workout. Oatmeal aside, a win was a win.
It was enough to make me rethink my strategy of hanging back and waiting for her fellowship to be over. Maybe I needed to get on her radar now. Lay the foundation a little, so when I did ask her out, it wasn’t coming out of nowhere.
“Yes,” Will insisted, launching the trash bag at my head after I pulled my duffel onto my shoulder. Of course, Willhadbeen the one to force us together this morning. But that didn’t mean I had to admit it to him.
“Goodbye, William.” I grabbed the trash bag and headed for the door.
“Car’s unlocked,” he called as I stepped into the sunlight. He raised his voice as he continued, yelling, “And do yourself a favor. Grow a pair and ask Lainey out!”
I turned my head to yell back at him, but stalled out halfway there. Lainey stood by her car, only a few feet from the door, staring at me with wide,“holy crap”eyes. A hole opened up underneath me and my stomach dove into it.
Shit. How much of that had she heard? The door swung shut behind me, the soft click more like a sonic boom.
She pointed to her chest. “Askmeout?” she squeaked. Her eyes flashed around my face, taking in the heat I could feel flooding my cheeks. “I wasn’t supposed to hear that.”
“No,” I grunted in agreement, the only sound I could make at the moment. Embarrassment clawed up my neck, dragging my galloping pulse with it. This was bad. Very bad. And I was just standing here, staring at her, beet-red, probably making it worse.
“Sorry, I was talking to that new guy, Jackson. I guess you thought I was already gone…I’m sorry,” she babbled, looking at me like she also wanted to be swallowed up by whatevermassive sinkhole my vital organs had dropped into. Her apology somehow made everything worse, and the burning crept up to my ears.
Fuck.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes and willing myself to breathe, to think for a second, instead of clamming up from the raw mortification currently flooding my system. Looking at her wasn’t helping me figure out what to say next. Her face was pained, like my humiliation had flooded the parking lot and she was absorbing some of it, secondhand.
This was all wrong. Sudden and out of the blue; I didn’t know what to say. I’d formulated a plan: Play the long game. Get closer to her when her fellowship was done. Once we’ve had a few conversations that didn’t include someone’s ventricles, ask her out.
It had been a solid plan, but this? This was not good. My thundering heartbeat was at odds with my sluggish, halting thoughts. I didn’t know what tosay, dammit. What words could take that stricken look off her face and smooth out some of the astronomical levels of embarrassment swirling around us?
I blinked my eyes open. She was still there, grimacing, like she didn’t know what to do, either. I took a steadying breath. Another one. And I vocalized the only complete thought my brain could supply right now.
“I’m sorry you heard that.” I was.Verysorry. Like, would have sold about ten years of my life to go back in time and keep the damn door closed for three extra seconds.
“Should we…pretend I didn’t?” She looked like she wasn’t sure that was the best course of action.
