Former fighter turned businessman was a whole mood, and I really, really liked it.
His eyebrows raised expectantly.
“Right.” I cleared my throat. “She’s here for her session.”
Aiden stood and tossed the glasses onto the desk. I stepped back so he could leave his office, but he paused in the doorway, his frame filling the space. His client stood over by the treadmill, stretching her legs, knee wrapped in a black brace. When she hurt it in the last World Cup, I almost cried.
“It’s a big deal,” I heard myself say.
He wasn’t a world-famous trainer. He wasn’t a loud social media presence or someone whose name was mentioned often anymore. But still, she was here to become stronger.
He didn’t ask what I meant. “It is.”
My gaze lingered on his profile. And when he turned, eyes locked on mine, I didn’t look away.
“That’s why,” he said quietly. “This isn’t easy money. But at this point in my life, I want to build something that matters.”
Then he walked away, and I was left wondering if I wasn’t completely making things worse by trying to understand him better.
He was in the middle of his session when the twins showed up, gym bags slung over their shoulders.
“I didn’t know you two were coming today,” I told them.
Lia hooked a thumb at Claire. “Her idea.”
I glanced at Claire. “It’s never your idea to work out.”
Claire held up her hands. “Not for that.”
My eyebrows rose. “For what then?”
Lia held up two fingers. “We wanted a glimpse at him because you’re still being awfully cagey, and two, Molly told us about your fight.”
“It wasn’t a fight, per se,” I hedged.
Claire set a hand on Lia’s arm. “We get it. And we’re not taking sides. I just wanted to check on you because we haven’t seen much of you lately.”
Standing from the stool, I joined them as they walked back toward the bags. “No taking sides, huh? You’re saying I’m the only one not thrilled at the prospect of seeing her.”
“If I thought she’d actually come, I’d probably need to medicate,” Lia said.
Claire smiled. “I could go either way. But I tend to agree.”
Aiden glanced over while I sat on the ground with them as they began stretching. But his client started a new rep, and he pulled his gaze from me and the twins.
“I’d just rather not think about her coming or not coming,” I told them. “I hate that hanging over the day.”
Claire wrapped her hands around the bottom of her shoe and leaned forward. “Just don’t fight that discomfort, you know? Ignoring your feelings about it will only make it worse.”
“Thank you, Miss Future Therapist.”
She smiled. “Plus, even if she does come, no one says you have to engage with her at all.”
Lia pressed her arm over her chest and stretched. “She’s not gonna show. No way she has the guts.”
When I shifted on the floor, Claire gave her twin a look. “We’ve got plenty of time to figure it out.”
Apparently, my desire to talk about Brooke was stamped pretty clearly on my face.
Lia snuck a look over her shoulder, where Aiden was guiding his client in some lunges. He pointed out something in her form, and she nodded, immediately adjusting. “Holy shit, is that Allie Catalano?”
I nodded.
She whistled. “I can’t wait to tell Jude.”
“How’s it going with him?” Claire asked carefully.
I gave her a look. “Perfectly fine, thank you.”
Claire smiled. “Has he talked about his wife much? I can’t imagine how hard it must be to start over like that.”
“Just once,” I said, watching him again. His eyes found mine and held.
Instead of looking away, like I might have before, I took a deep breath and gave him a small smile.
“Not really the kind of topic you can push if someone doesn’t want to discuss it,” Lia said. “Imagine if Logan lost Paige. He wouldn’t be able to talk easily about her either.”
The three of us went quiet. My heart went a little pinched, a little achy at the thought of it. He’d never be ready. Never.
Maybe that was the kind of marriage Aiden had too. The kind he’d never get over.
One day at a time, I reminded myself.
The twins left.
His client left.
A class started and ended while I continued to work.
And I found myself unable to stop thinking about what Lia had said. What this fresh start might mean to him.
As I thought it, a giant truck pulled up in front of the building and I hopped up off the floor to go to Aiden’s office.
“Got a minute?” I asked, popping my head around the corner.
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “For you, yeah.”
My cheeks went warm, and in the light of his office, I thought maybe his did too.
“The guys are here to install the new sign.” I gave him a tiny smile. “Want to watch?”
He studied me. “If you’ll join me.”
Carefully, I nodded, and left his office while he followed.
Chapter Fourteen
Aiden
I’d almost convinced myself that the invitation for her to join me meant nothing. Almost. Because as we walked side by side, a low, humming awareness arced between her body and mine even though we didn’t touch.
Nothing more would ever be possible with her, I’d come to realize. But it was tolerable, at least for my own sanity, as long as it didn’t progress past this.
It was that awareness that had me stepping just a little farther away from her, because the last thing I needed was to ruin the ease we’d found in the recent stretch of days.
“Lemonade?” she asked.
In my head, I laughed out loud. But I kept my face even as I answered. “Nope.”
When I glanced in her direction, she was frowning.
“It’s not fair, you know,” she said lightly. “I know you asked Amy what to get us.”
I pushed open the gym door and gestured for her to exit the building in front of me. “Life never is fair, is it, Ward?”
She snorted.
The men standing in the cherry picker affixed the sign with precision as Isabel, and I found a spot to stand and watch. The edges of the H appeared, a vivid blue that would glow brightly when the lights turned on at night.
Next to me, Isabel shaded her eyes and watched them work.
Her frame expanded on a deep inhale, and I found myself waiting to see if she’d speak, what she’d say.
“Before I came here for the first time, I had no idea how to handle all the things I’d shoved down. At fourteen, I didn’t know it was just … anger waiting to get out.” She licked her lips as more of the sign appeared. “Fear too, I guess. I ended my first workout a sobbing mess.” She paused, a rueful expression on her beautiful face, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from her. “I hate crying. But this place gave me something safe. Somewhere safe to put all the things that were too big for my body.”
It was easy to imagine her at that age, blazing eyes and emotions exploding out of her.