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I shake my head and bounce on the spot, warming up for Drew.
‘I don’t remember seeing pizza in your nutrition plan. I should know. I wrote it.’
He growls. ‘You and Madge are going to have me wasting away. I’ll look like the skinny assholes on the front cover ofMen’s Health and Fitnessor whatever those magazines are that you all read.’
‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, huh, buddy?’
With that, Kit storms out of the boxing room and into the main fitness suite, leaving Drew and me smirking at his back.
‘I think I’m going to enjoy training Kit,’ I tell Drew. ‘All right, loosen up those shoulders.’
Drew follows me, rolling his shoulders up and back, limbering up his arms, rotating his torso to stretch out his lower back. The dark, tired eyes I too often see on my best bud aren’t showing tonight.
‘You look relaxed, man. Being promoted to named partner at the firm obviously suits you.’
One side of his mouth quirks up. It’s a facial expression that makes me smile inside. We were always told to smile properly for cameras when we were kids. We both had this half-smile thing going on at school. I vaguely remember we thought it was cool back then. I guess old habits die hard.
‘It’s not just the promotion, Brooks,’ he says. ‘I feel like I’ve got everything I always wanted. I got my name on the door at the firm and I’ve got the best girl I never knew I needed. Everything feels too good to be true.’
I tap a gloved fist against his shoulder. ‘I’m happy for you, man. If anyone deserves it…’
‘Yeah, I should say the same to you. I’d like nothing more than to see you happy.’
Happiness. There’s a concept. One that died for me a long time ago, and one I’m definitely not in the mood to talk about. Contentment, though. That’s a goal I might achieve, one day. That’s something to strive for.
‘All right, fists up. Show me what you’ve got. I’ve been waiting for this workout all day.’
* * *
I’m standing in front of a mirror in the gym changing rooms, running a small amount of product through my towel-dried hair. Kit approaches from behind, his reflection appearing next to mine.
‘I’ll catch you tomorrow, Brooks. I’ve got to get back to Madge and the kids. I say the kids; hopefully, the horrors are in bed.’
Turning, I knock my fist against the one he holds out. ‘You don’t mean that.’
He shrugs. ‘God knows I must have sinned in a past life. But you’re right; I wouldn’t be without them. I might be thankful when they’re self-sufficient, though.’
‘Ha. Be careful what you wish for,’ I tell him. ‘When they’re teenagers, they just find different reasons to make you want to tear your hair out.’
‘Can’t wait. Catch you tomorrow, same time? Thanks for tonight.’
‘Anytime, buddy.’
I move to the large locker I keep permanently stocked with clothes and take out a T-shirt. When my head pops through the neck, I see Drew sitting on a bench in front of me, pulling on a pair of shoes.
‘Is Cady acting out?’ he asks.
Bending to straighten my dark jeans over my boots, I say, ‘Imagine a female version of us at eighteen years old.’
‘Fuck.’
‘My sentiments exactly. I’m thirty-five, and my daughter has a better love life than I do.’
‘Jesus. As long as she doesn’t have the same type of love life you have.’
I get his point. My type of love life is one-night stands a couple times a month. That’s definitely not what I want for Cady. I shudder at the thought.
‘I don’t even want to think about that.’
