“Guess maybe the dog is growing on me.”
“Not me?” Okay, that was definitely flirty, no mistake.
“You? You’re trouble.” Garrick made a scoffing noise. “But if you want to hear me rattle on about fitness, I suppose I can do that. I’m going to need to do a little research about how the whole vegetarian thing impacts the nutritional advice I usually give. Doubt I can get you to crack eggs into a whey protein smoothie.”
“What? You do that? Ewww.” Rain couldn’t help making a face as he flopped on the couch opposite Garrick’s chair. “I mean, I’ll keep an open mind about most of it, but no. No raw eggs.”
Garrick laughed, a deep, welcome sound. “I’ll do some research. If I come up with a shopping list for you, do you think you can fill it? Stuff like nut butter and some sort of vegan protein powder?”
Rain took that to be a gentle inquiry into the state of his finances. “Yeah, I’ve got money for food and some to live on until I get a job.”
“Sounds good. Want to get me my laptop from the spare room? I’ll start now while I’m thinking of it, type up some ideas.”
“Absolutely.” Rain had to resist the urge to dance around or maybe fist pump like his brothers would. Garrick had agreed far more easily than he’d expected him to, which probably spoke more to boredom and less to Rain’s powers of persuasion, but he could dream. If Garrick helped him get in shape, maybe his next adventure was even closer than he thought.
Chapter Four
“I am strangely disappointed by the lack of ponies on your shirt,” Garrick joked to Rain as he let him into the house. He was ready for him this time, already in loose track pants, T-shirt, and wheelchair gloves for their Monday morning exercise with Cookie, who was prancing back and forth like Rain was a perfectly cooked T-bone steak, all for her. Garrick shared the enthusiasm, even if he did a better job of hiding it.
“Trust me. I’ve got more ponies in the wardrobe. I’ll remember tomorrow.” Rain beamed at him, clearly pleased Garrick had noticed. “This is another of my favorites though, and I wanted long sleeves because it’s still a little chilly out. I like how this one makes me feel like a mermaid.”
“I can see.” Garrick made a show of checking out the undulating green-and-purple shimmery pattern on Rain’s slinky long-sleeve pullover as Rain twirled to grab the leash. And to show off because that seemed to be a part of his personality too. Garrick was quickly figuring out that he liked attention. Rain wasn’t particularly petite or delicate in build, but somehow that added to the appeal for Garrick, showed another layer of confidence to his fashion choices.
“Did you eat something?” he asked as Rain put Cookie on the leash. “My plan is to make you do pull-ups and some other exercises at the park, get a baseline for what you can already do. You might want to eat something small now, then a bigger meal after. I’ve got a plan for that too.”
“I had a granola bar. I’ll be okay. You don’t have to feed me if it’s too much trouble.”
“It’s not. I found a vegan pancake recipe that uses stuff I’ve got on hand, and I’ll put on a pot of coffee while I show you the rest of the information I found online about adding muscle while vegan or vegetarian.”
“You really did research for me?” Rain’s appreciative smile, slightly shy with downcast eyes, went straight to Garrick’s gut and made him want to do hours more work.
“Of course. You asked me for help. I’m not going to risk giving you bad advice.” That and it had been fun, a pleasant distraction with a purpose.
“Thanks.” Rain looked like he might want to add more, but Cookie barked and tugged him toward the door. “Okay, okay. Someone wants us to get moving.”
“Lead on. And reading nutrition blogs beats trying to find a show to hold my attention. I never was that big on TV to begin with, and now that I have all this time, it’s almost torture trying to find non-stupid shows.”
“We’ve got to get you some hobbies.” Rain nodded like this was a simple prospect. All his doctors and therapists said the same thing, but so far coming up with a training plan for Rain was the most fun he’d had in quite some time. Still though, he nodded because he knew Rain meant well.
“Coming up with creative ways to whip your ass into shape doesn’t count?”
“It’s a start,” Rain said airily as they headed down the sidewalk. “Growing up, TV was something my mom really limited. My older brother rebelled and became a big movie buff, but for me, I only really like my guilty pleasure of reality TV as background if I’m doing something else, otherwise I get bored like you.”