Page 30 of No One Else

8

Evan

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“SO HOW’S THE PLAN GOING?” Heather asks, sweat dripping off her as she finishes her set of shoulder presses.

“Good. We had this sort ofmomentlast week.”

“That sounds promising. What happened?”

“It’s hard to explain. I was brushing her hair and there was this, I don’t know, electricity between us.”

“Wait, back up,” she says, lowering the weights. “You were brushing her hair?”

“Yeah. It was all tangled from the rain and- just trust me, okay? It made sense at the time.”

I motion for her to transition into split squats and she grimaces. She hates lower body work, but that’s what will give her the results she wants. “Anyway, she brought up Sarah later-”

“Sarah?”

“That’s my fake girlfriend.”

“Got it.”

“I tried to tell her we’d broken up or something but she got all flustered and left before I could say anything.”

“Flustered... that’s good...” she huffs out, panting.

“I don’t want her flustered around me. I want her comfortable. Back to normal.”

“Yeah, but... she only got flustered...” She stops the squats, panting for a second. “Okay, I can’t talk and squat.”

“Do bicep curls instead.”

She repositions herself and continues, “She only got flustered once Sarah came up?”

“Yeah, she was fine before.”

“So maybe the idea of you with someone else bothers her. That bodes well. Plus, she’s looked back over at you like three times since our session started.”

“Yeah?” I grin, resisting the urge to turn and check for myself if she’s looking.

“Oh, young love,” she sighs, hugging the weights to her chest. “I remember when Adam and I first met. The rush of feelings, the anticipation. Does he like me? Does he feel the same way I do?”

“Yeah, it’s a real blast,” I say dryly, indicating to her she needs to actually move the weights, not just hold them.

“I wouldn’t trade what I have now for the world, but you should really appreciate this time. And she seems like such a nice girl. I talked to her when I was setting up the appointment for this week.”

A wave of nerves washes over me. “You didn’t say anything, did you?”

“Your secret’s safe, don’t worry. I did talk you up, though. The girl’s got to know what a catch you are. Oh, and now you’re blushing.”

“I don’t blush,” I mutter, tilting my head down. “Listen, we’re about done here for today, anyway. You ready to stretch?”

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