Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Jase laughed. And continued to laugh.
He waited.
Eventually, the laughter died down, but Grant wasn’t entertained. In fact, he was pissed off. Before his brother’s visit, he was handling shit fine, and now he was at the end of his tether.
“You’re not joking.”
“I’m not joking. You’re hiring. I want a job.”
“The job description is for a personal trainer, Grant. Not for … I don’t even know what you do.”
“I can train on the job.”
Jase shook his head.
“Come on, what do you need me to do?” Grant asked.
“First of all, you’d need to follow the rules, and to do things properly, not how you think they should be done.”
“I can do that.”
Jase shook his head.
“I don’t see many people applying,” Grant said. “Look, I get it, I’m not the perfect choice, but I am one of the best. I’ll work on the job, and how about this? I help you out when you need it.”
Jase frowned. “I don’t need a member of Chaos and Carnage in my gym. It’ll scare my clients away.”
“I won’t wear the patch while I’m here.”
The other man shook his head but Grant saw that he was wearing him down, which was all he needed to do. He tried not to smile.
Jase sighed. “Fine. You can have three weeks and we’ll see if it’s even worth you applying for a personal training course. I can invest in one if I feel you have what it takes and it can be dealt with through the gym.”
Grant smiled. That was all he needed.
Getting to his feet, he held his hand out for Jase to take, and he shook it strongly. He was surprised by the firm grip Jase had, but then again, the guy probably spent every waking moment working out.
He left the gym, taking Wanda with him, and they headed back to his apartment, where there was a pizza waiting on the doorstep. Fucking assholes. Opening the box, he saw nothing had touched it, so he carried it into the house. He pulled off a large slice, dropped the pizza box onto the main table, and then took a bite.
Wanda was sitting next to him, and he felt her eyes on him, looking. “You want a bite?”
There was a small bark, and he held the pizza out to her, and she took it.
He laughed. “Attagirl. Do we think that crazy vet was right? You just need some lovin’.” He rubbed at the back of her neck.
Grant knew what that was like, not that he’d say it out loud.
Chapter Three
Ouch!
Ouch!
Really fucking ouch!
It was taking every single part of her strength not to whimper at what was happening to her body. Jase had warned her at the beginning she would feel it. He’d only wanted her to do some warm-up exercises. Her body was already in protest. The first day.
But she wouldn’t quit.
She refused to quit.
Opening the vet practice, she kept moving as she didn’t want her body to stiffen up. After she left the gym last night, it had felt good, like she was on the right path. Jase had told her they would work out a meal plan and sort through a way of making this work. He seemed so confident he could help her, which was a relief. She didn’t have a clue what she was doing.
Growing up, her mother simply took all the good things away from her, and she ended up eating cardboard, which sucked.
She’d gone home, enjoyed a salad, gone to bed, and this morning, she had woken up with her body in a full-on aching zone. Now she hurt all over. It didn’t matter, though. She could handle a little pain.
With the practice open, she lifted her thighs close to her chest and placed them on the floor. She did this repeatedly until they started to feel good. The chair looked tempting, but she refused to cave so quickly.
“Are you okay?”
She turned to find Andy watching her.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I went to the gym, and I’m … well, just a little sore.”
“I had no idea you frequented the gym.”
“I didn’t, but I do now.”
“Huh, okay.”
Aria felt the heat fill her cheeks. Andy was one of the few people who had never judged her on her weight. Staring at her boss, she wondered if this was about to change.
“Well, if that’s what you want to do,” Andy said, stepping closer and handing her a mug of coffee. “I, for one, couldn’t go to the gym.”
“Andy, you don’t need to go to the gym.”
Andy laughed. “Yeah, I may be thin, honey, but trust me, I am unfit. You tell me to climb a hill and I’d be puffing within a few feet.” She wrinkled her nose. “Gyms are not for me.”
Aria didn’t want to talk about her experiences yet, so she smiled.
“Where’s Phil?” Aria asked.
“Another late-night call. This time to the dog shelter in town. It was only an hour ago, but he went anyway.”