AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Eight
When we got back to the bus, Yasmine was missing. “Where’d she go?” I asked Danny.
He jotted a number down in the margin of his sudoku puzzle. “Went to look for a gym. Wherever we go, she has to find a gym that’ll give her a 30-day free trial, or a guest pass, so that she can work out. Crazy woman. But I suppose the endorphins are worth it.”
“Yasmine works out?”
Danny looked up. “Yeah. How did you think she got those shoulders? Wasn’t by chance.”
“Oh,” I said. I shrugged. “I didn’t know.”
“As well you wouldn’t,” Yasmine said as she walked onto the bus. “No me preguntaste.” I squinted at her, recognizing that she was speaking Spanish but having no idea what she meant. “You didn’t ask me,” she explained. “You can’t know what you don’t ask about. Is everyone here, Danny?”
He crossed off a few numbers. “Yep.”
“Alright, let’s find a place to park this baby. We’ll stay here for the day. I found a kick-ass gym down the way and I wanna try it out.”
“Your wish is my command, boss.” Danny tossed the sudoku puzzle onto the dashboard. “Everyone ready back there?”
“Ready,” the rest chorused.
Danny closed the doors and started the bus. “Alright then,” he said. “Let’s head out.”
We found a spot of open land in an RV park about twenty minutes later. In those twenty minutes, I heard not less than twenty complaints, all from Jean Lee, so I thanked our lucky stars that we found the park when we did. Danny looked ready to lose it.
Everyone but me, Yasmine, and Danny clamored off of the bus almost immediately. “Air,” Jean Lee said. “Sweet, breathable air. Blessed wind, glorious sun on my face. I adore thee.”
“You were on the bus for all of thirty minutes, Jean Lee,” I heard Philip say tersely. “Relax.”
“So, will the wondrous, most talented badass photog join me at the gym?” Yasmine put an arm around my shoulders and I grimaced. “You look like you hit the weights, too.”
“I do cardio, mostly.” I shrugged. “But I’m down.”
“I’ll go, too,” Danny said. He struck a pose and I laughed. “Gotta impress the ladies. You know how that goes.”
“Yes.” I rolled my eyes. “Naturally.”
Yasmine tapped a button on her phone with a flourish. “Lyft will be here in roughly two minutes.”
We all walked into the gym a few minutes later and looked around. Danny headed off toward the back right corner, where the men were grunting and panting, sweat pouring down their faces. Women dominated most of the treadmills, bikes, and ellipticals. And, apparently, they were taking over in the cycling class in the room adjacent to the main room. The instructor yelled, “That’s it, ladies! Push, push, push, you can do it!”
My eyes flashed to Yasmine’s. “Where do you usually start?”
She grinned. “Gotta get your warmup in, right? Let’s hit the bikes. I hate the treadmill.”
I frowned slightly. “Why?”
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “I may have fallen asleep on one once.” She grinned. “Or twice.”
I frowned deeper. “But…how?” I sputtered. “And how did you manage to escape without falling and causing major brain damage?”
“It was more of a nodding-off than a true sleep,” she said. “I woke up right before I fell off.”
I whistled. “Close calls, then.”
“Si,” she said. “Claro. Doesn’t stop me from coming here, though.”
“You’re brave,” I said. We climbed onto the bikes. “I wouldn’t have come back.”
