“Do you want me to walk you home?” Jase asked.
“Nah, that’s okay.” She noticed this time a couple more people had stuck around. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bright and early.”
She smiled and left the gym, so tired.
It was way too cold outside to be taking her time lingering. Shoving her hands in her coat, she took off, running toward her home. The paths and roads had been gritted because of the snowfall and the ice.
She finally made it around to her building when she heard some noise near the trash bins.
“Hello,” she said. “Who’s there?”
Maddie took a step toward the bins and gasped as a large figure came from behind.
“It’s me,” Grant said.
“Grant?”
“The one and only.”
She frowned at him. An overhead light cast enough of a glow for her to see him. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m … I’m looking for a place to stay.” He shoved his hands in his jacket pocket, and she looked at him, really looked at him, and saw that he looked a little less for wear. Stains covered his sweatpants and shirt. The jacket was also filthy.
“Behind the dumpster?”
“I have nothing, Maddie. My brother kicked me out of the club and out of his life. Look, I made a mistake, but I went to tell him about it. I didn’t expect things to escalate the way they had.”
“With him kicking you out for being what I think of as a traitor.”
“I’m not a traitor. I saw an opportunity and I took it. Doesn’t mean I don’t think how fucked up that is now.” He shrugged. “I don’t have a place to stay. The diner is nice and warm, and I figured it would be warm late at night.”
“Where have you been staying before now?” she asked.
“Where I can.”
Everything in Maddie told her not to give in to him. He was a bully. A real nasty piece of work when he could start. She didn’t like him, but seeing him now, she couldn’t allow anything to happen to him. He was Bull’s brother, and even though they weren’t talking, she had a feeling he’d be upset if anything happened to Grant.
“I … I have a sofa and a shower you can use.”
“What?”
“This isn’t permanent,” she said. “I don’t want to live with you, or share a room with you.”
“That’s fine.”
“And don’t go bringing women back to my place either.”
Grant held his hands up. “Promise. I will be a good little boy.”
She wrinkled her nose, turned away from him, and headed upstairs to her apartment.
What the hell are you doing?
Are you insane?
You hate him.
Let him freeze.
Just because he was never nice to you doesn’t mean you stoop to his level.
She hated her reasoning.
Her hands shook slightly from all of the exercise, and it was a struggle to unlock the door. This had only happened once before, and Jase had been there to help.
Grant took the key from her and slid it into the lock.
“Thank you.”
“You shouldn’t work out so much if it causes you to shake like that.”
“I’m fine.”
She didn’t want to talk about her weight loss with one of the people who was always happy to tell her how disgusting she was.
She paused and glanced at him watching her.
“How did you know I was working out?”
“I’ve seen you with that asshole from the gym. Is anything going on between the two of you?”
She frowned. “What? No. He’s my trainer. Nothing more.” Slamming the door closed, she flicked the lock and turned on the lights. “I’m going to take a shower and then you can have a shower. I’ll make up the sofa for you to sleep.”
Maddie went to walk around him, but he grabbed her arm.
“Thank you,” he said.
She pulled out of his hold. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“I know what he did must have hurt.”
“Let me make one thing very, very clear. Under no circumstances are you to talk about him or anything to do with him. I don’t want to hear anything.”
“Oh,” he said.
“Bull doesn’t mean anything to me.” She went to the bathroom, slamming the door closed and leaning against it.
If Bull meant nothing to her, why was she helping his brother out, giving him a place to stay? It made no sense. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She could do this.
It would be easy.
A piece of cake.
Chapter Eighteen
It wasn’t a piece of cake.
Grant … was a pain in the ass.
First of all, he seemed to enjoy a beauty routine first thing in the morning, and she was nearly late for work on the first day. He insisted on coming for the run with her and Jase. She shouldn’t have been surprised that he was at the peak of fitness, but he was.
At the end of the run, Maddie collapsed to the ground as it had been a struggle to keep up with the two men who seemed determined to compete with each other. It was exhausting to be near them.