Page 32 of Tame Me

“Yep, let’s do this.”

We returned to the elevator, and it opened straight away. We stepped in and Lolly examined her reflection in the mirror. She checked her teeth, presumably making sure nothing was there. She adjusted her hair with her fingers, and she reached into her bag and pulled out lipstick.

I didn’t know why she was fussing— she was perfect.

When the doors pinged open, we stepped onto the lobby tiles, and we were caught up in the energetic buzz. People were everywhere—women, men, young, old, fit, and not so fit. But the one thing they all seemed to have in common was the smiles on their faces—they all looked super happy.

Maybe they’d all been drinking Frankie’s beer. Thinking of him made me smile, and I was truly looking forward to chatting with him again.

Lolly led the way, practically diving onto Xavier’s vibrating skateboard as soon as it was available. If I didn’t know Lolita was happily married, I’d swear she was flirting with Xavier. The two of them struck up a banter full of innuendo that had me laughing along with them. When Lolly declined to hand over her credit card, Xavier’s sad face had her giving him a hug that had him smiling again.

She strolled to the next stall and sampled the protein powders and power bars. Between the two of us, we handed over ninety dollars. At one of the equipment stalls, Lolly purchased a pair of weights that she could strap to her ankles.

So now not only would she be running at maximum speed and have the treadmill elevated to its maximum level, she was also planning on wearing an extra pound on each ankle.

I didn’t know whether she was amazing or completely nuts.

At the clothing stand, I tried on the lime green exercise gear the tattooed salesman had put aside for me, and it was perfect. I paid him before I was tempted to look at any more styles.

“What do you think of this one, babe?” Lolly held up a fluorescent yellow crop top with matching Lycra pants that had a yellow sunburst pattern adorning the lower hem.

“I love it. Suits you.”

“Yep. I agree.”

She loaded up her arms with several outfits and headed into the changing room. As I waited for her, I turned my attention to Frankie’s stand. I could barely see the caravan because of the number of people hovering around. The noise in the hall was loud, but a good majority of it was coming from the back corner. Even though I barely knew the man, I was happy for Frankie. He was obviously very passionate about his beer.

I just hoped he was ready to get passionate with me a little later, though I still had no idea when later would be.

Lolly stepped out of the changing room and handed a pile of clothes to the tattooed man.

“Happy?” I sidled up beside her.

“They’re awesome. Did you buy any more?”

“No, just the green one.”

She scowled at me, but I ignored her.

With our bags hanging from our arms, we carried on strolling along the first row, and each time she stopped, I strained to see or hear Frankie. It seemed like an eternity before we actually arrived at his cute little caravan.

“Let’s try this.” I hooked my arm into hers and led her through the crowd.

“What is it? Beer?”

“Yes, but you have to try it.”

“You know I don’t like beer.”

“Just try it.” We arrived at the caravan, and I placed my hands on the counter before Frankie.

“Hi, Jane.” His smile shone through his ginger beard like a beacon.

Yay. He remembers me. “Hi, Frankie. Looks like you’re having success.”

“It’s been a hit so far. And who do we have here?”

“This’s my friend, Lolita. She doesn’t like beer.”

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