Page 68 of Ten Rules for Faking It
The young brunette, who looked like she lived at the gym, pointed at Stacey. “Yes. Exactly. She’s a quiet badass on top of being a physical one. She kicked some ass in the final movie.”
That was true. When it dawned on her that they were really discussing this with a stranger, she was a little embarrassed, butoddly pleased with the comparison. She pulled out her own wallet.
“Kickboxing, please,” she said after Stacey paid.
“We’ve got a special starting. Ten classes for 25 percent off.”
“That’s a good deal,” Stacey said, glancing at Everly.
She rubbed her fingers along her bank card, the numbers softly scraping against her thumb.
“No?” Stacey asked, stepping closer.
Everly shrugged, the nerves from earlier returning.Take a leap. It’s time.Looking from Stacey to the brunette, she nodded. “Yes. Okay, yes. I’ll pay for ten, please.”
Stacey raised her fist for Everly to bump it, but instead, Everly rolled her eyes at her friend.
The class didn’t start for another ten minutes, and Chris’s friend wasn’t in the room when they got there, so Everly followed Stacey’s stretches, trying not to think about whether herbosswould show. Since he’d given her that squishy cat two days ago, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her head. He’d already been in it, sort of. The back of her thoughts. Now, he was front and center. Which was why she’d started referring to him asbossin her head instead ofChris.Best to keep those lines firmly drawn. Work was her constant, and once this radio promotion was over, maybe it would go back to being her security blanket as well.
A few more people filed in, bringing the group to nine, including Everly and Stacey. At least she’d come with someone so she wouldn’t be the ninth wheel in this case. The teacher’s partner. Rob hurried in with only a minute to go until the class started. He was already out of breath, and Everly wondered if he’d been teaching another class.
“Helloooooo, cutie,” Stacey whispered.
Everly frowned, looked from side to side to make sure no one heard. From the looks on the other women’s faces, and it wasallwomen tonight, they agreed with her friend.
“He’s totally out of breath. Maybe he shouldn’t be teaching,” Everly whispered back.
“Sorry, ladies. A treadmill challenge was issued, and I had to prove who was the best before coming.”
Some of the women laughed. One near the front, wearingverybright yellow spandex workout clothes, put a hand on her hip. “That’ll just make it easier for us to take you down.”
Everly’s brows furrowed deeper when Rob winked at the woman. “You could try.”
The rest of the room laughed, but Everly was too caught up in wondering how people could just throw themselves out there like that. She’d been embarrassed for having a silly conversation with her friend in front of someone. Every now and again, there were situations that knocked Everly upside the head with a reminder of how different she was from the general population. When it happened, she wanted to curl up inside of herself. Or burst free.
Stacey nudged her hip with her own. “Hey, space cadet. Put your dukes up.”
Her attention refocused in time to see Rob look their way, giving her a chin nod in recognition before his gaze locked on Stacey. His words trailed off, and his eyes widened marginally before he went back to what he was saying.
Interesting.She glanced at Stacey, who seemed oblivious to the heated stare the instructor sent her way.
“Okay. We’ll go through the basics, work on combining some of the moves, and then we’ll partner up. If everyone is okay with it, I’d like to do some work with the punching bags for the last twenty minutes. Sound good?”
The other women agreed with a chorus of yeses, including Stacey. Everly sighed. Maybe she should just get a punching bag for home. That way, if it hit her back, there’d be no witnesses.
As she went through the blocks and punches Rob modeled, coming around the room, critiquing their stances andfollow-through, Everly fell into the motions. When she was trying to understand something, it was easier to turn down the white noise in her head. Having Stacey beside her helped, though she couldn’t settle entirely with the combined scents of perfume and sweat reminding her she was in a roomful of strangers. Really fit ones. Including Stacey, who moved through the motions like she’d been doing it since she could walk.
“Have you done this before?” Rob asked, hands on his hips. He wore a black tank top, soaked through with sweat, and stood too close for Everly to concentrate. She lost her balance and put her other foot down as Stacey nodded, swiping the back of her arm across her forehead.
“I’ve been to a few classes. Here, actually, but with another teacher,” Stacey said.
Rob’s eyes traveled along her body, and again, Stacey seemed unaware of the heat in them.So, you’re an expert at picking up on pheromones now? Because you’ve been on… what? Four and a half dates?Oh yeah, she was counting Daniel because they’d rescheduled and, technically, she’d shown up. Thank goodness for technicalities.
Rob reached out to reposition Stacey’s arm, pausing to get permission before he actually touched her. Her respect for him increased immediately. He smiled at Everly.
“You’re back and doing well. You need to widen your stance a bit,” he said, showing her. She was relieved he didn’t reach out to reposition any part of her, while at the same time, curious about what Stacey thought of him. Her friend talked about her dates with an easy humor, but Everly had yet to meet any of the guys she went out with.
“Thank you,” she said.
