“Brian,” I broke the kiss and smiled up at him. “Someone could walk in.”
“My next session isn't until another hour.” Brian grinned. “We have this gym all to ourselves.”
“I'm not paying you to grope me.” I laughed and pushed him off. “That's saved for later.”
“Fine.” Brian stood to his feet and offered me his hand, helping me stand up. “You're trying to force yourself to do one thing while your mind is telling you to do the other. Relax and trust your instincts.”
Scott had said something similar when he and I trained together and pretended to be engaged so I could get the gym's discount. No, that never happened. None of that was real. I forced those thoughts to the back of my mind as Brian backed up a few feet.
“You ready?”
I nodded, preparing myself for his attack. Brian lunged forward as my back faced the large windows for anyone to look inside, a small group crowding to watch.
When Brian charged forward he bent down a little to try and tackle my waist, but this time I let my instincts guide me. I jumped sideways and let my back roll along his, landing on my feet in back of him. Before Brian could turn around I crouched down and kicked in one of his knees, the young man falling. I quickly pushed him down and got on his back, my legs wrapping around his own and my arms wrapping around his neck, and I slightly applied pressure.
“There we go,” Brian laughed. “See what happens when you listen to me?”
“I totally kicked your ass.” When I stood up and helped Brian to his feet I could hear clapping coming from outside. The two of us saw a group huddled on the other side of the window, their applause directed towards me.
“Looks like we had a little audience.” Brian waved at the group.
“Lovely.” I chuckled. “I'm gonna go get some water and get another hair tie from the locker room. Mine's getting loose.”
“Can you grab me some water also?”
“Yeah.” I nodded and disappeared behind a door just as the gym's front door opened.
“Joshua Anderson. What do I owe this honor?”
I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard Brian talking to someone. Surely it couldn’t be who I thought it was. Without making a sound I slowly creaked the locker room door open just a crack, my heart skipping a beat when I saw who was standing next to Brian. It was, in fact, Josh.
“Shut up.” Josh continued to grin as he and Brian hugged. The young man wore a baseball cap and sunglasses. He took them off and ruffled his brown hair as he looked at Brian, the two grinning at each other. “I see you're still getting your ass kicked by girls.”
“She's the only one who can kick my ass.” Brian laughed. “What are you doing here? I thought you were shooting that action movie in Canada?”
“We just finished filming,” Josh explained. “Now I have some free time to myself since I canceled my last filming contract.”
“You canceled it? Why?”
“One of my obsessive ex-girlfriends auditioned for the main girl's part and got it. She's such a damn stalker.”
“Oh man, that's pretty rough. How are things with you and your current girlfriend?”
As if on cue Josh received a text message. He sighed in annoyance, his response answering his friend's question.
“Dude, that bad?”
“You have no idea.”
“Why not just break up with her then?”
“Because she's hot.” Josh laughed. I felt my heart sink down to my stomach. “Crazy, but so damn hot.” Brian shook his head with a smile on his face. “I have to go meet her at this coffee shop down the street. I've never been to it so hopefully the food is good. Wanna catch up later?”
“Yeah. It's my friend's birthday tomorrow and I'm swarmed with work stuff tonight, but do you want to get a beer on Friday night?”
“Sounds great. I'll text you.” Josh left, bringing me to sigh in relief as I changed my clothes and walked out of the locker room with my belongings.
“Carly just called and said that the cafe is getting swarmed with customers and two of the waitresses called out sick. My sister is the only waitress there right now and needs help.” I tried to seem as normal as possible.
“Poor girl.” Brian pulled me into a kiss. “So, what are we doing for your birthday tomorrow? A fancy dinner? A night out of town? A strip club?”
“Strip club?” I arched an eyebrow.
“Come on! You only turn twenty-two once.”
“I promised Lily that we would go out to eat. How about you tag along? Carly, Jeremy, Natalie, and my parents will be there.”
Brian kissed my nose before nodding. “Okay. But please stay at my apartment tomorrow night after we all go out to dinner. I promise to make it fun. Plus, I have a present for you to unwrap.”
“Let me guess,” I slowly trailed my fingertips over Brian's muscles until I reached his waistline, his breathing quickening a bit. “My present is you, right?”
“Perhaps,” Brian placed his hand on my thigh and let his fingers creep underneath my dress. “Will you come over?”
“I'll think about it.” I pulled away before things got to the point where I didn't want to stop, leaving the gym.
By the time I got to the cafe there were crowds of people both outside and inside waiting to be served. At least I would have a distraction. Why was it so busy today? Surely the half-priced coffees couldn't attract this many people.
“Can I get some service here?” A girl whined. I sent Natalie a quick message before making my way over to the register where Carly's boyfriend stood panicking.
“Ian!” I shouted at the other blond but he didn't seem to hear me. I managed to hurry behind the counter and tie on a black waist apron before tapping Ian's shoulder, a sense of relief washing over his face.
“Thank god you're here! Where's Carly?” The only way that Ian was able to tell my sister and I apart was the fact that I kept my hair blonde while she continued to dye hers, her hair now being a flaming red.
“I haven't seen her yet.” I stood on my tiptoes to try and locate my sister but couldn't find her. My pocket suddenly vibrated as I got a response back from Natalie. “Natalie's coming to help.”
“Good. I'm sorry that it's yours and Natalie's day off today. We just weren't expecting the other two girls to call out.”
“It's fine.”
I heard a crash come from outside, followed by yelling; I had a feeling I found Carly. I hurried outside where I saw my sister and some girl exchanging nasty words to each other, and when I saw Carly's hand form into a fist I knew what was about to happen next.
“Carly!” I gave her a warning glare as she shot one back at me, her clothes being drenched in coffee.
“Just because this girl is an actress doesn't mean she can do whatever the hell she wants!” Carly growled. “She clearly saw me coming and tripped me!”
“Do you know who I am? I'm Monique Stiles!”
“You're about to have your face smashed in!” Carly snapped.
“Go back inside and clean yourself up.” I urged my sister. “I'll take care of this. Just go inside and blow off some steam. Natalie will be here soon to help.”
“Whatever.” Carly stormed inside and disappeared into the crowd.
“When my boyfriend gets back from the bathroom I'm telling him everything. With one post from him online he’ll have this place shut down.” Monique folded her arms over her chest. “We'll sue your asses. Oh! There he is!”
“I'm really sorry for Carly's behavior-” I froze when Monique's boyfriend came walking over to the table, our eyes locking in place as we both stared at each other in shock.
“A-Alison?”
My eyes widened even more. Standing in front of me was Josh Anderson, and he knew who I was. How? What was going on? Could I just be dreaming right now? Wake up!
“You know me?”
“You know her?” Monique shot him a jealous glare.
“
I'll be right back.” Josh told his girlfriend before taking me by the arm and leading me a few feet away. “This is going to sound really weird, but I've been having these...”
“What?” My mind was spinning.
Josh stared at me for a long period of time, as if thinking over something. “Would it sound creepy to ask you out to dinner tonight?”
“Umm…” I had no idea what was going on. “Sure. Do you want to meet here tonight at nine? It's normally quiet here around that time.”
“Nine sounds perfect.” Josh smiled.
“Okay.” I returned his smile and began to walk back inside, my mind racing.
“Wait.” I turned around from Josh's request, the two of us eyeing up the other. “So you'll meet me here?”
“I will.” I nodded
“You promise, Ali?”
My heart fluttered, feeling as if it were about to jump out of my chest. I still didn't know how he knew my name.
In the coma, promise had been mine and Josh's okay and always, but no one knew that. Was it just a coincidence? Or was something bigger going on right now? I had a strange feeling that I would get those answers tonight.
I nodded. “Promise.”
About the Author
My name is Ashley and I was born on June 21st, 1991. I started writing when I was thirteen years old but it was very challenging since I was born with a learning disability. I couldn't read or write in fifth grade, but after months of hard work I was able to develop my reading and writing skills. The more I wrote, the more I fell in love with the craft. With the support from my grandmother I realized how much I wanted to be a writer. She passed away three months before my 21st birthday and wasn't able to witness my first upcoming novel, Untimely Love. I know her spirit is out there watching over me and is so proud of my accomplishments.
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Untimely Love Page 29
