Page 91 of Texting the Wrong Bikers

Brielle looks up expectantly.

“You ever hear Ethan mention a man from the gym Sadie attends?” I ask.

She frowns. “What, like a trainer?”

“Yeah.”

“What was his name?” There’s a strange look on her face.

I search my memory for a second. “Tyler.”

The color drains from her face, and for a moment she simply stares at me. “What gym does Sadie go to?”

“Club X Gym.”

She slowly shakes her head. “I didn’t know he’d ended up there. Didn’t think he’d get hired again anywhere in this town.”

Every muscle in my body tightens. “You know him?”

She lets out a humorless laugh. “I wish I didn’t.”

I lean forward. “Tell me.”

She takes a long breath before speaking. “I used to go to Riverside Fitness before Ethan convinced me to move to somewhere closer to the house. Tyler worked there.” She wraps both hands around her glass, though she doesn’t drink from it. “At first, he seemed lovely, friendly, funny, the sort of trainer who remembered everybody’s name and made you feel welcome the second you walked through the doors.” She pauses. “Looking back, I think that’s how he got away with it for so long.”

A cold feeling begins spreading through my chest. “What happened?”

“He asked me out.”

“And?”

“And I said no.” She gives a small shrug. “I was seeing Ethan by then. I told Tyler I was flattered, but I was seeing someone else.”

“Did he leave it there?”

Her laugh is short and bitter. “What do you think?” She stares down into the untouched tea. “For a while, he acted as if he’d accepted it, but then little things started happening.”

“What kind of things?”

“He’d somehow always be working near whatever machine I was using. If I moved, he’d move. He’d find excuses to touch my shoulder when he was correcting my form, even if I hadn’t asked for help.”

I don’t interrupt, holding my breath.

“He started waiting outside the women’s changing rooms so he could ‘accidentally’ bump into me when I left.”

My jaw tightens.

“He’d tell me we’d be perfect together. That Ethan wasn’t right for me. That eventually I’d realize he was the better man.”

The words sound painfully familiar.

“He wasn’t threatening,” she continues quietly. “Not at first. That’s what made it so difficult to explain. Every individual thing he did sounded harmless when you said it out loud.” She looks up at me. “But altogether…” She doesn’t finish the sentence. She doesn’t need to.

“So why did the gym fire him?”

“Because he escalated.” Her fingers tighten around the glass. “I started finding little notes in my locker.”

My pulse kicks. “What did they say?”