Maybe that’s why I like it so much. It’s a safe crush, I can’t get my heart broken, because I know nothing can happen. Not only am I nowhere near good enough for him, but he wouldn’t come near me anyway. I’m a customer of his now. It’s unethical. Taboo…
Oh God, somehow that makes it even hotter. I can feel a heat creeping through me, threatening to implode.
“I’m going to end up in trouble,” I mutter as a warning to myself. “There’s no way this can end well.”
But the excited anticipation doesn’t go anywhere. As I grab my bag with my brand new work out outfit in it, all I can think about is his eyes lighting up when he sees me.
5
Noah
Oh God… there she is again.
My heart pounds violently in my chest as I see her, on the cycles this time, looking like she’s in a competition with her friend. Her head tosses back with laughter and the sweat covers her, she’s giving it everything and that ignites the deep fire inside of me again. I can’t run off to my office every time she’s here…
“Oh wow,” Foster murmurs to me with a chuckle. “You really do get some hotties during the day shift too.”
I watch as my night staff manager pushes past me to start working out. Instead of aiming for the weights like he does normally, he jumps on the bikes and begins flirting with Mia and her friend, killing me.
What the hell is wrong with me? I shake my head. Who the hell cares?
I know I could go out tonight and find some woman to hook up with. In fact, I might just do that to take my mind off everything, I know that Jenny will work the night shift for extra pay, she’s awesome like that. But who can I call? Who do I want to hang out with? I lost a lot of friends when Hayley left me, she spent a long time spinning lies that I’m a bad person to ensure she’s seen as the good one and I guess those people also think that I’m the one keeping her away from her son rather than her just not caring…
But I still have Trent.
Trent is someone I met years ago on a random night out. He spilled a drink all over my shoes by mistake then braced himself, preparing for a fight. I don’t think he was expecting me to laugh at the time, but I’ve never been the sort of person to get pissy about that sort of thing. We had a good chuckle about it and hung out all night.
Surprisingly, that friendship progressed into something real and now we still hang out all the time. He was there with the rise of my business, through all of my successes, and he’s been there during my dark times too. He knew what Hayley was like. Apparently, he tried to warn me a lot in the beginning but I didn’t want to hear it, so he wasn’t one to hear all her lies.
He was the shoulder I cried on, and because of that he’s always been my friend.
I turn my back on the gym, Mia included, and I find a private spot to call him.
“Hey, Noah, how’s it going?” Noise flooded from the background. “It’s been too long, my friend.”
I scan my brain, trying to figure out where he might be right now. I know he has a crazy schedule, he’s always traveling the country, but right now I honestly cannot recall.
“Good thanks, how are you? You in Vegas at the moment?”
“New York at the moment.” My heart sinks. “But I’m back on Friday. You up for a night out?”
I can wait until Friday. That’s only a couple of days away. “Yeah. Sounds awesome. I’ll sort out babysitting.”
“Awesome. I have loads to tell you. How are things with… you know who?”
“Urgh.” I roll my eyes. “You don’t want to know. She’s on my case for cash now.”
“She really doesn’t have any shame, does she?”
“Nope.” I laugh because I don’t want to get all worked up again. “Hopefully she’ll get the hint soon.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. But you can tell me all about it Friday.”
As I hang up the phone, another idea comes to mind. I know that originally I considered Jenny for babysitting duty, but now I have another idea that might work out even better.
Noah: Hey, Mom, I have a favor to ask?
Mom: Of course you can,