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Constance wasn’t any of those women, even if any of them had been an achievable or worthy goal. Whoever those women were, they no longer existed. The woman in the mirror now was someone else entirely. There was a glow to her skin that seemed fresh and bright; an angular shape to her cheekbones that hadn’t even graced her teen years; a tightness to the tech top in places she’d never expected, nor paid attention to, like her biceps and shoulders. The woman who stared back at her wasn’t a woman she had thought she could be, or even wanted to be, until she saw her. The woman who stared back at her wasn’t “thin” or “ideal” or “the new you.”
The woman who stared back at her was just strong. A woman who had been doing something for herself, pursuing her own goals.
Constance smoothed the shirt, then brushed her hair back into a ponytail, careful to catch all the strays. She used a pretty gold clip to secure her bangs and finished the whole thing off by dotting her lips with tinted gloss.
When she was done, Constance resisted the urge to wipe off the gloss and muss her hair. She didn’t want to appear eager, and she was pushing that line. She drew a deep breath, headed downstairs, grabbed the container of stew and raced out to her car before she could change her mind. By the time she got to the gym, she was sweating and her heart was beating fast. She checked herself once more in the rearview mirror, tucked the stew into her gym bag and headed for the entrance.
Just as she’d grasped the handle of the door, it pushed open, making Constance jump back. Rhett strode out, his own bag on his shoulder. He stopped short of running into her, apologized, then said, “Oh,” when he saw who he’d almost plowed down. “Hey.” His eyes roved over her, from leggings to snug tech tee to the gloss on her lips. He smiled, just the littlest bit. “How are you?”
“Good.” Constance hated how forced her voice sounded. “I mean, okay. How about you? Aren’t you coaching the 7:00 p.m.?” She felt a wave of uncertainty. It certainly looked like he was leaving.
“Hobbs has that shift tonight.” Rhett pointed toward the gym, but his eyes were still on Constance. “I’m cutting out a little early.”
“What’s this?” A familiar voice rang out from behind Rhett. A second later, Katrina popped into view. “Oh.” Her dark eyes looked Constance up and down, examining her with a much different expression than the one Rhett had. “Aren’t you the—” Katrina snapped her manicured fingers “—the girl. From the resort.”
Constance felt hot all over, the sweat from her nervous drive here drying up like a blister in the sun. “Constance. My name is Constance.”
“Right.” Katrina pushed her hair behind her ear and straightened her shoulders. Beneath her open coat she wore a tight pair of shorts and tank top, which accentuated the perfect contours of her hips, quads and boobs. “I knew it was an old-fashioned name. I just couldn’t remember which one. For some reason, I had Matilda in my head.” She barked out a laugh. “That’s nowhere near Constance, is it?”
“No.” Constance glanced at Rhett, who looked like he’d eaten something bitter. “It isn’t.”
“Going in to work out?” Katrina nodded at the door. “It’s brutal, so I hope you wore your big-girl panties. Rhett’s a great coach, though. Got me through it.” She ran a hand over his shoulder.
It looked like Rhett flinched, but Constance could’ve been seeing things. “I hate that expression,” she said.
“What expression?” Katrina narrowed her brown eyes, which would be a lovely chocolate color if they’d held any kindness. As they were, they looked more like crude oil.
“Big-girl panties. It’s just dumb.” The weight of Constance’s gym bag felt like it was biting into her shoulder. “Little girls don’t wear panties, they wear underwear. And besides, girls have been forced to act mature and grown-up before their time for ages, so it’s not like putting on our ‘big-girl panties—’” Constance made air quotes “—is anything new or special. You know?”
Katrina blinked at her in silence, her lips twisted like she’d sucked a lemon.
Rhett smiled with his eyes.
“I better get inside. Nice seeing you.” Constance pushed past them. As soon as the door swung shut behind her, a wave of restrained nausea rolled through her body. She paused at the trash can and closed her eyes.
“You all right, Red?”
Constance looked up and saw Hobbs giving her a concerned appraisal. She forced a smile. “Yep.”
Then she took the stew out of her bag and tossed it in the garbage.
Katrina glanced up from between his legs. “Are you ever going to come?”
Rhett realized he’d gone limp, despite the time Katrina had spent trying to blow him for the last ten minutes. “Sorry. Guess I’m tired.”
“Fine.” Katrina rolled her eyes in exasperation. She stood up and fastened her bra, closing up the perfectly round mounds of flesh and saline. “Five hundred ccs,” she liked to say proudly as she cupped them.
He rose and pulled up his shorts, then drew his shirt over his head. He couldn’t remember why he’d agreed to have her back here. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t agreed. It’s just what they’d always done whenever she was in town.
“Rhett.” She grabbed his arm. “What’s going on with you?”
Rhett drew his arm away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Katrina followed him into the kitchen and watched him take a beer from the fridge. “Are you seeing that girl?” Katrina narrowed her eyes. “The one at the gym? The one who was at the Christmas party?”
“No.” Rhett pictured Stanzi tonight, standing in front of the gym. She’d looked so good he’d found it hard not to stare. He’d found it even harder not to draw her in for a hug, even if that was a bad idea. She looked like she needed a hug. Rhett sure as hell needed one. Even Katrina hadn’t hugged him—she’d gone right for his pants. “You should go. I’m not going to be much company tonight.”
Katrina was frozen for a moment, her face blank, then cold, then melting into something Rhett couldn’t pinpoint. She lifted his hoodie from the back of a chair and pulled it over her head. “Okay, Rhett. I’ll go. You know what I’m thinking, though.” She fluffed out her hair. “You wouldn’t be having this problem if you were on the medication. You’re limping like an old man and you’re acting squirrelly. I’ll get this back to you after I wash it.” She touched the hoodie. “I don’t feel like wearing my big coat in the car.”
