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He slid in behind the wheel and leaned over, pulling on the lever and pushing open my door while I jogged around, ducking into the passenger’s seat.
I scrambled to turn the heater on high, and then Travis took both of my hands, simultaneously rubbing and breathing on them. An errant, wavy strand of darkened caramel hair hung in front of my eyes, dripping wet.
Travis was unhappy, two lines forming between his brows.
“What’s wrong with Iron E?” I asked.
“I like the gym. I just don’t like the owner.”
“That Chuck guy we met at the Pizza Shack that one time?”
“No, Chuck runs everything. Brandon Kyle is the owner, and he’s a real piece of shit.”
“How so?”
“His wife is pregnant ... like ready-to-pop pregnant. He’s fucking the receptionist, two of the trainers, the clients.”
“So?”
“So? He’s human garbage, Pidge. I don’t wanna work for him. He brags about it all the time. He’s talking like he wants to pimp me out to the female clientele. He’ll earn a throat punch the first hour.”
I frowned. I didn’t like the idea of the owner encouraging other women to try to seduce my husband, but I also trusted Travis implicitly. “Do you have any other prospects? We have rent, baby.”
Travis sighed and looked out his rain-streaked window. “No. And he made it sound like all I have to do is apply and I have the job.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” I said with a surprised laugh.
Travis turned to me, serious. “I just told you, Pidge. He’s not the kind of people I like to be around.”
I shrugged. “You won’t be around him all the time. It’s just until you find something else, right?”
“There’s girls. Lots and lots of college girls. And bored housewives. And—”
“I trust you. Do you not trust yourself?”
“It’s not that, it’s just something I don’t want to deal with. Brandon even said it himself... It’s a meat market. He’s not my pimp. And the women at that gym are used to the way he runs things.”
I laughed out loud.
“It’s not funny,” Travis grumbled. “I’d rather trade punches than deal with the cougars that come through that gym.”
“It’s something else. Something you’re not telling me.”
“He also made a comment about you on the phone today. Said he saw you at The Red with me and thought about approaching you. Said he didn’t know we were serious.”
“Well, we know how that would’ve turned out.”
“The crazy thing is … I mean, yeah, the thought of you being with anyone else makes me want to break things, but even worse is thinking how he would treat you. If you’d ran into him while we were broken up, or worse, if it was him instead of Parker that you were talking to …” he sighed. “I woulda fucking killed him if he hurt you.”
I touched his face. “Is that what you’re so pissed off about?”
“I know, it’s stupid,” he said, scowling. “It’s just the way my brain works.”
“Well, I’ve never spoken to him, and even if it had been him instead of Parker, you and I would still be sitting right here in this car together with rings on our fingers. Take the job, baby. You’ve got this. It’s easy money.” I dug into my pocket and pulled out the damp white rectangle. “I think I’ve found something, too. They’re looking for Calculus tutors.”
Travis wasn’t impressed. “If I fought for Benny, we’d—”
“Not be together.”
