My Vegas Groom (The Greene Family #3) - Piper Rayne Page 0,28
anyone, but Garcia gave me a run for my money.
Craig and I start off with a jog, but it quickly turns into a run and I realize way too late he’s mapped out all of Sunrise Bay. The fucker took me the long way to town and up every hill.
“We’re gonna have to do a lot more cardio this time. You were fading too fast with Garcia,” he says.
“I know. The guy has the energy of a puppy.”
“And Rinaldo isn’t a sleeping twelve-year-old basset hound either. So get ready for lots of running. We’ll be concentrating a lot of our effort there at first.” He pats my stomach and runs up the hill, turning around to egg me on.
“Please, you can’t beat me.” I run up and past him, continuing on the path.
He quickly catches up. “I have to say, I never thought I’d see the day you’d get married.”
I glance over, then set my eyes on the downtown area that’s coming up. “Why do you say that?”
“You never seemed much interested in it. I thought for a while maybe with Melanie, but after she quit her job and started playing those games with the media, I hoped you wouldn’t.”
I definitely dodged a bullet with Melanie.
“It just kind of happened.” I’m not lying. Nikki seemed to drop into my life at the best possible time.
He pats me on the back. “I’m happy for you. I saw your interview with Rick and you both seem very into one another.”
I smile, thinking about how close we were on the couch. Her hand on my thigh and my arm around her shoulders. The way she’d look up at me to answer a question and then have a soft smile on her lips afterward. “Yeah. You’ll meet her in a few.”
We finish our run and slow down to a walk as we reach the town square from one of the parking lot entrances.
“I see these cobblestone streets and I think where the hell are we?” Craig laughs.
“Crazy, right?”
Craig leads the way to a place called Pump It Up, and I quirk an eyebrow as he opens the door.
“This is the best I can do without us going into Anchorage. You picked here, remember?” He pats me on the back, and we step into the gym.
“Logan,” a guy says. As he gets closer, I notice it’s Jed, Nikki’s brother. He puts out his hand. “Are you gonna work out here?”
He’s sweaty and I wonder what the hell he does for a living that he can work out midday. Oh yeah, he owns the brewery, I think.
“Are you the owner?” Craig interrupts.
“No, this is Nikki’s brother, Jed,” I say. “Jed, this is Craig, one of my trainers.”
Craig puts out his hand and they shake. “Try, the trainer.”
I shake my head because I have more than one trainer, but Craig would be the lead trainer if that was actually a title.
“Nice to meet you. The owner is Trent. He’s in the office.” Jed points us in the right direction.
“Thanks.” Craig heads to the office.
“You like it here?” I ask Jed.
He runs a towel down his face. “I do, but it’s not like there’re other options either.”
I nod, looking at the equipment. It appears on the old side. Plus, I’m gonna need a ring if I really want to make sure my sparring stays in place.
“You’re probably thinking right now about how my sister moved you to the sticks.” Jed laughs. “I get it. We lived in Arizona before we came up here and I was like, ‘What kind of place is this?’ But it grows on you.”
I nod, staring at the pathetic gym. For the first time, I wonder what my long game here is. Do I think I’m going to live here forever if this thing with Nikki works out? Surely I can’t live here permanently and still fight. My wheels are turning, but I stop them before I get ahead of myself. There’s a high probability that in three months, I’ll be leaving as a divorced man.
“Nah, I love this town.” Except for right now when I realize that not all my training requirements are at my disposal.
Craig comes out with who I suspect is Trent. He’s a taller guy, in his thirties, and from the belly that strains over the waistband of his pants, doesn’t look like he actively uses his gym.
“This is Logan Stone,” Craig introduces me, and I shake Trent’s hand.