Page 35 of Kiss-Fist
I come back to reality when Robbie nudges me and hands me the phone.
Robbie: I walk treadmill, but will text later to reschedule. Yes?
Disappointment floods through me. I wanted an excuse to get my hands on him again, but I can’t exactly say that now, can I? But hey, at least he’s not running away from me. Unless…unless he wants to. Unless he really was trying to avoid me by showing up today.
Oh my god, I’m overthinking this.
Right?
By the time I get my shit together, Robbie’s already wandering toward the machines, lagging behind Mellie and Rhett. I sneakily snap a photo of those two, then pull up Zev’s number and shoot him the photo.
Me: Met ur freinds. They cool or hate me bcuz im hearing?
Zev doesn’t answer, not that I expected him to. We’re not, like, best friends, and he has a mountain of personal shit he’s been dealing with. But damn it, if he was here, this might be easier.
I do my best not to be a creep though. I walk around machines, clean a few things, spot a young college kid who is doing the rowing machine for the first time, obviously because she’s doing it painfully wrong. I shoot her a few words of encouragement as I fix her posture, and I feel good when she sighs in relief.
“So it’s not supposed to feel like something’s ripping my spine out through my shoulders?”
I laugh as I adjust her one last time. “Nope. You want the workout to burn, not tear you into little pieces. But you’ve got this.”
She beams at me, and I smile back and watch her do a few reps before she slows down. “I think I actually do.”
I offer a fist to bump, and her knuckles meet mine. It feels great until I turn and catch Robbie’s eyes in the mirror. He’s glowering at me like he wants to set me on fire. Fuck, what now? What could I possibly have done wron?—
I don’t even get to finish the thought. He’s so focused on me that he doesn’t notice his shoelace. I do—but only at the last second. It catches in the tread, and as he fails in his attempt to lift his foot, he falls.
My brain stutters over itself for too long, and it takes me a second to get my legs to cooperate with what I want them to do. When I start moving, I’m not fast enough to catch him. I hear a dull thud and a soft cry as his side hits the hard plastic. He didn’t put the clip on for theemergency stop, so the tread keeps going, hurtling him to the ground.
The pliant, rubbery floors burn like a motherfucker as I slide on my knees the rest of the way toward him, but I barely register the pain. My skin has probably scraped all the way off, but it doesn’t matter.
Within seconds, my hands are on him, gingerly turning him onto his back. His face is a little red, and he’s wheezing. Fuck, he could have broken a rib. I prod him gently, doing my best to assess how bad his injuries might be. My first aid skills are professionally taught, but they’re the bare minimum.
I hit a sore spot, and he makes a noise of distress and bats my hand away. ‘Stop,’ he signs. I know that one. His hand opens up wide like he wants a high five, and then he taps his thumb on his chest. ‘I’m fine.’
My eyes widen. “Are you serious?” I demand aloud.
He must have read my lips because he rolls his eyes and winces as he sits up, nodding. He pulls up his shirt and pokes at a red mark. He’s going to bruise for sure. ‘My friends,’ he signs, ‘where?’
I glance around and realize that while I expected Rhett and Mellie to come hurtling toward him, they’re nowhere to be found. I have no idea what their usual routine is, so they could be anywhere.
‘Come,’ I sign to him, standing. I offer him a hand, and he grunts as he starts to get up, then freezes and pulls away.
Before I can reach for him again, he grabs me by the backs of my knees. His face is near my dick, and I get immediate ideas before I remember that A) we’re in public, 2) thatpublic is my work, and D) he’s just fallen off a fucking treadmill.
He sucks in air through his teeth and makes a soft humming noise on his exhale as his thumb gently touches something very, very sore on my skin. I glance down, and oh shit, I’m actually bleeding. For a second, I’d forgotten I was hurt.
His eyes look up at mine, kind of wild and frantic.
‘Come,’ I sign again.
He hesitates but eventually takes my hand, and I get him to his feet. He’s walking okay. I keep a close eye on him as I bring him back to my little office and say a prayer no one else is going to attempt to dismember themselves while I’m fixing us both up.
Cassie is…somewhere. Manning the front desk and maybe keeping an eye on things. It would be just like her to watch and not help.
Whatever. She’s Kyle’s sister, so what can I expect.
Flicking on the light, I lead Robbie to the wobbly chair in the corner by my desk, and I’m halfway to a crouch when he stops me with a hum and a hand on my abs.
