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Shawn
“You’re an idiot.”
I ignore Tanner, concentrating on the four hundred pounds I’m currently squatting instead of his annoying voice. Or the fact that it’s been three days since I’ve seen or spoken to Sage. Or the fact that I currently feel like someone broke me in half and didn’t bother to even try to sew me back together.
I ignore all of it as I squat down and come back up.
Down, up.
Down, up.
Down, up.
“Ignoring me isn’t going to make me shut up,” Tanner tells me after I do another set of fifteen.
“Don’t I know it,” I mutter.
He continues like I didn’t bother to answer him. “And it’s not going to make you feel better, either. In fact, I’m pretty sure the only thing that will make you feel better is getting your ass over to Sage’s and apologizing for being a dick.”
“For a guy without a girlfriend, you sure do have a lot of advice.” As soon as I say the words, I wish I could take them back. Talk about being a real dick. “Jesus, I’m sorry, man. I’m a fucking—”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You’re good, Wilson. Let it go.”
I do, because it’s not like he’s giving me a choice. Plus I’ve done enough damage for the day. I think about doing one more set but my legs are shaking, and the last thing I want to do is injure something else because I’m being stupid. Sage just got my shoulder back in shape and with summer training just a few days away, straining my back isn’t an option.
Reluctantly, I lower the bar to the ground and look around my workout room, trying to figure out what to do next. The only problem is, we’ve been in here over two hours and I’ve already done everything. Twice. And it hasn’t helped at all. I still feel too damn empty.
Which is ridiculous considering I’ve only known Sage a couple weeks. But that doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to how much I miss her. And how much I want her back.
“It’s not like I never date,” Tanner says in a deliberate attempt to smooth things out between us. “And when I do have one, I’m smart enough not to act like an asshole all the time, which—my friend—is more than I can say for you.”
“I’m not an asshole all the time.”
“Nope, just on days that end with y.”
I flip him off, but he just laughs as he plops himself down on the end of one of the weight benches. “Seriously, though, have you thought about just going over and talking to Sage?”
“Have I thought about it?” I ask him incredulously. “I’ve thought of pretty much nothing but that since she walked away from me the other day.”
Have thought of nothing but going over to her house and groveling at her feet, begging her to give me another chance. I never thought I’d be that guy, but right now I’m dangerously close to doing whatever it takes to win her over.
“So, what’s holding you back?” he asks, eyeing a set of fifty pound dumbbells I’ve got resting on the ground next to the bench. “Besides sheer, dumbass stubbornness, of course.”
“She didn’t answer my texts.”
“Oh, boo-hoo,” he all but snarls. “Of course she didn’t answer your texts. She’s pissed at you. More, she’s scared, and it’s not like she’s going to let you see that, not after that stunt you pulled the other day.”
Guilt crawls through my stomach. “I didn’t mean to scare her.”
“Doesn’t matter if you meant to or not,” he tells me as he leans down and picks up one of the weights and starts to do biceps curls. “You did. Hell, you scared me and Hunter, and we know your bullshit better than most people. Which means you’re the one who’s going to need to man up and go apologize to the girl. I mean, if you want her back.”
He pauses. “Do you want her back?”
“Fuck, yeah, I want her back.” So much I can barely breathe with it. So much it’s all I can think about. She’s all I can think about. All the weight training in the world isn’t going to change that fact.
