But that’d been all that I’d gotten out of Google.
The man was a ghost other than that. He didn’t have social media. He didn’t even have a business page.
There was no Yelp. No Google showing me his place of business or hours.
Hell, I couldn’t even find him on his old Myspace page anymore—and I know that he used to be there because I’d been one of his top friends, and him mine.
We’d been twelve and thought the world couldn’t touch us.
Oh, how wrong we were.
“Well,” Madden said, bringing me back to the present. “If you need accommodations…”
“I’ve already spoken with my doctor, as well as a trained prenatal coach,” I said. “If I need accommodations, then I’ll follow the guidelines for sure.”
Madden grinned and clapped his hands. “Everyone gather around the board. Let’s go over this awful workout.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was standing underneath a rope, staring up at it, wondering if this was a good idea.
I hadn’t done rope climbs in months. Definitely not since I’d gotten pregnant.
Technically, everything should still be exactly the same, climbing wise. My belly wasn’t big enough yet to be a hindrance.
I held onto the rope with both hands and was about to launch myself to get a good grasp higher up when I felt his presence.
“Should you be doing rope climbs?” he asked.
I felt my eye twitch.
“Should you be over here worrying about me instead of on your rope doing your own freakin’ workout?” I wondered.
Murphy sighed. “That’s not what…”
I climbed the rope just so I could dismiss him.
It wasn’t the same as I’d done it last, but it definitely wasn’t something I couldn’t do.
Yet, when I came back down, jarring a bit harder than I’d intended to due to his closeness, he scowled.
“You need to control your descent better,” he urged.
I snapped. “You need to control your annoyance!”
That was the best comeback you could think of, Mavis? Really?
I felt my face flush at the complete inadequacy at my comeback and narrowed my eyes when his lips twitched.
Instead of answering with his own comeback, he walked away, heading to his water that was in a gallon jug on the side of the room.
Sadly, when I’d set my own down, it’d been right next to his.
Dammit.
I waited until he took his water over to where he was set up before hurrying over to mine.
“Bathroom break and prayer time,” Madden yelled.
I snorted at his ‘prayer time’ and headed to the bathroom, hurrying through seeing as there were only two stalls in the women’s, and at least eight women in line to use it.
I smiled at Alma who took my stall.
“You know the new guy, Mavis?” Alma asked as I washed my hands.
“No,” I paused. “Yes. Kind of. We knew each other from way back when. His mother used to be a cook and maid at my grandmother’s estate when I was growing up. Her and her son, Murphy, lived in a house on the backside of our property before my grandmother showed her true colors and fired her.”
Alma made a sound of disgust—everyone knew I was a Pope, and they also knew my grandmother was a shithead—and flushed before moving to allow another chick into her stall.
I didn’t know her, but I did notice the look of interest on her face.
Alma washed her hands while I toweled mine off.
“He doesn’t look like he likes you,” she said.
I shrugged. “It doesn’t seem like it.”
Back outside, I went to my spot just as Madden came up to me and said, “How many more are in the bathroom?”
I looked up at him and answered as my eyes caught on Murphy’s across the room.
His eyes were on Madden’s closeness, and I twisted so that I couldn’t see over Madden’s shoulder—which in turn made me appear to be moving into Madden.
I wasn’t.
Though Madden was hot, he was just not the kind of guy that I was into.
Then again, there was no type of guy—at least I hadn’t thought there was until I saw Murphy—that I was into now that I was pregnant. I was officially off guys.
After taking my explanation to how many girls were in the bathroom, he patted my shoulder and moved away, heading toward the rolling white board that had the workout explained on it.
Once everyone was back in the room, we moved and gathered the last remaining things we would need in the workout—thank God the ropes were only for the warmup—and got started.
Alma was correct.
The workout was a beast. It’s official name was Hansen, which ended up being five rounds for time of thirty kettle bell swings at a weight I was no longer allowed to do, thirty burpees, and thirty knee raises on the bar in substitute for the GHD sit-ups—a type of sit-up that you did on a fancy machine that literally made you sore for a week straight.
Being pregnant was hard, because I hadn’t had to scale my workouts since I’d joined the CrossFit gym four years ago. Granted, not scaling didn’t mean that I was the best in the gym, but it also meant that I had a leg up on any newbies that walked through the door.
Backstepping was hard. Especially when I had to work out next to Murphy who obviously had done CrossFit for some time himself.
How did I end up getting so close to him?
And why did I continue to get watched like a hawk despite him having his own workout to focus on?
By the end of the workout, I was working out directly in front of Murphy.
And it wasn’t like only he moved.
We’d both somehow been jostled aside enough that we ended up working out straight across from each other.
I got to watch the sweat trickle down his chest as he slayed the workout.
And he sat down on the bench when he was done and watched me until I finished mine.
By the time that I was done, I never wanted to work out again.
“Told you so,” Alma teased as she collapsed on the floor beside me.
I rolled my eyes. “I know you did. I should’ve listened. Now I’m going to smell awful the rest of the day. Man, Madden really needs to put in a shower here.”
I felt more than saw Murphy move closer, and reluctantly turned to give him my attention.
“You can shower at my shop,” Murphy offered.
I would’ve immediately said no, but I was prone to UTIs with this pregnancy—Goddamn did they suck big donkey balls—and keeping things clean and fresh were a great way to make sure that I didn’t get another one.
And I was not going to turn down the chance at a shower and smelling good the rest of the day after that particular workout.
CHAPTER 3
Things I like to lift:
1. Weights
2. A fork
-Text from Mavis to Murphy
MURPHY
As I rode my motorcycle into the forecourt of the shop, I wondered again, for the thousandth time, why the hell I’d offered Mavis a shower at my shop.
I parked and got off my bike, then headed to the front door without waiting for the woman that’d followed me the entire way to get out of her car.
Once I had the door unlocked, the alarm disarmed, and the lights on, I waited in the doorway, a wash of light spilling out into the slowly brightening morning, for her to arrive.