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“Of course. Go!”
We sprinted to the ten-yard line and back, waiting twenty seconds before then sprinting to the twenty-yard line and back. We repeated this process, taking twenty second breaks between sprints, until we made it to the fifty-yard line and back. By the time we finished, both of us were already breathing heavy and sweating bullets.
“Never fails,” he said, panting and wiping his face with his shirt before taking it off and throwing it to the ground. “Those four weeks of vacation always really screw us hard. We always say we’re going to dosomethingduring those weeks, but we never do.”
I laugh, but it’s nearly breathless. “Speak for yourself. I was working my ass off in Hawaii.”
“Oh, is that so? Like you worked the flight attendant’s ass off?” Asher smirked.
I shrugged. “There wasn’t much work involved there—unless you count trying to ignore all of you noisy asses.”
“Hey, I was trying to read.” He jabbed a thumb toward the bleachers where the other four were slacking off. “Those idiots were the loud ones.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Still distracting as hell. I was in the middle of torturing her, and I had to give up and finish because of them.”
He laughed. “Okay, yeah, that would have pissed me off, too. Though, I’m sure she was grateful for the torture to be over. You can be pretty mean sometimes.”
“Eh. I feel like they know what they get with me. I’m an asshole. I don’t try to hide or sugarcoat it. They want me because they know it’ll be terrifying but still their choice. They like the torture. If not, they’d go afteryou.”
His eyes narrowed, and his brows furrowed as he studied me for a second. Even though he appeared taken by surprise at that comment, I could see amusement in the hint of a smile. “Did you just subtly call me a bitch?”
“I wasn’t being subtle. If the stiletto fits…”
“Dick,” he said with a smile.
He punched me hard in the arm, throwing me off balance a bit. I recovered quickly and slammed my fist into his gut. He groaned loudly as he doubled over.
“Oooh, not fair,” he choked out. “Dick move.”
“Come on, loser. Pull up your big girl panties, and let’s go,” I said with amusement as I casually threw his words back at him. “We’ve got work to do.”
When we got back to the group, Trent already had a little color back in his face. “I really hope you guys were over here stretching or something because I’m about to tear your asses up, and I’m not waiting all day.”
Liam stood, taking his shirt off and tossing it onto the bleachers. He ran his fingers back through his brown hair that was at an incredibly awkward length. He quickly tied it back in a stumpy little ponytail. He had an undercut, so it didn’t look quite so stupid as it did when he first started, but he was trying to grow it out like Asher’s. Apparently, he thought Asher’s long list of conquests were due to his long black hair.
I had news for him. It was because Asher was over six feet, built like a brick shit house, and was well known for possessing other impressive physical attributes, but I didn’t want to crush him.
Okay, maybe that was a lie. I did like to torment him, but not about that for whatever reason. I guess even Lucifer was an angel once.
“I’m ready,” Liam said.
Slowly, everyone else followed suit, and we made our way back out onto the field. I was warmed up and ready to go for more ladder sprints, but I knew Trent and Michael would hate me for it. They’dreallyhate me after the planks, pushups, box jumps, squat jumps, and everything else I had planned.
That was fine. I didn’t give a shit. Maybe it would teach them a lesson:
Not to piss me off on day one.
CHAPTER NINE
TEMPERANCE
It had been forty-eight hours since Detective Abbott was here and twelve hours since I was handed the results of the DNA test. The DNA test which proved Rick Avery was my biological father. I still couldn’t stop staring at it. I’d taken it out of the envelope a dozen times at least, and each time, I stared at it for ten or more minutes. I couldn’t believe it.
My whole life had been a lie. I wasn’t a Wilder. Not biologically, anyway, and it was so strange. When most people find out they’re adopted, their adoptive parents were still around to ask questions to. I didn’t have that luxury. They’d been brutally murdered. Hell, I didn’t even get to go to the burial I’d planned.
At least I’d have a place I could visit when I wanted to talk to them. Even though they were divorced, and my mom had done a number on my dad, I had them buried next to each other. The way they were positioned, it looked like he’d given his life to protect her, and Detective Abbott had said the same—at least from what she could tell. If Mom meant that much to him, I wanted them to be together.
I still couldn’t believe they were gone. There was so much in my life that was unreal. It was like I was standing outside myself, watching all this happen. Like it wasn’t actually happening tome.
