Page 8 of Spar
“The gym is pretty dead. Ryan and I can probably get out of here early.”
Claire’s eyes lit up. “Perfect. Elle is already there, and I’m going to pick up Gretchen on my way. I think it’s going to be a much smaller turnout than I’d anticipated. Sorry you won’t be able to find your dream guy tonight.”
Tori rolled her eyes. The prospect of finding herdream guyseemed about as far-fetched as winning the lottery.
“Go find your brother and get up there as soon as possible!” Claire demanded, not looking up from her phone as she continued to type quickly as she hurried out the door.
Tori sighed and turned off her computer screen. She locked up her office. Dream guy, ha! Valentine’s Day had always been low on the list of favorite holidays, but this year it felt more contrived than ever. She didn’t regret breaking up with Luke, but it would have been nice to have someone for the party tonight. It was hard enough being in the same room with Chris, but the thought of sitting across the room from him without the buffer of Luke made her stomach ache. And what if he brought someone? Tori pounded her head lightly against the doorframe before closing the door behind her.
She found her brother in his office, flipping through a magazine, feet propped up on the desk.
“Slow day?” Tori asked as she plopped down on a chair in front of his desk.
Ryan nodded and tossed the magazine down. “All your classes get cancelled?”
“Yep.” She picked up the “Men’s Health” her brother had tossed so she could admire a shirtless Chris Hemsworth on the cover and flipped the pages, mindlessly admiring the physiques of the men.
“All my afternoon clients canceled too,” Ryan said. “Think we should get out of here? Claire is probably circling the parking lot waiting for us.”
Tori smiled at the thought. She wouldn’t put anything past her best friend when it came to pulling a party together.
“Yeah, but I have a question for you first.” Tori set the magazine down. She couldn’t get Autumn and her family off her mind. She must be able to do something to help.
Ryan eyed her suspiciously. “Okay, shoot.”
“Autumn, the little girl I work with on sensory therapy…”
“Dax and Susan’s little girl. She’s a firecracker.” Ryan shook his head.
Tori smiled. Obviously, he had his own fond visions of Autumn running and jumping through the club.
“Their insurance won’t pay for the therapy anymore. Is there anything the gym can do to help? She’s doing so well. I can’t stand the thought of her not being able to continue.”
Ryan ran a hand through his hair and let out a deep breath. “There’s not a lot we can do. Those sessions are too expensive for us to foot the bill.”
“It’s so unfair!” Tori whined, slamming her fist into the arm of the chair.
“Easy. We’ll figure it out. Maybe we could look at private funding, scholarships, something along those lines.”
Tori nodded, still steaming inside.
Ryan stood, motioning for Tori to follow. “Hey, I promise we’ll work on it. In the meantime, let’s go enjoy the party.”
Tori shifted inher seat, playing with the name card in front of her. She should have known she’d be seated by Chris, who had yet to show up. She was pushing back the nagging feeling of disappointment that he hadn’t arrived while panicking at the idea of sitting across from him. No scenario put her at ease. They were chaos and fire, and she’d been burnt too badly to escape scarring.
The snow continued to fall, and the roads had to be near impassable now. Ryan had more than enough room for everyone to crash tonight, so with the depressing realization that she would be spending the night at her brother’s house on Valentine’s Day, without a date, Tori decided to drink. A lot.
She looked around at the group. Ryan and Elle huddled close at the far end of the table. Elle leaned in as Ryan whispered something in her ear, and Elle’s cheeks bloomed with a faint shade of pink. Claire played the part of the perfect hostess, engaging everyone in conversation and occasionally helping Gretchen capture shots of the event. Tori didn’t know Gretchen well. The young girl had worked for Claire on and off for the past year, capturing photos for the blog, but aside from her beautiful photographs, Tori didn’t know much else about her. She was quiet, although that could very well be the result of her being an outsider to their tight-knit group.
Jake had also shown up for the party and sat next to Claire, obviously hanging on her every word.
The six of them settled in around the table, telling stories and drinking wine.
“Without more people, most of the games I’d planned won’t be very fun, but I do have one we can play.” Claire handed out a pen and a pad of paper to everyone.
“Write your name at the top and answer the five questions. Tear off the sheet and hand it to Gretchen when you’re done.”
Tori looked over the questions on the paper.
