No Rep (Madd CrossFit #1) - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,1

and Jasper, his son. Our other best friend Haggard, and his kids, Clem and Boston.

I wasn’t sure why I’d latched on to Madden so hard. I had just been adopted by my current family, just like Madden had been taken in by his foster family. After years of insecurity, I had needed a friend.

I’d been just a teen myself, but the moment I’d seen Madden, so fuckin’ mad just like me, I’d instantly stuck out my hand and introduced myself.

Then I’d told him that he needed a haircut because he looked like a douchebag.

That’d been the start of our best friend relationship. And the start of his kids being in my life.

There were times over the years that Madden—like Haggard, who’d entered the military young to help support his young kid and wife—had gone his own way, but we always made our way back to each other.

After Madden’s divorce, he’d come home and moved into my place. After my divorce, I’d gone to his place. When we’d graduated from college, and neither one of us really knew what we wanted to do, we’d moved in together.

Though we both always left, we never went far, and we never went long without speaking or seeing each other.

And that included his kids.

I didn’t have any of my own, and though his kids were both adults now, that didn’t change how I treated them.

I was the really cool uncle.

The one that would give them absolutely anything if they only asked.

“So, Dad wasn’t going to say anything, but I think you need to know.” Sophia bit her lip.

I grumbled under my breath. “Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say.”

I had a feeling. That was why Mad had asked me to teach this class. Begged me.

He’d also begged me not to ask any questions.

I hadn’t been able to tell him no.

“Maria is going to be in this class,” she whispered.

I cursed underneath my breath. “You’re fucking joking.”

Sophia grimaced. “Nope.”

“Nope, what?” Jasper asked.

I looked over to find him, in uniform, coming into the gym headed straight for us. Taking great care to go the long way around his father that now had three new members crowded around him.

“I just told Tay that Maria’s going to be in this new bootcamp class,” Sophia explained, looking her brother up and down.

I looked at him, too, making sure there were no signs of injury.

Jasper, like I had once been, was a police officer for the city. There were times he came in and looked like he’d gone three rounds with a brick wall. There were others, like now, where he looked tired.

I remembered those days, and I didn’t care to repeat them.

Not one single bit.

“Fuck.” Jas shook his head. “That fuckin’ sucks.”

He looked at me sympathetically.

I rolled my eyes and turned when a familiar voice filled the room.

Maria’s. My ex-wife.

The woman who, no matter how hard I tried, never wanted to do CrossFit. She’d said it would ‘bulk her up’ and she ‘refused to look like a man.’

Well, apparently, she didn’t care anymore.

Evidently, she liked to make my life a living hell no matter what.

“That was why he didn’t tell me anymore info,” I grumbled. “Because he knew I’d find out she was going to be in this class, and then refuse to teach it.”

“She’s not really supposed to be in the one you’re teaching after today, if that helps,” Sophia admitted. “This is only the first introductory class. The one where you learn the basics, the gym, and then do a short WOD—workout of the day—and go home.”

I rolled my eyes.

The gym door opened again, and a woman’s voice instantly had me turning toward her.

“Oh, aren’t you just adorable?”

Her voice was whispered, almost hesitant, as she bent down and petted the gym cat, Rogue.

Rogue, loving the attention that he hadn’t gotten from any of the other new bootcamp members, twirled around her leg.

Her shapely leg that was encased in a tight pair of black leggings that made her ass look phenomenal.

The cat rubbed hair all over them, and she didn’t even seem to care.

Mavis, Madden’s gym crush, walked in right behind her, and then stuck her knee out to attempt to knock over the new girl. The new girl caught herself before she could tumble forward and then tossed a glare at Mavis.

My eyes took in the two women, and it wasn’t hard to see the resemblance.

This was the girl that Mavis had begged Madden to do the bootcamp for.

I hadn’t heard the exact ‘why’ of