High School Reunion

by Kimberly Dean

  Mary’s face fell, but the crowd cheered. Pasting her plastic smile back in place, she waved to her fans. Hastily, she took a bow and left the stage.

  Hawk scowled at the two remaining competitors. Both had bodies that had been honed to perfection. Stretching, he settled his arm over the back of Missy’s chair. ‘You could be up there, little miss. They haven’t got anything you haven’t got.’

  With as much room as Hawk took up, the man sitting on the other side of him looked a bit cramped. The poor guy had sat that way through the entire show, though, without saying a word. Roma couldn’t blame him.

  Missy smiled and gave her boyfriend a peck on the cheek. ‘You’re so sweet.’

  Hawk’s face reddened, and he glanced around to see if anyone had heard. Mr Cramped slipped a little lower in his chair. He’d heard nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  Roma craned her neck, trying to see around the heads of the people sitting in front of her. ‘I can’t take this.’

  ‘And we’re down to two,’ the announcer said, finally giving in to the pressure of the fans. The final contestants caught each other’s hands and bounced nervously on the balls of their feet. ‘The first runner-up in the Midwest Fitness Show is…’

  ‘Yes?’ Roma said breathlessly. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Liz Huffington.’

  ‘Yes!’ She exploded out of her seat. She jumped right up into the air, scattering the people around her, and let out a victorious howl.

  Missy and Hawk stood and clapped more politely.

  ‘I thought we were cheering for her,’ Missy yelled over the din of the crowd.

  ‘We were.’

  ‘But she didn’t win.’

  ‘I know. Isn’t it great?’ Roma stuck two fingers in her mouth and gave an ear-piercing whistle.

  ‘But…’

  She caught her friend by the shoulders. ‘Jake just wanted her to end up in the top five. She got second place. Second! This is fantastic.’

  Quickly, she grabbed her things as the announcer congratulated the winner. She needed to find her boyfriend. They had some celebrating to do. ‘Excuse me,’ she said as she worked her way to the aisle. ‘Excuse me.’

  Ellie had done well enough to put Jake’s plan into action, but not well enough to make her a pain in the ass. In Roma’s opinion, things couldn’t have ended better. Her worst enemy had just potentially made her boyfriend a very wealthy man.

  She broke into a run when she saw Jake standing on the ground floor near the back of the stage. Leaping into his arms, she gave him a resounding smack on the lips. ‘Congratulations!’

  ‘You’re happy,’ he said, rocking back a step under the impact. He looked a bit surprised.

  ‘Of course, I am.’

  ‘But that was Ellie,’ he said.

  ‘Liz,’ Roma corrected. She caught his face with both hands and gave him another kiss. ‘Onwards and upwards, Mr All-Star Trainer. Forget the past. It’s time we looked ahead.’

  ‘Oh, yeah?’ His arms tightened around her as he held her with her feet dangling a foot off the ground. Devilishly, he rocked his hips forwards. ‘Got anything specific in mind?’

  She did. All she wanted to concentrate on now was their future together.

  Because it looked great.