before slamming the door and bidding a goodnight to my teammates. With a steady pace, I headed over to the boxing gym. Relief rained over me when I saw she was still there. I’d missed her sparring, but Tori was still finishing up on her workout. Peering through the same window where my team and I saw her workout for the first time, I watched, captivated.
The girl was a beast. I wondered where she went when doing the one leg-one arm burpee combo. I couldn’t find the strain on her impassive face, just her jaws working as she chewed gum. Those shits killed me during my sessions, so I knew they were no easy feat. But she ate them up. And when her trainer, Tyrone, blew the whistle, she seamlessly transitioned to side planks with an eight to ten-second hold. Sweat dripped from her face onto the floor, creating a puddle she ignored. The girl was amazing.
When Tyrone blew the whistle again, Tori stopped and jumped to her feet. She was handed a bottle of water and drank it as her team debriefed with her. I left the window and made my way to the locker room where I knew she’d be headed to eventually. After a few minutes, Tori silently ambled down the hallway alone, with a towel over her head.
I stuck my foot out to trip her—or make her think I would. Tori stopped just at my leg, near the opening of the locker room. She pulled the towel from her head, eyes widening as she transferred herself into the here and now.
“You were going to trip me?”
I shrugged, unable to fight my smirk. “I was going to see if you were going to trip yourself.”
Her chin dipped and eyes narrowed, reminding me how long the last two days had been without seeing her in the mornings. “On your leg?”
“Or other things.” My grin deepened.
Why was I being a world-class ass? It was so counterproductive to my mission tonight.
Tori rolled her eyes away. “I said I was sorry about that, Spencer.”
I straighten against the wall. “I’m fuckin’ with you, McNabb.”
“I see.” She began inside the locker room as though she knew I’d follow. She was right. “And I’m too tired to entertain your foolishness.”
I could see the fatigue in her heavy shoulders as she dropped down onto a bench near the long vanity counter. The girls’ locker room was just as big and as state-of-the-art as ours, only lighter with softer tones.
“Then I’ll make it short. I came to make amends.” I placed my foot on the edge of the bench and rested my elbow on my thigh. “And to say I’d like to resume our morning runs.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you wanna run again together? A.D. Jones made you do it anyway.”
With pouted lips, I nodded. She had a point.
“Because I got used to ghosting your ass on the track, and I want that same satisfaction to start my days.”
This time, Tori tried masking her smile as she turned away, shaking her head. “You want me to be the person who’s slower than you, all for you to feel good about yourself?”
I gave an affirmative nod. “Every morning—at least weekdays—yes.”
“But I didn’t know we were competing out there.”
We weren’t.
“Well,” I exhaled, dropping my leg. “I’ve made my wishes known. We’ll see if you’re G enough to accept the challenge.”
Tori chuckled, back arched lazily. Not even that could hide her massive tits in the gray sports bra. “But I’m not challenging you in running.”
I made a gesture to dismiss her point. “Lastly, the amends part. I told you two days ago before you left the study room in the library that I’m sorry. Saying sorry isn’t good enough. My grandmother is no Margaret, but she did teach me to demonstrate an apology.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For being an indelible asshole to you.”
“But you’re being one tonight.”
My brows lifted. “Hence the indelible adjective.” I pulled the envelope from my back pocket and handed it to her. “I may have to get used to doing shit like this because I can’t control my assholeness around you.”
She took the envelope and pulled out the tickets. “I told you I wasn’t going home for Thanksgiving.”
Was she not pleased?
“That’s because you spent your travel passes on me.”
“It’s all good, Ashton. I know what I did. You didn’t have to buy me plane tickets.”
“And what you did was going to have you spending Thanksgiving and Christmas here on campus alone.”