Page 17 of Renascence
I face him, unable to turn away from his eyes this time. They hold me captive, making me their willing prisoner.
“Life’s too short to not do what makes you happy. If that’s what you want, you should go for it.”
Yeah, like it’s that easy. I can’t just start a business. Besides, baking is why I now have to live in the gym. I’m a stress eater, and with everything I’ve gone through over the years, chocolate cake became my best friend. So did red velvet. Hell, anything with sugar. Once I passed the two-hundred-pound mark and my doctor said I was borderline diabetic, I decided I had to change my habits. I gave up baking and did my best to steer clear of anything that could be labeled “dessert.”
“What about you? Are you doing what makes you happy?”
“Fuck yeah. Don’t I look it?” His lips curl up in a smile, exposing his impossibly white teeth.
“What’s that? Feeding rats to your snake?”
“A part of it.” He chuckles.
“Tell me about it.”
“What, the snake?” he asks, smirking and leaving the unasked portion of the question in the air.
Nope. The anaconda. Tell me aboutthat. “Of course, the snake!” I giggle, gently smacking his arm. Shit. That arm? Hard. That’s all I can say. I feel like I hit a wall.
“Do you really wanna hear about it?”
“I wanna hear about you. What do you do?”
“Well, the MC owns a few businesses. We’re all equal partners in those.”
“What businesses?” I take another sip of my drink, eager to hear more about the man sitting next to me.
“Patch, the auto parts store, and the Pretty Kitty, a strip club outside of town.”
“Strip club?” I raise a brow. “You guys must love that.”
“We’re men.” He lifts a shoulder. “What’s not to love about naked women dancing?”
“What about guys?”
“What?” he asks, confused.
“What about male dancers? I’m sure women enjoy naked men dancing.” I waggle my brows, then run my gaze over his body, hoping he can take a joke.
“Fuck no. And don’t get any ideas.” He points at me. “Unlessyouwant to givemea little show.”
I almost choke on my drink. “Um, no.”
“We do have pole dancing classes here, you know,” he adds with a smirk.
“Oh, shit!” I look at the time on my phone, now realizing we’ve been sitting here for a while. The place should have closed thirty minutes ago. And… Kurt left. “It just occurred to me…youtold Kurt to go home. Who’s going to lock up?”
“I am.” He drops a bunch of keys on the counter.
“You have keys? Why do you have keys? Do you know the owner or something?”
“Or something.”
“Wait… it’s you, isn’t it? This is your gym?”
“It is.” He nods, watching me with a keen eye, assessing my reaction. “Kurt manages it for me.”
I don’t know why I didn’t realize it sooner. All the hushed conversations I’ve seen him having with members of staff, especially Kurt. The way he would disappear into the back sometimes, how helpful he is to the members. I’m such a dumbass. Oh, God… I reallyama dumbass!
