Page 109 of Just a Little White Lie

I give him a smile as I step out into the main area with him.

Should I say it? Should I ask now?

Yes! Do it!

“I’m just popping in to say hi.” He looks around his gym while he talks, raising his hand to acknowledge two regulars. “I haven’t been by all week, and I wanted to let you guys know that I am, in fact, still alive.”

I laugh and lightly pat his shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re a busy man. We’ve got this covered.”

He rubs his bald head with a sigh. “I’ve got so much on my plate right now, and I feel like I’m doing all of it badly, you know?”

“You’ll get there.” I cross my arms, raising my chin at Andy, who’s walking in with his usual grin and positive energy.

“Nice to see you, man.” He holds out his fist, and I bump it, then turn my attention back to Rob.

“Hey, uh, not to add something else to your plate, but that space…” I point behind me at the frosted glass. “I maybe have one idea for what we can do with it.”

“Oh yeah? You know someone who wants to run a class?”

“Possibly.” I nod, then swallow.

Just spit it out, man!

“Me.” I clear my throat. “I was wondering about doing some dance classes. A little hip-hop maybe, or we could even open it up for couples—Ceroc’s always fun, or we could even go more traditional and teach some Latin American or ballroom stuff. There’s rock n’ roll, swing, or even a little contemporary.”

“You know how to do all that?” He gives me a perplexed frown.

I blush and look to the floor, hating this part. “Yeah, actually, I used to teach dance quite a bit. Before I moved back to New Zealand.”

“Wow. That’s kinda cool.” He looks me up and down. “I wouldn’t have picked it.”

I give him a closed-mouth smile and hold my breath.

“Well, um. Yeah. That sounds cool. Why don’t you put a proposal together for me? Think about timing, pricing, resources, how we’ll market it to the folks around here, and I’ll give it some consideration.”

“Okay.” I can’t stop my smile.

And I can’t wait to tell Lauren. She’s gonna be stoked.

I nearly call her the second Rob leaves, but when I check my watch, I figure she’ll still be covering afternoon classes. I better not disturb her.

Shoving my phone back behind the desk, I do a circuit of the gym before ending up back in that room and picturing exactly what I could do in this space.

Yeah, I seriously cannot wait to tell my girl all about it.

It’s funny how one little thing—one small decision, one brief conversation—can take your day from just okay to freaking brilliant.

LAUREN

Ugh. This has been the worst day!

My headache is down to a dull pulse in the back of my brain by the time I pull into Luke’s driveway. As soon as I cut the engine, I grip the wheel and rest my head back. What a total disaster.

I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought we’d prove everyone wrong. But all I did was throw the crew in front of a hall full of haters and set off an explosion.

Maverick needs to be dealt with. He skipped the last two periods. I have no idea where he went, but when I called Sully, he assured me he was already out looking for him.

“I know all his go-to spots. Wanna tell me what happened?”

---