Could I train the way they did? Did I want to?
Of course I wanted to.
Max flashed in my mind briefly.
He’d been gone from the apartment for a week now. I didn’t know where he was staying but after the third day I rang his work and they said that he was there. Where he was staying didn’t matter to me.
It was calmer not having him around, the apartment had a nicer atmosphere. I’d also noticed Eli was much more relaxed at home.
I wanted to tell myself that Max didn’t affect Eli in anyway, but seeing the difference in him was the wake-up call that I needed.
It made me question things.
Was I always in the wrong? Did I need to be corrected when I stepped out of Max’s invisible lines? Lines that he had drawn, and I never knew where they began or where they ended.
I thought about how he had told me that I should hide my bruises because if people saw them they would know how much of a bad person I was.
But was I really a bad person?
Was it bad to not have dinner ready on the table for when he walked in the apartment?
Was it bad for me to suggest he spend some time with Eli?
Was it bad of me to not ask him if I could be excused from the table?
The one thing that I knew was bad was keeping my job a secret. I’d thought about quitting several times. But as I stared into Ty’s eyes, at the sincerity that shined back at me, I knew I wouldn’t be able to quit.
“Okay,” I said and took a deep breath. “I’d love to do it.”
“Great.” He clapped his hands and stood “Welcome to the team.”
There was so many things I wanted to say to him. I wanted to ask if he thought about me half the amount of times that I thought about him. I wanted to ask if he could still feel my lips pressed against his.
I said none of that, instead I said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He walked to the door and turned. “Training starts Monday, bring gym clothes.”
My eyes widened. He chuckled and left the office.
Exercise.
I hated exercise.
Chapter Twelve
I was on top of the world when I got home. I couldn’t wait to start training the way the other guys did, nothing would move the smile that stretched across my face.
Then Max came home.
No explanation to where he had been, what he had been doing or where he had been staying. He sat down and waited for me to place his dinner on the table, as usual.
I’d made his dinner every night this week and not once had it been eaten.
I didn’t ask him where he had been, aside from not caring, I knew that it wouldn’t go over well if I questioned him. Instead, I filled him in on the things that Eli had done this week.
He grunted his answers, stood from the table when he was finished and settled onto the couch.
Me and Eli stayed in the kitchen and made cookies. We laughed and made a heap of a mess, but that was the best part about baking. Memories of my mom flashed in my mind throughout the night, but they weren’t bad. They were happy.