body to a point where I know it won’t want to go.
Then it’s a slowdown, using the rowing machine. Five thousand meters and I feel like I am fucking dead.
Yay, time to fucking swim.
I really need to sleep now, but I don’t leave the gym ‘til about three.
Fuck. I remember shortly after Mandy left and my parents… I lived at the gym.
But this, this isn’t for fun anymore. This is to make myself hard. To make someone who can unleash hell on another man and try to hurt him. Hurt him bad.
Coming down from the rage I build in myself isn’t always easy, but pulling up in front of home and walking in to see Mandy curled up on the couch, wearing one of my t-shirts, makes me go from a homicidal fuck to a horny motherfucker in a nanosecond. Shit.
“What did you do with my panties you fucker?”
I shrug and grin.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Mandy
“Oh my god, Mandy, where have you been?” Grace asks after picking up the phone.
Brett just left for the gym so I’m in the living room, hanging out on his couch. I lean back and stare up at the ceiling, watching the fan spin round and round. “I’ve been with Brett.”
“For the past three days?” Grace asks with disbelief.
“Yes,” I smile though she can’t see it.
“Oh my god, are you guys back together?” she asks, each word increasing in pitch until it hurts my ear.
“Yes,” I tell her and yank the phone away from my ear as she squeals.
“I’m so happy for you! I was hoping you guys would work things out.”
“You were?” I ask, so not believing her.
“Yes, but I kind of kept it to myself. Though I knew if you guys were around each other enough you wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off of each other.”
“How did you know that?”
“Because I’m your best friend and I know,” she says with mild exasperation. “And it’s been four years and you haven’t been with anyone else. You know that’s not normal, right? You never got over him.”
“You’re right,” I agree and sigh. “I never got over him.” Brett’s always been my weakness. I’ve fought and fought against falling too deeply in love with him but it was all a waste of energy. I need Brett just as much as I need to breathe.
“So, are you guys taking it slow, day by day?”
I laugh at that. “Not quite.”
“What do you mean?”
I laugh again and struggle to find the words to explain it. “Um, well, I guess we’re more of making up for lost time.” My face feels hot, I just know I’m blushing.
“Okay, you have to explain that. I need details.”
“Hope isn’t around, is she?” I ask. If she is then I can skip having to explain all the juicy bits I know Grace is dying to find out.
“No, she’s out with grandma.”