Chapter 2 #2
Emmy thinks you're doing great! His rabbit, always happy for positive reinforcement, bounced right back to its 'rah-rah-Luke!
' mode. If he wasn't used to it, Luke would probably get whiplash from the rabbit's highs and lows.
He looked back at Sabrina and shook his head.
"Definitely not interrupting my workout.
Hadn't even gotten started yet. Might even skip it, since I hear I'm heading to Vegas this weekend myself. "
"Oh, God." Sabrina put a hand over her face, visibly mortified. "No, no, no. We were doing so well! Emmy! This is your fault!"
Emmy said, "Guilty!" in the least-guilty, most-cheerful voice Luke had ever heard.
"We were doing well, weren't we?" Luke asked Sabrina with a grin. "Look, honestly, I really did just get back home and I don't have anything specific planned until I re-schedule clients, so if you're in a bind, I'll help you out. Even if my sister is a weirdo for suggesting it."
"Clients? She is a weirdo," Sabrina said with a glare she clearly didn't mean aimed at Emmy.
"Clients. I'm a physical trainer."
Sabrina's gaze bounced back and raked him up and down. "Of course you are. No, really, it's much too weird—"
"I'll book a separate room," Luke promised, and Sabrina laughed out loud, a great big bark of sound.
He liked that she was noisy. He was also wearing gym shorts and absolutely under no circumstances should think about other situations she might be that noisy in.
And now he couldn't think of anything else.
Football games? his rabbit enquired curiously. It didn't understand football at all, but was aware people made a lot of noise at them.
Luke choked on a laugh. Football games, yes. He clung to that idea, hoping it would keep his gym shorts in place. To Sabrina, he said, "What's so funny?" although he had his suspicions.
"I'm thirty-three years old," she said. "None of my girls are going to believe I'm sleeping in a separate hotel room from my boyfriend."
"You could tell them we're waiting?"
Her gaze raked him again, this time with heated appraisal that didn't help the gym shorts situation at all. When she met his eyes, her mouth and tone were both dry and wry. "No one would believe that."
Luke felt his ears go hot, always a sure warning sign that he was about to blush over every visible surface of his body.
Sure enough, a couple seconds later he was scalding hot to his collarbones, and the worst part was, they were in a gym.
There were mirrors everywhere. It was actually possible for him to see that his shoulders were turning red.
He tried very hard not to look, but it was visible even from the corners of his eyes.
He mumbled something, not sure if he should be saying 'thank you' or not, and fastened his gaze on his feet, waiting for the blush to fade.
Sabrina, in gently awed astonishment, said, "Wow. I don't think I've ever seen someone's ankles blush before." He could just barely see her lean to the side, looking around him toward his sister. "So he doesn't take compliments well?"
Emmy, who was really a very good sister, said, "You could say that," with kind-hearted rue. "I don't know why. It's not like he doesn't work super hard to keep in that kind of shape, but he's always been mortified when people notice."
Luke was fairly certain he was going to go down in history as a case of genuine spontaneous combustion. The entire gym would see him go up in flames without any external source of ignition. Attention still on his toes, he mumbled, "I don't do it for compliments."
"I know," Emmy said fondly. "You're just a weirdo who really likes exercise. He does," she added to Sabrina. "I have to drag my fluffy butt to the gym every day but he's always been one of those bounce out of bed and go for a run types."
"Oh, God," Sabrina said in mild, amused horror. "All right, fine, you can come to Vegas with me, because this is clearly never going to work anyway. A morning exerciser, that's just uncivilized. I'll show you off and then we can have a messy breakup."
His bunny's horror was much more acute than Sabrina's. What? But—no! She can't—no! It can't work that way! What is she saying? We're mates! It will work out! That's how fate works! Explain it to her! Quick, before she breaks up with us! Oh, God! What are we going to do!?!?!?
Luke didn't have it in him to reassure the rabbit just then.
He glanced up, finding Sabrina smiling crookedly at him, and felt his blush begin to fade.
Usually people tried to reassure him or compliment him more when he got blushy and tongue-tangled, which was the worst possible thing they could do.
Sabrina's gentle, wry humor was much more helpful in allowing him to get through it.
"If you want I can insist you get up to join me in the hotel gym every morning. "
She laughed aloud again, that same great big sound he already adored. "My girls are likely to have me up until four or five every morning, you get that, right?"
"Perfect reason to break up with me, then," Luke said hoarsely.
His rabbit's eyes rolled back and it fainted.