his room and heard the door close.
Crisis avoided.
It was quiet so he hoped Ashley had gotten into her car and driven away. He could only imagine having to explain to Herc what was going on if she had stayed in the driveway shouting at the top of her lungs.
His brother was why he didn’t have sleepovers with women. Herc had the mind of a five-year-old child. He wouldn’t understand why they stayed. Herc might get too attached to them. Dash didn’t want any woman coming between him and his brother.
His mother had been bad enough. He pushed aside thoughts of the woman who’d deserted her family. She hadn’t been able to handle having a son with an intellectual disability. At least, that’s what they called it now. His mother had used retard. Dash hated when she called Herc that. He was glad when she finally had enough and left.
He went into the kitchen and pulled out the peanut butter and peeled a banana. He smeared the peanut butter on the banana and downed a bottle of water with it. As he finished, Leo Parker walked into the kitchen, a backpack slung over his shoulder. Leo had a key to the house so he could enter without ringing the bell and waking Herc.
“Everything okay?” the trainer asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
Leo shrugged. “I pulled up and saw Ashley standing in the driveway. She flipped me off and got in her car and burned rubber leaving.”
Dash said nothing.
“I’m not used to seeing any women here this early.”
He shrugged. “You won’t be seeing Ashley here anymore. Period.”
“Gotcha.” Leo set the backpack down on the table. “I brought some more of the new protein shake for you and a new soccer ball for Herc to kick around.”
“Thanks, Leo. That’s really thoughtful of you.”
“I like Herc. It’s good for him to run around and get some exercise.”
Dash laughed. “Spoken like a true trainer. You ready to hit the gym?”
“That’s what you’re paying me the big bucks to do,” Leo teased.
Dash liked Leo. He had an easygoing personality but he could be a beast when he supervised workouts. He never asked Dash to do anything that he didn’t do right beside him. Leo had gotten Dash into the best shape of his life. More importantly, the trainer had a soft spot for Herc. The two men, so different from one another, had bonded. It was Leo who’d introduced them to Tim Dillon. Tim was what Dash liked to call Herc’s live-in handler. Tim was more than a babysitter. He guided Herc. Taught him. Took him on outings. Played with him. Hung out with him.
Dash couldn’t have managed Herc without Tim’s help. He was thankful that he made the kind of money he did so that Herc didn’t have to live in a group home. Dash liked having his brother around.
Ninety minutes later, his limbs were exhausted. They’d finished their circuit training so he hit the treadmill to get in a twenty-minute run to finish things off. Leo headed to the kitchen to prepare egg white omelets for them and the protein shake that Herc had gone nuts over.
As he settled into the zone, he let his thoughts wander to tonight’s meeting with Monty Revere. He wanted to work with the Hollywood legend more than he’d let on. Dash had broken into films doing raunchy college comedies. He’d worked his way up to starring in good quality action films. Monty Revere had directed some of the best action-adventure films over the last twenty-five years. He’d made the careers of several actors, including Dash’s favorite—Craig Thompson. Dash often wondered how long Craig would’ve stayed in action films or if the actor would’ve segued into another genre. A tragic car accident ended the star’s life. Still, Dash screened Craig’s films on a regular basis, always learning something new when he watched them.
That was why tonight was so important. If he could land in Monty Revere’s new film, it would take him to a new level. The director’s films weren’t all bang-bang, smash and crash films. They had complicated plots and heroes who could think their way out of bad situations—even if they had to flex some muscle to do it. Dash wanted more for his career. He was in it for the long haul. Besides, he needed to make sure that Herc would always be taken care of.
He slowly dialed the treadmill down until his heart rate fell. Then he stopped it and grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat that poured