Page 20 of The Weight Of It All
I knew I was pushing myself. But the harder I pushed, the better I felt. I could feel the stress leaving my mind, and the more I worked my muscles and made my lungs burn, the better I felt.
“Okay, that’ll do,” Reed said, effectively putting a stop to my low-pulley raises. “Or youwillbe sore tomorrow.”
I took a second to catch my breath, and he reset the machine. He handed me my towel. “Wanna talk about it?”
I wiped my face down and shook my head. “Sauron.”
“Ah.” Reed nodded knowingly. “Thought it might be.”
“You’d think after eight years together I might deserve a reply to a text message, but apparently not.”
“Oh.” He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. “Yes. You do deserve a reply text.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t going to talk about it,” I mumbled. “But I only texted him to tell him he can come and pick his shit up. I don’t want it in my house anymore. But no, not even a one-word reply. Maybe Anika was right. Maybe I should torch the lot of it. Actually, if I haven’t heard from him by next Friday, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
“You’ll set it on fire?”
“Yep. Not inside the house, of course, but a ceremonial burning outside.”
Reed nodded thoughtfully. “Of course.”
I let out a sigh. “I guess I’m at the anger stage of the process. Denial didn’t last as long as I thought it would.”
He gave me a sad smile. “I’m sorry you’re going through this.”
“I’m sorry my friend Anika sent you a bunch of inappropriate questions. And they weren’t things I wanted to know, per se, just questions I didn’t have answers to when she asked.”
He was smiling genuinely now and went through theusual stretches with me. When we were quiet for a moment, he said, “Anika seems great.”
“She is.”
“Okay, pull your arm across your chest for me; feel it stretch the shoulder.” I did as he said, then he asked. “What’s the Anika story?”
Why did he want to know about Anika…? Oh.Oh. I had to admit, after Anika and Sean ribbing me yesterday about Reed being interested in me?even though I wasn’t ready for that?had been flattering, and the confirmation that he wasn’t interested in me at all was a little disappointing. “She’s been my best friend since college. We studied microeconomics together and just clicked. Though we tend to act like twelve year olds when we get together. She’s actually the head of her accounts department for Myer. Stylish, gorgeous. But she’s taken, sorry. Her boyfriend, Sean, is a great guy.”
Confusion flashed across his face before realisation kicked in. “Oh! Oh no,” he said with an embarrassed laugh. “No, I’m not interested. But thanks.”
Okay then. Hardly surprising, though. “I didn’t think you’d be single,” I admitted. “Guy like you…”
He let his arms fall down to his sides. “A guy like me?”
Shit, was he offended? “Oh, I just mean you’re hot, got a great body, fit as hell, super nice, you know. A guy like you.”
He laughed, more to himself than at me, and his ears tinged pink. “Um, thanks? But no, I’m single. I was seeing someone…”
“But now you’re not,” I finished for him. “So you know what breakups are like?”
He nodded slowly. “Oh yeah.”
I wasn’t going to ask, but then I thought, what the hell? “Was it your choice?”
“Yep. Didn’t make it any easier, though.”
I frowned at that. “I’m pretty sure it’s harder being the one that gets told you’re past your use-by date.”
“I’m pretty sure finding your boyfriend getting a blowjob from a stranger in a bathroom is worse.”
I stared at him. Then I stared some more. Well, shit.Boyfriend?Well, I’ll be damned. He was right, though. At least Graham didn’t cheat on me. “Yep, you win.”
