AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Shoulda brought her home while she’s still around,” Hue said.
Cam shook his head. “Too soon. That’s what she probably expected, but Sully has to show her that he’s not a one-night stand. He’s playing for keeps.”
“But that’s the problem,” Sully admitted. “I think I accidentally convinced her to try and start a new PR company in Los Angeles.”
“Long-distance relationship?” Cam groaned. “Kiss of death.”
Sully had to agree. He’d decided to make his home here, in Yucca Hills. Los Angeles was far too expensive for his carefully budgeted savings. Moving to the city would mean giving up his entire plan of financial independence. That, and the city wasn’t his style. L.A. was big on glitz and glam, while Sully appreciated a slower, gentler pace of life.
“Okay, okay, okay,” Cam murmured, large hands splayed on his hips. “Every problem has a solution. Every obstacle on the path to love can be overcome.”
“You get that off a fortune cookie?” Hue joked.
Cam ignored the other man as he stepped up to his personal barbell packed almost cartoonishly with stacks of huge plates. “Time to lift and think.” His poor pink t-shirt strained as he slowly pulled the massive weight off the ground.
Sully noticed the edge of a white patch stuck to Cam’s arm just below the sleeve of his tee. He’d seen the patch before during their previous sessions. Was it a Nicotine patch? Sully couldn’t imagine a health nut like Cam sucking on cancer sticks.
Cam stood up with the weight, veins popping like crazy from his neck. “It’s a glucose monitor,” he said before hinging at the hips to start his next rep. “Type I diabetes. I’ve had it my whole life.”
“Shit,” Hue said.
Shit,Sully thought.
With an impressive grunt, Cam hauled the bar to his hips once again. The barbell seemed to almost bend from the load. “We all have our challenges,” the gym owner said. “We can give in to them or use them to make us stronger.”
Sully was impressed. Nothing seemed to bring Cam down. The man was an absolute legend.
“I know!” Cam dropped the weight, which somehow didn’t leave a massive crater in the floor, and looked at Sully. “You’ve got to convince Alanna how great Yucca Hills is so she’ll want to stay.”
Sully shook his head. “She grew up here. She hates Yucca Hills.”
“Okay, that’s a challenge.” Cam frowned as he pulled a hand through his thick blond hair.
“Alanna doesn’t hate Yucca Hills. She hates the memories she has of Yucca Hills.” This surprisingly deep insight was offered up by Hue. “She grew up poor as fuck. The kids in our class teased her non-stop. Everyone knew they’d lived in a car.”
“She lived in a car?” Sully felt aghast. He’d known Alanna’s childhood was tough… but he’d had no idea how tough.
Hue nodded. “Eric Bosman was this total douche of a kid. He works at Google now. Go figure. But his dad was a cop. The guy busted Alanna and her family for sleeping in the gas station parking lot. Eric told everyone in middle school.” Hue didn’t look up as he added 25-pound weight plates onto each side of his bar, then lifted it with ease. He wasn’t as defined as Cam, but years of working on houses all day had added thick, ropey muscle to his body.
“That’s it!” Cam said. “All you’ve got to do is show Alanna the real Yucca Hills. Pave over those old, painful memories with new, better ones.”
“How do I do that?” Sully asked.
“Easy-peasy mac-and-cheesy,” Cam sang in delight. The man actually rubbed his hands together. “By crafting the perfect date… with our help of course.”
Hue groaned.
Ch. 36 Alanna
Aslow,satisfiedsmilestretched across Alanna’s lips as she sat back in bed and surveyed the article she’d spent the morning writing on her laptop.
“I Refused to Represent a Handsome, Successful, Charming, Sexual Harassing Scumbag… and I Got Fired”
Yes, that title would do just fine. She scrolled through the article detailing her fight against representing Jordan Boon and the fateful partner vote that followed. She was particularly proud of her many colorful descriptions of Chip Rupert the Third.Dumpy toad who looks like he’s perpetually holding in a massive fartwas her personal favorite.
She reviewed the article.
Nothing proprietary?Check.
