Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
JACE
“One hundred,” I grit out, pushing the bar up off my chest and racking it.
Lawson shakes his head above me and steps away as I sit up.
“Who are you trying to impress over there?” Ryder asks, grunting when he pushes out another rep on the leg curl machine.
“You, always.” I wink, blowing him a kiss and he barks out a laugh.
Lawson taps my shoulder and I take the bottle he holds out for me. Guzzling down water, I stand up and switch positions with the brooding man.
I toss the bottle to the side and run to the side of the rack. “Wait wait wait. Let me take some of this off for you princess.”
“Oh fuck off,” he grunts, pressing the bar up.
I hop back to my spot above his head and place my hands on my hips. “You’re extra grouchy this morning.”
He rolls his eyes, bringing the bar down to his chest before pushing it up. “I’m fine.”
I glance up at Ryder and he shrugs. Nik walks over, wiping his face with a towel before draping it over his glistening shoulders. He looks around at the group, eyebrows furrowing. “What did I miss?”
“Lawson’s cranky.”
“I’m not cranky.”
“He says crankily.”
“Would you knock it off,” he yells, throwing the bar onto the rack and sitting up on the bench. “I wasn’t grumpy or cranky before you started saying I was. I’m fine. I’ve been fine. But I won’t continue to be fine if you don’t shut up about thinking that I’m not fine.”
“Bruv, that was a lot of ‘fines’ you just word vomited there,” Ryder says cautiously, getting up and wiping down the machine.
“I’ve learned that when someone says that they are fine, there’s a good chance they’re not,” I point out, leaning against the bar.
“And where did you learn that?” Lawson grunts, squirting water into his mouth.
“Mum and Sydney.”
He scoffs. “Pretty sure that logic only really pertains to women, J. Anyway, can we cast this interrogation light on someone else? Like you.” He looks up at me pointedly. “How are things going with the girl from the club?”
I scowl. “First, her name is Kinsley, not the girl from the club . And second, great. Things are going very well if I do say so myself.”
I head towards the water fountain and refill my bottle before turning and leaning on the counter. “She’s sweet. Talented. Funny?—”
“Thinks you’re funny,” Ryder muses.
I shoot him a glare without any real heat behind it. “She’s amazing. I feel like I can really be myself around her, you know? And that feeling is hard to come by.”
There’s a beat of silence and I look up from where I was focused on a dent in my water bottle when the words started pouring out. Each of them watches me with wide eyes and I curl in on myself. “What?”
“You sound like you may like this girl, Collins.” Nik smirks, leaning his shoulder against the weight rack next to him.
My lips twitch and I shrug. “What if I do?”
“What happened to women are snakes?” Lawson asks, his eyebrow lifting as he leans his elbows on his knees.
My jaw ticks. “Not all women are like her . Kinsley is nothing like that.”
“And you’re sure about that? It’s been what, two days? You’ve been around the girl once, not counting the night you met. You really think that’s enough time to know who a person is?”
“I—I don’t know what to tell you mate. It’s just different with her,” I snap, suddenly defensive about her.
“Does she know what you do for a living?”
“No, she doesn’t.” I swallow. “I was going to tell her soon.”
“How do you know she isn’t playing you?” He squints. “Not like that shit hasn’t happened in the past.”
“She isn’t like that.” Okay, he’s starting to piss me off. “What are you doing? Are you trying to get me to walk away? To make me think the worst of her when the first time I felt like I could breathe easy in weeks was when she’s around?”
“I’m trying?—”
“Because it isn’t going to work. Yes, I may have only met her two days ago, but we have been talking non-stop since. With her, I don’t have to put on a show. I can just be me. Not the world’s best driver?—”
“Whoa, hold on there. Best? You wish,” Ryder cuts in.
The four of us laugh and I sigh. “I planned on telling her soon. Tomorrow in fact.”
If only my nerves could get on board with the idea that it’ll all be fine.
“You’re bringing her to the event with the kids?” Lawson stands, throwing his towel over his shoulder.
“Hoping their cuteness will distract her enough from you being a famous driver?” Nik asks, and the guys break out into another round of laughter.
“No,” I pout. “But it doesn’t hurt to have cute kids on your side.”
Lawson huffs, shaking his head.
I quirk a brow. “Are you done with the fifth degree on my love life now?”
“Oh, it’s a ‘love life’ now? I thought you two were just friends .”
“We are.” I shrug, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. For now.
I look up at Lawson and see the fierceness that’s always lingered in his gaze. Even when I met him at the ripe age of eleven that hardness was there.
He hasn’t always had it easy, still doesn’t at times. Only a few have ever seen under the blank mask he wears. But no one’s ever gotten close enough to know what’s really whirring behind those dark eyes of his.
Except for one person.
And it isn’t any of us standing here now.
A rare smirk tilts the corner of his mouth and I grimace. “What are you doing? Stop that.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re smiling. It’s creepy.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re insufferable.”
“You love me anyway, you big lug.”
“Unfortunately, I do. Enough to make sure you aren’t rushing into anything like you usually do. Head first, repercussions later.”
I sober and push off the counter. Stopping in front of him, I clap my hand on his shoulder. “I have a really good feeling about her, Law.”
He sighs. “I’m not against this, you know. I just needed to see you fight for it. That you had actually sound reasons to want to let another girl into your life after—” His words cut off as he looks over my shoulder, his face tightening.
“What are you looking at?” I turn my head and a chill runs over my body.
“Oh shit,” Ryder whispers, nudging Nik.
My head whips back to them with wide eyes. “Has she seen me?”
“Looks like you’re the only one she sees, mate,” Nik cringes.
“No doubt the entire reason she came in here in the first place,” Lawson grumbles.
I glance over my shoulder again and stupidly make eye contact. A strangled squeak slips out and I frantically look at the boys. “What do I do?” They collectively start to back away and my eyebrows raise in realization. “Don’t you dare?—”
“I, uh, need to go call my mum to see what she wants me to pick up for dinner,” Ryder throws a thumb over his shoulder.
“It’s ten in the morning,” I point out and he shrugs, raising his hands.
“I need to go get my after workout massage,” Nik nods, almost tripping over a bench.
“I hope it’s deep tissue,” I sneer.
“I just don’t want to be anywhere near what’s about to happen,” Lawson deadpans.
“Some best mates you are. You’re all dead to me,” I hiss as they scurry away.
I look around the weight area, hoping for some grand excuse as to why I can immediately vacate the premises.
“Jace.” I freeze, my body tensing and my eyes closing at her voice. With a locked jaw and stiff movements, I turn to face her. Glaring down, I meet her gaze and she purses her lips in a pout. “I’ve been calling.”
“I know,” I grunt.
She pops a hand on her hip, her perfectly shaped eyebrow rising. “You know? Then why haven’t you been answering them, or my texts for that matter?”
“Don’t really think there’s much for us to talk about, Angie.”
She sighs, stepping into my personal bubble and places her palms on my chest. “When are you going to forgive me? I said I was sorry and it wouldn’t happen again.”
My jaw ticks. “You cheated on me with your photographer. Twice.”
“I—”
“You used my name and my money to land those contracts. In your defense, I let it happen. Because while I was working my arse off to try and make you happy, you were showing a whole lot more than your arse to someone who sure as hell wasn’t me.”
She has the decency to look embarrassed, but my simmering hurt and anger from what she did doesn’t show any sign of cooling down.
“And when you got caught, you tried to turn it around on me. Say it was my fault. That I wasn’t giving you enough of my attention.”
“Jace—”
“But it really wasn’t just my attention you wanted, was it? You wanted the worlds.”
“No, that’s not what I wanted.”
“What did you want then?”
“You. I wanted you.”
“You had me, Angie. You had me. You used me.” I lean in and lower my voice. “You betrayed me. And now you’ve lost me.”
Her eyes widen and I see the frantic look in her eyes before she steps closer, fisting my shirt. “Jace, baby. We’ve overcome this before, please. We can work this out.”
“The thing is, I don’t want to. Not anymore.” I uncurl her fingers and turn to start walking away but she grabs my wrist and throws herself in front of me. “Ang?—”
She cuts me off, pushing up to her toes. I instinctively turn my face to the side and her glossed lips slam against my jaw.
I’m momentarily stunned, but within seconds, disgust rolls through me. Taking her by her arms, I shift back a step. She stares up at me with wide pleading eyes, her bottom lip trembling.
“Jace, please. We’re so good together. I’ll do better. I’ll be better. Just, please?—”
“I’m seeing someone.”
Her eyes flicker between mine and I watch as the hurt quickly vanishes, anger blanketing her features. “What? Who is she?”
My jaw ticks. How did I not see it before? How did I not see how easy it is for her to switch her attitude to make things go her way?
Well you know what? I’m done being a pawn in her game.
“That’s none of your business.” I move around her but she follows behind me as I make my way to the mens’ locker room.
“You think she’s going to be any different? That she won’t get swept up in the lights and the fame and?—”
“The money?” I stop walking and turn to her. “Is that what happened to you? All of this was just too much to ignore? That it’s my world that made you do all these things?”
“I didn’t need your money,” she sneers.
“Yet you took it anyway.”
I know she didn’t need my money. She came from a wealthy family. Hell, her grandfather was one of the investors of my racing team. It’s why I thought this would have never been an issue between us.
Yet, it was only one of many.
As Ariana Grande once said, I’ve got ninety-nine problems.
And Angie is every single one of them.
“You took everything Angie. That’s what you do. You take and take, all for yourself. Giving nothing in return.”
She takes a step forward and I move, not letting her make contact.
“Jace,” she whines like the spoiled princess she is.
“Go home, Angie. We’re done. We’ve been done.”
I leave her in the hallway, entering the mens’ locker room and freeze. The lads stand just inside the room, watching me.
“How much did you hear?”
“The walls are apparently very thin,” Nik grunts.
I nod, ducking my head and walking over to my locker. Lawson steps up next to me and I glance over at him.
“Are you still sure about tomorrow?”
“Yes,” I say automatically.
Lily said to be honest and open.
So even though I’m riddled with nerves about tomorrow, I know I need to show Kinsley every part of me.
And pray that she proves everyone wrong.