by Amy Brent
“Hey, Ian!” Geoff, my boss, called from the other side of the gym.
I sighed and set down the weights I’d been using before tidying up my area. Jason was still lurking in the front, right next to Geoff. I wondered what he wanted.
“Ian, this guy here, Jason Dean, is looking for a new trainer.” He grinned at me. “Apparently, he was told you’re the best.”
I scowled at Jason and folded my arms across my chest. So that was the way he was going to play it, was he? For a minute, I tried to figure out what his plan was. Did he think that if he hung around me enough, I would slip up and admit Abigail wasn’t my fiancée? That had to be it. I rolled my eyes. The dude needed to move on.
I tried to keep things professional, though. “Geoff, you know my schedule’s pretty full at the moment,” I said. “I’m not looking to pick up another client.”
“I’m willing to pay double,” Jason said quickly.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass,” I snapped, unable to stop myself.
Geoff raised an eyebrow at me and then tugged me over to the side. “You got something against this dude?” he asked. “I know you don’t usually work with guys, but that’s just because the girls request you more often. If this guy is willing to pay double, though, we can shuffle your schedule to fit him in.”
I wanted to explain to him that it wasn’t that, that this guy was Abigail’s ex and he was just there to stalk her through me or something, but that would mean explaining who Abigail was to me, and I wasn’t sure how to do that. My best friend’s sister didn’t seem to cut it, and my fuckbuddy also didn’t sound right.
I shook my head. “Look, I know this guy,” I said, trying to be as frank as possible, “and I don’t like him.”
“I don’t really care whether you like him or not,” Geoff said, looking like he was one step away from rolling his eyes. “The guy’s willing to pay double. That’s a lot of money coming into the gym, and not just into your paycheck.”
“So you’re saying I have to take him on as a client?” I asked.
“Pretty much,” Geoff said. “I get that you don’t like the dude, but you know we’ve been going through a bit of a slump lately. And I know it’s not you—your clients are just as eager as ever—but until we hit the New Year’s resolution crowd, we can use all the intake we can get.” He paused. “Anyway, the guy looks like he’s in at least decent shape. You probably won’t have to do all that much.”
Oh, the guilt trip. But I knew Geoff was right. It cost a lot of money to run a gym, and even though we were one of the top gyms in the city, there was always room for improvement in terms of our numbers. I sighed and nodded at Jason. “Fine,” I said.
I would have to warn Abigail first. One bonus of having Jason train with me was that I could push him hard enough that he would be too exhausted to come back to the gym outside his training sessions. As long as I kept telling Abigail when he’d be there, they’d probably never run into one another there.
I still didn’t like the idea of it, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do about it.
“Why don’t you come back tomorrow for our first session?” I told Jason through gritted teeth. “I can fit you in around two in the afternoon. Does that work for you?”
“I was really hoping we could start now,” he said, sounding surprised. He looked around the gym. “It’s not too busy, is it?”
“No, it’s not too busy,” I said, “but I’ve already got a full workload today, and I can’t fit you in. If you’d like to work with someone else, though, by all means.”
“I’ll come back tomorrow,” Jason said. But he kept lurking there, looking suspiciously happy about the arrangement. He was definitely planning something. I just had to figure out what.
And maybe a reminder wouldn’t hurt. “Abigail’s doing really good,” I told him. “We’ve set the date for our wedding, and she’s planning everything. April thirteenth.”
I heard Zach laugh, and I whipped around to see him behind me. I hadn’t realized he was there, and I felt a sinking feeling in my gut. He had clearly just heard what I’d said. He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Good one, man,” he said, shaking his head. “You and Abigail getting married? That’ll be the day.”
Shit, this wasn’t good. Zach was about to give it all away!
Jason raised an eyebrow at me. “Wait, you didn’t even tell your soon-to-be brother-in-law? Classic.” He snickered.
I looked at Zach and saw the confusion on his face. Then I looked at Jason. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said again, more finally this time. I scowled at him, making it clear that he had better leave.
Jason gave one final look between Zach and me and then shrugged. “Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. “Looks like you really have your hands full today.”
“You want to explain what that was about?” Zach asked hotly as Jason walked out the doors of the gym.
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. There was no playing this off as a joke. I wondered if Zach knew Jason had been bothering his sister still. Somehow, I doubted it. Otherwise, I didn’t think Jason would be anywhere near any place Abigail might be. Zach might not be as strong as I was, but he had the advantage of brotherly protectiveness. He’d do everything he could to make sure Abigail was safe.
No matter what he thought about her current life choices.
“Look, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you this, but Abigail and I have been pretending we’re engaged in front of Jason,” I told Zach. I paused. “Hopefully you didn’t just ruin that.”
“What?” Zach asked, his voice dangerous. “What kind of pretending?”
“Nothing like that,” I lied. “I’m not dating her or anything. It’s mostly just been words. We held hands once.”
“That’s it?” Zach asked.
“That’s it,” I said. I felt terrible for lying to him, but I tried to rationalize it with that old saying: what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“So, is there a reason you’re doing that? Besides some mean-spirited feelings toward Jason?”
I shrugged. “You’d have to ask Abigail. The dude’s been bothering her, still following her around and calling her, trying to get her to get back together with him.”
“And the reason he just showed up here is?”
“He apparently wants me as his personal trainer,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Zach frowned. “That seems weird,” he said. “If he is really into Abigail like you say, wouldn’t you be the last person he would want anything to do with? If he thinks you and Abigail are engaged, I mean.”
“You’d think so,” I said, shrugging. “I don’t know.” I paused. “But you’re okay with the whole fake engagement thing, right? I know it’s weird, but we’re not going to kiss in front of you or anything.”
“I’m okay with it,” Zach said, clapping me on the shoulder. “I’m not going to lie. It’s really weird, and I don’t really like it, but I guess I’m glad you’re always there to take care of Abigail, too. You’re like a second brother to her.”
I had a flash of what Abigail and I had gotten up to in the gym shower the previous day. That had been decidedly unbrotherly, but I couldn’t tell Zach about that. Even more so than before, I was sure that if he found out about our roomies-with-benefits situation, he’d flip out.
“I’m going to take off for the day,” Zach said, nodding at me. “See you around.”
“Yeah,” I said. “See you around.”
Chapter 13
Abigail
I slept in a little bit on Wednesday after a late night out with Brittany the night before. So, I was surprised to see Ian still in the kitchen when I finally wandered in there. “Good morning,” I said. “Did you call in sick or something?”
“Morning,” Ian said, smiling at me. “And no, I’m not sick. Just headed in a little later this morning. I wanted to talk to you, and you weren’t here last night.”
“I was out with Brittany, playing wing woma
n,” I told him.
For a moment, I thought I saw something on Ian’s face. Jealousy? But I must have been mistaken. It wasn’t like he and I were dating or anything, and I hadn’t gone home with anyone the previous night. I’d strictly been there to keep Brittany company and to keep her from having any awkward third wheels with the guys she was trying to hook up with.
Anyway, she’d ended up striking out pretty badly in the beginning of the night, so it had mostly just been the two of us getting drunk and dancing. I hadn’t had a night like that in a while, a night where I really cut loose, and I’d needed it more than I’d realized.
“Meet anyone interesting?” Ian asked casually, like he was talking about the weather. “I guess that’s something we should discuss, right? If we’re roomies with benefits, can we still sleep with other people?”
I bit my lower lip. How did I tell him that sleeping with other people was the last thing I wanted right now? Did that sound like too much of a commitment? I just shook my head. “I didn’t meet anyone interesting.” Maybe we could leave it at that.
Ian looked like he wanted to press me, but he must have seen something in my face that satisfied him. He nodded slowly.
I cleared my throat. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
Ian grimaced. “First of all, I have a new client, one Jason Dean.”
I groaned. “Really?”
Ian nodded. “Sadly, yes. I tried to tell him to get lost, but my boss insisted I take him on.”
I shook my head. “I wonder what Jason thinks he’s doing. Does he think he’s going to get to me by going through you or something?”
Ian shrugged. “I’m wondering if he thinks I’m going to slip up on the whole engagement thing at some point and he wants to catch me in the act. Speaking of which, I told him we’ve set the date, April thirteenth, and that you’re doing all the planning.”
“You set a date for our fake wedding?” I asked, my eyebrows jumping up in surprise. It was one thing to lie about being engaged, but it seemed like things were becoming increasingly complicated. Now we had to remember the date we were supposedly getting married, and it was only a matter of time before there were other small details that we would both need to keep track of.
I was starting to wonder whether this was a good idea.
“There’s some more bad news,” Ian admitted, coughing slightly. “While I was telling Jason about the date of the wedding, I didn’t realize Zach had come up behind us. So, he overheard me.”
I groaned and put my face in my palms. “I need coffee for this,” I said, moving automatically to the coffeepot. Before I could even reach it, Ian pressed a mug into my hands. I blinked down at it for a second and then shook my head, deciding there were more important things to discuss at the moment than the fact that I could pour my own coffee and make my own breakfast.
We weren’t in a relationship, but it was starting to feel more and more like one in a weird way. The fact that we were living together, that he kept making me breakfast, that I had thrown some of his laundry in with mine—it just all felt so domestic.
“So, I assume you pretended to Zach that we’re actually engaged?” I winced. “When my mother finds out from him, she’s going to have a fit. She’ll want to know why I didn’t tell her right away.”
“No. Don’t worry about that,” Ian said quickly. “Once Jason left, I told Zach it was all just made up, that we were just trying to keep Jason from being too creepy toward you.”
“What did he say?”
“He wasn’t exactly happy,” Ian admitted, “but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. He did say something about being glad I was always there to look out for you, just like another brother.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, he shouldn’t be upset anyway. It’s not like he knows the truth.”
Ian raised an eyebrow at me. “And what truth is that?” he asked teasingly.
Right now, right here? Desire punched me hard in the gut. Right now, right here.
I set my coffee mug on the table and moved closer to him, twining my fingers around the back of his neck and pulling his lips down toward mine. The kiss was hesitant at first—I didn’t have enough leverage—but soon, Ian got on with it, pressing his mouth hard against mine and tilting his face to the side for better access, which he used mercilessly, rendering me breathless within seconds.
He flicked his tongue against the roof of my mouth and then bit my lower lip. I moaned, surprised by the shock of pleasure-pain that coursed through me. Ian carefully kissed the spot he had nipped, soothing the ache and making my nerves sing.
I couldn’t help wondering what he had planned next. Would he lead me back to the bedroom where we’d first had sex, or would he fuck me right here in the middle of the kitchen, maybe with me seated on the edge of the counter? I groaned at the thought of it, my pussy becoming slick with want.
Before we could do anything more, though, there was a knock at the front door.
Ian swore under his breath, and it was reminiscent of the first time we’d kissed. “Zach,” he said.
“Right,” I said, backing away, feeling weird. Why did my family have to keep getting into my head like this? Ian and I weren’t dating, and we weren’t doing anything I should feel ashamed about. But all the same, I was starting to have second thoughts about what we were doing.
I retreated to my room to think things through, not really wanting to talk to my brother. Especially not after that kiss. Especially not when I still felt like I might jump at Ian at any second.
I tried to remind myself that the secret aspect of this whole thing was part of what turned me on, the fact that I shouldn’t have been doing this. But really, why shouldn’t I have been doing this? Sure, Ian was Zach’s best friend, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t sleep with him, did it? It was not like I was going to start dating him or anything. We were just having fun.
Really, the only thing Zach could get upset about was me “taking Ian away from him.” But that wasn’t really fair, not when he had Mikayla. Ian deserved to have someone, too. And if that someone was me, who was Zach to argue?
Not that I wanted to be Ian’s Mikayla, his significant other.
Oh, things were so confusing in my head right now. Maybe it was time to cut off this thing with Ian. It seemed to bring me more headaches than anything else.
Well, and orgasms. Damned good orgasms, too.
There was a knock on my bedroom door, and I sighed. It had to be Zach, wanting to talk to me. I got up and opened the door to see my brother standing there.
“I thought you were here to see Ian,” I said, leaning against the doorframe.
“Actually, I’m here to see you,” Zach said, folding his arms across his chest. “Ian told me about your whole fake engagement thing.”
“Look, I’m not trying to take your best friend away from you or anything,” I told him, rolling my eyes. “He’s just helping me avoid Jason. That’s all.”
“Well, I think it’s sick,” Zach declared. “You and Ian? Couldn’t you have picked someone else to be your fake boyfriend?”
“Fake fiancé,” I corrected automatically. “And what’s wrong with me and Ian? Other than the fact that, you know, we’re not actually a couple?”
“He’s so much older than you,” Zach said.
For a minute, I was tempted to burst out laughing. Then I realized Zach was serious. I rolled my eyes. “Big deal, he’s twenty-nine,” I said. “I’m not a little kid anymore.”
“You don’t do a very good job of acting like a grown-up,” Zach said snidely.
Ouch. But I forged ahead. “It’s not like there’s a huge age gap between us,” I said. “Only five years.”
“Five years is a lot,” Zach said. “You can’t find a job, can’t find anyone your own age to be your fake fiancé…”
Tears stung the corners of my eyes, but I was determined not to let them fall. For a moment, I thought about throwing Zach out, but this was still Ian’s apartment more than mine and
Zach was his best friend. Besides, I didn’t really want to be there at the moment.
“You know what? I’m getting out of here.” I grabbed a jacket and pushed past Zach toward the front door. “Don’t follow me.”
“Sure, just run away from another one of your problems,” Zach said. I could practically hear our mother in that.
Again, I was blinking back tears. I almost expected Ian to follow me, but he hadn’t said anything as Zach yelled at me, and I didn’t see him as I walked out of the apartment, either. He’d probably come to the same conclusion I had: it was time to end our arrangement. No more fake engagement and no more roomies with benefits.
I wondered why those thoughts left me feeling so hollow. It wasn’t like I had lost anything. I had never had anything to begin with.
Chapter 14
Ian
By Wednesday afternoon, I was hoping Jason just wouldn’t show up. Maybe he had rethought his plan, whatever it was, and decided he didn’t need to pay me as a personal trainer in his attempt to get Abigail back.
But I should have known he’d be there right at two o’clock. I stifled a groan and walked to the front of the gym to meet him.
“So, what are we working on today?” I asked, not even bothering with false cheer. What would the guy do if he knew I didn’t like him, stop coming to sessions with me? I could only hope so. If he complained to Geoff, well, my manager already knew I didn’t like the guy, so at most I’d probably just get a talking to.
“Aren’t you supposed to tell me what we’re working on?” Jason asked. “That’s the reason I hired a personal trainer after all.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “No shit,” I said. “But do you have any fitness goals that we should be working toward? If you’re planning on running a marathon in five weeks, or if you’re planning on joining a pro wrestling league, those are two very different things.”
“I’m just here for some general training,” Jason said.
