Together, we head for the door. Before we push through, Coop grabs my arm and stops me. My eyebrows shoot upward in question. “Is she going to be a problem?” he asks.
Instantly, I stiffen my spine and pull back, on edge. “No.”
Coop watches me for several seconds, as if trying to figure out if I’m shitting him or not. “Okay,” he finally replies, releasing my arm. “Promise me, Mack, if she becomes a problem, you tell me. I need to know what’s going on in your head at all times, okay? We can deal with it together.”
Frustrated, I huff, “Lena’s not a problem to deal with, Coop. She’s an old friend, and she’s helping me figure out how to adjust to suddenly becoming a full-time dad.”
Coop doesn’t miss a beat. “An old friend you’ve been in love with forever.” I open my mouth to refute, but nothing comes out. “I’m not trying to give you a hard time, Mack, but I do know how problems with the fairer sex can wreak havoc on a guy’s mojo, and the last thing I want is for problems to arise with our team. That’s all.”
I get it. Truly, I do. He’s concerned about me as his driver, as his friend. But he also has a lot of other concerns to consider. The team, my sponsors, my status as a CD Enterprise driver, and to him, Lena is a huge unknown. She’s a new development, a mysterious factor that’s suddenly thrown into the mix.
Sighing, I turn to one of my oldest and closest friends in Los Angeles. “Thank you. I promise to let you know if she poses a problem.”
He nods his head.
“But just so you know, you don’t have to worry about Lena.”
Coop gives me a sad smile. “I’m not worried about Lena, friend.” And then he pushes through the door and enters the loud gym.
The music is pulsing when I enter and quickly go over that day’s workout schedule. It’s leg day, which always sucks. I’ll be sore as hell later. Half the time, after a leg workout, I crash on the sofa so I don’t have to use the stairs. Now that I have Oliver to take care of, I’m not so sure this workout is in my best interest. But I also know it’s what I need right now. The release. So I tuck in my fucking skirt and get to work with my team.
An hour later, I’m covered in sweat and ready to cry uncle. With my hands on my knees, I suck in greedy gulps of sweet oxygen and glance to Jones, lying on the ground beside me. “You alive?” I ask.
“Everything hurts,” he pants.
“Quit your belly aching,” Coop hollers from across the room, a sadistic grin on his face. Coop leads by example and works out right alongside us, but he has the stamina of a teenager when it comes to running, and thinks everyone should be able to run five miles on a treadmill every other day like it’s nothing.
“No belly aching here, Coop. I was just telling Cruz how great I feel,” Jones wheezes, making us all laugh.
“I think because Fish is missing these important workouts, he has to do double when he gets back,” my gasman, Chief, adds. He’s lying on a bench, his hands in his wet hair.
“Pssh,” I snort. “The only double in Fish’s vocabulary is a cheeseburger.”
We all have a good laugh, at my friend’s expense, until Coop breaks it up. “All right, guys, let’s get showered and ready for the team meeting. I hear they’re bringing in Italian for lunch.”
After a quick shower, I take a seat on the bench in front of my locker and fire off a text to Lena.
Me: Just finished workout. How’s Oliver?
Her reply takes a few minutes, long enough for me to get fresh clothes on before my phone dings with a response.
Lena: Two words. Diaper. Blowout. *insert gagging emoji*
I laugh out loud, drawing the attention of everyone in the locker room. Instantly, comments echo through the room about what I’m hiding, that I must be texting a girl since I’m smiling, and bets in general with who I’m suddenly sleeping with. You know, typical guy, locker room bullshit.
Ignoring them, I type out a reply.
Me: Sorry to hear, but honestly, glad it wasn’t me. *insert laughing emoji*
Lena: Laugh it up now. You’ll have your turn later.
My mind flashes to something dirty, and I’m not talking about my son’s