13
EMERSYN
I replayed the footage. Amelia was the one who ran through the hospital doors first. She looked around the entrance in a panic, her movements stilted and unfinished. Gabe and Tyler followed next, a beaten and bloodied man dangling between them, limp and seemingly unconscious. Jake was nowhere to be seen. The blood made it hard to see the victim’s face, but I could see enough to know I didn’t recognize him.
Nurses rushed over to help. The man was bundled onto a stretcher and wheeled away. Tyler did most of the talking, although there was no sound on the footage, so I didn’t know what he said.
My eyes were fixed on Gabe. As soon as the man was on the stretcher, he stepped away from the others, chewing on his nails. His face was pale, and his eyes darted from person to person as though he expected one of them to suddenly pounce. It contradicted everything I knew about him. In the footage, he was scared, nervous, and unsure of himself. The Gabe I knew was none of those things.
It was startling to think Gabe knew what Jake had done.
Was he protecting his brother?
Did he think Jake had a decent reason for beating a man to a pulp?
Did a decent reason even exist?
The victim was severely fucked up. I needed to figure out who he was and how to obtain his medical records to know the extent of the damage Jake had inflicted. Surely someone would have reported it to the police. Surely the man himself would have tried to press charges. Unless he was scared. Unless Jake had threatened him with worse.
I’d woken that morning after Gabe and I had gone out for drinks, feeling like shit but also proud of the fact that I’d gone out for a few drinks and only had a few. It proved my belief that I’d never had a drinking problem; I had a Conrad problem. But now, it had been three days since I’d heard from Gabe. Three days since we’d sat opposite each other at the café, with me protesting the cost of the coffee and him cracking jokes. There was a part of me expecting—no, hoping—that he would randomly appear at my door again, asking me to go for another drive or if he could stay, but there was nothing. No phone call. No text. Nothing.
I knew that was what was expected from men like him. Even if he didn’t always come across that way, I knew he was nothing more than a pretty, arrogant, rich boy. That’s what I told myself whenever my thoughts wandered to him. Sometimes I found myself daydreaming about what could have happened when we woke that morning. There was something about Gabe that made me bold in ways I’d never been before. A thrill trembled over me when I straddled his chest and bent down to kiss his nose. For a moment, the vision of pressing my lips to his was so overwhelming, I almost did it. It wasn’t until the last second that I placed a peck on his nose instead. Even then, the heat between us still flared. When he took his shirt off, I didn’t even try to hide the way I stared at him.
And it was probably for the best that I hadn’t heard from him. I’d already fucked up with him by being a little too friendly, too flirty, too affectionate. I blamed the alcohol. It wouldn’t happen again.
That’s the reason I watched the footage over and over. I needed to concentrate on the purpose of this friendship with Gabe and not get distracted by the way his lips slowly twisted into a smirk or the smoothness of the muscles that formed his chest.
I lost count of how many times I pressed replay. I wasn’t even sure what I was hoping to find. I just watched it on repeat, hoping to discover some sort of clue as to who the man was or why Jake might have done it.
But even without all the details, I knew I was onto something; I just needed more to form the story. I was missing the personal connection, the part that attracted the reader to the narrative. ‘Man beats other man’ wasn’t a story. ‘Man beats man because…’ was.
Glancing at the time, I closed the laptop screen and grabbed my gym bag. It was time for my first session, as previously booked by Gabe. I wasn’t going to let him know I’d missed him despite only knowing him for days or that I’d lain in bed at night, listening for the roar of an engine. I also wouldn’t mention how I’d sat on the roof, watching the smoke from my joint curl into the air and thinking about how his lips had glistened that night.
Brittney had taken her car to work, and Tara wasn’t home, so I had to catch the bus. It got me to the gym a little earlier than my appointment, so I just sauntered in, making sure my eyes didn’t scan around for signs of Gabe.
Behind the reception was the same woman as last time.
“Hi! Emmy, wasn’t it?” She waved enthusiastically as I made my way over to the counter. “Great to see you back!” Her smile was still stretched wide but held a little less tension this time. “I forgot to introduce myself last time. I’m Liz.” She pointed to the badge on her uniform.. “If there’s anything you need or any questions you’ve got, feel free to let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them for you. I see Gabe has booked you in for a month’s free membership, you lucky thing.” She winked, and I wondered how many other women she’d said that exact thing to. “But today is just about seeing where you are fitness-wise and what you’d like to accomplish by joining us.” She grabbed a little card and tie and handed it to me. “This will give you access to all parts of the gym. The changing rooms are over there. Lockers are included, so just shove your bag in there and come out when you’re ready.”
Liz was so peppy it was exhausting just listening to her. I smiled and headed for the changing rooms, placing my bag into the locker and wrapping the key and tie around my wrist. I’d bought my own workout gear. It was skintight with long sleeves and long pants. Part of me wished I were bold enough to let my arms show. I didn’t want to be the girl ashamed of her scars. I wanted to be the girl who wore them proudly. But I wasn’t. And it wasn’t because of how they looked. It was because of what they represented.
“Ready?” Liz asked as soon as I appeared again. “Follow me, and I’ll take you to Jake.”
“Jake?” I repeated, surprised and a little deflated.
“Yes, he’s available today, so he’ll be taking you through your paces, so to speak. He’s a wonderful trainer. You’ll be happy with him.”
I quickened my pace to catch up with her. “I thought since Gabe was the one to give me the tour, he’d be the one taking the session?”
Liz consulted the device in her hand. “Hmmm, nope. Looks like Gabe was the one who booked you in with Jake.”
Then she gave me this look. This knowing look. Like she suspected the reason I wanted to see Gabe had nothing to do with working out. Well, not that sort of working out, anyway. I lifted my chin a little and stared directly back at her, challenging her assumption.
“Would you like to change?” she asked, finger poised over her device. “Gabe has a rather full schedule today, but I could arrange—”
“No, no. It’s fine. I’m sure Jake will be great.” I plastered on a grimaced smile that I hoped looked nonchalant. I should be happy I was assigned to Jake. That was the whole reason I came here in the first place.
“Oh, he is. He’s fantastic. And we’ve just added some group sessions, so if you’re interested, let me know. They were my idea,” she said proudly as she handed me a flyer. The colors were bright and cheerful, and for some reason, I envisioned Jake and Gabe dressed in fluorescent lycra, and I had to stifle a laugh. “We like to keep the sessions pretty small so everyone gets adequate attention, so if you’re interested, make sure you let me know, and I can book you in so you don’t miss out.” Once again, her smile blinded me. She must have recently gotten her teeth whitened; no one’s teeth were naturally that bright. “Here he is!” she exclaimed excitedly. No one had a personality that peppy naturally, but at least she wasn’t all stressed out like the first time. “Jake, I’d like you to meet Emmy. She’s joining us for a month to see if she likes the place, so go easy on her.” She reached out and placed her hand on Jake’s arm. He stared at it until she removed it, and she gave a nervous laugh before walking away.
“We’ve met, haven’t we?” Jake said as soon as she’d gone. “You dropped Gabe off the other day.”
“Nice of you to remember.”
Jake grunted. “I hope that doesn’t mean I need to talk to him about staff and client relations.”
I laughed. “No need to worry. We’re just friends. He’s been a perfect gentleman.”
“Gentleman? Doesn’t sound like him.”
I laughed, but there was no humor in his tone. He turned and walked over to a mat on the floor, indicating I should follow. “We’ll get straight into it, shall we? First, I’ll ask you a few questions, and then we’ll test your mobility, fitness, and strength to see where you’re at.”
“Sounds scary,” I joked.
Jake lifted a brow. “It’s not,” he said deadpan. He picked up a discarded device from the floor. “I hate these things,” he muttered as he tapped on the screen. “Here we go. Right. First of all, what do you hope to gain from joining us? What are your goals?”
I shrugged. “Not sure, to be perfectly honest. Just to be a little healthier, I guess. I don’t do much—desk job.” I nodded down at my body as if he could tell merely from the way I presented myself.
Jake tapped away on the screen. His brows bunched together in frustration. He was a gorgeous-looking man, if you liked the caveman-meets-Viking sort of thing. I don’t think I’d ever met a man with quite so much hair. It dangled down his back in luscious curls, even though it was tied back. His beard was clipped short again now, though. I wondered if that was at Amelia’s request. A flash of how itchy the beard would feel between my thighs streaked across my mind, and instantly heat rose to my cheeks, but Jake was too busy scowling at the screen to notice. He was wearing a singlet top, and his biceps, forearms, and chest were covered in tattoos and dotted with scars. I tried to study him discreetly to see if there were any symbols or signs I recognized, but it was almost too detailed to make out what they were.
“Okay, so you want to be healthier. Anything else?”
“I guess I could do with losing a little weight.”
Jake’s eyes scanned over me, registering his disbelief. “We don’t do that here.”
“You don’t do weight loss?”
“We regard it as a symptom, not a goal.”
“Right,” I said slowly, letting my eyes roam to the people at the gym. All of them looked like they came from the pages of a fitness magazine. But if Jake noticed the irony, he didn’t say anything. “Okay then, fitness,” I said. “I guess I want to improve my fitness.”
Jake tapped something down on the screen again. “For any particular purpose?”
I was confused. “To get fitter?”
Jake looked up. “You’re not training for a marathon or anything?”
“Sure,” I said. “Running.”
“Just running in general?”
“Yup, running. I don’t own a car, so it would come in handy.”
Jake's mouth twitched. It was the first sign of warmth I’d seen from him.
After answering all his questions, he took me around the gym, showing me the surprisingly sparse equipment once again and occasionally getting me to use it. Then he made me jog around the block with him to assess my running style. Apparently, they didn’t have treadmills. He didn’t talk much, preferring to concentrate on the session rather than engage in idle chatter. He didn’t seem like someone who would randomly beat another man within an inch of his life. He was intimidating, sure, but not threatening—at least, not to me.
By the time we finished, I was covered in sweat, breathing heavily, and regretting my choice of workout gear. Jake told me he would come up with a training plan, review it during my next appointment, and then we’d take it from there. He encouraged me to join some group sessions, as they would improve my overall fitness for running. His mouth twitched when he mentioned the word ‘running’. It was almost a second smile.
I showered in the changing rooms and changed into clean clothes. Even though it was winter, the day was warm, with the sun out in full force. Well, it was before I came to the gym. No doubt it had set by now and would be cold.
When I came back out into the foyer area, Gabe was leaning against the counter as if he was waiting for me. I grinned when I saw him. I couldn’t help it.
“Hey you, how’d it go?” he asked, his mouth curving up at the corners.
“I thought you were going to take me?” I pouted exaggeratedly.
“Me? You specifically asked for Jake for the tour. I just assumed you wanted him as a trainer. Besides, I thought it might be a little strange for you now that we’re ‘friends’.” He put air quotes around the word ‘friends’ as he pulled himself away from the counter. His hair was tied into a messy, lopsided ponytail at the base of his neck. He was wearing the B.R.A.W.N. singlet top and shorts. “I’ve just finished my shift for the day. What are you up to?”
I lifted my chin. “I’ll have to consult my diary.”
“Oh, like that is it?” he chuckled. “Sorry I haven’t been in touch. I had a couple of mates visit unexpectedly. We’re actually just about to head out to shoot some pool. Wanna come?”
“You mean a game of pool, don’t you? I don’t think I could handle swimming right now. Your brother is somewhat of a taskmaster.”
“Weren’t you only doing the assessment session?”
“Yup.”
“Right.” He drew the word out and laughed. “So, you coming?”
“Sure.” I shrugged, trying to appear blasé about the situation.
“You want to tag along with me, or did you steal Brittney’s car again?”
“It’s not stealing if she knows who has it.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s still stealing. It’s the permission that counts.”
“Pfft. What would you know?” I replied as I followed him out the door.
“Stop your yapping and come along with me, friend,” he said pointedly.
I trotted after him, knowing I needed to set some boundaries. Things got a little too personal for my taste last time, and it couldn’t happen again. “Okay, but if we’re going to be friends, we need some rules.”
He lifted that one brow. “Rules?”
“No flirting,” I listed.
“Impossible,” was his reply.
“No making moves,” I continued.
“Define moves,” he said, unlocking the car and opening the door for me.
I sat down and looked up at him. “Everything.”
He slammed the door shut and hopped into the driver’s seat. “Everything?”
“Anything,” I clarified.
“Anything?”
“Anything I say it is.”
“That’s hardly fair. Can I challenge a ruling?”
“A ruling?”
“Like if you insist that I’m making a move, can I challenge the assumption that it was a move?”
I rolled my eyes. “Why do you even want to hang out with me?”
He shrugged as he turned the ignition. “It’s nice to be with someone who knows nothing about me—well, other than what I’ve already told you, obviously. And besides, I just like being around you. Is that so bad?”
I felt like shit. “But I read all those things online,” I reminded him quietly, the guilt eating at my insides.
“Only rumors,” he insisted. “You can’t always believe rumors.”
I needed to change the subject. “And definitely no nakedness.” I returned to our previous conversation about outlining the so-called rules of our friendship, knowing full well I was playing with fire.
“Why not? I thought you weren’t attracted to me, so what would it matter if I took my shirt off?”
I had no answer to that, so I let out a strange ‘pffftt’ sound. “Just drive, okay?”