"I've never seen you so red before," Sarah cackled. We were safely back at our apartment, legs tangled together as we sat on opposite ends of our small sofa, with the TV blaring some horrible show we'd found on Netflix in the background. She had been laughing over my misfortune for five minutes now.
"It's not funny," I groaned. "I honestly thought my heart was about to burst from my chest, like, I just completely froze up there. If it weren't for you nudging me forward to follow Dev into his office, I might still be standing in the middle of the gym."
Laughing, Sarah asked, "When did you talk to that guy, then? I didn't see you two in the pub together." No, Sarah, that's because you had your tongue down someone else's throat. "Also like, wow. He's so hot. Not my type, and he's certainly not your usual type, but damn. Good going."
I groaned, heat scorching my cheeks. Dipping my chin, my blonde hair fanned out around me and somewhat hid my face. "I would love to stop talking about this."
"Come on." She nudged me with her foot, sniggering. "We never have any gossip. Our lives are so dull. I need you to tell me everything."
"You would have seen me with him last night if you weren't completely off your face," I huffed, offering her a weak glare. She was completely unfazed, grinning at me, waiting for me to continue. I rolled my eyes and explained with a sigh, "He approached me at the bar, clearly a little drunk. I was also quite drunk. We kissed, and I followed him home."
Sarah squealed, hitting me with the pillow she'd been hugging to her stomach.
"You slutty bitch. What, this happened in, like, five minutes or something? I love it. Was it good?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me suggestively.
By now, my face was on fire. Shrugging noncommittally, as if it hadn't been the best sex I'd ever had, I said, "I'm never doing that again, I swear. I'm one more one-night stand away from being murdered; I can't keep pushing my luck like this."
"Calm down. You've slept with, like, three people before this. They were all from uni who you have mutual friends with and they all live on campus. Anyway, it's probably best it was shitty. He's too attractive. It would be unfair if he was also good in bed," she said, mis-reading my lack of details. "Although it could have been the drinks. Guys are like that sometimes. Maybe if he was sober, it would be ever better."
I don't think I would survive if it got better.
"Well, unless you want to shag him, too, we'll never find out."
"I don't know," Sarah cooed, looking far too pleased. "He was looking at you pretty intently. I bet he'd love to get into your bed again."
"Well, he's going to be sorely disappointed then, isn't he?" I huffed, rolling my eyes. "Anyway, he was obviously glaring at me. I'm not sure I'd take that as a sign of interest."
"He was probably just shocked to see you again. Are you going to see him more, do you think? I would love to know how that first conversation goes down."
"What about you and Casper?" I asked, deflecting. "How did things go with him?"
"Who- Oh, you mean Caden." Sarah's face scrunched into disgust.
"What's that look for? Did you sleep with him?"
"No, definitely not," Sarah assured, looking repulsed by just the suggestion.
"Well, forgive me for asking," I said sarcastically. "Only it looked like you were both trying to fuse your mouths together last night."
"Uh, don't, please. Don't remind me." Sarah groaned, hiding her face in her hands as she sunk further down into the sofa.
"Don't tell me you're having make-out regret."
"Okay, okay. Fine, we're not talking about boys anymore. I won't ask about your hunky sex friend, and you won't ask about Caden," Sarah breathed. "Though you are probably going to see him tomorrow after work, right? What time is your new shift again?"
"God, I hope not," I groaned. "I finish at eight. Let's hope today was a fluke and he won't be there. I can't go through with that awkwardness again."
***
It was late, ten minutes to eight, and close to closing. I stood hunched over the counter of the café, ready to close as I waited out the last ten minutes of my shift. There were no more customers, thankfully; that meant I could be out here as soon as the doors locked and head straight to the gym.
When the bell of the door rang, I held back a groan, plastered on a bright fake smile, and stood up straighter to greet the customer.
That smile quickly fell when I recognised the woman stood there.
I turned my back to her, busying myself with making her a drink (despite the fact that she had yet to order anything), so that I could take a second to calm myself and hide any panic in my expression. When I spun back around, she was already at the counter.
"What are you doing here?" My words were sharp, enforced by the loud clatter of porcelain against marble, as I placed the cup on the counter with too much force. The black coffee rocked inside the cup and spilled out. I didn't bother to apologise or clean up the mess as I offered the woman in front of me a somewhat panicked glare.
"Daisy," Jun Liu greeted me. A wicked grin curved at her mouth. "Still working here, I see."
"Yes," I sighed through gritted teeth. A quick glance around confirmed Ellen - the only other person working tonight - was still in the back. Tone unquestionably dry, I asked, "How's the girls and the gays?"
Jun laughed a little at that, eyes shining. Mouth twisted in mild amusement, she said, "Missing you, and wondering how you're doing."
Jun looked exactly the same as she had when I last saw her. She'd tied her thick, black hair in a bun at the base of her neck, shorter strands of hair framing her bare face. She wore no jewellery, save for the thick, plain silver rings on nearly every finger, and dressed in her familiar black leather jacket, black jeans, and black steel-toed boots. I was sure if I went outside to look, I'd see her bike nearby.
"You should stop by soon, so you don't forget our faces. Quin's been worrying about you, you know how they are. Had to stop them showing up at your flat a few times with tubs of food." Jun arched a brow, her expression somewhat disapproving. "At least text them to let them know you're still alive."
"I'll text them," I assured curtly. Checking the time, 7.55pm, I sent another quick glance behind me to check if Ellen had re-emerged from her office. "We're about to close."
"You going home after this?"
"No. The gym."
"Ah, you at the University or..." Jun's head tilted, eyes narrowing in thought. "Dev's?"
"You've been keeping tabs on me?" I asked tightly.
"You expected us to not to?" A beat of silence stretched between us. I didn't cower from Jun's challenging stare. "You rarely train this late. It's dark out. You need a lift?"
"No."
"Okay, okay," Jun huffed, hands raised defensively as she backed away from the counter. She then dug out a fiver from her pocket, throwing it on the counter and nodding down at the coffee I had poured. "We really do miss you, you know."
"I know, I- I miss you guys, too. It's just hard," I said, my tone softening unexpectedly. I couldn't look her in the eye. "I want to put all of that behind me. I just need time to focus on myself, on my well-being. That sounds selfish and shitty-"
"It doesn't," Jun was quick to input.
I shrugged, continuing in the same quiet, somewhat melancholy tone, "I am really grateful for everything you guys did for me. I feel like I'm acting unappreciative of that, but I just had to get away from all that... stuff."
"Yeah," she sighed, though there was obvious disappointment in her tone. "I get it."
***
"Hey!" a deep voice called out. I kept my head down and continued walking towards the back of the gym, not feeling at all inclined to respond to a random man shouting across a room. "Hey, aren't you Grim's girl?"
After a quick, wide-eyed glance to the left, I spotted a man I didn't recognise. Dressed in the expected gym-wear; shorts and a white baggy vest top that contrasted well with his warm brown skin, his broad muscular shoulders were on show, and I noted his thick, dark eyebrows furrowed into a frown, his full lips turned down at the corners as he stared at me.
Grim's girl? What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck?
"He's not here, you know?" The guy called out again when I didn't respond. I sent him a quick, uncomfortable, tight-lipped smile, and hurried on towards the women's changing room at the back of the gym, praying he wouldn't call out to me again.
Had he really thought I was here just to see a guy? Was it that odd for a woman to be here at this time of evening? True, I didn't see anyone here other than men right now, and I looked out of place in my work uniform with a backpack slung over my shoulder; I hardly looked as if I were about to work-out, but why the hell would I be here just to see Markus?
How the hell had he even recognised me, anyway? Perhaps he, like the blond guy yesterday - Alec - was there at the pub that night, and had seen me and Markus leave together. Still, I was more than a little uncomfortable.
Oh God, maybe he thought I was stalking Markus, like an obsessed ex-lover? I literally had only met him once - granted, we slept together, but how desperate would I have to be to show up at the gym looking for him again? I didn't even know his last name!
I spent longer than necessary in the changing rooms, worrying about it, before I finally forced myself to go out there again. When I emerged, in some baggy joggers and a sports bra, I found Dev in his office, hunched over his desk, squinting behind his glasses at the computer screen.
"Is it that time already?" He murmured, clearly distracted. When his eyes rose to mine, he offered me a tired smile. "Get the pads and your gloves out from the storage. Give me two secs to finish this up. I'll meet you out there," he said, tossing me a set of keys.
Back out on the gym floor, I was displeased to find that it had filled out some more. The weights area was more active, and there were now at least three guys sat around on some mats a few feet away from the sparring ring. Of the three men, there was Alec - the tall blond Dev had introduced me to yesterday - and the man from earlier who had all but accused me of stalking. I didn't recognise the third. I felt their eyes following me as I walked past them to the storage cupboard in the far corner.
This was horrible.
I was much longer grabbing the equipment than I needed to be, delaying the inevitable of facing the men again. This was why I preferred to train during the mid-day rush when the gym had enough people that you didn't really notice anyone else around you, you just kept your head down and got on with what you were doing. Now, in a nearly empty gym at 8.30 pm, I felt like I was on show.
Would the men still be sitting there, watching, while I trained with Dev? I couldn't think of anything worse.
When I turned around, my eyes naturally falling back towards the group of three, I felt the blood leach from my face. The man had lied to me before; Markus was here.
Our eyes met, and I forced myself to look away, my cheeks warming as I hurried over to the sparring ring, praying Dev would be out any second. Thankfully, Markus said nothing, even amongst the other guys he sat with as they talked to one another, but I was abundantly aware of their eyes wandering towards me every now and again while I moved through my warm-up stretches. Why were they just sitting around, anyway? Shouldn't they be working out?
It took Dev another five minutes to emerge, and I was brutally aware of every 300 seconds I had to wait alone. When we began, I tried my hardest to ignore all of my surroundings, but alas, I was still far too aware of the others. Part way through my session with Dev, Markus walked off to grab a bottle of water, and when he came back, he stood beside his friends, leant back against the wall, not even trying to hide the fact that he was watching Dev and I. And he was frowning, his thick eyebrows knitted together to form a straight line. What I couldn't understand was why he was frowning, and at me of all people, as I tried my best to get on with my fucking training despite being watched like I was under some sort of investigation.
There was nothing of the flirty, attractive man I had met Sunday night visible in Markus today.
Ten minutes later, he was still there, arms crossed against his chest. He hadn't moved once from the corner of my eye, and despite how adamant I was that I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of any acknowledgement, the urge to look towards him was growing stronger.
"You're doing mostly defensive stuff?" Markus finally addressed us after another five minutes, walking closer, and I cursed myself as my eyes instinctively found his. I said nothing, though. "Right," he mused, as if understanding something in my silence.
He turned to Dev, asking, "Have you gone through take downs and grappling? Or is it mainly just hand and foot work?"
Dev rolled his eyes at the same time as one of the guys in the corner of the gym groaned, "Here we go."
"Fuck off, Andres," Markus quickly called out over his shoulder, only to be met by laughter. Alec and the guy I had yet to meet, with pale skin, jet black hair and sharp features, were laughing, too.
"You're actually obsessed, mate," Andres, the guy who had approached me earlier, called out. "Nobody cares about your weird martial arts."
"Just cause you couldn't throw a punch to save your life, doesn't mean we all want to be similarly useless," Markus said with a roll of his eyes.
"Come over here and say that to me, yeah?"
"Why? So you can tickle me with those little baby hands of yours?" Markus jeered. The tips of his ears were pink when he looked back at me, shrugging. "I can show you some Ju-Jitsu and Judo. What you're doing now is good, but you'll be lost on what to do if anyone grabs you from behind or gets you on the ground."
"Uh, thanks," I said, voice cracking. How embarrassing. My cheeks immediately flushed with heat, and I met Dev's amused gaze as I continued to say, "I'm good, though."
I couldn't think of anything worse than being subjected to that frown of his for any longer than necessary, and I certainly didn't need reminding of what had transpired between the two of us. Every time my traitorous gaze scanned the length of his body, it vividly reminded me of what it was like to be under said body; to feel those powerful hands of his grabbing at me, squeezing me, and pulling me as close to him as possible. The feel of his lips grazing the delicate skin where my neck met my shoulder, the feel of his breath against my ear, his mouth slanted against mine in a bruising-
"Ooh, rejected! Hard luck mate," Andres guffawed.
I blinked, feeling the flush of my face deepening. Stop. Stop thinking about it. Think about anything else.
"Can you fuck off?" Markus snapped at his friend. "Don't you have somewhere to be right now? Why are you here?"
"Don't act like you wouldn't miss us," Alec called out.
"Fucking idiots," Markus grumbled, moving back to join them with a scowl on his face, without sparing me another glance.
[don't worry Markus, there's no need to feel embarrassed, she thinks you're hot, I promise]
Next chapter will be up Friday 14th, as always, it has already been posted ahead of Wattpad to my Inkitt account.