Page 6 of The One Who Got Away
I didn’t need to be told twice. I escaped into the back and grabbed my gym water bottle. I drained it and refilled it at the water cooler. And because I was still feeling a little off, I grabbed one of our Self-Saving Princesses—aka a brookie. The chocolate and salty cookie combo evened me out.
I checked my phone before I headed back out there. My heart sinking when I saw the slew of texts from my mother.
She was late to the cell phone game, but she was making up for lost time.
Having the constant tether to her as well as being home was getting a little claustrophobic.
Mom:
Where are you?
When are you coming home?
What do you want for dinner?
Are you coming home soon?
I shot a quick reply that my hours were on the fridge like always. Well, minus the last part. The urge to get in my ancient Civic and head north to Canada was overwhelming.
But she needed me.
This was only temporary.
I hoped.
A new message popped up and I ignored it.
Dad:
Are you still not talking to me?
That was a hell no.
I pushed back through the doors and threw myself into the lunch rush.
Chapter 3
Gus
The next few days flew.My body already aching from long days of demo.
I had my first training session on Wednesday. I’d barely made it to my appointment since the Jennings job was becoming far more complicated than planned. The amount of electronics Mr. Jennings wanted required an upgrade to the wiring. Especially since they were changing out to fiberoptic internet for all the streaming services the guy discovered.
It was going to be a sweet setup, but the job would be an extra week since my electrician specialist brother, Cash, had to fit us in. We were all stretched thin since we were pushing to finish a bunch of jobs before winter came in and shut down outside builds.
I swung out of the locker room and hustled to the upper level of the gym where the thumping bass of the music was a little more muted. My trainer, Josh, was stretching on the mats beside the empty running track.
“Oh, shit.” Josh got to his feet like a damn cat. “I was expecting an old dude.” Josh held out his hand. “Been a minute, Angus.”
“Josh Hart, how the hell are you old enough to be a trainer?” I shook his hand. The Hart brothers were as prolific as my parents with kids. “How’s Booker?”
“He’s good. Talking about trading closer to home.”
My eyebrows shot up. Josh’s older brother was a Major League Baseball star and used to be Sully’s best friend. He’d been out in California for the last ten years. “A New England team?”
“Yeah. Still in talks so I can’t say.”
I held up my hands. “All good.”
