Home > Can't Fight It(5)

Can't Fight It(5)
Author: Kaylee Ryan

“Don’t worry about it. I got ya covered. Consider it a housewarming gift. For both of you,” Chase says, giving me a warm smile. It’s actually a quite nice smile. Sexy, even. I imagine that smile gets him out of any trouble he may find himself in, especially with his wife.

She enters the kitchen. “Food. I smell food,” she says as she lifts the first pizza box lid and inhales the cheesy goodness. “Oh my God, that smells so freaking good.” Then, she pulls a slice of mushroom pizza out of the box and shovels a third of it into her mouth. “Mmmgrrrmm,” she mumbles while chewing.

“What’s that, baby? I couldn’t hear you over your pizza inhalation. Did you even taste that?” Chase teases, coming over and placing his big hand on her small belly.

“Fuck off, Callahan. Baby needs pizza,” she says, drawing out that last word, before taking another massive bite.

“Come on, Hollis, let’s get you a slice or two of pizza before the pregnant lady eats it all,” Colton says, humor in every word.

“Watch it, older Callahan. Be nice, or I’ll eat you,” Gabby chastises, finishing off her first piece.

Colton grabs me a paper plate and waves me on, all while extracting a loud burp from his son. “That’s my boy,” Chase says proudly, then seems to stop. Something passes between the brothers that I can’t decipher, but the moment passes quickly. Chase grabs a plate of pizza and goes to sit next to his wife on the couch.

I follow and take the floor, trying to stay off to the side and out of the way. Not that I’m really in the way, but you know what I mean. I’m the outcast here, the outsider who doesn’t know any of the people in her company. A few minutes later, Colton comes into the living room and lays Milo down on a blanket he stretched out in the middle of the floor. The little guy starts kicking and waving his arms, wiggling from side to side and kicking his leg to the side.

“You know, it won’t be long until he’s rolling over,” Gabby says between bites.

Colton, who returned to the kitchen to grab a plate of food, says, “Hard to believe we’re already approaching that milestone. Seems like just yesterday he was getting up every two hours and making sure I never had a moment’s alone time to shower.”

Chase snorts. “No shit. He was damn good at pulling the ‘scream until you picked him up’ card.”

“It’s better now though, right?” Gabby asks.

“Much better. He’s getting up once, maybe twice a night now. And he loves that stupid singing bear, so as long as my shower is under ten minutes, I can usually get it done before the bear shuts off and he vocalizes his disappointment,” Colton says, taking a seat on the floor beside his son.

Nibbling on my slice of pizza, I have to concentrate on not inhaling my food. It’s been a long day on the road, and since I spent a big part of my travel money on gas, I kept my food to a bare minimum. I have the basic furniture to get yet, and with paying first and last month’s rent and only two jobs on the horizon, I need to make sure I stick to my budget.

“So, Hollis, what do you do?” Gabby asks, starting on her second piece.

I glance up and find three sets of eyes on me. I shift in my place on the floor, hating having all the attention on me. “Umm, I design websites mostly, but also some graphic design like logos and business graphics.”

“Oh, cool,” she says, leaning forward. “Websites, huh? Interesting…”

Chase looks at his wife and smiles. “I already know what you’re thinking.”

“Didn’t I just tell Harrison he needed an updated website?” She turns back my way and says, “The one we have now is not user-friendly. I’d really like to have a page we can keep updated with our calendar. We’ve been adding all sorts of special classes, and it would be nice to have them all displayed in one place. You know?”

“Absolutely. A good website can be a very effective marketing tool. If you constantly keep it updated, you will train your customers to look there for information.”

Gabby’s already nodding. “Totally. And you do logo design? We have four locations now, and I’d love to incorporate each location with the image.”

“What kind of business is this?” I ask, my design brain already starting to sort and file ideas.

“Oh, sorry. So, my brother-in-law, Harrison, and my sister, Gwen, own All Fit, a local fitness center, which specializes in personal training and fitness classes. Chase is the manager and his right hand. They started the first location together several years ago.”

“Cool. I designed a website for a national chain gym last year. You could always check that out for a reference,” I tell her, feeling a little weird about pimping a job mere hours after meeting these people. But hey, a girl’s gotta eat, right?

“Which gym?” Chase asks, hanging on our every word.

“Family Fitness.”

Chase whistles low and gives an appreciative nod. “They’re everywhere. That’s a pretty big corporation. You must be pretty good.”

I just shrug. I’ve done a lot of websites for a lot of companies. I love creating, giving them their own unique space to sell their product or services, to tell a story about their business, or even create a place of togetherness and solace, and many of them have come back for updates or redesigns. I’ve come a long way in the last few years, slowly but surely building a name for myself, site by site.

“I’m the office manager, and I’d like to talk to you soon about a possible design,” Gabby says. “Do you have a card or something? I mean, it’s not like I don’t know where you live or anything, but it might be easier to give you a quick buzz than just stopping by unannounced.”

“Yeah, I’ll leave you my card. It has my cell and email on it.”

“Awesome,” Gabby says, a wide smile on her face. She turns to Colton and adds, “This might be a great way to start promoting your new classes.”

Colton lifts his shoulders. “Whatever you think, Gabs.”

She rolls her eyes and turns back my way. “Colton is our newest trainer, and he’s starting a self-defense class for women. We’ve already had about ten ladies sign up at the gym.”

“That’s probably because he’s a Callahan,” Chase adds with a smile. “It’s a curse.”

Gabby snorts and rolls her eyes. “Be careful or you’ll trip over that ego.”

“The only thing I trip over is my large—”

“Stop talking right now, Callahan,” Gabby interrupts, holding her hand up in the universal stop sign.

“No shit, Teeny,” Colton mumbles, eating a little food, while still entertaining his son.

“Teeny? What the f—hell? I was defending you, and now you’re jumping on her side?” he says to his brother. I can’t help but smile at their goodhearted banter. You can tell the brothers are close.

“First off, she writes my paycheck,” Colton replies.

“So? I never told Dad about the Penthouse magazine I found hidden in your room when you were thirteen,” Chase says, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

Now it’s Colton’s turn to roll his eyes. “That’s because you were looking too. Don’t pretend you weren’t.”

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