Commendable, but ridiculous. What he really needs is to admit that he’s in love with her and date the woman. It would be a lot easier for everyone that way, but until he’s ready, it’s going to be the same old shit.
At least for now, it gives me someone to go out with and get stupid with, which is exactly what I’ve been needing to forget about the last few months.
I was stationed in Iraq for six months and was nearly due to come home when we were given bad intel and I ended up in the hands of the enemy. It was easily the worst three weeks of my life. On my previous tour, I was in an explosion caused by a roadside bomb and I’d take the pain of that a hundred times over than the torture those bastards put me through in Iraq.
I guess the only good thing about the spitfire next door is that she woke me up from yet another bad dream. I haven’t been sleeping much as every night my mind can’t help but replay the memories for those few weeks.
It’s like living the nightmare over and over again. I have no escape from it.
I try to forget about my shit morning. I could try and go back to sleep but that’s not going to happen. I may as well head down to Rebels Advocate and get a work out in before my first client shows up at ten.
I’m a personal trainer, but my real talent is as a nutritionist. My meal and diet plans, mixed in with our physical programs makes us the best performing gym in the state. Even though we mainly focus on MMA, all our other clients are seeing incredible results.
I get myself dressed before heading into the kitchen to make a good breakfast. I take my sweet ass time and even put together a good fruit salad to take with me for lunch.
Before sitting down at the table, I remember my manners and feed my little guy first. I walk over to his enclosure and reach the box I keep his food in. “Morning, Gerald,” I say to my four-meter python as I bend down and look him over, double checking that he’s doing good. “Do you feel like a big juicy mouse this morning?”
I cringe as I grab one of the mice and feel like a prick as I lift the lid and drop the little thing in there. It scatters around, but it’s got to be done, and besides, I’d much rather he ate the mouse than me.
I close up his enclosure and promise him that I’ll let him out this afternoon when I get home from work. He loves being in the enclosure which cost me a fucking bomb, but he’s still an animal and a good stretch will keep him happy. Besides, he’s been a good boy and a great friend, he deserves a play, maybe I’ll give him a bath too.
Half an hour later, I grab my keys off the hallway table and head out to my truck. I stop in the middle of my driveway as I look up. There’s a big mother fucking dumpster blocking half my driveway and squishing the stupid garden my mother insisted on planting.
My jaw clenches and my fingers curl into fists. That fucking woman. I should have taken a shitload more than her power cord. I consider going over there again, but then don’t need to as she steps out her front door carrying a tower of torn drywall.
She looks up, searches for the dumpster, and spots it covering my drive and blocking my truck. Her eyes go wide and an ‘oh shit’ expression crosses her flawless face before she notices me standing here, which is when her expression becomes smug. “Are you going to do something about this?” I question as I point towards my blocked truck.
She walks forward and dumps the rubble in the dumpster before clapping the dust off her hands and shirt. “Are you going to give me my power cord back?”
“No,” I scoff.
“Well,” she says as she turns to walk back into the house. “Good luck getting your truck out.”
“You’re squishing my garden,” I yell across to her.
She stops. Turns. Grins.
Shit, I just made myself sound like the biggest fucking pansy.
“Your garden?” she questions.
“Yes. My fucking garden. Your dumpster is squishing it.”
“Well, I apologize about your garden. I’m sure you two were very happy together. May your rosebush rest in peace.”
“They were daffodils and my mother planted them.”
She lets out a huff and it’s the first time I see a little bit of regret in her eyes, but she’s still far too pissed off with me to do much about it right now. She goes to say something, but I ignore her and get in my truck.
I start it up and instead of doing a fifty-point turn and going to the left to get around the dumpster which is probably the easiest way, I turn the wheel to the right and drive over the pebbled garden that separates our houses. I drive across her driveway, between her truck and narrowly missing her house. I cut through her lawn and finally down to the road.
I look up into the rear-view mirror and see her screaming at me from her driveway, probably cursing me out and calling me an asshole again. Which, yeah, it was a dick move, but she deserves it this morning.
I pull up at Rebels Advocate ten minutes later and after a moment to myself, I’m feeling better, well, a little better. I can’t get the fucking daffodils out of my head. She was right though, may those babies rest in peace.
I get into the gym and make my way straight down to my office and dump my shit in my desk drawers before taking my lunch into the lunchroom and putting it in the fridge. “What’s up with you?” Jace grunts from the table.
I look up, I hadn’t even noticed he was here. “Got a new neighbor,” I tell him.
“Seriously? I didn’t know that old bat was moving out,” he murmurs, talking about the old granny who lives on the other side. She’s a crazy old lady and even though she has a soft spot for me, she doesn’t extend that same love to Jace. She says his golden locks reminds her of the boy she used to go with who broke her heart. It’s a story we’ve both heard way too many times to care for.
“No, on the other side,” I clarify.
“Shit, really?” he grunts. “Who the hell would buy that crap? It needs to be knocked down.”
“She’s a flipper who thinks she knows what the fuck she’s doing.”
“A girl?” he confirms with a grunt. I nod and he carries on. “Alright,” he says in confusion. “Why have you got the shits about that? What she does to that old house has nothing to do with you.”
“It’s the way she’s doing it,” I tell him, sounding like an idiot doing with the old ‘it’s not what you said, it’s how you said it bullshit.’ “She had music blasting at seven in the morning and put her fucking dumpster on mom’s garden.”
He bursts out laughing. “Shit, that’s funny,” he says. “I bet that didn’t go down well.”
“No, it didn’t,” I grunt. “But to be fair, she had nothing to do with the dumpster, but she should have been watching what the driver was doing.”
“And let me guess,” he grins. “You had a few things to say about that.”
“Bet your ass I did,” I spit before a massive grin rips across my face. “I stole the power cord for her speakers,” I tell him while trying to hold in a chuckle. “She thinks I’m an asshole.”
“You are an asshole,” he laughs just as Cole and Caden walk in.
“Oh good,” Cole says as he flops down into the chair beside Jace. “You’re both here. I wanted to run something by you guys.”
“What’s up?” Jace asks as he sits up a little straighter in his chair. When Cole says something like this, we instantly know he’s got an idea about our gym. The four of us own Rebels Advocate together and with us working as one, it’s like a well-oiled machine.
“Well,” he starts. “I think it’s about time we franchise.”
“Yeah?” I question.
“Yeah,” he grins. “We’re already the best gym in the state, why not keep the momentum going? We could build another and one of us could manage it for a few months and train the staff until it’s up and running.”
“I’m in,” Caden says. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I just wanted to wait until Luke was back.”
The thought of building another club excites me, my only issue is that I won’t be
able to stop. Once we get another, I’d want more. Hell, my mind is already taking me to conquering every state and then taking it international. We’re going to be a household name.
“If you guys are on board, I think I’ve found a property.”
“Count me in,” I tell him as he pulls his phone out and instantly brings up the property he’s clearly already been looking at. He flips it around to show us and Jace is the first to pinch the phone out of his hands and study the property.
I crowd over his shoulder and take a look. It’s in a good area with a decent price tag on it so I can’t see why we shouldn’t grab the bull by the horns. Caden looks over Jace’s other shoulder and gets in his way as he tries to swipe through the pictures on the site while Jace attempts to swat him away. “I can do it,” Jace grunts as he finally bats Caden’s hands away.
“Well, hurry up,” he says. “I want to see inside the building.”
I don’t see it, but I can sense Jace rolling his eyes as he quickly flicks through the images. He stops when he reaches the first picture within the building. Caden and I basically lean right over Jace’s shoulders as we try to get a better look.
The space was used as a corporate office and looks to be in pretty good condition, but we’d have to throw a little bit of money at it to get it fitted out in our style to maintain our brand.
“If we used this space, we could have it up and running in maybe four to six months,” Caden says.
“Yeah,” I agree as I look up at Cole who I know would have already done his research on the area. “What other clubs are around?” I ask.
“There’s a women’s gym down the road. A few kid’s karate classes that are held in the community hall and a few generic gyms. Nothing dedicated to MMA.”
“Sounds good,” Jace murmurs. “It’s only about an hour drive as well.”
“It’s fucking perfect is what it is,” Cole says.
“Are we all on board?” I ask.
We get a unanimous ‘yep’ from around the table and a ‘fuck yeah’ from Jace. “Alright,” Cole says. “I’ll call the agent and set up an inspection. You guys good to go today?”
“Yep,” I say as Caden nods his head.
“All good here,” Jace says before glancing up at me. “We just have to be back before three for our beginners’ self-defense class.”
That’s right. I nearly forgot about that in my excitement.
“Cool,” Cole says, taking the phone back out of Jace’s hands. “I’ll get it sorted.”
With that, Cole disappears back out the door with Caden following behind. Jace gets up and heads over to the fridge while I finally get a chance to work out my frustrations on the punching bag.
An hour later, I’m dripping in sweat and heading for the showers. With a visit to this new property added to the schedule, my day has just become a lot tighter.
I rush through my shower and get myself presentable just in time for my ten o’clock appointment to walk through the door. She’s a brand new client starting today, so I welcome her in, show her around the gym, and take her back to my office where we get started on goal planning.
Chapter 3
Lexi
Holy crap, what a massive day. I always forget just how hard demolition is. I get over excited about starting a new project that I always look over the whole sore arms and blisters thing.
I think when you see something you’re passionate about coming together, it’s easy to forget about the bad as the good outweighs it all. But looking around the three empty bedrooms that have been completely stripped of plaster boards and old carpets, it’s so easy to forget my hands are hurting.
It’s been such an exhausting day, but it was well worth it. If I can strip the living room and hallway tomorrow, then I’ll be able to get my carpenter to start a bit early and really get into this renovation.
I can’t believe its only day one and I’m already ahead of my schedule. I’m so excited. I’m not even daunted by the size of the project or the amount of money it’s going to cost to get it from here to completion, but considering the state it’s in, I got it really cheap, like dirt cheap. It was incredible.
I couldn’t believe my luck when I came across this hidden beauty. Most people don’t want to bother with the whole renovation thing and they don’t like houses that don’t have a great street appeal, but me, that’s my specialty. I turn it from something unwanted to the talk of the town. And as much as I love the demolition and seeing it come together, my favorite part is furnishing and choosing paint colors.
It’s always so hard to finally decide on a color when you have so many ideas running through your mind, but for this project, I already have my ideas in mind. It’s going to look incredible.
I quickly run around the house closing up the windows and getting ready for bed. Though, my only downfall is that there is no bed... yet. I duck out to my truck and grab my bag of clothes, my sleeping bag, and my portable heater.
The natural need to set up in the bedroom flutters through me, but with the bedrooms completely stripped of walls and carpets, I have no other choice than to sleep in another room. So, I dump all my things in the living room and start rifling through my bag for my phone charger.
As soon as I find it at the very bottom of my bag, I plug it in and put my phone up to charge before calling for pizza.
While I wait for my well earned dinner, I grab my things for a shower and head into the bathroom with a cringe.
I look around in disgust before running back and grabbing my flip flops. After all, I have no idea who the last person was to use this bathroom, but from the looks of it, it was someone who doesn’t know much about personal hygiene.
Making another dash out of the bathroom, I grab the roll of paper towel and lay it down across the vanity before putting my clean towel down on top of it.
I strip out of my dirty clothes and dump them on the floor before leaning into the shower and turning the tap. I step back and watch the stream like a hawk to make sure it's actually clean water coming from the old pipes. When I'm satisfied it's safe, I step under the hot water and try to enjoy the shower, only I can’t stop thinking about who the last person to use it might have been.
After about thirty seconds and the quickest wash known in the history of mankind, I step out of the shower and wrap the towel around myself while making a mental note that the bathroom will be next on the agenda to be renovated.
I step out of the bathroom and instantly look up the hallway. I cringe as I realize this place doesn’t have any curtains and every one of my neighbors would be able to see straight through the house to see me in my birthday suit, so I add another thing to my list of things to do.
I hurry to get myself decent before anyone decides to take a peep and get myself set up for the night. A moment later, there's a knock on the door and I jump up to answer it. The heavenly aroma of my pizza hits me and I quickly pay the driver before digging in.
I play a few games on my phone once the pizza is annihilated and try my best to pass the time while I wait for a decent hour to go to bed. I should probably go ahead a get a TV or at least a radio, but for tonight, my only entertainment is Facebook.
Once the stars are shining and the yawns are getting the best of me, I find my portable heater and plug it in, only the second I do that, the house falls into complete darkness.
"Shit," I groan as I pull the cord back out of the outlet, hoping that would magically fix the problem. I feel around in the dark for my phone and turn on the torch app. Just my fucking luck. I should have known something like this was going to happen.
I get up with my phone and head outside to the electrical box. I open it up, but let's be real, I have no idea what I'm looking at. I flick a few switches, but I don’t know if I'm actually fixing anything or making it a shitload worse. I look across at my asshole neighbors place and wonder if I should ask for his help, but his truck is not in the drive. So, even if he was kind enough to help, which I doubt, he's no use to me right
now.
Damn it. This is going to suck.
I get back inside and lay down in my sleeping bag. It's dark and cold and there's nothing I can do about it. I leave the torch app on my phone for a little when it occurs to me that I'll need my phone tomorrow and without any electricity, I can’t charge it overnight. So, off it goes.
No entertainment. No light. No warmth. This sucks.
All I can do is stare up at the roof.
Ten minutes pass.
Twenty minutes pass.
Thirty.
Okaaaaaaay..... this blows.
I literally twiddle my fingers.
A car drives past and its headlights shine through the window and I watch as the shadow moves across the roof in the first bit of entertainment I've had in over half an hour.
I hear a truck pull up and realize Mr. Asshole must be home. I listen as the engine is cut, the doors open and close, footfalls as he walks around, and the little ‘beep, beep’ of his truck locking. Hell, I even hear his front door open and close.
Naturally, my mind begins to wander. What if it wasn't actually Mr. Asshole? What if it's just some random guy snooping around? What if there's someone here? What if... shit. I can’t let my mind take me there.
I'm tired. There's no light. No warmth. No entertainment, and now I’m creeped out. Just perfect.
Tomorrow night, I'm coming a little more prepared. For now, I'm pulling out the big guns.
One sheep.
Two sheep.
Three sheep.
Four….
----------
I wake with a start as music blares through my house. My heart leaps out of my chest and I sit up at a speed I didn’t know was humanly possible.
What the hell is going on?
I frantically look around while trying to remember where I am. There's nothing worse than waking up in a new place and not quite knowing.
Luke: Rebels Advocate (Book 3) Page 2
