Bad Rep

THIRTEEN

"Just for that, you earned yourself ten more burpees," he quips back, still bitter.

"What? No!" I whine.

A smirk tugs at his lips. "The faster you get to it, the faster you get them over with," he taunts mockingly.

"I hate you," I grumble.

His smiles. "I know you do."

"Maybe as much as you hate Rita," I add.

He instantly scowls, making me smile.

✨

"Goodnight," I manage to tell Rhodes, exhausted.

He looks up from putting away the equipment, giving me a soft smile. "See you tomorrow."

Doubtful, I think, my sore muscles thinking for me at the moment. But I know I'll reluctantly be back tomorrow.

I give him one final small wave and exit the gym, plopping down on the curb to wait for the Uber I ordered while I was in the locker room. I make myself comfortable, stretching out my sore legs, knowing it'll be another ten minutes before the car gets here.

Just as the car pulls up and I manage to crawl back to my feet, I hear my name called behind me. I look over my shoulder to find Rhodes leaving, his gym bag thrown over his broad, tattooed shoulder.

"Is your car still not fixed?" he asks, his now perfectly sculpted and thick brows knit together in confusion.

"Uh, no," I lie horribly, lamely. "It's still in the shop."

He frowns, walking towards me and looking at the car skeptically. "Why don't you let me drive you home," he says, practically insists.

Now it's my turn to frown. "It's okay, I already paid for the car, anyway."

He still looks uneasy, tilting his head to inspect the average looking man behind the wheel. His frown deepens and he shakes his head. "No, I'll drive you home."

Before I can even argue, Rhodes is striding up to the car and the driver rolls down the window.

"Hey man, sorry to waste your time but I'm going to drive her home."

"But—" I begin to object, and before I can even put my two cents in, the driver just shrugs, happily rolling up his window and driving away.

My jaw drops, and just like the driver, Rhodes shrugs carelessly, motioning for me to follow him to his car.

"Why did you do that?" I call after him, hobbling to catch up. "I already paid for it!"

He shrugs again. "I don't trust ride services."

"Okay," I say slowly. "But that doesn't mean I don't."

He reaches a nice looking gray truck, opening the back passenger door to toss his gym bag inside before opening the front passenger side door, waiting for me to climb in.

"Do you know how many Ubers I've taken? How do you think I got here?" I argue, not getting in the truck.

His jaw ticks. "I've heard too many horror stories about women using ride share services. I'd just feel better if I took you home myself, it's literally on my way."

I huff, throwing my bag in his truck and climbing in. "Well if it's on your way," I mock, annoyed, knowing he's my only option home now.

Looking a little more pleased, he closes my door, briefly trapping me alone in the clean, pine smelling vehicle. The seats are leather and everything is so high tech and nice and the interior looks practically new.

Rhodes rounds the hood and jumps into the driver's seat, starting up the relatively quiet engine, surprising me. Trucks like this and guys like him typically want everyone and their deaf grandmother to be able to hear their truck coming from a mile away. It's kind of nice.

Or maybe I've just become so desensitized and deaf myself to the noise after listening to Eli's truck all these years.

We drive the ten minutes to my apartment in silence, and as he comes to a stop at my door he surprises me by saying, "I'll pick you up before our session tomorrow."

I blink at him once, twice. "Huh?"

"Tomorrow. I'll pick you up here," he reiterates.

I shake my head. "No. I don't need you picking me up."

He shrugs. "Really it's no big deal."

I gap at him. "I'm not going to make you go out of your way to pick me up."

"Well good thing you're not making me," he counters.

"Rhodes—"

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at five," he cuts me off definitively.

"Then I'm giving you gas money," I fight back.

"Not necessary," he insists.

"Too bad."

He shrugs, unbuckling his seat belt and jumping out of the car.

"Where are you—"

The door slams, cutting me off, and Rhodes comes around the truck to open my door. He grabs my bag before I can and holds out his hand, offering me help out of the tall truck. I grumble under my breath and reluctantly grab his hand, slowly climbing out of the truck with my sore muscles.

Once I'm safely on the ground, I go to grab my bag but he walks away from me and towards my door before I can do so.

"I can walk to the door myself!" I call after him.

"I know," is all he says, not breaking stride or even bothering to look back at me.

He leans on the wall next to my door, finally handing me my bag once I catch up. I rummage through it for my keys, unlocking my door. "Goodnight," I say pointedly.

The corner of his mouth quirks and he pushes off the wall. "Goodnight. See you tomorrow."

I watch him effortlessly climb up into the truck and drive away, annoyance with a hint of amusement warming my chest.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi friends! I know it's been a while since I last posted. I've just been taking some time to myself since it's summer and trying to enjoy the vacations I have lined up, and then in between that time off life has been life-ing really hard so I haven't been writing much lately. I hope you all understand. Hopefully once fall rolls around life will slow down a little bit and I can get back to more regular updates.

I hope you all are having a great summer❤️