Page 3 of Between Commitment and Betrayal
I wouldn’t let journalists or the internet paint someone’s story like they had mine once before. In my hometown, I wasn’t trusted, wasn’t looked at as a person, wasn’t given the benefit of the doubt.
“You don’t watch football but you know how to rehab an athlete?” He really hated that I was working in his gym with no credentials when it seemed all his other employees were overqualified.
“I provide stretching techniques, not full rehab.” As he knew. I’d gained client after client for the unique way I handled each of them and there’d not been one complaint since I started. “And I’m going to be late for a one-on-one. So, if we’re done here…”
I brushed past him, but before I could walk away, his voice rolled over me cold enough to freeze me mid-step. “You didn’t answer my question.”
I turned to look at him. In the middle of this yoga studio, he was a beautiful sight among the mirrors reflecting around him with the backdrop of floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the Atlantic. “What was it?”
“How many times have you fucked him?”
My whole body tightened at how he phrased it this time. My stomach, my throat, my nipples, my sex squeezed and ached in hate but also something more. The visceral reaction I had to this man was dangerous, tempting, and completely wrong.
“That’s absolutely none of your business.” The answer was zero and would probably remain that way. We’d casually gone on a few dates that led to nothing because Wes didn’t cause a reaction in me at all.
“So, you haven’t. That answer changes, Everly, and I’m coming for him.” Declan’s voice was low in warning, like I shouldn’t question him, and I felt the vibration of it shoot through my body, giving me goose bumps everywhere.
I considered giving him the finger as I left him in the studio by himself.But he was my boss.
My off-limits boss I hated and wanted all at the same time.
2
EVERLY
A hot showerafter my shift didn’t help to scald away any of my frustration. Nor did brushing through the tangles of my hair harder than intended.
Putting on my tennis skirt and a coat of lip gloss and mascara before I texted Wes I was on my way over, though, had me feeling much better.
Po and Noah saw me exit the revolving door of the fitness center as they sat on the fountain’s edge in the circular drive. “Evie, you coming to Vibe Club with us later?” Po asked.
I pointed toward a small path that led down to. HEAT Health and Fitness sat atop an ocean cliff, providing beautiful views and connecting to their Oceanside Resort. “I’m walking over to Wes’s actually.”
“See, bro. Everyone’s going to Wes’s. Let’s just go.” Noah shoved his friend.
“Goddamn,” Po grumbled, combing his big hand through his wavy mess of hair. It look styled but I knew for a fact neither of them cared a bit how they looked. Instead, they both lifted most of the day at the fitness center, ran, took yoga classes, and then they trained on-ice a few times a week. Their lives, even in the off-season, revolved mostly around hockey.
Noah cajoled, “You know puck bunnies are going to Wes’s. Let’s just go. Plus, Evie will be there.”
Po reached for my duffel, then hiked it up onto his shoulder. “Fuck it. We’ll walk with you.”
I chuckled as we stepped onto the sand and started our trek along the water, waves lapping softly along the way. “Are you both going just to hook up with women?”
“If I say yes, will you think less of me?” Po asked.
Sighing, I stopped to pick up a white shell and grabbed at the pocket of my duffel bag to slide it in. “No, because I already think pretty low of you and your hookup habits.”
Po glanced at me collecting the shell. “You realize there’re better ones up at the tourist shop than that?”
I shrugged. People stepped all over the shells like they weren’t beautiful pieces to be reused and what was the use of buying them when I could have the experience of finding one myself?
A seagull hopped close but jumped back as we stepped toward it. So, I waved at the guys and tried to give him and his flock a wide berth. I made sure to do it every day when jogging to work so as not to scare them off.
“Evie,” Po deadpanned, mirth in his dark eyes. “Just go through the gulls. They’ll fly away and come right back.”
I sighed and fell into step with them all. “They’re different from the blue birds and cardinals back home in Wisconsin. You scare them and they’re gone to another feeder for a whole season.”
“Florida’s filled with seagulls that’ll never leave. You’ll get used to it soon enough,” Noah said as he nudged me on the way up to Wes’s oceanfront property.
