He took Lisa by the elbow and dragged her to the side. “What are you doing here?”
She pouted. “I came to see you.”
Her pout looked ridiculous. She’d clearly gotten a lot of recent work done and not only were her breasts enormous, nipples poking through the thin fabric of her bra, but her lips were bloated, too. They looked like a duck bill, protruding from her face and stretching her once pretty features into a caricature. She’d clearly gone overboard with the plastic surgery. She’d been tanning quite a bit and looked, well, a bit too orange to be natural. Kind of like a pumpkin.
“You came here to see me or you came to film for the show?” he asked bluntly, unhooking his harness.
She twirled a lock of hair—probably extensions. “Can’t it be both?”
“You know I hate the show.” Damn it, he couldn’t unclip himself. He was too pissy and in too much of a hurry.
“I miss you, baby. Can we talk privately?” She put her hand on his belt harness and tried to pull him forward.
“No! Don’t touch me.” He flung himself backward so hard that he slammed onto the mat and lay there for a moment, spread eagle.
Fuck. That was going to make the promo, he just knew it.
She giggled and then bit one of her bloated lips in an attempt to look cute. “We need to talk about you and me.”
“There is no you and me. There hasn’t been for years.”
“I miss you—”
“I don’t miss you, and I don’t want any of this.” He waved an arm at the cameras still filming his every move. “Just because my mother wants me on TV doesn’t mean I want to be there.”
Her eyes widened. “Did you know Mama Precious has cancer?”
Oh, no. He was not getting involved in the damn cancer story line. Not one bit. Ignoring the bait she’d dropped, he clenched his jaw. “I don’t want to be in a relationship with you, Lisa, okay? Just leave me alone.”
Lisa’s hands went to her hips. “I’m not going to give up on you, Sebastian Cabral. You’re going to see that I’m the perfect girlfriend for you. What we had was good.”
What they’d had was brief and annoying. “Go away, Lisa.”
“You just wait. I refuse to take no for an answer.” She tossed her head and stalked away.
Frustrated, he rubbed his forehead. Everyone was staring. He couldn’t come back to this gym again. Hell, he was going to have to convince Hunter that this wasn’t a setup.
What a nightmare. He had to do something to get Lisa off his back. If not, he was going to have to endure months of ambushes like this one. Something had to be done.
* * *
“You sure you’re going to be okay?” Pisa asked again, checking the half-empty apartment one last time before letting the movers leave.
“Totally cool,” Chelsea assured her. She shouldered Pisa’s bag of skate equipment, since that was something that she wanted with her on the plane. A TV could be replaced, but skates that were properly broken in were priceless. “It’s going to be fun having the place to myself for a while.”
“You’re such a shitty liar,” Pisa told her. She scanned the room one last time and then turned to Chelsea. “You can tell your derby wife, honey. Say the word and I’ll get a later flight or something.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Chelsea handed her the heavy bag. “You need to do this. How long have you been waiting for the chance at a promotion? I’d be the worst friend on earth if I held you back.”
“We both know you’re not doing it on purpose.” Pisa’s narrow face was worried. “You have my new address, right?”
“And your phone number. And the emergency numbers of the other girls on the team. And I can go down to a coffee shop if it gets too quiet. Or I’ll get a cat or something. I promise, it’s cool.”
The unhappy look on Pisa’s face didn’t ease up. “You’ll call me if you start to freak out?”
“Absolutely.” Chelsea grabbed her friend by the shoulders and turned her toward the front door. “You have to go, Pisa. Your plane is leaving soon and the movers are waiting for you to wave them off.”
“I know. I just feel guilty . . .” She looked at Chelsea again.
“Feel guilty that you’re leaving the Rag Queens for some shitty Austin team,” she teased, keeping her voice light.
“Austin’s kickass and you know it.” Pisa flung her arms around Chelsea. “I’m going to miss you so much, Chesty LaRude.”