SWNOVELS Miss Belief: Chapter 6
I’d never enjoyed the gym. But I had to admit getting out of bed with purpose for a change felt good this morning. This breakup had really messed with my head, but I was ready to put it behind me. That was why I’d put away the bottle of bourbon and decided I was done with nightly, numb-inducing drinking. No more.
Upon pulling into the gym parking lot, I spotted Teagan immediately. How could I not? She was tall and stunning. She had such a natural grace about her and an elegant way of moving. Like a dancer.
“Hi,” I greeted, coming up from behind her and trying not to notice the way her yoga pants accentuated her muscular legs and amazing ass. Jesus, focus.
“Hi.” She smiled, turning to give me my first glimpse of her T-shirt. “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” was splashed across the front of it.
“Nice shirt.”
She grinned. “I wear warning labels. Ready?”
“Let’s do this.”
Teagan was a firecracker. The type of woman who spoke her mind and wasn’t afraid to put anyone in their place if they stepped out of line. Not for the first time, I wondered what would happen when I took her to the wedding. Although I was friends with the groom and some of the fellow groomsmen, there’d be a lot of people who were the types I’d moved to the other side of the world to avoid.
We stepped into the gym, a spacious monstrosity consisting of multiple floors. Check-in was easy. It turned out I had complimentary passes for a guest with my membership.
“What’s your torture?” I inquired, anticipating a good workout after which I’d need Motrin and a hot shower to ward off tomorrow’s sore muscles.
She headed toward the fancy treadmills with televisions built into them. “I prefer to get the cardio out of the way first since I hate it the most.”
Same. “Lead on.”
She picked one machine while I took the one beside it. I should probably have stretched, but instead I focused on the way she was doing so. Side to side, she slipped easily into lunges, then held her knees up to her chest before rolling her neck and grabbing her arms behind her back.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
Her question snapped me out of the dark rabbit hole of lusting after my assistant. Realizing I was staring, I shook my head. How had this happened? Maybe because I’d never seen her out of the work element. Or I could confess she had the longest, shapeliest legs I’d ever seen. The type made for wrapping around your waist and—
Nope. Not going there. Dammit. Maybe the gym had been a bad idea. “Nothing’s wrong. Ready?”
I started off walking, the same as Teagan beside me, but when she switched to a jog, pride compelled me to do the same. Then she was running, and I was too, matching the nine on her speed despite knowing I’d regret it later. I was feeling good about myself until I realized she was at a five incline. Damn.
There came a time to admit defeat, but this wasn’t it. Instead, I increased my incline. She merely raised a brow.
Later that afternoon in the office, I could already feel the effects of thirty minutes on the treadmill, during which I hadn’t managed to keep up with my gym buddy. I’d also lifted free weights, and my arms were now remembering the familiar burn. I wasn’t into fitness quite like my friend Aiden, but I definitely had missed pushing my body and doing something other than sitting on the couch.
Teagan came in with lunch at noon. Bye-bye, bacon cheeseburger, hello, salad.
“I got you a Cobb salad today. Don’t worry, there’s still bacon, but no onions since you dislike them.”
“How did you know?”
She shrugged. “Um, the one time I suggested onion rings instead of fries you might have told me.”
Made sense. “You want to have lunch in here? We can talk game plan over the next two weeks.”
“Sure, let me grab my sandwich. I’ll be back.”
We ate in silence for ten minutes before I broached my plan. I didn’t want to freak her out, but I’d been preparing extensively. It was my nature as I was a planner.
“I’ll book your flight today if you’re okay with it. I figured we can fly out the previous Thursday morning. With the time difference, we arrive the same day in the afternoon. Then on Sunday, the day after the wedding, you can fly to LA. How long do you want to stay there?”
“Returning the next Friday will give me almost a week there. Thank you for flying me out to LA. My sister and niece are excited about it.”
I made a note in my planner. “Got it. So this morning, due to me being embarrassingly out of shape, and breathing heavily, we didn’t get to discuss our backgrounds. For people to believe we’re serious, we should discuss our families and history.”
Her brow lifted. “We’re serious? In your scenario?”
“As serious as a couple of months of dating can be, but we could go with the ‘we’ve been friends over the last year and it turned into more after the breakup.’” I didn’t want people to think she was a rebound as it would undermine the entire plan. “I suppose we could start with what you already know about me.”
She hesitated before beginning. “I know you’re originally from New Hampshire. Is Vanessa from your hometown too?”
“Yes.”
She chuckled. “Okay, big talker, this may take a while if we do yes and no answers.”
“Sorry, but I’m not big on talking about my ex.” I was suddenly embarrassed to share my history with Vanessa.
“I get it, but if she’ll be at the wedding, I need the five-cent rundown, so I’m armed appropriately.”
“Armed is an interesting choice of words. And probably accurate given the people who will be there. It’s bound to be awkward for you.” It was only fair I warn her.
She shrugged, apparently not at all concerned. “Awkward is cake. Now lay the history on me.”
“Okay. I met Vanessa in sixth grade when her family moved to town, but we didn’t start dating until we were in college. I went to Harvard, and she was at Boston University. Since we were close, we’d often see each other at parties or amongst mutual friends.”
All through grade school and high school I’d had a thing for her, but she hadn’t noticed me until my freshman year of college when I’d returned home during a Christmas vacation. Of course, it helped I’d shot up four inches and filled out by then.
God, I’d been so infatuated with her at the time. Our relationship had been easy at first, but then once I’d finished grad school, and we began discussing a post-college relationship, we’d disagreed about everything from where we’d live, where I’d work, and what our future plans would hold.
No matter how much I’d loved her, it wasn’t in me to take advantage of family ties and go to work for her father in Boston as she’d desired. I didn’t want to live in a world of trust funds and lavish country club parties or even stay in my hometown. I needed to earn my own way. Make my own mark. In hindsight, it was no wonder we’d broken up so often. We’d never wanted the same things for our future.
Teagan seemed to read my mind. “You mentioned you broke up a few times?”
I expelled a frustrated breath. “Yeah. Typically the breakups were short-lived, but after undergrad, we were apart for nearly a year.” She’d gone off to Paris, and I dated someone I’d met in my apartment building. But then Vanessa had returned saying Paris had changed her, and she’d missed me and wanted a reconciliation. I’d hurt Shelly by going back to Vanessa. It was a lesson to never start another rebound relationship, because hurting someone was the last thing I wished to do again.
“Did you assume you’d reconcile each time you broke up?”
My hand went to the back of my neck in a gesture of discomfort over this conversation. Honestly, my entire relationship had been a roller coaster, one I wasn’t proud I had ridden time and time again. Unfortunately, I’d put Vanessa in control over the majority of our time together.
“I didn’t always believe we’d reconcile, but it became our unhealthy pattern. A year ago, before I left for Dubai, I believed we’d broken up for good, especially since I’d taken this job so far away. Then she came out here, and we reconciled. Things seemed better, and we got engaged. The plan was for her to move here until I finished my contract, and then I’d transfer to Delmont Security’s New York office, where we’d make our lives.” Manhattan had been the compromise to keep her close enough to her family and me far enough from mine.
“How did you go from broken up to engaged?”
“Because I was an idiot” was the short answer. “When she declared she was ready to start a life together and proposed marriage, I believed she was serious and would move to Dubai to be with me. But then it was one excuse after another as to why she wouldn’t join me. Ultimately, she didn’t want to leave her life behind. Then she cheated, and you know the rest.”
“Wait, she proposed to you?”
“Technically, yes. But then I bought her the ring. Anyhow, enough of the history recap. If I were actually dating you, I’m not sure I would’ve shared that much.”
It felt awkward as hell to reveal the details about my relationship with Vanessa. Staying with her as long as I had painted me as pathetic. It had been a mistake to believe she’d loved me enough to let go of her privileged roots and live a life outside of her safety bubble.
“Okay, we’ll nix the ex talk for now.”
Thank God. “Okay, your turn. What do I need to know about your past? Begin with your family.”
Her eyes widened slightly before she forced a shrug. “My sister is four years older than me. She lives in Los Angeles with my niece.”
“What about your parents?”
She exhaled a shaky breath. “I never knew my father. And my mom took off when I was thirteen. I went through foster care for a year until my sister became an adult and my legal guardian. Dropped out of high school my junior year, but I got my GED.”
I swallowed hard. There was an edge I’d always noticed in Teagan, and I had no doubt her harsh upbringing had contributed to it. The pain in her eyes made it clear she didn’t want to talk about it.
She fidgeted with the silver bracelet on her left wrist. “It’s not exactly the type of background you want for your fake girlfriend at a wedding. I get it.”
I didn’t give a fuck what people thought of her background. But I didn’t want her to have to feel defensive among the bunch of pretentious assholes I knew would be at the wedding.
“You can tell them whatever you want about your past. Make up something for all I care.”