Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 784(@200wpm)___ 627(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 784(@200wpm)___ 627(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
“It’s huge,” Kellus said, looking up at the building.
“Supposed to be the biggest in the country. The owner’s got a big reputation in this industry, but when Colt Michaels got involved, they almost doubled in size. They don’t turn anyone away. It’s supposed to be all about building kids’ confidence,” he said, looking in the side mirror, checking oncoming traffic, before pushing open the car door. Arik clicked the key fob then dropped the device into his jacket pocket. As he headed toward Kellus, he finished his thought. “Or at least that’s what my mother told me when she was trying to convince me to come today.”
“They were a big deal around here for a long time. His accident was all over the news,” Kellus said as Arik reached for his hand. Kellus easily accepted the hold as if the PDA was the most natural thing in the world. They headed toward the entrance, watching the hustle and bustle of the people coming and going from the gym. Yeah, they’d turned the corner last night. God, he was so thankful. He was so totally lost when it came to this man.
~♥~
Blown away, Kellus walked inside the building and could only stare. There were three gym floors in a room the size of a large convention center. Portable spectator stands had been placed all around each of the three full-size spring floor mats. He let Arik take the lead because he had no idea where to go.
“Over there!” Arik yelled, though Kellus could barely hear him over the cacophony of voices in the large space. He extended his arm, pointing Kellus in a direction where he saw Arik’s mother standing, waving them over.
Kellus surveyed the gym as they made their way over to his family. He could tell the place worked like a well-oiled machine. The three spring-floors were located in the center of the massive space, and on each floor stood a different group of cheerleaders waiting for their time to perform. When one performance stopped, another started right away. Arik made it to the stands and began walking up the steps; he followed, careful not to step on any cheer paraphernalia that littered the walkway.
This section of bleachers looked like some kind of Layne family reunion. Arik’s entire family was there. They took up at least half the space in this section, and in the center were Trent and Gage, wearing colorful team-father T-shirts. It made him smile as he looked down to see Gage writing on a notepad. Next to him was Colt Michaels who had his head bent in, talking close to Gage’s ear as he wrote. They were in serious conversation.
First Arik then Kellus shimmied past people already seated until Gage’s mom scooted down, moving several of them closer together to make room. When Arik started to sit, his mother, Diana, stopped him. “No, honey, let Kellus sit by me. I want to get to know him better.”
He and Arik made eye contact as he automatically began to switch places with Arik, even though everything inside him wanted Arik to reject that nonsense. Parents made him nervous, Arik’s especially. When he took his seat, Diana bent in and yelled over the loud music that had just started.
“You guys disappeared last night.”
“I’m sorry. Arik’s got a light stomach. He doesn’t seem to do well with smells and things…” Kellus tried to explain.
“Really, is that what he told you?” Diana asked then cocked her head to give her son a critical stare. There was no way he could hear his mother, but he still managed to have that guilty, innocent look.
“Well, now, I don’t want to answer that,” Kellus said, looking at Arik. She laughed a hearty laugh and turned to her husband. With the break in the music between the teams, he could hear her filling Arik’s father, Max, in on the conversation.
“You know he’s won every single eating contest in the Illinois State Fair from 1994 to 1998?” Max Layne leaned over to yell. Those words took a second to absorb, before his eyes narrowed as he stared at Arik’s laughing parents.
“Kel, meet Colt Michaels.” Arik’s hand went to his thigh, drawing his attention down to Colt. A little star-struck, he shook the hand of one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in NFL history, everything else forgotten.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve been a fan of your work since Jace brought a painting home,” Colt said, and the intensity of his star-struck moment magnified. The Colt Michaels knew who he was.
“That’s a huge compliment. Thank you,” he said. As if on cue, the girls ran out on the floor. Jace walked over to stand at the front of that mat, staring at the team. He was such a nice-looking man, but his stern look seemed off from the easygoing guy he’d casually met last year.