Lord Have Mercy

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  Enthusiastic yesses filled the air, and only one ‘fuck.’ That fuck belonged to me.

  And so began the next ten minutes. The worst ten minutes of my life.

  At first, it wasn’t too bad.

  Then the squats started.

  Followed shortly by a row on a rowing machine that I was fairly sure was invented by the devil.

  Moments after finishing that, we started to do a thing called burpees. Those burpees were the beginning of the end.

  By the time I finished my last four -hundred-meter run, I was practically crawling across the finish line.

  “Get here, Presley!” Flint yelled.

  I looked up and saw that I was only a few feet away from the ‘finish line’ which was a goddamn X.

  That was where I would die.

  I just knew it.

  But I made it there.

  I also made it about a foot past the X off to the side and collapsed in a heap right next to Raleigh who’d only finished a minute ahead of me.

  ‘Finished’ being a really loose term. She gave up on doing it the ‘correct’ way and moved to ‘girl’ push-ups—or so Flint called them—when you were down on your knees. I, on the other hand, managed to stay up on my toes for the entire fifteen push-ups. However, I was regretting it now that my arms were screaming at me in pain.

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be fat?” I panted, vomit threatening to roll up my throat.

  “I think Ezra would love me fat,” she admitted. “I think we can just call it quits.”

  Elation poured through me.

  “I quit!”

  Flint, who I hadn’t realized had sat down next to me, leaned over me, his sweat dripping onto my chest and face as he said, “You’re not quitting, Presley. You’re going to stick this out because nobody likes a quitter.”

  With that, him and his dripping sweat were gone, and I was left staring up at a ceiling as I tried to breathe for two reasons now. One, I’d most definitely liked the way it felt to have Flint hovering over the top of my body. Two, because I’d literally given it all that I had and was about to throw up.

  I got up as fast as I could force my legs to move, and walked straight outside and threw up in his stupid potted plants.

  “I’m sorry,” a woman said softly. “He’s not normally so confrontational. You should see him with the kids when he teaches their class. No joke, he’s so good with them. I’m not sure what got into him.”

  I smiled thinly at the soft-spoken woman, then offered her my hand. “What’s your name?”

  She smiled back. “Carmichael.”

  I blinked. “That’s a man’s name.”

  She snickered. “Everyone calls me Mikey. But then people will ask what it’s short for, and then I’ll just have to tell you the rest of the story anyway.”

  I blinked. “My name is Camryn. I don’t like my name.”

  Her mouth opened. “Me neither!”

  I grinned.

  Just then, a pissed off looking Flint walked by, followed shortly by Croft, who had a massive ball of some sort on his shoulder.

  Both men were shirtless, and surprisingly, my eyes didn’t automatically go to Croft like they would’ve a long time ago. They went to the angry man that made my blood boil and made me want to smack him across the mouth.

  “My brother’s a turd,” she stated suddenly.

  I blinked. “Your brother? Flint’s your brother?”

  She nodded. “He is. That’s why I know that he’s not usually like that.”

  I snorted. “Funny, because he’s always like that with me.”

  Her eyes widened. “That’s not Flint.”

  Well, I didn’t know what to tell her.

  That was Flint, at least when I was around him. I’d seen him be nice to other people, but that’d never extended to me. I had no clue what I’d done to earn his anger, but one day I’d figure it out.

  Chapter 3

  Roses are red, violets are blue, if he’s busy on Valentine’s Day, the sidechick is you.

  -El Arroyo sign

  Camryn

  I was contemplating which donuts to purchase for my class that morning when I heard the bell behind me jingle.

  Being too caught up in the selection process, I didn’t bother to turn. Maybe I should have, though. If I’d turned, I might not have groaned when I bent forward to check out the sprinkled donuts at the bottom of the case.

  “How many more do I have to make forty-eight?” I asked, looking up at the woman behind the counter.

  “Seven,” she answered. “You want me to fill them out with plain glazed?”

  No, I sure didn’t. If I got plain glazed, I’d be eating them when I got home. And I sure the hell didn’t want to be doing that. Not with all that nonsense Flint had spouted as we were leaving class.

  “I want to challenge each and every one of you to give up donuts and sugary stuff for breakfast. That includes muffins, most breakfast cereals, and pastries,” he’d said.

  When his gaze had landed on mine specifically, I knew he was talking about me and me only.

  But, these donuts weren’t for me, so it was okay. Right?

  As long as I didn’t get any glazed, I could manage to stay away from them. Sometimes having the tastebuds of a toddler helped. Like now. But, other times, like when I tried to choke down a salad yesterday for lunch and threw up in my mouth, I disliked it.

  “No, fill them up the rest of the way with just random ones. The kids will like whatever I bring,” I told her.

  “No glazed for real?” she asked, her eyes wide now.

  I shook my head sadly and stood up, or at least tried to. I was so sore that I barely managed it.

  The only thing that managed to save me from staying down there all morning was the fact that there was a counter I could hold on to and help pull myself up.

  Who knew that squats, sit-ups, push-ups, and those goddamn burpees would be so bad? Sure, by themselves they were likely a lot more harmless than when they were strung together like Flint had forced upon us, they became a lot suckier.

  “I can’t believe you’re not getting any glazed.” The chick behind the counter shook her head. “Something’s wrong with you, isn’t it? Are you dying?”

  I stood up as straight as a sore-as-hell core and back would allow, and offered her my credit card.

  “My best friend is getting married and she’s forcing me to go on a diet and start exercising with her. I’ll still be here to pick donuts up once a week for my kids, but not any for me…for now. Who knows what a few weeks will bring,” I explained.

  “Shame. You’re one of our best customers,” she pouted.

  I didn’t even know this lady’s name. I literally talked to her for all of thirteen seconds while she got my donuts. I had no idea she even knew who I was.

  Plus, I wasn’t sure I liked the fact that I came in here so much that she had categorized me as one of her favorite customers.

  “Anything else? No coffee drink? No Dr. Pepper?” she asked.

  I shook my head sadly and gazed at the Dr. Pepper cooler. “No, those are out, too.”

  I sounded just as bummed as I felt. Honestly, it almost sounded like I’d lost my job and not my access to sugar.

  “Okkkay.” She sighed. “I guess I’ll have to be happy with this. That’ll be thirty-two fifty.”

  I turned to grab some napkins, only to come to a sudden halt when I nearly ran face first into a very hard, uniformed, standing-way-too-goddamn-close-to-me chest.

  I backed up a step and looked up to find myself staring into the eyes of the man that’d been the cause of all my pain this morning.

  I narrowed my gaze and pinched my mouth shut.

  “Flintstone,” I said smartly.

  “Elvis,” he countered.

  I gritted my teeth and held my breath, unwilling to say anything to him that might come back to bite me in the ass.

  “Why are you s
tanding so close to me?” I asked.

  “Because there’s a line since you took so long choosing which donuts to get with sprinkles and the line was backed up outside the door. I had to move forward or everyone else would’ve had to stand outside.”

  Okay, granted, the donut shop was kind of small. But, saying that, I hadn’t taken long. I’d been here for less than three minutes. How did I know that? Because I had a goddamn watch. I knew how long I’d been standing there.

  “Here ya go, ma’am,” I heard from behind me.

  I backed up and my ass hit the counter.

  I couldn’t hide the wince that struck me when my sore butt hit the hard, unforgiving surface.

  Flint, of course, missed nothing.

  He saw the flinch and grinned in reaction.

  I narrowed my eyes and turned on my heels, reaching for my box and my card.

  “Come back soon!” she called to my back.

  I lifted my hand and waved over my shoulder, moaning when the movement made muscles I didn’t even know I had scream in agony.

  Opening my car door, I locked my lips and bent into the car, breathing through the pain it caused me to reach over the seat to place the donuts.

  It was when I dropped in myself that I turned to look only to see Flint smirking at me, a glazed donut in his hand, and flakes of glaze on his lips.

  I wanted to lick those lips clean and then punch him in the mouth.

  The little bastard was taunting me.

  I damn well knew he didn’t usually get donuts. He was a sausage kolache kind of man. That I’d figured out a year ago when he’d started at the school as the resource officer.

  Clenching my hands into tight fists, I looked away and refused to rise to his taunts.

  ***

  Flint

  She had that walk about her. The kind where it showed that she was sore as fuck and trying to move but couldn’t quite accomplish it with her usual grace. Muscles that she’d either A, not used in a while, or B, had never used before in her life, were likely sore as fuck.

  We’d done some hard moves yesterday, and she was likely feeling it today.

  She had that waddle going on right that very moment.

  “How’s it going, Mizz Presley?” I teased.

  Camryn’s head turned, and even that move caused her to wince.

  She stopped and curled her lip up.

  “It’s going fine,” she lied.

  I hadn’t seen her since the donut shop that morning, and I was more than looking forward to seeing her during class again today.

  Yesterday she’d thoroughly surprised me with the hard work she’d put in during the boot camp. Then again, it’d also surprised me that she’d worked out without her shirt on. Camryn was a beautiful woman, and even now, with her being brand-new to the world of CrossFit, she was still breathtakingly beautiful.

  “You ready to get to boot camp?” I asked, running my hand along Dooley’s head as he leaned farther into my side.

  She didn’t look down, and I had a feeling she was trying to force herself not to.

  What was her deal with the dog?

  I was ashamed to say that I really fucking wanted to know why.

  “I guess I’m ready as I’ll…”

  “What are you doing?” I heard asked from behind me.

  I didn’t bother to hide my wince.

  Nivea.

  Camryn caught the wince, too.

  Her eyebrows rose, and she looked at me like I was crazy in my head.

  Turning my head only, I looked over my shoulder at the woman that was becoming increasingly more difficult to deal with on a daily basis.

  “Nivea,” I said. “I thought you were on bus duty?”

  Nivea’s eyes narrowed. “I am.”

  I looked around the parent pick-up line and frowned. “If you’re on bus duty, why the hell are you here?”

  She crossed her arms angrily over her chest. “Because I saw you over here talking to her.”

  I gritted my teeth, and was about to reply when Camryn said, “You do realize, right, that the point of ‘bus duty’ is to make sure that none of the little Kindergarteners that have to cross to the high school campus to get on the bus don’t get hit by a freakin’ car, right?”

  I felt my heart stutter at that.

  She sounded pissed, and she had a right to be.

  Nivea, however, did not have that right. Apparently, she was under the assumption that I was not allowed to hold conversations with women that weren’t her.

  “The kids are still on the other campus,” Nivea argued, adding foot tapping into the mix.

  I nearly groaned. “Nivea, go back to your scheduled post. Now.”

  Nivea narrowed her eyes even more, and at this point, I wasn’t sure they were even open at all with the disdain she was conveying.

  “I will not.”

  “You will,” I said in a hard voice. “Or I’ll let the principal know that you’re unfit for this particular duty.”

  I was at my wit’s end.

  This afternoon, I was ending it with the woman.

  There was no way I could play this game with her anymore.

  On top of the irrational jealousy, the calls, and her constant need for attention, I realized rather quickly that there wasn’t much substance to the woman at all. She was like a piece of fluff.

  I honestly didn’t see how the hell she’d become a teacher. Likely she fucked her way to her degree.

  That was the only way I could see her passing something.

  And, on top of that, her common sense was almost nil. Because, if she did have at least a semblance of it, she would’ve realized how stupid she was for leaving her post when she was supposed to be caring for five-year-old children.

  Jesus. That was what I got for thinking with my dick.

  That was the only good quality Nivea had, her mouth. She sucked like a Dyson vacuum and didn’t complain that I tried to choke her with it. Honestly, it was the only time she stayed quiet enough for me to enjoy being with her.

  I should’ve broken it off with her a long time ago, but goddamn Camryn and her inability to be around me without showing fear had set me off something fierce. I’d been so focused trying to appear unaffected and aloof that I hadn’t realized what kind of message I was sending Nivea.

  My sister had been saying for weeks that I’d needed to break it off with Nivea, but every time I started to, Camryn would show her face with that fucking dumbass, Carver, and I’d forget that Nivea was annoying as hell.

  “You wouldn’t dare,” Nivea hissed.

  “Fine,” Camryn started forward. “You stay here, and I’ll go.”

  With that, Camryn marched off, leaving me staring at Nivea with barely contained hostility.

  “You know that she had to be here this morning to do bus duty, and you also know that you should’ve stayed,” I told her bluntly. “I don’t know what you think you accomplished by coming over here, but it only served one purpose.”

  Nivea tapped her foot and sneered. “And what was that? Because from where I was standing, y’all looked mighty cozy.”

  I looked around the parking lot where we were standing.

  A couple feet away from us the crossing guard stood looking for all she was worth like she wasn’t paying attention to our conversation when we both knew she was. Two cars down from Camryn’s where we’d both been standing, a mother was getting her daughter dressed for dance. Two cars farther down on the opposite side, a daycare van was loading up children to shuttle across town to the daycare.

  There was literally no privacy where we were standing.

  “I’m fairly sure that Tina over there can hear every word we’re saying.” I paused when Tina held her thumb up in the air indicating that she could. “That mother over there keeps looking at you like you annoy her. That daycare lady over there is trying to tell the kids that they can’t pet Dooley, and I’m fairly sure all ten of them
are looking in our direction. What makes you think that we were looking ‘cozy?’”

  Nivea sniffed delicately.

  I grunted an annoyed sound and started past her to my cruiser.

  The moment I stood in front of it, I opened the back door for Dooley to kennel himself, and then slammed it closed before opening the driver’s side door and pressing my foot on the brake at the same time I started it up.

  Once I had the air conditioner running full blast, I rolled down the window.

  Nivea was glaring at me like I’d just spat in her face.

  “What?” I asked.

  I didn’t really care.

  But she was semi-standing behind my vehicle, and until she moved, I wouldn’t be able to leave.

  If I’d been in my personal vehicle, I’d have hopped the damn curb and driven through the grass. Tina would’ve just had to move out of my damn way.

  “I can’t believe you’re just going to leave without kissing me goodbye,” she pouted.

  I prayed for patience.

  “Come here,” I replied gruffly.

  She smiled, thinking she was getting her way.

  She wasn’t.

  I just needed her closer so the entire world didn’t hear what I was about to say.

  “Yes?” She batted her eyes once she was standing in front of my window.

  I studied her face. “I think we need to see other people. I’m going to need you to come by later and pick up all your shit. Have a good day.”

  Then I rolled my window up and reversed out of the parking lot.

  Why I thought that’d be the end of it, I didn’t know. Sadly, I was mistaken.

  Chapter 4

  Everything is always the thyroid’s fault. Fat? Thyroid. Tired? Thyroid. Broke? You guessed it, Thyroid.

  -Text from Camryn to Raleigh

  Camryn

  I wanted to go back to CrossFit about as much as I wanted to have a yeast infection.

  Sadly, Raleigh, my one and only hope at getting out of going, did want to go.

  Why did she want to go? Because she’d cheated about halfway through the day and had one of my donuts. She felt bad about eating the donut and insisted that we go back to CrossFit today to atone for her sins.