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"What? Why would we meet at the gym?"
"Don't tell me you forgot, Aldridge. I ran hard yesterday, because you were going to take me through the strength routine today."
"You are so full of shit. I would never have agreed to that. I need help with the running, like yesterday."
"I'll go over a training plan with you, okay? But you're the one who wants this training. I need proof I'm going to be getting something worthwhile out of it."
He huffs and swears, but finally says, "I'll meet you at the gym in fifteen."
I crouch and pat Barley's head. "Step one is complete. Now I just have to convince him we should train upper body."
Barley lets out a little maa of agreement.
***
"Is that a goat?" Asher asks, holding the door to the gym open and blinking like he thinks he might still be dreaming.
"He's being bullied by the other goats and there's nowhere else I can take him." I say it all business-like, leaving no room for argument, but a plaintive note might slip into my voice, because Barley ate a hole in the passenger seat of my car on the way here and I'm kind of hoping Asher has an idea for a safe home for him.
Asher stares at us. Me in my workout gear, and shivering because he won't let us in the damn gym, and Barley on a leash at my feet.
He scratches his head, rumpling his hair in an adorable, sleepy way. "Goats like to climb on things, right?"
"And chew everything in sight."
Asher nods. "I've got an idea. Come on in."
Relief washes through me, and I'm so grateful I could kiss him. I'm so grateful, I forget about my knee and not only do I wince when that first step into the building shoots pain from my knee up through my thigh muscle and to my hip, but I limp.
I hold my breath as I wait for Asher to say something and do my best to walk like my knee isn't hurting, but Asher doesn't say a word. Maybe he didn't notice?
I follow Asher past the free weights and punching bags to the very back of the building and a small door I've been through only once before, when Russell took me on a tour of the building. As I recall, there's a huge open space up there and it's full of junk. "I don't think we should put him somewhere he might find something to eat that will hurt him."
Asher just starts whistling.
And I remember why he's the most obnoxious, annoying man I've ever met.
At the top of the stairs, Asher walks straight across the room, twice the size of the ballroom at home and perfect for large fitness classes, and pulls a wooden pallet away from the wall.
The place has been cleared out, only wooden pallets remaining. "Where's all the junk that was up here before?"
"Russ' husband, Galen, was using this space as storage for holiday decorations and stuff their kids didn't want to take, but weren't ready to throw out. When Russell announced he's selling the gym, Galen spent a weekend up here, with two of their sons, and cleared the place out."
Asher pulls another pallet out and places it next to the first.
By the fourth pallet, I figure out that Asher's building a little tower for Barley to climb up on. I help him, doing my best not to limp, and we set up three piles of pallets Barley can climb on to his heart's content. Barley watches us, unmoving, as though fascinated by the show we're putting on.
"Think this'll keep him occupied for a little while?"
I remove Barley's leash and harness and he runs to the first pile of pallets and sniffs it.
"It'll do," I say like Asher creating this playground for a little goat he has no good reason to accommodate isn't one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me.
"Great." Asher throws an arm around my shoulders and guides me toward the stairs. I lean on him only because my knee hurts less when I do. Not because his warm body squeezed up next to mine feels like a hug I really, really need. "It's time for us to hitourplayground."
He says it like he really does think of the gym as a playground, like he considers working out fun. I used to feel that way about it until every workout became a photo opportunity and every photo opportunity became a chance for people to not like or view my posts.
There's a big heavy door at the top of the stairs and Asher lets go of me to close it. "If he poops or pees on the floor, you're cleaning it up."
