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CHAPTER ONE
Cody Bower was dying.
Sweat dripped from his nose, prickling across his scalp and under his arms. His heart pounded, and gasping for breath had set his throat afire. He’d flirted with death more often than he liked to count in recent years, but this time truly felt like the very end.
And all he could think about was Demmy. He’d been doing this, all of this, for Demmy. He’d been lucky so far, they both had, but it seemed Fate had finally caught up with him. This was one fight too many, his final battle. After this, Demmy would be alone. If only he could have one more night, hell, one more minute, with Demmy, Cody would bare his soul. He would say everything in his heart, no matter how vulnerable it might make him feel. All he wanted, needed, was a little more time.
“Are you taking a nap, Bower?”
Cody flinched. Keeping his eyes closed, he turned his head toward the sound of the voice that was, as usual, tinged with gleeful brutality. The plastic indoor/outdoor carpet scratched pleasantly across the back of his head, and he deliberately refused to contemplate how many soles and sweaty asses had touched the same spot.
“Hey, Bower—”
“I heard you.” Eyes still closed, Cody gave a feeble wave. “So what if I am?”
“This is interval training, not nap time. If you want nap time, go back to kindergarten.”
Dear God, if only he could. He’d do things so differently. For one, he’d actually ask Demmy out on a date when they were in high school. Or maybe middle school. Hell, he could just swing for the fences and ask him out in elementary school. Be one of those couples who has always been together.
But that would have just given him more time to fuck everything up and lose Demmy for good. Some days, even after everything they’ve been through, it felt as if he were on the cusp of that anyway. Throw some monsters into the mix, and the probability of that happening really escalated.
“Bower!”
Gathering every ounce of strength remaining, Cody struggled into a sitting position. He glared at the handsome and so-very-in-shape Jordie, who wore tight shorts, an equally tight tank top, and had his long, thick hair pulled back into a man bun. Jordie glared right back.
“I’m up,” Cody said.
“You’re sitting,” Jordie shouted back, then he turned his attention to shaming a woman doing her best on the pull up bar. “It’s supposed to be a pull-up, Hannah, not a dangle. Come on!”
Cody groaned as he got to his feet. Everything hurt. Even things inside of things hurt. He glanced at the clock and groaned when he realized he still had twenty minutes remaining in this current torture session.
“Bower,” Jordie barked. “Jump rope. Fifty in a row. If you miss, start counting over.”
“I’d rather deal with a herd of zombies again,” Cody muttered as he moved slowly toward the jump ropes in the corner.
There were four people in Jordie’s seven fifteen a.m. interval training session, three men and Hannah, all in varying stages of fitness. Cody was happy he only had to start his jump rope session over twice, and when Jordie finally called, “Fine, you’re all finished! Adequate effort today,” he staggered toward the tiny locker room.
After his shower, Cody dressed in his usual Critter Catchers polo, cargo shorts, and work boots, and walked through the humid air down the length of the strip mall to where his truck was parked. After dropping his workout bag in the small backseat area, he opened the Critter Catchers office door and stepped inside. Demmy had placed a large coffee from Hollow Grounds on his desk along with a couple of mini danishes.
“Bless you,” Cody said as he slowly lowered himself into his desk chair with quiet moans and curses. He sipped the coffee and closed his eyes. Perfect.
“How was Jordie today?” Demmy asked. He sat at his own desk, facing him but with his attention on his computer monitor.
Cody opened his eyes in time to catch Demmy’s grin before he managed to hide it. “He said he misses you and can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”
“I’m sure he did.” Demmy stood and leaned down to give Cody a gentle kiss. “Must have been an especially tough session. I saw Hannah crying in her car when I got here.”
“Yeah, Jordie was feeling extra drill sergeanty.”
“I’ll be sure to double my warm up time tomorrow morning.”
Cody grunted an affirmative as he took a bite of danish. It had been his idea for them to hire a personal trainer to help them get into better shape, and Demmy’s for them to do it in separate sessions. Something about one of them needing to be available for early morning appointments, even though Jugs was full time and could have covered. Cody didn’t think Demmy had a thing for Jordie, but figured it had more to do with giving them both a bit of personal space. And Cody appreciated that opportunity, since they lived and worked together.
“We have a couple of appointments this morning,” Demmy said over his shoulder as he walked into the break room. “Jugs is handling one out by Harriettville, and you and I will take care of the other here in town.”
“Harriettville? Expanding our reach a bit?”
Demmy returned with a yogurt. “I had Jugs put some brochures out at the Farmer’s Market and Dobson’s Hardware over there.”
