Anyone but You

by Chelsea M. Cameron

  “Hey, no stealing my customers,” Tuesday said from across the room, pointing at me.

  “I’m networking, hush,” I said, waving her off. Chloe and Victoria gave me looks.

  “Are you two friends?” Victoria asked.

  “Something like that,” I said, trying not to smile. Very special friends.

  Tuesday started the class and we went through learning the moves again, followed by another brutal workout. There were pull-ups. There were burpees. I wanted to throw up and cry and beg her to kill me at the same time but, somehow, the clock ran down and I made it through four rounds of the awful.

  “Good job,” Tuesday said to me, as I gasped and tried not to sob on the floor. Sweat kept running into my eyes so I just shut them and prayed for death. I felt someone sit next to me.

  “Do you hate me now?” Tuesday asked, and I cracked my eyes open.

  “Maybe,” I said. “You’d better make up for this and I have several suggestions of how you can do that.”

  Tuesday smirked.

  “Oh, really? Several? I’m guessing none of them involve clothing.” She whispered the last part so no one could hear, even though the music was loud.

  “Nope. None of them do.” I sat up and winced. “That was way worse than the first night, you monster.” Tuesday stood up and held her hand out to me.

  “Come on, you need to stretch so you don’t seize up. Then it will be way worse tomorrow.” I knew she was right, but I also knew that I didn’t want to move.

  “Come on, you can do it.” I groaned as I got to my feet and then did a forward fold before struggling back to a downward- facing dog and then child’s pose. I added a few more stretches and then looked up at her.

  “Satisfied?” I said.

  “Not yet,” she said. “But I’m guessing you’ll take care of that later.” If I could move later.

  I crawled toward my phone and checked out my social media before going to the bathroom to mop my face off. I definitely needed a shower before any kind of sex tonight. I was a mess, and not a cute one.

  When I came out, everyone was gone and Tuesday was cleaning up.

  “I’m disgusting,” I said, pulling my drenched shirt away from my boobs.

  “You can shower here if you want. Or shower back at my place. I’ll get you all nice and clean and then really, really dirty.” If my knees hadn’t been trembling from the workout, they were now. I had to grip onto the wall so I didn’t completely collapse.

  “Will there be food as well?” Tuesday laughed and kissed me on my sweaty cheek.

  “Yeah, there will be food. There’s always food at my house.”

  We took our separate cars, which was nice because then I didn’t have the pressure of having to stay the night. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready for that. Like Tuesday, I needed at least a week to adjust to everything.

  When I got to her apartment, I mumbled that I was going right for the shower. I’d brought an extra outfit, as well as some pajamas, just in case I’d need them.

  The shower was wonderful, and I made all kinds of indecent noises that Tuesday could probably hear from the kitchen. I toweled my hair off as I walked into the kitchen to find Tuesday making curry chicken with rice.

  “This smells fucking amazing, holy shit,” I said, inhaling deeply. Tuesday really did need to compete with Zee for title of Best Cook.

  “We also have a side salad, and I restocked my ice cream, so there’s that as well.” If I hadn’t had to go through that brutal workout, tonight would have been perfect. My body had already started to ache and I asked Tuesday where the pain meds were and she directed me to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

  I made faces at the turtles as Tuesday cooked. I didn’t feel like helping tonight. She brought plates over and we sat on the couch together and she put on some soft violin music.

  “This is really nice, thank you,” I said, as I dug my fork into the deliciousness. “I feel completely spoiled.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s nice to have someone to cook for. I’m used to it just being me, and I had to adjust to cook for one instead of two.” I decided to probe a little about that.

  “When did your last relationship end?”

  “Less than a year. It was . . . it was bad. Real bad.” Her face fell and she looked down at her plate as her lower lip trembled. But then she took a deep breath through her nose and looked up.

  “I’m dealing with it. Sort of.” She let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

  “That’s the way I always handled breakups. Although, I was never really bummed when we broke up and it was almost always a mutual decision.” I shoved a giant forkful of food into my mouth. Holy shit, this was good. Plate-licking good.

  “You’re lucky. You’ve never had your heart broken?” I felt a little guilty saying yes.

  “It’s not for lack of trying. I had every intention of falling in love with all of them, and then it just didn’t happen. I just couldn’t get there.” I laughed, but it was a real fear that I had. A fear that I had never voiced before and was shocked that I’d said it now in front of Tuesday. I blamed the workout for weakening my defenses and loosening my tongue.

  “Maybe you just weren’t dating the right people. Or maybe you don’t experience that kind of attraction.” I’d thought about that, but I didn’t think it was the case. I was the kind of person who didn’t love easily, but when I did, I was all in. At least I thought I would be, when I got to that point.

  “What happened with your ex?” I asked, to turn the attention away from me for a little while. Tuesday told me a little about her breakup.

  “She was supposed to be my business partner as well, so that really fucking sucked. I had to dissolve all these contracts and everything. That’s why I’m the only one running the gym. I was supposed to be doing the coaching side, and she was going to handle the business. So listen to my advice and say to never get your romantic relationships involved in your business. Ever.” Yeah, she’d definitely had gotten burned, but my parents made it work and I told her that.

  “I’m not saying it can’t work, I’m just saying that the consequences when it doesn’t work are dire.” For some reason, the way she said the word “dire” was hilarious.

  I giggled and finished my first plate and then attacked my salad with my fork.

  “What’s funny?” Tuesday asked.

  “Nothing. The word ‘dire’ is hilarious.” I kept saying it and laughing.

  “I think you’ve got the post-workout sillies,” Tuesday said, trying not to laugh at me.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  Tuesday stared at me with a hint of a smile on her face.

  “You’re so cute, you know.”

  “Am I?” I asked.

  “Yeah, you are.” I finished my salad and she didn’t talk any more about her ex, which was probably a good thing. I didn’t want to know or think about her past relationships, and I didn’t want to think about mine either. They weren’t relevant right now. It was just the two of us and the turtles.

  “I really want to meet the kittens,” she said, as she finished her first plate and then went for a second. I handed her mine and asked for more as well. That workout had left me famished.

  “You can come over this weekend, if you want. Zee might be there and you can finally meet them. I’m sorry in advance.” Tuesday returned with the plates and we made weekend plans. I had to teach the first half of the day, so we decided to have dinner out and then go back to my place.

  “And you can stay the night if you want. If you don’t mind sharing the bed with me and two kittens. It’s not as big and nice as yours.” Compared to her apartment, mine was a shithole and I hoped she didn’t judge me for it. Clearly, she had money, but I didn’t begrudge her that because at least I had living parents. We didn’t talk much, and they hadn’t wanted me in the family businesses (for whatever reason), but they were alive and I knew they loved me. I
f I ever got into a situation where I couldn’t pay my rent at the studio, they would bail me out. I was very, very lucky that way.

  “That’s okay. I don’t mind being cozy with you. I miss a lot of the stuff from my old apartment, but I had to leave it behind when I broke up with my ex. It was better to start over.” I got that, completely.

  We finished our second plates of food and then topped it off with ice cream. By that time I was so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open. I wanted sex, but my body was saying no.

  “I’m sorry,” I said through a yawn. “I really do want to do wicked things to you, but then you made me work out. You only have yourself to blame for this situation.” I yawned again and my eyes flickered closed.

  Tuesday moved over to me on the couch and put my head on her shoulder.

  “We can snuggle. I don’t have any expectations when it comes to sex, Sutton. I’m happy to have you right here.” I sighed and she played with my damp hair.

  “Do you want to watch a movie or something?”

  I nodded and she picked up the remote to choose something. It was like the last time we’d tried to pick something to watch where we couldn’t agree on anything but documentaries. This time it was one about Multi-Level Marketing scams, which was right up my alley. I snuggled into Tuesday and her glorious arms went around me. My fingers softly scratched her forearm and she made little encouraging sounds and tilted her arm for more.

  This. This was what I had been wanting all those nights when I went to bed alone. Even more so than the sex, this is what I had been craving for so long. This closeness, this intimacy. Just this.

  Of course, my body was so exhausted, that about fifteen minutes later my eyes were too heavy to hold open and so I closed them for what I told myself was just a few seconds.

  “Are you awake?” a voice said, and I slowly swam back to consciousness. The movie was over and Tuesday was tapping my shoulder.

  “Uh huh,” I mumbled. “Totally awake.”

  “You are not. Come on. Time for bed.”

  “No, no,” I weakly protested, as she somehow picked me up and stood at the same time. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t have to stay the night, but you need a nap at least. Come on, princess.” This time the nickname had a soft edge to it that caused little flutters in my stomach.

  I tried to protest, but she tucked me into her bed and it was so soft and so cozy that I couldn’t fight anymore. I gave up and sighed as I let myself give in to sleep again.

  THE NEXT TIME I WOKE up, I wasn’t alone and it was morning. Oops? I turned and found Tuesday slumbering next to me, the blankets clutched in her hands around her face. I had to pee like hell, but I also just lay there for a moment and stared at her. How had I ended up in bed with this hot, mean goddess?

  As if she had heard my thoughts, her eyes opened. She blinked a few times and then smiled as she found me watching her.

  “Were you watching me sleep like a weirdo?” she asked in a sleepy voice, stretching her arms over her head.

  “Just a tiny bit,” I said. “I guess I stayed the night, huh?” She yawned and nodded.

  “Yup. I was going to wake you up again and have you go home, but you were out. I couldn’t have gotten you out of here if I tried.” I tossed the covers back and winced as I put my feet on the floor and hobbled to the bathroom. We weren’t at the “leave the door open while you pee” stage of our relationship yet (I didn’t think), so I closed the door and did what I needed to do, and then came back to find her sitting up in bed, her hair adorably rumpled and her eyes just a tiny bit puffy. I’d wondered what she looked like in the morning and now I knew. All I wanted to do was kiss her, so I went back over and gave her a closed-lip kiss.

  “My mouth is gross,” I said, but she pulled me back and kissed me fully.

  “I don’t care.” I wasn’t so sure of that, but I took her word for it and kissed her back before running back to the bathroom and realizing I didn’t have a toothbrush here.

  “Here,” Tuesday said, handing me an extra brush head for her electric toothbrush. “You can use mine.” She even had a fancy toothbrush. This place was better than a hotel.

  I brushed my teeth with her toothbrush and then flossed.

  “Are you going to sit there and watch me?” I asked, as she sat on the tub.

  “Maybe,” she said. “It’s strange seeing you here, but I think I like it.”

  “You definitely have better floss than I do. And a nicer toothbrush.” I wiped my face on a towel and turned around to face her.

  “My turn.” She did the same routine and I had to admit, it was nice sharing this kind of intimacy. I had never lived with anyone I’d been seeing, so I hadn’t gotten much of this kind of thing. For a moment, I entertained what it would be like living with Tuesday.

  Absurd, I knew. We hadn’t even been dating a week. Still, the image of coming home and seeing her in the kitchen talking to the kittens as she cooked was hard to shake.

  I was definitely putting the sex before the horse and I needed to slow the fuck down.

  TUESDAY HAD MESSAGED Zee from my phone letting them know that I had fallen asleep at her place so they wouldn’t worry, and I had a slew of messages asking for updates from Zee when I checked it.

  “They seem great, I can’t wait to meet them,” she said, as I went through the messages and tried to respond to them all. I also had missed an entire discussion on the group chat about hot sauce, religion, and Elvis that I wanted to catch up on, but I needed to get to the studio. My hair was a chaotic mess from being slept on while it was still damp, so I put it up and called it good.

  “It’s a good thing I keep extra clothes in my bag, in my car, and at the studio. My tendency to spill things on myself has paid off, finally.” Tuesday handed me a cup of coffee with creamer in it.

  “Bless you,” I said, taking it from her. This was going to be a four-cup kind of day.

  “I can make something if you want. I’ve got tons of stuff.” Watching her cook might make me a little late, but I decided the risk was worth it.

  “Sure.”

  Tuesday made bacon, eggs, and avocado toast while I drained my coffee and went for a second cup. I inhaled the food and then rushed out the door, saying I would see her in a little while. I got lucky and traffic wasn’t too bad, so I made it to the studio on time.

  I couldn’t stop smiling, even though my body was sore as fuck after the workout last night, and I had another one to look forward to tonight. Joy. How was I going to make it through this week? At least I’d had an awesome night of sleep at Tuesday’s. I needed to do that more often, even though I’d missed the kitties terribly and begged Zee to send me some pictures of them and give me an update on their night. I hoped they didn’t think I’d abandoned them.

  The rest of my day was a struggle between thinking about Tuesday, wondering what she was doing, worrying about the workout tonight, being sore from the one from last night, and trying to juggle running my business. Of course, there were a million voicemails and customer issues and our website crashed. I wanted to sit and cry, but I had to handle it. There was no one else. I did send a panicked message to Ellen, asking if she could come in and teach one of my classes so I could deal with the other shit. She said that she could and I promised that she was my favorite person in the history of the world, but she called my bluff. I thanked her profusely again and got back to my massive to-do list.

  I didn’t have time for lunch again, and somehow it appeared outside my office door. Tuesday again.

  Somehow I made it to seven, and dragged myself to the workout. It was nice to see Victoria and Chloe again, and we compared our muscle soreness in solidarity. This time there was no Tuesday teasing. She got right down to business and I wanted to start crying when she explained the workout.

  This was going to be rough.

  Thirteen

  Somehow, I made it through the workout, and the next, and then it was the weekend. I told Zee that Tuesday was coming over
after dinner to hang out with me on Saturday, and they said that they already had plans so we could have the house to ourselves. I had suspicions that they’d made plans for that eventuality, but when I asked them, they said that they’d had this event planned for weeks.

  “But I’ll see you on my way out. I really do want to meet her.” I wasn’t sure how that was going to go, but I had to get to work, so I decided not to worry about it too much. That plan backfired, because I couldn’t tell my brain not to worry. It did whatever the fuck it wanted without my input most of the time.

  I’d put on one of my favorite striped casual jumpsuits and left my hair down. When she came to the door, her eyes went wide. She’d mostly seen me in yoga clothes, so I’d wanted to knock her socks off.

  “Wow. You look amazing,” she said. I was also stunned, because she had on a pair of jeans that were so tight they looked like they would rip if she tried to take them off, and a top that showed off her arms in the best way. I was stupefied for a moment.

  “You look amazing, holy shit, Tuesday. Can I see the back view?” She rolled her eyes, but spun, and I stopped her from turning all the way around.

  “Let me get a good look at the back view. Uh huh. Yup. That’s definitely working for me.” Those jeans didn’t have to do her ass any favors because it was already the greatest ass in the universe, but still, it was nice to see clothing hugging her like that.

  “Can I turn around now?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.

  “Just give me one more second.” I tilted my head and sighed happily.

  “I’m hungry,” she whined.

  “Fine, fine. But I want to stare at you later.” I gave her butt one little smack and she yelped before turning around.

  “No spanking in public,” she said, pointing at me.

  “But not no spanking? Just not in public?” There was a hopeful lilt to my voice. Tuesday tried to fight a smile and lost the battle.

  “Let’s talk about that later.” I rubbed my hands together in glee and she pushed me toward the stairs.