Chapter 13
“Ididn’t think you two were coming to class today,” I commented a few days later when Danny and Sam walked into the studio.
The bruises on my neck were finally gone, and I was feeling back to normal, despite being a little tired.
Danny’s eyes popped wide. “Are you kidding? You know Theo is coming tonight, right? You think we’d miss that?” she demanded incredulously.
“I’d be shocked if Sid and Dec don’t show,” Sam put in with a mischievous glint in her eye.
“Caden would be here, but he’s home with Livie,” Danny added.
“You heard about the bet,” I stated the obvious.
“Hell yes, we heard about the bet! Please tell me you’re going to make him hurt.” Sam clapped her hands in glee.
I raised a brow. “A little overeager, aren’t we? Anyway, the whole point is to prove a normal class isn’t as easy as he thinks. So that’s what we’ll do.”
“Fine.” She pouted as a few other students started to filter in.
When Theo walked in clad in basketball shorts and a muscle tee, I swore he looked a little nervous. “All right, let’s do this.” He clapped his hands together, his voice booming in the small space.
“Uh, T, you better stay in the back if you’re wearing that.” Danny pointed to his loose-fitting shorts. “Unless you want to flash everyone your junk.”
He looked down at his outfit in confusion before shrugging easily. “All right. Wouldn’t want to distract these poor ladies.” He winked.
A few of the women giggled and blushed, while I rolled my eyes. “All right, let’s begin.”
Midway through class, I walked around, correcting posture where needed. I could have stayed with Theo the whole time, correcting him, but I tried not to pick on him too much. Sam and Danny were giving him enough grief as it was.
He was a good sport, and he took it more seriously than I expected. I saw his competitive streak spark to life as he tried to master some of the more difficult moves.
Despite that, I saw the relief flash in his eyes when class ended.
“What’d you think?” I asked him, waving to my other students as they left.
“It was harder than I thought it’d be,” he admitted. “Not sure I’ll be sore though,” he boasted.
“We’ll see,” I muttered, stifling a grin.
“You guys want to come over for dinner?” Sam offered as she zipped up her hoodie. “Sid’s training, so it’ll be some form of meat and vegetables, but we can still drink.”
I laughed. “That sounds good. Let me check in with Trav.”
“Iguesshe’s invited too.” She rolled her eyes with a grin.
I grinned at her as I fired off a text.Sam invited us over for dinner. What are you up to?
My phone pinged a second later.Wrapping up at headquarters. Meet you there.
I always knew when he was working; his texts were straight to the point. Even when playful, he hadn’t mastered the art of the emoji—though I never pictured Travis as the smiley face kind of man.
“We’re in,” I told Sam. “I just need to wrap things up here, and I’ll be over shortly.”
“I’ll hang around out front,” Theo put in, and it wasn’t a request. I continued to be surprised by his ability to switch from playful jokester to commanding badass in the space of a sentence.
“All right.” I nodded, knowing better than to argue. “I’ll be out shortly.”
I kept the relaxing music on as I rolled up mats and took care of any trash anyone had left behind. I enjoyed these moments of solitude in the studio. The space was always a source of relaxation for me, and I welcomed the momentary break from the realities I’d been grappling with of late.
