Chapter 3
Kari
I spend the next few days avoiding kitchen table wedding talk, submitting applications to jobs I do not want, but need, and pouring through hours and hours of workout videos.
Darby checks in several times a day. Her texts always chipper, but I can’t help but notice a thread of sadness. I get it. I was lonely in Chicago before she moved out there. Now that I’m back home, she’s in the same boat I was.
I’ve tried to cheer her up by telling her about the Fans Only videos I’m watching, but at this point, I think she thinks I’m infatuated with him. Which I am, but not really. It’s one thing to appreciate a person’s perfect body, another to want to have his babies. Which is out of the question.
I try not to obsess over the faceless man on the screen, but I’m starting to catch on, following a few easy exercises I can do on the floor of Dad’s office… squats and easy lifting using canned goods for weights. A girl’s gotta start somewhere.
But when the videos focus on machines and equipment I can’t replicate at home, I find myself studying him from every angle he allows.
But I still can’t shake the feeling that I know this place.
Maybe I want out of my parents’ house so badly, I’ve become delusional.
But I swear the equipment and mirrors are exactly like the ones at Savannah Harbor.
It’s ridiculous, I know. But the feeling won’t let go.
I don’t just recognize it, I feel it. In my bones. In the back of my throat. Like a word I can almost remember but not quite say out loud.
By the third night, my curiosity is piqued and frustration wins.
I grab my hoodie and keys and drive back to the apartment complex, my heart racing the entire way. I just need confirmation. Proof I’m not losing my mind. And maybe I can figure out that glute ham thingy machine while I’m at it.
I let myself in through the pool gate, pull my hoodie closer around my neck, and try the door handle to the gym. The doors are still open when I slip inside, just before closing. The gym lights glow softly, welcoming and quiet.
I head straight for a bench and open my phone, pulling up the bookmarked videos again. I compare the background to the room around me trying to figure out the angle of the camera and where it’s coming from.
I walk around, propping my phone on every surface I can think of, then flip back to the videos trying to get a match. And then I find it, and my stomach flips.
This room is the same. What are the chances I’d stumble upon a Fans Only page that’s filmed in this very spot.
“Excuse me?” The voice slices through the silence like a needle skittering across a scratched record.
I whirl around.
The leasing agent stands just inside the door, eyes darting around the empty gym. Her pleasant smile is gone.
“Who let you in here?” she asks. “This space is for residents only.”
Heat floods my face. I’ve never been good at lying, but if it’ll keep me out of trouble, now’s a good time to start.
“Oh, I’m not…,” I stammer. “I’m… waiting for someone.”
Her brow arches. “Who?”
My brain short-circuits.
“My… my… boyfriend,” I blurt. “He lives here. I swear he’s on his way. Just running late.”
The door opens again. I don’t look. I can’t. It’s mortifying enough that she’s caught me. I don’t need the humiliation of a crowd.
She crosses her arms, clearly unconvinced. “And does this boyfriend of yours have a name?”
My heart pounds so loudly I’m sure they can both hear it.
“Grey.” The footsteps and a familiar voice that darn near makes my heart stop. “Sorry I’m late.”
I turn, and time stills.
Grey stands in the doorway, gym bag slung over his shoulder, confusion etched across his face. He looks between me and the leasing agent, clearly trying to piece together whatever the hell is happening.
My survival instincts kick in. I rush to his side like it’s the most natural thing in the world, grab his arm, and smile nervously.
“There you are, baby.” I say, breathless.
The leasing agent’s gaze sharpens. “This is your girlfriend?”
Grey eyes me for a split second, like he’s trying to read my mind. And just as quickly he wraps his arm around my waist. He pulls me closer, committing to the charade.
“Of course. Who else would it be?”
I tip up on my toes before I can overthink it and press a quick kiss to his cheek.
“Hey, baby,” I say, voice shaking. “I was beginning to worry.”
Grey stiffens for half a second—just enough for me to notice, but hopefully not enough that the leasing agent does. When he relaxes, a sly grin slips across his lips.
“Traffic,” he says smoothly. “Got held up.”
The leasing agent studies us for another tense beat before resuming her lecture. “Residents are required to accompany guests on the property at all times. That includes the pool, gym, laundry facilities…. Everywhere.”
“Got it. Everywhere,” Grey says as he pulls me closer to his body. His quick reaction surprises me, and I let out a soft squeak which only seems to embolden him. “Won’t happen again. Will it… baby?”
Silence engulfs us as we exchange looks, neither of us moving an inch. Heat swells in my belly, bursting outward until my ears ring and my throat clamps shut.
All the squishy parts I hide beneath oversized hoodies and body cinching spandex sink into all his hard parts.
Every ounce of me wants to melt into his arms, but it’s Grey.
Darby’s brother. The guy who’s seen the worst parts of me from childhood tantrums to middle school acne.
I’m surprised he isn’t repulsed. But he doesn’t flinch, doesn’t seem to mind, just keeps me in his grip.
I hold on for dear life while my insides light up like midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Convinced, the leasing agent leaves, her heels click sharply against the floor. I swear I don’t breathe until the door shuts behind her. But then, the real problem begins. Explaining this to Grey. A difficult task with my heart stuck in my throat, and my body locked to him.
My pulse roars in my ears. “Well,” I say weakly. “Hi… boyfriend.”
Grey
The leasing agent shuts the door, and the first thing I think about is Kari’s lips on my skin and her body, warm and soft against mine. Where she belongs.
Her chaste kiss should’ve been nothing. A performance to check off a box so we could both walk away. But it wasn’t nothing.
Not when I’ve wanted that and so much more for so damn long.
Coming across Kelly’s engagement post and scrolling through years of photos documenting Kari’s life only stirred the pot.
All the feelings I’ve kept to myself came rushing back like nothing’s changed.
But we’re both older, hopefully wiser, and damn, if that doesn’t rattle me.
My brain tries to shift gears to what I planned to film tonight, but those plans are shattered. For now. There’s no way I can explain this to her. Not now. Probably not ever.
What would she think if she knew about my Fans page? Would she think I’m shallow performing for strangers? Would she laugh? Tease me the way she used to, always trying to get a rise out of me, always winning?
We were brutal as kids. Competitive. Smart-mouthed. Always trying to one-up each other.
Some secrets are better kept hidden.
She squirms like she’s suddenly realized this is a bad idea.
But I tighten my arm around her. Because I’m not the only one with a secret.
She’s hiding something, too. If the present is anything like the past, things could go sideways fast. Kari and Darby always had a knack for finding trouble. And I always bailed them out.
“Hi, yourself.” I dip my head, closer to hers. A bad idea I realize too late, when she sucks in a breath and swallows hard. But I need answers… now. “You wanna tell me what that was all about?” I cock an eyebrow just enough to let her know I’m not joking around. “Girlfriend.”
Whatever trouble Kari’s gotten herself into this time—I’m already in it with her.