“They gave her a choice. Have the bully transferred out or have her transferred out. She said, and I quote, ‘I’ll go if my friend goes, that way the bully can see everyday what he did’.”
“Why does it not shock me that you’re raising a ruthless daughter?”
“You know what does shock me?” he asked.
“What?”
“The fact that you don’t have kids yet.”
I rolled my eyes as I walked with Paul into the middle of the gym.
“Jump squats?” I asked.
“Yep. Let’s get to hurtin’,” he said. “But seriously. You’re amazing with kids. And Cassidy loves you. Not to mention your niece and nephews. What gives?”
“One! Two! Three! Four!”
“You counting loudly isn’t going to stop me from asking,” he said.
“Well it should,” I said breathlessly. “I don’t have kids because I don’t want them.”
“I don’t believe that for a second. You came into this gym all smiles at seven in the morning. I know that’s because of those kids.”
“So they make me smile? Doesn’t mean I want any of my own. Maybe I enjoy spoiling kids and then giving them back,” I said.
“Ryan, come on. We both know what this is about.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be my physical trainer?” I asked. “I don’t think ‘mental health guide’ fits under the requirements for your job.”
“And the fact that you’re not denying it means you know I’m right.”
I rolled my eyes and continued with the round of jump squats. I knew exactly what Paul was getting at. Mostly because we’d already has this conversation. I didn’t want a family because I saw what happened to children when families fell apart. Mine did, and it left me with a lot of anger I’d had to sort through during my twenties. Broken families make for jaded homes, and everlasting love was nothing but a myth. Things always got in the way and became more important. People didn’t want love, they wanted all of the fun things that came with it. Someone to sleep next to. Someone to take vacations with. Someone to fu
ck regularly.
I could get all that shit without marrying or bringing innocent children into the picture to be ruined.
“And thirty,” Paul said, panting.
“Holy shit. I’m gonna lay down for a second. Possibly die. Hold on,” I said.
“Always the drama king,” he said with a grin.
I groaned as I laid down on the nasty floor of the gym. My legs were burning, and I felt like I was going to puke. Leg days with Paul were murder, but they were also why women adored my body in suits. All the hard work I put into my body trailed all the way up my abdomen and having a cut body in a slim-fitting suit made panties drop before I could reach a damn doorway.
That was how I enjoyed my life. All of the fun and none of the consequences.
“Let me ask you this,” Paul said as he offered me his hand. “What if your sister can’t take the kids back.”
“That shit isn’t happening,” I said. “Now help me up.”
I grunted as I got onto my wobbling legs.
“It’s plausible. This is the fourth time she’s been admitted, and the first time CPS has had to step in to take care of things. They might grant you custody of those kids if they find Valentina to be an incompetent mother.”
“She’s not incompetent. She has a substance abuse problem. That doesn’t make her a bad mother.”
“Did it make your mother a bad mother?” Paul asked.