Just One Night Together (Flatiron Five Fitness #3) - Deborah Cooke Page 0,47
keep it happening. That’s not going to change when you open F5F West. You need someone who loves it here.”
It was such an obvious pitch that Ty couldn’t keep himself from smiling. “Let me guess. You have the perfect candidate in mind.”
Hunter laughed, not in the least bit troubled that Ty had seen through him. “You’ve got that right. I do love this club. I pay to be here all the time. I belong to the gym, too. To be paid to be here would be like heaven on earth.” He grinned. “You could throw in one of those condos as part of my compensation.”
Ty was amused that the younger man was so forthright. “Well, send us a résumé and we’ll think about it,” he said, not wanting to give too much encouragement. It was a good idea, but he wanted to find out what Kyle knew about Hunter.
“No problem.” Hunter pulled out his phone. “I just happen to have my résumé all ready. Why don’t you give me your email and I’ll send it to you?” He looked up and met Ty’s gaze, confidence in his eyes.
“What a coincidence you had a chance to talk to me.”
“I don’t believe in coincidence any more than I believe in luck,” Hunter said. “Luck is made. I want to work at F5F. How would any of you know that unless I told you?”
That was true enough. Ty gave Hunter the email for the club and told him they’d think about it.
He considered Damon, unable to dismiss his sense that his partner was taut with tension, and knew Hunter practically had the job already.
Damon hated that he was so late.
It was past four in the morning by the time he got to the hospital. It hadn’t helped that Ty had tried to talk to him when the dance club closed. The last thing Damon was going to do was confide in his partners and let them decide he shouldn’t be a part of F5F anymore because he had too much on his plate. The best course was to shoulder through the challenge and get to the other side.
Somehow.
The hospital lobby was deserted. The nurse at the desk of the oncology ward glanced up when the elevator doors opened and she waved to him with her fingertips.
He took that as a sign that his mom was more or less okay.
Damon strode down the hall, not having it in him to make conversation. He didn’t like letting anyone down. He didn’t like that he couldn’t fix everything for his mom. He didn’t like that Ty and the others had no idea what was going on in his life, but he didn’t want to confide in them either. His mom’s illness was private.
An ordeal he had to survive alone.
His throat was tight when he reached her room but he was reassured by the sound of the heart monitor within. He opened the door just a little, not wanting to disturb her, and caught his breath at how vulnerable she looked.
How much longer would it be?
He walked toward the bed, moving as quietly as he could. She didn’t awaken, which was unusual. His mom had always been a light sleeper.
But then, they’d probably given her something for the pain.
Damon balled his hands in his pockets and looked down at her, wondering what he’d do when this came to its inevitable end, hating that he couldn’t change any of it.
Then he saw the bottle of massage lotion on the end table. It wasn’t where he had left it.
Haley had been with her.
She’d come.
Relief flooded through Damon and he knew he had to do something to thank her.
He could think of one thing he was more than ready to do.
She might not be interested, though. He had called an end to it.
Damon lifted the blanket and tucked it over his mom, smelling the familiar scent of the lotion as he did so. His mom smiled and reached for his hand without opening her eyes. She gave his fingers a little squeeze, as if he was the one who needed comfort, then her hand slid away as she slept more deeply again.
He watched her sleeping for a while, then went back to the nurses’ station. He learned that Haley hadn’t just given his mom a massage: her touch had meant that his mom hadn’t needed the extra morphine to get to sleep. The nurse enthused about the effect upon his mom’s vitals and Damon was more than glad to hear