“Bummer,” I said. “You would fit in great with the vibe there. Lots of students as well.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. “I was really hoping I could get a fun job, but it’s probably for the best. Those people tend to be extra cheery and have no problem talking to anyone and everyone. I’m not great at that.”
“Ah, I bet you would do just fine,” I said.
She wrinkled her nose. “Could you imagine yourself working in a coffee shop and being expected to make small talk about music and other trendy stuff?”
I had to laugh. “Good point.”
“I’ll find something,” she said. “I just get these ideas in my head and forget all about patience. I want it now.”
“I totally get it. Did you try online? I know there are like a hundred different local job service sites around here. Facebook has a few pages as well. I put an ad there when I was looking for another coder.”
She shook her pizza at me. “Good thinking. I’ll do that. After pizza. I’m invested in stuffing myself now that you’ve given me permission.”
“I can ask around at my office as well,” I offered.
I only offered because I felt guilty that I had a position that was right up her alley, but I couldn’t offer it. It just wouldn’t be right. We would live together and work together. I would be her boss and her pseudo-landlord. There were too many conflicts of interest. I could offer her a parttime job if it came to that. I wanted her to feel independent, but I didn’t want her to think I was pressuring her to work for me.
“It’s fine.” She waved it off. “I’ve got experience doing a lot of different things. If I have to work a few graveyards, I’ll do it.”
“Won’t that be hard to work all night and then go to class?”
“Hard, but not impossible. My first year at the community college, I worked graveyard at Walmart four days a week. It kicked my ass, but it was nice having a fulltime income and still managing to go to class.”
“Did your grades suffer?”
“Nope,” she said proudly. “I only did it that one year because it was hard, and by my second year, the classes were a little more difficult.”
It was like getting to know her all over again. I liked the new, more mature Lily. The Lily away from my obnoxious sister. “It’s impressive you managed to do all that. Few people could say they’ve done the same.”
“You know what it was like back home,” she said. “People from our town all had to do the same thing.”
Our small town wasn’t exactly super small, but it wasn’t big, and the opportunities were limited. High-paying jobs weren’t a thing. Everyone was poor or a step above. My family was in the middle-class range, which compared to Austin middle-class was destitute. Tamlyn and I had been lucky to have two supportive parents with just enough money to send us to community college. I knew Lily hadn’t been so lucky.
“I guess it’s like they say,” I said. “Hard work builds character.”
“Or it breaks the back,” she retorted. “I guess we’re about to find out for sure.”
“I think you’re going to land on your feet just fine,” I said. “You’ve made it this far. That says a lot.”
“Thanks,” she said with a small smile.
I could hear the frustration in her voice. I would let her look for a job and if she didn’t find anything, I would offer her my job. I needed to wait until she exhausted all other options. I told myself to check in on the job search, and if it looked like she was devastated, I would step in.
“You know what would go great with this pizza?” I asked her.
She groaned and put a hand on her stomach. “I’m not sure there is anything more I can put in my belly.”
“Beer. We’ll pretend we’re doing the college thing. Beer and pizza.”
She laughed but didn’t say no. I jumped up and grabbed two bottles from the fridge. I popped them open and delivered one to her. I never really got the college experience either. I had a few friends and we did pizza and beer but not like other people my age.
We ate and drank and caught up a little. I was starting to think I owed Tamlyn a big thank you. Having a roommate was kind of nice. I was so used to coming home alone, I never knew what it was like to have companionship.
She groaned and pulled herself up on the couch. “I’m so miserable,” she complained and grabbed one of the throw pillows and hugged it.
I wasn’t feeling great myself after binging on pizza. I sat on the other end of the couch and leaned my head back. “I ate too much.”
“I don’t think I can move. I’m so glad I put on stretchy pants.”
I wasn’t quite so lucky. I was suffering in my jeans. “It’s going to be an extra-long workout tomorrow,” I said.
“When do you have time to work out?” she asked.
“I go down in the morning usually,” I answered.
She groaned again. “I should work out.”
“Come with me in the morning,” I offered.
“Really? I think I might slow you down.”
“Nah,” I assured her. “You work at your own pace.”
“I can’t believe you manage to workout with your crazy schedule,” she said.
“It’s kind of a must,” I told her. “I make it a priority instead of an option. Except today. I had to sleep a few hours. Which is why I need to get to bed. I have to try and get caught up on sleep or I’m going to be a zombie.”
I got up from the couch and grabbed the pizza box. “I’ll clean up,” she said and managed to get up with a great deal of effort.
“Do you want me to wake you up in the morning?”
“Sure, I don’t mind embarrassing myself a little more,” she said with a laugh.
“Goodnight.”
I walked to my room and closed the door. As I changed my clothes, I thought about what the rest of the weeks and months would look like. Could we be good friends? I wanted to think so. We did have a lot in common.
“You’re playing with fire,” I warned myself.
Lily was the one woman that I knew I could have an actual relationship with. I couldn’t explain why I knew that, but I did. Maybe it was because of the crush I harbored for her throughout high school. It was still lingering. I needed to take a step back and get my head straight. I didn’t want to fall for her only to have her break my heart again.
Not that she knew it was happening the first time, but she had crushed a little part of my soul.
11
Lily
I thought I heard something but chalked it up to nothing and rolled over. It was still dark. I heard another noise and assumed it was the neighbors upstairs. They were being really obnoxious. I pulled my pillow over my head and tried to block out the noise that kept waking me up.
“Lily?” I heard a voice whisper.
It was definitely not the neighbors. I pulled the pillow away from my head and tilted my head to wait for the sound again.
“Lily, are you up?”
It was Thomas. I got out of bed and opened my bedroom door. “Is everything okay?” I asked, slightly bleary-eyed.
He smiled. “Did you forget?”
“Forget what?”
“Do you want to work out with me this morning?” he asked.
I thought he was joking. “Right now?”
“Yes.”
I turned around to look at the clock by my bed. “It’s not even five o’clock!”
“I told you I got up early. If you don’t want to go, no worries. I didn’t want to leave without asking.”
I did want to work out. I wasn’t sure I wanted to work out at five in the morning, but I told him I would. He seemed enthusiastic about it. It was the least I could do. “Can you give me five minutes?” I asked.
“Yep,” he said with a smile. “I’ll get us some water.”
I closed the bedroom door and looked around my bedroom. I couldn’t believe I was up at dawn. It was probably the first time I’d been up this early since I stopped w
orking graveyard. I pulled on another pair of sweats and my one and only sports bra. I didn’t have cute workout clothes because I didn’t work out. Not really.
I pulled on my tennis shoes that were like new due to the very little activity they saw. When I walked into the living room, he was leaning against the kitchen island with his legs crossed at his ankles and his phone in his hands.
He was way too perky. “Ready?” he asked with a grin.
“I’m not, but I will pretend I am,” I said.
He winked and handed me a bottle of water. “We’ll take the stairs down and count that as our warmup.”
“Our warmup,” I repeated. “You think going down six flights of stairs is a warmup?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
I had a feeling I was in for one hell of a morning. Fortunately, he took it easy on the way downstairs. We walked down and then walked to the gym that was completely deserted at that hour.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked him.
“I usually start with a warmup on the treadmill,” he said. “Just a slow easy walk.”
“I bet you usually run, right?”
He softly laughed. “I don’t take it easy.”
I looked at his body in the tank top that showed off his arms and the shorts he was wearing. Yeah, there was nothing about the way he looked that said he took it easy. He didn’t look like that because he took an easy stroll on the treadmill a few days a week.
“I’ll try and keep up,” I told him.
There was no way I could, but I was going to enjoy watching him sweat. Getting to see him work out was going to be my treat for getting my ass out of bed so early in the morning.
I climbed onto the treadmill and waited for the next steps. He pushed a few buttons on the machine and stepped back. “Ready?”
I was suddenly afraid. “I think so.”
“Put your feet on the sides and then step on,” he said.
I had been on a treadmill before but liked him teaching me. I started the slow walk on the treadmill while he got on the machine next to mine. His pace was just a little faster than mine. He flashed me a sexy grin. He was enjoying this far more than I thought was possible.
“This isn’t too bad,” I said.
Famous last words.
“Thirty seconds and we take it up a notch,” he said.
He was already going faster than I was. I was interested to see how fast he usually ran. We upped our speed, with him pretty much doubling mine. I started breathing hard, but he looked like he was out for a lazy stroll through the park.
But because I was stubborn and maybe just a little bit of an idiot, I felt like I could do a little more. “Ready to go up?” I asked, slightly out of breath.
He chuckled. “I am. Are you?”
“Let’s do it.”
I upped the speed a few notches and struggled to stay on the damn treadmill. I would absolutely die if I fell off in front of him. I was too proud to back down the speed. I pushed myself a little harder. He was in an all-out run. My legs felt like jelly but I didn’t give up.
“You okay?” he asked without missing a beat.
I bobbed my head up and down. I wasn’t okay, but I was going to fake it until I made it. I could feel myself beginning to slow down. It happened in a split second. One moment, I was jogging along, and the next, I was on my ass behind the treadmill.
“Oh shit,” he said and jumped off his treadmill. “Are you okay?”
I stared up at him. The fall shocked the shit out of me, but I didn’t feel like I was hurt. My pride was shattered though. I burst into laughter. “I cannot believe that just happened.”
“Are you hurt?” he asked and crouched in front of me.
“No,” I said with another laugh. “I’m fine.”
He stood and shut off both treadmills. “Are you sure?” he asked and extended a hand to help me up.
I got up and tried to hide my embarrassment. “I’m fine.”
“Do you want to call it a day?” he asked.
“No,” I told him. “I’m okay. It’s a bump on my butt. Trust me, there’s plenty of padding to prevent any real damage.”
“Why don’t we put you on the elliptical?” he suggested.
“Is it idiot proof?”
He chuckled and shrugged. “Mostly.”
After a quick tutorial, I was certain I could handle the machine. “Are you going to get on the treadmill?” I asked.
“Nah, I got enough cardio. It’s arm day.”
“Arm day?” I questioned. I felt far more confident on the new machine. My legs were burning but it was a good burn.
He flexed an arm and flashed a smile. “Working on the guns,” he teased.
I stayed on my machine and watched him as he climbed onto another machine with weights and various seats. He sat down with his legs straddling the bench. His arms were raised as he squeezed them together. I marveled at the man’s strength as the weights behind him slowly moved up and then down. He was completely focused on what he was doing. I wasn’t sure he knew I was there.
I reminded myself I needed to concentrate on staying on my machine. I did not want to fall again. He looked over and caught me watching him. “Do you want to try?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, thanks,” I said. “I’ll stick with my little thing here.”
“Okay, say the word and we can get you over here.”
After about twenty minutes, I was convinced I was never going to walk again. I stepped off the machine and reached for the bottle of water I had carried. I gulped in large drinks.
“Are you ready to head back upstairs?” he asked and stopped his workout.
“Go ahead,” I said out of breath. “Finish your workout.”
He checked the time on his smartwatch. “I’m good.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to cut your workout short. You obviously are dedicated to working out.”
I watched him use his shirt to wipe his brow. It was a sexy habit he had. It was like watching a peek-a-boo show. I would gladly stuff dollar bills down his shorts.
“I’m good,” he said. “Do you think you can make it up the stairs?”
“Is that part of the workout?” I asked.
“It’s the cooldown,” he said. “Slow and easy. No need to rush.”
I was pretty certain my legs were not going to make it, but I wasn’t going to admit that. “Sure,” I said. “Sounds good.”
We left the gym and walked through the lobby to the stairs. My legs were shaking already, but I wanted to put on a good show. The man must have sensed I was struggling and allowed me to walk on the side with the rail. I practically dragged myself up the stairs.
“You did really well,” he said as we climbed the stairs.
“You’re being kind,” I said. “I sucked. I’m out of shape and I can admit it.”
I had to stop on the second-floor landing. I was out of breath and convinced I was going to collapse. He put a hand on my back. The touch felt like I was being singed. I didn’t flinch. I liked it. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.
“I’m just a little out of breath,” I told him. “I might have overdone it a little bit.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have told you to take it easy. I hope you’re not going to be too sore.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him and started to ascend the stairs once again.
Once we made it to the apartment, I couldn’t do it any longer. I collapsed on the couch, making sure my feet weren’t on it. I wasn’t a total animal. I threw my arm over my face and tried to get my breathing under control. All the while, I kept thinking how out of shape I was. I had no excuse for not being in better shape.
He lifted my legs and sat down on the couch before dropping my legs over his lap. His hand patted my thigh. It was very familiar. Very flirty and very unlike the geeky Thomas I knew. “Sit here a minute,” he said. “I’ll make us some smoothies with a scoop of protein. It’ll help your poor muscles.”
“I think the only thing that will help my muscles is a transplant,” I muttered. “They will need to be removed and replaced with the muscles of someone that is actually in shape.”
“I would suggest a hot bath, if you have time,” he said. “And whatever you do, don’t stay on the couch. When you do move, you’re going to find yourself in a bad way.”
“You are not inspiring me to do this again,” I complained.
“No pain, no gain,” he teased.
“You know that’s a bunch of shit, right?” I said and pulled my arm away from my face. “Pain is bad. Pain means I broke something.”
He laughed again, gently lifted my legs, and slid out from underneath me. “I’ll get you some water.”
I told myself I only needed a minute. I just needed to let my legs stop twitching long enough to get up and go to the shower. A shower would restore me. If only I could get my body to listen to my brain. I could hear him moving around the kitchen. I felt like I should get up and help. I slowly sat up and took a few seconds to get my shit together.
I heard the blender going and turned to look behind me. He had one of the green smoothies in the blender. I was not looking forward to drinking the damn thing, but if he offered, I would accept. I wouldn’t be rude. He was trying to help me after nearly killing me.
12
Thomas
I felt terrible for not advising her to take it easy. I hoped she wasn’t in too bad of shape. I never meant for her to work that hard. I kind of forgot what the first day was like. It was rough. I had a feeling she was going to be sore for the next couple of days.
“Here you go,” I said and handed her one of the smoothies packed with all kinds of good stuff that was supposed to help the body recover after a workout.
“Thank you,” she said and took the drink.
“I know it doesn’t taste great, but it will make you feel better,” I assured her.
I sat down in the chair that was angled to face the couch. Her face was red and her hair was sticking to her neck and forehead. She really busted her ass. I was impressed that she hung in there. She was motivated. She threw herself into anything she did. It was impressive. Oddly enough, it was a major turn-on for me. I didn’t care that she wasn’t in tip-top shape. It was her dedication and willingness to try that excited me.
Match Me Up Page 7