Indiana stood up quickly, almost knocking off his fedora, and grinned widely when he saw Kincaid. “Hey, there’s my favorite unicorn.”
Taryn didn’t have time to register that Kincaid already knew Indiana because Iceman’s head swiveled toward Taryn, pinning her with a look. She almost stumbled backward, something about the guy’s focused attention making her breath catch for a moment. His lips parted as if he were going to say something, but then he snapped them back together and looked down at the table where brightly colored flyers were spread. That was when she saw the familiar man bun.
Her belly flipped. Oh shit.
The guy from the bar. Lucas.
“Rivers,” Kincaid said to the dark-haired guy with delight and grabbed Taryn’s elbow. “This is the friend I was telling you about.”
Taryn dragged her attention away from Iceman—no, Lucas—and managed to smile at Rivers. “Um, hi?”
“Hi,” Rivers said, putting out his hand and shaking hers firmly. “Kincaid was telling us all about you. Said you’re going to be her partner in crime at the gym.”
Taryn took a second to process what he’d said, her peripheral attention on Lucas and his obvious discomfort. “Partner in crime?”
Rivers tilted his head. “Yeah. At our adventure gym. Gym Xtreme.”
“Gym X-what?” Taryn asked, all the words bumping into one another and not lining up right.
Kincaid made a happy little sound and turned to Taryn. “Xtreme. This is your surprise,” she announced. “I was checking out the tables earlier, and Rivers here gave me quite the pitch. You should see the pictures of the place. There are curved walls and balance beams and trapeze things and foam pits!”
Taryn finally looked at Kincaid, whose face was full of expectant excitement. “Foam pits?”
“Yes! To fall in. Pools, too. Because the obstacles are really tough. It’s like that TV show—the warrior ninja thingy. But it looks like so much fun, and this will be way better than that 10K training we were supposed to do,” Kincaid said, talking fast now. “And way less boring.”
Taryn blinked at the emphasis Kincaid had put on the last word, and everything finally clicked. Oh. This was Kincaid’s fun diet. She wanted to sign Taryn up for some crazy-ass gym. God help her for having friends with good intentions. “Look, I don’t know…”
“Oh, come on, Taryn,” Kincaid pleaded. “Don’t say no yet.”
“Taryn?” Lucas said, finally acknowledging their presence. He pulled his aviators off and frowned her way.
“Yes,” Kincaid said with a smile. “Taryn, this is Lucas. He’ll be one of the trainers.”
But Lucas was still looking at her. “The other night, you said your name was Jamez.”
Kincaid’s head whipped around, her wide-eyed gaze colliding with Taryn’s. “The other night?”
Taryn winced and gave a little nod. “We’ve already met. I ran into Lucas at a bar I stopped in Friday night.”
Kincaid’s eyes got even bigger. She looked downright thrilled at this new development and was for sure going to ask a million questions, but she held them for now. “Well then. I guess you’ve already met your trainer.” She turned to Lucas. “Her middle name is Jamie. So sometimes we call her Jamez.”
Total lie. Her middle name was Mariah. But in that moment, Taryn loved Kincaid with a depth of friendship she almost couldn’t put into words. Kincaid was pushy and bossy and sometimes overwhelming. She was also a woman who would cover for her friends, no questions asked, because she believed without a doubt that if one of her friends was lying, they had a good reason.
“Good to see you again,” Taryn said, managing to sound calm. “But I’m not sure about this whole training thing, Kincaid. This looks a little above my pay grade.”
“Oh, don’t be intimidated,” Rivers said, handing Taryn a flyer. “We have a program for beginners, and we lead you through everything at your own pace. It’s challenging stuff but not impossible. The hands-on training is really what makes us stand out above the others.”
Hands-on training. With Lucas. Who looked like sin wrapped in hotness dipped in oh my God in that flight suit. The thought sent warm tingles over her skin, but Lucas was also the guy who’d bailed as quickly as he could when she’d turned her back to answer a phone call. And he hadn’t exactly looked happy to see her today.
“I’ll give it some thought,” Taryn said to Rivers, hedging. “I’m a college professor and my schedule is so crazy right now that I’m not sure I could fit in something this involved.”
Rivers smiled, undeterred. “Well, first workout is free. So all I ask is that you ladies give it a shot. If it’s not for you, nothing lost.”
Kincaid put her arm around Taryn’s shoulders. “I’ll work on her. I’ve been told I’m quite persuasive.”
“Oh, is that what we’re calling it?” Taryn said with a smirk.
Lucas started to laugh and then covered it with a cough, pulling his face into a serious look again.