Page 28 of Addiction

I can assure you that you’ll see me often.

Wade’s words have been going around in my head ever since I saw him at Mom’s place two days ago. I’d known I needed to sort things out between us. I’d known I treated him like shit when he hadn’t deserved it, and I’d known from conversations just how much he means to my family. But I can’t ignore the way my body reacts when he was close. Nor can I ignore the fact that as soon as we started talking, the anxiety I’d felt all day had disappeared.

“Hey!” Mark bangs his hand on the metal shutter, making me look back at him.

We are in an empty warehouse down on Virginia Beach, looking at the area to see if it has potential for the Gym. Only my concentration has gone to shit.

“Have you listened to a damn word I’ve said?”

“Yeah. You were talking about spreadsheets.”

“I was talking about equipment. Where the hell is your head at today?” He holds my stare, and I know I need to give him my attention because he’s handing me the biggest fucking lifeline here when it comes to my future. The warehouse belongs to an associate of Mark’s who is looking to sell and, after showing him my business plan, we’d headed down here to check it out.

Rotating my sobriety chip between my fingers, I give Mark my full attention,

“Sorry. I’m good. What were you saying?”

“Tell me what you think.”

I scan my eyes around the empty shell and visualize what I’m wanting and imagining what it could become. The large, open space already has a good amount of lighting. There is plenty of room for a variety of gym equipment and an office. Just the thought of it brings a zing of excitement to my core, and I long to hold onto that.

“Honestly? I think it’s perfect.”

“Yeah?”

I step away from him, walking further into the warehouse. “Yeah. It’s big enough to achieve everything I imagined. We can square each corner off, so everything is contained yet open at the same time.”

“Explain it to me,” Mark says, coming to stand at the side of me.

“Well, for example, we can have gym equipment in one large area in the left corner for anyone to use; a rehabilitation suite in the right-hand corner, giving physical therapy an actual area”—I turn around to face the other end of the building—“an activity area in this corner… I want a boxing ring. You can get a lot of energy from that as well as teaching self-defense and controlled behaviors. I also need an office and waiting area so that can go in the other corner.” Everything seems to pan out in my head, until I realize I have forgotten a vital part of the gym. “Ah. I need restroom and shower facilities. So the office and waiting area would have to be smaller. I also wanted a place to eventually hold classes.” Ideas are now jumping around in my head and the business plan I’ve done seems to go to shit. “Man, this is not going how I thought it would.”

“Okay, so let’s look at it from a different perspective,” Mark says, turning back around to evaluate the space once again. Placing his hands on his hips, he looks up and I’m almost convinced he’s out of ideas until he says. “Look at what is above you.”

I look up. “There is nothing above us.”

“Exactly. Nothing but open and available space.” He points to the ceiling. “There is enough space in here to create an upper floor. Keep your shower room down here and maybe transfer your area for classes—depending on what they are—as well as your office up there. You don’t even have to use the whole building for upstairs. By only using a section of it—creating a mezzanine floor—you’d be able to overlook what is going on below. It’s just an idea.”

I think about what he has suggested, and my mind runs wild.

“By the look of the shit-eating grin on your face, I take it you like that idea.”

“I do. I think that will work.”

“Excellent. I’ll let Brody know we are interested and go from there. Don’t worry about anything when it comes to paperwork. I’ll do all of that and just let you know what you need to know and when.”

“Great. I’ll start looking at equipment.”

“This is the part where you’re supposed to thank me for being an excellent partner.” He jokes.

“Silent partner,” I add.

But the truth is, I don’t know what to say. Saying thank you doesn’t seem enough because he’s already done so much for me and we’ve hardly begun. There’s a question at the forefront of my mind though: why? Why is he doing this? I know he said he wanted to help me get back on my feet because we were once a team, but that somehow doesn’t seem enough.

Cole’s Security had been my life, and everything within those walls had made me the man I was before I brought it down with me. I’d lied to my teammates, and I’d risked both Jackson’s and Mark’s reputations as well as destroying my own. I’d lied to Mark multiple times and even told him that Pop was okay with me heading out to California to work for Jackson when actually I hadn’t spoken to him about it at all. He has no reason to help me.

“Mark, why are you doing this?”

He frowns. “Because you need a work base.”