Jasper
He walked in and scanned his gym ID, staring at his phone to avoid eye contact with the pretty brunette who always manned the desk.
Instead of the usual beeping sound that it made when accepting it, it refused to scan the barcode.
He tried again before Violet—her name tag gave her away—reached for his card. “Let me take a look.”
She typed in the numbers by hand into the computer and checked his account. “The card is just a bit worn down. I’ll give you a new one. It’ll only take a few moments.”
“Thanks,” he muttered, returning his attention to the playlist he was building.
“Would you like to have one?”
His jaw almost dropped. He stared at her, his mind suddenly void of all thoughts. Was she asking him out? She couldn’t be. They’d never gone beyond the casual greeting ever since she’d started working here a few months ago. “I… erm, sure.”
She giggled and handed him his new ID card. “That sounded as if I was holding a gun to your head.”
“No—I…” Shit! Why was he stammering so much?
Another brighter laugh kicked his heart into overdrive. “How about you think about it during your work out and let me know when you leave? Just know that I won’t hold a grudge if you say no.”
“O-okay.” With his new card in hand, he stumbled away from the awkward exchange.
But that didn’t stop him from throwing a look over his shoulder, finding her eyes watching him.
He quickly set his water bottle down by the mirror, and Lila settled into her usual spot.
When he went to grab his weights and caught his own reflection, he wanted to disappear into thin air.
His cheeks shone brighter than headlights down a dark, dirt road.
With his looks, people often assumed he was a playboy.
In the past, he’d been described as the broody type—big figure, black messy hair and his body covered in endless tattoos.
The reality was way off though. He was a nerd through and through—and not the sexy kind.
When it came to talking to women—or anyone for that matter outside his close friends—he was awkward as hell.
He avoided people like the plague. It was one of the reasons he went to the gym so late at night.
He could hardly focus on his workout, constantly miscounting his reps and finding his thoughts returning to the mess he’d been in just minutes ago.
Even blasting music through the headphones didn’t help.
He wanted to leave but at the same time, he feared facing Violet again.
He worried that she’d back out now that she knew the real him.
Feeling as if he had his tail tucked between his legs, he trudged up to the desk an hour later. “I would like to go out with you for Valentine’s Day,” he announced. Although he tried to sound confident, he knew it wasn’t even close.
“And here I was preparing for heartbreak,” Violet softly hummed.
“Anywhere specific you’d like to go?” he asked, feeling a little too rehearsed.
With her cheeks turning a rosy pink, she rested her elbows on the desk and her chin in her hands. “Since I thought you wouldn’t agree, I hadn’t thought about anything.”
Jasper was drawing a blank as well. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, Lila’s leash hanging around his wrist.
“What kind of hobbies do you have?”
“I game.” Why did that suddenly sound lame. Oh yes, right—it was lame.
“Are you good?”
“I am.”
“So confident! I like that. The only game I play is Candy Crush.” But then her eyes started to beam. “But I was really good at Mario Kart.”
“I haven’t pulled that out in years.”
“But you have it?”
“I do.”
“If you promise not to laugh and let me win at least once, we can have a game night.”
“You want me to play Mario Kart with you?”
Violet grinned, her cheeks pushing up and slimming her gorgeous green eyes. “I do.”
He stared at her, wondering if there was a camera hiding somewhere. Was she messing with him?
“I can bring pizza too,” she offered when he couldn’t find his words.
“I like pineapples on mine.” What the fuck was wrong with him?
“Perfect. We can share.” She pulled out a notepad and pen, placing them in front of him. “I can come straight after my classes. Would eight work?”
“It would.” He tried to write as readable as he could—his handwriting had always been crap—and handed his details back to her.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me too.” Then he hastened out, forcing himself not to look back. Lila happily tagged along as if her handler hadn’t just made a fool out of himself.
In his truck, he grabbed a hold of his steering wheel and clutched his fingers tightly around the fake leather, forcing himself to breathe slowly. That did not just happen, but a ding coming from his phone only confirmed exactly that.
Hi Jasper,
This is Violet, just thought you should have my number too :)
What was the appropriate response to a text like that?
He had no idea, and he found himself grateful that he’d parked to the side of the building—and out of Violet’s view.
Lila gently nudged him with her wet nose, reminding him that he needed to eat his post workout snack.
He switched to his Dexcom app, even though he knew Lila was more accurate—the app always lagged fifteen to twenty minutes behind.
He was already under one hundred, so he sucked down his juice box and downed his protein bar.
Growing up as a type I diabetic, Lila had saved his life.
The constant pricking of his fingers and the pain he always associated with it had made him reluctant to do it on a regular basis.
Lila had helped him minimise it. Now with the monitor, it was much easier to manage.
Naturally, maturity and his love for the same routines made it easier as well.
He liked to eat the same meals and do the same activities day in and out, so there was not much fluctuation.
As a kid, that had been different, and the constant bullying hadn’t helped. In middle and high school, he’d been the “special” boy, the one the teachers constantly checked on.
He petted Lila’s fluffy ear and returned to the dilemma of his unanswered text.
Are you sure you want to hang and play Mario Kart?
Most definitely.
Okay.
What a fucking lame answer, but trying not to beat himself down too much, he pocketed his phone and drove away.