Chapter 29
KAEDE
“Have a seat, AJ.”
He nods, pulling a chair out from the table and sitting down carefully. It still creaks beneath his weight. “What’s up, guys?”
“We wanted to talk with you about some things, get your feedback and insight,” I say carefully.
I supervise the training staff, so this is my show, though Ross is sitting by in support. Especially if it turns out that AJ is actually in on the deal with Missy. Not for my protection but for AJ’s. He might be a big fucker, but I don’t take betrayal lightly. Or sitting down.
AJ smiles easily, totally relaxed. “Sure, the strongman competition? Man, the guys really kicked ass. I was thinking maybe we could make it a regular thing, you know? Really get some good times rollin’.”
I blink and stare at him blankly, using the silent treatment method to get him to fill the space with whatever it is he wants to say. Sometimes, it’s the best way to get information you don’t have or confirm what you already know.
“The guys all thought it went great. I did too. Awesome showcase, ran smooth, the winner was ecstatic and already used his massage gift certificate.” He switches from a professional tone to total bro. “And you were a beast! Tore up that demo with your truck pull. Epic work, man!”
He half-lifts out of the chair to hold a hand across the table for a high-five that I don’t return. For the first time, he realizes something’s wrong.
He sinks back down. “All right, hit me with it. What’s really up?”
“Talk to me about Missy Tillman,” I say evenly.
“Twenty-six, female, reports that her goal is increased flexibility and lean muscle. Tends to work inefficiently, so she has to be encouraged to stay on task with proper form.” He might as well be reading from the notes he keeps on each member who sees him for a training session.
“Very professional. Now give me the real deal,” I prompt.
AJ looks from me to Ross, uneasy and hesitating. He folds his hands, thick fingers woven into each other as he rests his arms on the table. “Permission to speak freely?” he asks.
I dip my chin, welcoming whatever he wants to say.
“I don’t think it’s news to anyone that she’s had her sights on you hardcore,” he tells me.
“Her early sessions were mostly built around her posing and sexing it up for you, no matter what I prompted her to do. Have you heard the joke about women in bed? When you’re spooning and they poke their butt into your crotch, they’re totally cueing you that they want the D.
That was Missy, all the time. Sticking her ass out at you. But you never paid any attention.”
That makes perfect sense and honestly coincides with what I saw too. Every walkthrough would be the same, Missy half-dressed and making eyes at me from across the room while flashing her ass or her pussy my way.
“You said that was her early sessions. What about more recently?”
AJ nods. “She’s better . . . and not. She seems more serious, has been taking the workouts more seriously, at least in some ways.” He holds his hand flat, waving it back and forth. “Well, sorta. She’s not doing more, but she has asked more questions and shown interest, at least.”
I’m having a hard time imagining Missy being interested in anything besides herself. “Like what?”
“Form cues, how I got started as a trainer, what gyms I’ve worked at and why I like One Life more.
At first, I thought she was changing her aim, switching from you over to me because the woman’s a mega-flirt.
But let’s be serious. Even when I date, no one wants to hear me waxing poetic about macros and effective training methodologies. Women don’t date me for my brain.”
He sounds disappointed by that, and I wonder for a moment if perhaps he and Missy bonded over people underestimating them.
But he allays that fear quickly. “My guess was that she was changing approaches and getting info to prepare for a fresh, incoming attack—chatting you up about your interest. The gym.”
“Was?” Ross interjects. “That was your guess?”
AJ looks confused, brows knitting together. “Well, yeah. I figure she’s shit outta luck since you’re engaged now. Congratulations, by the way. Courtney’s awesome.”
“Thanks. I happen to agree.” I sigh, leaning back in my chair.
I’m not correcting him about the engagement. It’s not the crux of the matter at hand. I’ve done the tap-dancing approach, maybe not as well as Ross, but I’m ready to follow Mom’s advice too . . . shit or get off the pot.
I speak very directly, watching AJ’s reaction carefully. “It’s too bad you won’t be here for the wedding. Seeing as you and Missy will have moved on to Charlotte.”
AJ’s eyes go wide and he looks completely confused before he starts laughing. “What the hell? Why would I go anywhere with that barracuda? I like my dick where it is, and Kayla would castrate me without a second’s thought.”
“Kayla?” Ross asks.
AJ blushes, actually turns pink across his cheeks and at the tops of his ears. He stutters, “Well, we haven’t told anyone exactly, but Kayla and me . . . we’re dating. It’s not against the employee code. I checked.”
That is no surprise at all, given that they’ve been dancing around each other for ages. But now I owe Court two hundred bucks. I bet that it would be another month before they finally admitted it publicly.
“It’s not, but we’ll want to talk to Kayla too,” I clarify. Ross and I aren’t business newbs. We know that workplace relationships happen, but there are ways to mitigate the risk of their imploding and taking the company culture with them.
However, if AJ is dating Kayla, and not only doesn’t have interest in Missy but seems to actively dislike her, there are already some holes in Missy’s story. I’m not hearing ‘he loves me’ or ‘he’s my lapdog’ in anything from AJ.
AJ nods but then holds up a hand. “But wait, what’s the deal with Missy? Why would I be in Charlotte with her, of all people? Oh, fuck, are you sending me there for the new location?” He cringes. “Sorry for the F-bomb.”
“That’s the least of our concerns,” I tell him, blowing off the curse. Trust me, I’ve done way worse over the last few days. “Do you know who Missy’s father is?”
AJ nods his head, his voice strangled. “Yeah, I figured that out pretty quickly on Saturday when she was helping with the event. Only reason she’d do that is if she’s a lackey for the investor guy, Sanders.
Never put it together before because they don’t have the same name and don’t really look alike, but it was obvious then. ”
He looks from Ross to me in concern. “So, is she going to open the next location of One Life? If that permission to speak freely still stands, can I tell you that I personally think that’s a shitty idea?
She doesn’t know her ass from her elbow, and other than guys thinking she’d be down to fuck in some crazy positions because of her flexibility, nobody actually likes her. She’s a snotty bitch . . . uhm, brat.”
I am so relieved. I truly believe AJ, but I need one more push to truly make it a touchdown.
“So to clarify, you have no personal or professional relationship with Missy Tillman, nor any plans to duplicate One Life Gym without Ross or me with her or on your own?” I point to the camera in the corner of the room, the threat of ‘I will hold this against you when I sue the shit out you’ heavily implied.
AJ stands up, his voice forceful as he places his palms on the table and leans in.
“Absolutely not. I love One Life and you guys. This is my dream gig. And Missy’s .
. . well, Missy.” He makes a face of disgust. “Did she say that? That I was defecting and going in with her on some competing gym? If so, she’s certifiable, man. No way, no how.”
I meet Ross’s eyes and he blinks once. Not so much a secret code between the two of us but simply a shorthand that we understand each other and are on the same page.
“Sit down, AJ.” He’s panting, fury and fear mixing in his veins, but he does as I say. “We believe you.”
“Thank fuck,” he says under his breath.
“But I’d like to remind you that your contract with One Life has a strict non-compete clause,” Ross adds.
AJ nods. “I hear ya, but no need. I know what I have here, and I appreciate everything you’re doing with One Life. This is my home, and I won’t do anything to fuck that up.”
“Thanks, AJ. You can get back on the floor. Take a few if you need it.”
He shakes his head. “Yeah, think I’ll go hit the heavy bag for a few. I’ll be around later if you still want to do your session. We’ve got a five o’clock today.”
Bro code for ‘are we okay?’
I nod, knowing AJ might be throwing in a few extra pounds or reps just to get his own dig back. “I’ll see you then, man.”
Bro code for ‘yeah, we’re good.’
AJ gets up, the chair creaking loudly again, and leaves. Ross and I look at each other and smile. “Thank God he wasn’t in on it. I really didn’t want to lose him.”
Ross laughs. “You’re just scared to fire him. He’s a fucking brick shithouse of a guy. What’s he got, like a fifty-inch chest?”
I shrug. I haven’t measured. “All I know is Kayla is five feet in her bare feet, but I’m way more scared of her than I am of AJ. Bet he’d say the same, so I do not envy his telling Kayla about what Missy said. He’ll get enough of a workout holding that firecracker back from going murderous.”
“You going to talk to her about their relationship?”
I hold up my iPad, knowing that it’ll be a lot . . . stranger than this meeting. “Already added it to my schedule and sent her a meeting request.”
He rolls his eyes, back in Ross mode. “Of course you have. You ready to do the lunch walkthrough? I saw Gus coming in and I want to pick his brain about baby monitors.”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
For the next few days, we’re getting everything straightened out, bit by bit. The paperwork has already been drawn up by the lawyer, and we sent it, along with the check, to Jeffrey. We’re expecting the signed version of the termination contract back soon.
Missy is no longer welcome at One Life, and whatever fallout she has with Jeffrey is hers to deal with.
From what I hear, she instantly became persona non grata at all his companies.
I’m sure he’ll still pay her bills because a Dad doesn’t change his spots, but while she wanted freedom, it’s going to be a lot tougher than she thought now that Jeffrey is unwound from her little finger.
It’s not the full punishment I would’ve handed down myself, for either of them, but I’m moving past it, putting Missy and Jeffrey in the rearview mirror as Ross and I look forward to our future.
And we get to keep AJ, which I’m thankful for, even if it did cost me two hundred bucks.
Just one last thing to do . . .