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“You know, you keep surprising me.”
Glancing at her, I found her attention still focused on the sign. “Yeah?”
“I’ve known a lot of athletes, current and former. Even if they don’t love the spotlight, they know how to use it to their advantage when necessary. I figured you’d do that here.”
I hummed, folding my arms over my chest. “A few years ago, I think I might’ve.”
Isabel gave me a quick look, then turned back to the front of the building.
“It might not be like this for everyone,” I continued, “but when my wife died, I hated the attention that came with it. With my decision to leave the sport. Being the center of everyone’s focus at the worst time in your life changed everything. Nothing about it appealed to me anymore.” I stared at the letters in blue. “I know it sounds crazy.”
“Not crazy.” She gave me a look, wisps of her almost-black hair slipping across her face in the breeze. “But you deserve to celebrate this. Your family and friends do too.”
My hands itched to slide the hair behind her ears. I left them where they were. “You think so?”
Her lips pulled at the edges, the start of a sly grin. “Well, if someone were to plan a party, they should have plenty of notice.”
“Ahh. If someone were to agree, I’ll let you know.” I raised an eyebrow. “Nothing big though, if we do. I’ve got someone I can reach out to for a little press though.”
“Okay.” She bit down on her bottom lip, sent a quick glance in my direction. “Hot chocolate?”
“Nope,” I murmured.
Isabel huffed quietly, and as she walked back into the gym, I found myself smiling.
Isabel
The next morning, Aiden looked tired and a little grumpy when he came in, but at the sight of an empty glass filled with ice on the front desk, his eyes warmed.
“So close.”
“Well, I’m running out of options.”
“Maybe you just need to try harder, Ward.”
I allowed a tiny eye roll and turned back to the computer screen, where an email popped up and had me smiling.
“Good news?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah.” I scrolled down the email. “It’s from the dean of student life at UDub. She’s going to work with us on spreading the news about our self-defense class. She thought it was a great idea, and if we get enough people to sign up, we could offer a few different sessions so we don’t overload the space.”
Aiden glanced at the gym, and I could tell he was trying to picture it.
I stood, gesturing beyond the ring. “We could push some of the equipment to the far side, and remove a few bags to temporarily open some space. But I think for the first class, we should cap the sign-ups at twenty to make sure we have enough room to move around.”
He nodded. “Sounds good.”
I sucked in a slow breath. “We charging for the class?”
His eyes were bright and clear when he moved his gaze back to me. “What do you think?”
My lips twitched at his perfectly even, perfectly annoyed that I’d even ask tone. “In general? Or about this?”
“Ward,” he growled.
I felt like I was poking a giant bear, but hell if I didn’t practically feel high being able to get just a little mouthy with him. We’d come far, I realized with no small amount of pride. “I assumed I knew the answer, but I didn’t want to do anything without your permission.”
His eyes flared. “You mean like when you tried to kick me in the head a couple of weeks ago?”
