“She’s the one? Seriously?” Knox asks, finally noticing I’m in the room.
“Yes, seriously,” Reina says, rolling her eyes. I love that she doesn’t hide her contempt from people when they deserve it.
“How is she going to protect me if she can’t keep up?”
“I probably can’t outswim you, but outside the pool, I can assure you I’ll keep up,” I tell him.
“I walk fast, and I run every morning.”
“Good for you.”
“You’ll have to be there with me, and let’s face it, you’re not exactly in peak physical condition.”
I force myself not to punch him as I answer. “I may not be stick thin, Knox, but I can assure you I actually am in ‘peak physical condition.’”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Well, let’s go downstairs to the gym and see who stops their treadmill first.”
“You’re kidding right?” he asks, and then looks to Reina. “She’s kidding, right?”
“No, she’s serious. And frankly, I can’t wait to see her kick your ass.”
“I can’t run in jeans.”
“We keep extra workout clothes and shoes in all sizes for our employees to have. Now, if you’re done with your excuses, let’s go on down.”
“After you,” he says with a sneer.
He won’t win, because I won’t let him. I’ve been in this country for ten years and I’ve heard it all before. Men—and women—think that because I’m bigger than a size four, I’m out of shape. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I love to eat, but I also love to work out. I couldn’t do my job as a physical therapist if I was out of shape. One day, people may look past my dress size, but for now, I enjoy proving them wrong.
In the locker room, I change into a sports bra, loose tank, workout plants, and tennis shoes. I pull my curly red hair into a ponytail, and crack my neck from side to side as I mentally prepare to literally run my ass off.
When I walk into the gym, a crowd has gathered. The other recruits, the mentors, and some of the guys, including my best friend, Kendrick, are standing by the treadmills. Knox walks out in basketball shorts and tennis shoes. I admire his abs, because they’re on display, and they are very nice. Not nice enough for me to let him win, but I can’t deny he looks good.
He looks me up and down, and if he wasn’t being such an ass, I’d think he was liking what he sees. He shatters that notion when he opens his mouth. “Ready to lose.”
“No. I’m ready to win.”
We get on the treadmills and go, warming up with a slow speed, and no incline to start. As we get into it, the speed is faster, and the incline gets steeper. I’m totally in the zone, drinking water to stay hydrated as my endorphins kick in, and I keep the pace.
Two hours later, Knox presses his stop button and jumps so that he’s off the belt when the machine stops. He’s breathing hard as I keep going for a few more minutes. I also slow down gradually, cooling off like he should have.
“How…how did you do that? You’re not even breathing hard.”
“In Africa, we run,” I say, bringing my accent out in full force. “Haven’t you ever seen marathon results?”
“You tricked me.”
“No. I just proved that my clothes may have two numbers on them, but I’m still in better shape than 99% of the planet.”
I walk out with a smirk on my face, and my head held high. Let the games begin.
Acknowledgements
I’ll switch it up this time. Thanks to Gabi, and Dominique for making me want to write about strong and resilient women who will inspire you (even if you’ll never read my books).
To Marcus, for offering to be on my book cover, and for just being the awesome you that you are. I can never think of you as Kendrick, because of those scenes, but I hope you’ll be happy with the man you transformed into for the cover of this book!
To Helen, you got Marcus on a book cover (without a shirt on, no less), and as always, you outdid yourself!
To Jesse, you never fail to impress me with everything you do!
Ally, you worked hard to get this one back to me in time for my deadline, so thanks for that extra work!
To the Friends of the Society group, you are the best and I love that I have you to bounce ideas and pictures off of!
Thanks to all of the readers who keep reading my books, and sending me wonderful emails and Facebook messages! You’ll never know how much that means to me!
Find me on Goodreads to check out what books I’ve been reading lately! I feel like I’ll always miss someone, but I’ll try to put together another list for you next month!
About the Author
Crystal Perkins has always been a big reader, but she never thought she would write her own book, until she sat down and did it one day. She lives in Las Vegas, where you can find her running author events and selling books at conventions when she isn’t reading, buying too many Sherlock t-shirts online or finding a place to put all of her Pop! figurines. A mac and cheese connoisseur, she travels the country looking for the perfect version, while attending book conventions and signings as a cover for her research. The Griffin Brothers series, Corrigan & Co., and the Society Girls series are international best sellers, and she’s thankful to the readers who made that happen!
Find her here:
www.crystalperkinsauthor.com
facebook.com/crystalperkinsauthor
@wondermomlv
Society Girls: Matisse Page 18
