“Damn right,” Wrath agrees. “Takes a lot of upper body strength.” He slaps Murphy’s back. “I gave him a hard time about adding yoga classes but it’s one of the best things we’ve done at Furious.”
Murphy whistles “Holy shit. Never thought I’d hear you admit it.”
“You have a good idea once in a while.” He pokes the side of Murphy’s head.
I shift my gaze to Wrath. “You must be such a joy to work for.”
He grins at my sarcasm.
“Dex hasn’t stopped bitching about how we stole his best dancer.” Murphy takes a quick look around as if he’s waiting for Dex to pop out from behind a tree at the mention of his name.
“Come on. Swan had to have been at Crystal Ball for years.” Shit, she’s been around as long as I’ve been in New York. “Strippers don’t usually last that long.”
“No shit,” Wrath agrees. “She’s a hard worker, so I get why he’s so bent. Everyone loves her. The other dancers were so upset about her leaving, they’re all coming to Furious to take classes now.” He rubs his money-making hands together. “Helped pull us out of our slump. All the college boys are coming in to gawk at the strippers now.”
While Wrath and I discuss gym business, Murphy keeps an eye on the girls. They’re on their backs in something Shelby’s called ‘dead pigeon’ when Murphy undoes his belt.
“The fuck you doing?” I ask, slapping his arm.
He scowls at me, doesn’t answer, walks over and drops the belt down next to Heidi. She smiles up at him and scoops it up, wrapping it in her hands and using it around her foot for leverage.
“You better hope your pants don’t fall down, bro,” Wrath’s voice booms halfway across the parking lot. “Ain’t nobody here wantin’ to see that pasty ass.”
Murphy flips Wrath off and shrugs at me. “She doesn’t have a strap with her. Trying to improvise.”
Wrath rolls his eyes my way. “They improvise a lot.” He adds air quotes around improvise in case I can’t grasp his meaning.
I slap Murphy’s chest. “Can’t you control yourself, ya fuck beast?”
Wrath’s not finished busting on Murphy this morning. “Do you have any idea how much Jack Daniels it takes to erase the vision of a Ginger Yeti violating the innocent little girl you’ve known since she was a toddler?”
“I’m not that innocent, Uncle Wrath!” Heidi shouts.
“We’re all aware, Heidi-girl.”
Murphy punches his arm and Wrath laughs harder.
“I feel like I’m missing out on all the fun being downstate,” I joke.
They stop fucking around and stare at me.
“What? I’m not thinking of leaving Z or anything. Just saying.” I paint a circle in the air with my fingers. “You guys are all tight. Even the girls.”
“Where are you planning to land when she’s off tour?” Murphy asks.
“Don’t know yet. She’s open to spending time in New York.” I shrug, uncomfortable since I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about this too much.
Murphy slaps my chest. “You want me to drive your rig today so you can ride with Shelby? We got a good five hours ahead of us.”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.” He waves his hand somewhere in the direction of north. “We got a long ride ahead of us when we head home. It’ll give Heidi and me some time to talk.”
“Yeah, brother. Thanks. I appreciate that.”
SHELBY
As we’re finishing in corpse pose, what sounds like hundreds of bikes thunder into the parking lot. Heidi jumps up to grab her tablet. She points toward their tent. “I’m going to talk to Alexa for a minute.”
Trinity watches her for a few seconds before turning her attention on me. “How do you feel?”
“So good.” I drop my gaze to the ground. “I’m a little sad you guys are headed home soon, though.”
“Aww.” She pulls me in for a hug. “I’m gonna miss you too.” In a lower voice, she asks, “You’re not worried about all the alone time with Rooster, are you? You two seem to get along well.”
“Oh. No.” The corners of my mouth twitch. “At first, I was concerned. But we mesh well.” Heat stings my cheeks. “I really never get tired of being around him. Is that weird?”
“No,” she answers, quickly glancing over her shoulder at her husband. “I feel the same way about Wyatt. We each have our own things going on, but at the end of the day he’s the only person I want to share my space with. We always have something to talk about or I just enjoy, you know, the quiet with him.”
“Yeah, I’ve never felt that easy silence with someone before. It’s soothing.” I glance over my shoulder in the direction Heidi went but she’s already on her way back.
She hands over the tablet to Trinity. “Hope wants to talk to you for a minute.”
“Okay.”
“Everything okay?” I ask. Heidi seems sort of down instead of invigorated from our practice.
Her lips form a wobbly smile. “I’ve been having fun out on the road with you. Thank you for letting me come along.”
“Oh my gosh, of course.” I pull her in for a quick hug. “I love having you guys with me. I feel a little selfish though. I know you have lots to do at home.”
She nods and swipes at her eyes. “I miss my daughter. She’s totally fine.” A more genuine smile flashes over her face. “She’s having the best time with her aunties and uncles as she just told me.”
“Aww. That’s good, though.”
“It is,” she agrees quickly. “I appreciate them so much. I wouldn’t have been able to finish school or accomplish any of the stuff I’ve done the last couple years if I didn’t have Rock, Hope, and my brother helping us out. I know how lucky I am. My friend Dawn’s a single mom and I see how rough it is on her.”
“It’s nice to have people you trust looking after her.”
“Sorry.” She swipes under her eyes again and pastes on a smile. “I know you’re not a kid person. You don’t want to hear all this.”
I can’t help hugging her again. “Maybe. But I’m a Heidi person, so I don’t mind listening at all. I’d have trouble leaving that bundle of cuteness too.”
“Thanks, Shelby.” She squeezes me once more before letting go. After a few laugh-sniffles, she wipes her hands over her cheeks. “This is why Murphy says we need to add to our family sooner than later. So we’ll still be young enough to do all the traveling we want once they’re out of the house.”
I burst out laughing. “I guess he’s got a point.”
“Yeah, when we go on any big club trips, Carter drives one of the vehicles, so the kids can come along. We have a big family party while the guys are all doing club stuff.”
“Which one is Carter?”
“Oh, sorry. He’s my soon-to-be-sister-in-law’s little brother. Phew! That’s a mouthful!”
I laugh with her, thinking over what she’s told me. “Y’all have a very ‘takes a village’ approach to child-raising, huh?”