On one final puff of air, I heaved the barbell up to my eye level, my chest muscles just about tearing under the massive weight as I steadily set it on its rack. Sitting up on the bench, I swiped a towel off of the floor and wiped my forehead. Despite the strenuous reps that had me drenched in sweat, I could still feel the frustration rolling off my back in waves. I stretched my neck, my hand reaching up to ease the tightness rebuilding at the nape.
“Did Erica go missing again last night?” Jack inquired from the next bench over, noting my edginess. I only ever preferred the office gym over my home gym when I had excessive tension that needed to be rid of. And after the stunt my half-sister pulled the night before, I was madly sprung. I directed my scowl at him, and he arched a knowing a brow. He sighed and set his thirty-pound dumbbell down. “Where did she go this time?”
“The fuck I know. She didn’t take the goddamn watch with her.”
He hissed like the fact stung. And it did. It nearly killed me when she didn’t come home at the scheduled time. It wasn’t the first time she had stayed out late, and it wouldn’t be the last, but she typically had her watch on, and I would have been able to track her if she ever blanked out on her location. This time, however, she forgot to wear her watch. She even forgot her cell phone. Though the thought of her intentionally leaving those items behind made me want to strangle her, I worried of what it meant of her memory capability if she really did forget.
My face twisted as I recalled her walking in through the front door, all blasé, claiming she had lost track of time, then dismissing me with a wave of a hand. “I swear. If she doesn’t end up getting herself killed, I might end up killing her myself.”
Jack chuckled. “Give her a break, Tyler. She grew up not having a watchful older brother — or parent. After spending most of her life being independent, you may come off as overbearing.”
“Well, it’s been nearly ten years. She should’ve adapted by now.” I flicked the towel harshly, and it made a smacking sound as it collided with the bench.
Jack shook his head in a show of sympathy. “Why don’t you come over this Friday? I’m having some people over. Allison will be there. She’s been asking about you.”
I knitted my brow as I rose from the bench. “Who?”
“Allison,” he repeated, like the name alone somehow explained everything. Already lacking patience, I responded with an over-the-top shrug, my face scowling hard. He rolled his eyes. “The girl who connected us with Ray, who then connected us with Phillip, who then connected us with Torrence, who then—“
“Okay, okay, I got it,” I cut him off with a wave of my towel, not wanting to hear the chain of people we had to network with in order to reach the VC’s ear. “What about her?”
“She asked about you. Said she missed you since you haven’t been around for the past couple years.”
I smiled wryly before jumping to the pull-up bar. “Even after what I did to her?” I grunted as I pulled my chin over the top.
“I suppose so. Must have left an impression for her to remember you.”
I laughed cynically, my gaze trained on the glass doors leading out to the gallery. “Some impression. She seemed rather eager to part with me once you walked in.”
He shrugged then dipped to resume his bicep curls. “Can’t blame her. You were a bit too vicious, man.”
“She shouldn’t have annoyed the shit out of me, then. Should have kept her mouth shut.”
He tossed his head back on a laugh. “You wouldn’t have finished if that was the case.”
I chuckled alongside him, then nearly lost my grip on the bar on my way down. My feet clumsily caught my landing, all the while my eyes stayed glued to the gallery, where a pair of women were casually strolling by.
Wow.