Bend - Bromberg K. (читать книги онлайн бесплатно серию книг txt) 📗

“Good to know your equipment still works.” Mom didn’t even look up from her cards as she muttered under her breath.

Cassie and I turned to her with what had to be matching looks of horror on our faces.

“Eww!”

“I…I don’t know what to say to that, Mom. What the hell?”

She shrugged and laid down some cards, ending the hand. “Well, with what happened with Monica, I wondered if she might’ve given you something that made your wiener fall off.”

Cassie howled with laughter, banging her hand on the table and giving no care to the fact that she’d just lost their game. I couldn’t stop staring at my mother, who smiled as she tallied up their scores.

“And on that note, I’m outta here.” Cassie slid her chair back and stood. She leaned over and punched my shoulder. “Tag.”

I nodded and took a sip of my coffee. “Thanks, Cass.”

She mussed up my hair, getting me back for earlier. I glared up at her. She was lucky I hadn’t done anything with it yet.

“Later, cranky.” She hugged Mom and kissed her cheek. “Darren and I will be over for dinner tomorrow night.”

“All right.”

She waved goodbye, and silence filled the room. Mom looked around the room for something to do.

“You up for another game?” I motioned to the cards.

She smiled and began shuffling. Guess I had my answer.

--oOo--

Thirty-six hours after seeing her, I still had Hope on the brain. It was accentuated by the three-mile trek back to the parking lot to get my truck. Luckily, Dex checked for me, and it was still there and not towed.

I spent the entire day before with Mom, and completely forgot to have Cassie drop me off on her way to work. After all, her store was a block down Broad Ripple Avenue from Union Jack’s.

My attempt at running the distance was squashed by my hard dick trying to bounce around in my shorts. I should have put on some compression shorts instead of the boxer-briefs I wore. Hindsight was supposed to be twenty-twenty, but all I saw was Hope. I couldn’t stop—thinking about her, wanting her, needing her, and desiring her. It was too much. I knew where to find her, and I planned to see her again.

As I passed my sister’s shop, I banged on the window and stuck my tongue out at her, scaring some of her customers and their furry companions. She screamed “hoodlum” at me, but I pretended not to hear as I continued on.

I thought about going straight to my truck and getting to the gym, but I wanted to see her. When I stepped into Union Jack’s, the hostess perked up, staring a little too hard at me. Her appreciation of me could be used to my advantage.

“Hi, how many?”

I smiled at her. “One in Hope’s section, please.”

Her posture dropped, and she lost the vibrancy she’d shown when I entered. “Hope’s not in today.”

“Do you know when she’s working next?”

She shook her head. “I’m not allowed to say.”

I leaned forward, giving her a good view of my arms. “What’s your name?”

“Adriane.”

“Adriane.” Her name rolled off my tongue, and she shuddered, giving the effect I wanted. “Adriane, it would mean a lot to me if you told me when she’ll be back. I promise I won’t tell anyone you told me. She was a really good waitress, and my friend and I were a bunch of drunk asses the other day. I wanted to apologize.”

She blinked at me. “Oh. Well…” She looked down at a piece of paper. “Looks like she’s scheduled tomorrow.”

I smiled and took her hand in mine. “Thank you.”

“Y-you’re welcome.”

I walked through the restaurant and out the back door to the parking lot and my awaiting truck. As I headed off, I formed a plan. Dex was right, as much as I hated to admit it—I had to fuck Hope, and soon. Only after, with a clear head, could I take her on a date. That was if she said yes.

I’d given up trying to figure out what was wrong with me, and gave in to the devil in me that wanted her flesh.

When I walked into the gym with a smile on my face, I felt good. The emotion swiftly vanished when I saw our receptionist and scheduler, Dawn, leaning over the front desk and whispering frantically with Aaron, our youngest trainer.

My neck tensed and my jaw clenched as I walked forward. Something was wrong. Dawn’s eyes widened when she looked up and saw me.

“H-hi, boss.”

I looked between her and Aaron—who looked so nervous he’d turned white.

“What is it?”

“Well, Monica had me come in today for a few clients.”

Dawn bit her bottom lip. “Andrew, Ashley, and Teri.”

I turned my neck, my whole body tensing up, my fingers curling up to a fist. “Those are my clients.” They both nodded, and Aaron turned pale. “Is she here?”

Dawn shook her head. “She’s off today.”

“Then she just caught a break, didn’t she?”

Aaron leaned forward. “Jared, I swear I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

I held my hand out to him, and he slipped his in mine for a shake. “You’re good, man. Calm down.”

“If he’d been Shone…” Dawn trailed off.

I nodded. “That’s a different story.” I reached out for the week’s schedule. It was all marked up, many spots with my name crossed off. The following day was the boxing class, and I tapped my finger over the event.

“Dawn, I hired you, and you’ve been a great employee. That being said, I have to ask you where your allegiance lies.”

She wasted no time responding. “Monica talks down to me like I’m a fucking incompetent toddler. She’s always telling me I need to lose weight because I represent the gym.”

Aaron’s eyes snapped to her figure, and he slowly looked up and down the length of her body. Kid had it bad for her.

I stared at her and shook my head. Dawn was petite, five-two and maybe weighed 110 pounds soaking wet. She was healthy and looked good. Her brown hair and brown eyes added to the girl-next-door look she had going on. Many of our female clients saw her and wanted to look like her. They didn’t want to be like Monica.

I let out a strained breath. “Don’t lose a damn pound. You look great, and it’s obvious Monica and I no longer see eye to eye on what this gym represents.” She smiled at me and played with the zipper on her hoodie. I turned to Aaron next. “How about you?”

“I know I’m still a newbie and all, but you took me under your wing. I’ve seen the underhanded shit she’s done to you.” He held out his fist. “I’m all yours.”

I bumped his offered fist and nodded. “Okay, good.” I looked back down at that damn boxing class. “Do you have the list of people signed up for the Thursday class?”

Dawn nodded. “Yeah. There are six people, and most of them are new members.”

“Call them all up and tell them it’s been cancelled for Thursday and moved to tonight.” I looked to Aaron. “You up to teach a class?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You’ve been taking my class and helping me for months. Plus, I’ve been watching you with your clients. Time for the next level. Besides, it’s a small class—you’ll do great.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll be able to help out if you need me, and we can talk this afternoon if you need any tips.” I looked back to the schedule. Dex would be in later, along with Alexa. She’d had more than one blowout with Monica in the past, so I knew she would be on my side. By some luck, Monica’s followers were all off for the afternoon as most of their clients were in the morning.

“We’ll be good today, but not a word can be said to Candice, Jordan, Mike, or Stacie.” They both nodded. I looked up at the clock above their heads. It was almost noon, and Andrew wouldn’t be in for about an hour. “I’ve got to do some things in the office.”

I flipped the schedule around and pushed it toward Dawn before walking around the desk.

“Boss?” Dawn stopped me, and I turned back to her. “I know it’s been rough for you lately, and I’m pretty sure you’ve been thinking about your future here. If you leave, will you take me with you? I like working for you, but I’d have to quit if you left and Monica took complete control.”