Like he hadn’t been doing that already? His parents hadn’t put a dime toward helping him or his sister attend university. “I’m fine with that.”
His mom snorted in derision. “You’d better be. Thanks to your dumb-ass father and his idiotic attempt at accounting, we’re still paying off a huge tax bill.”
And just like that, his parents were at each other’s throats, revisiting the same time-worn arguments they’d had for years.
A rough voice jolted him from his memories. “Drew? You okay?”
He startled, then turned to face one of his coworkers, who was standing at his locker, retrieving a gym bag. “Sorry. Did you ask me something?”
“You were spacing out just now. You good?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
Enough wallowing.For now, he had to focus on today’s clients. But if he had the chance, he’d call Rosie later and ask her opinion about Bones’ offer.
* * *
His last clientof the day was Hannah, the de facto leader of the Golden Oldies. At age seventy-eight, she was still in remarkable shape and rarely missed a workout. Usually she scheduled her sessions in the afternoons when the gym was less crowded, but due to a conflict, she’d switched to a later time slot.
Unfortunately, at six thirty on a weeknight, Northlife Fitness was buzzing with activity. Over in one corner, the teens attending Jared’s speed training class were doing sprints on the gym’s track. Most of the machines were in use. Classic rock blared from the speakers, and a Montreal Canadiens game played on the big-screen TVs. Drew had carved out a space for Hannah on one of the mats so they could work on her kettlebell routine.
“Just ten more reps left,” he said now. “You’re doing great.”
She went on to do twenty, which was typical of her. When she was done, she turned to him with a sly smile. “That young lady’s got her eye on you.”
He chuckled. Ever since Evelyn had dumped him, Hannah had taken it upon herself to find him a new girlfriend. “Which young lady?”
“Over there by the lat pull-down machine. I caught her staring at you three times.”
He followed Hannah’s gaze. To his surprise, Rosie stood beside the machine, wiping it down with a towel. His mouth went dry at the sight of her sexy curves, accentuated by her black crop top and bike shorts. Before he could turn away, she caught his eye and waved at him. He beckoned her over.
She approached him and Hannah. “Hi, Drew.”
“Hey, Rosie. You came back. I thought you were going to wait until January.”
“Even if I’m busy, I figured I can squeeze in one or two workouts a week.” She smiled at Hannah. “Sorry to interrupt your session with Drew. I just wanted to say hi.”
“I noticed you staring at him, missy. Why not ask him out? He’s single, you know.” Hannah was nothing if not blunt.
Rosie’s eyes sparkled with affection. “Didn’t he tell you? We’re together.”
Though she’d tossed the words out casually, hearing them was a balm to Drew’s soul. Knowing Hannah, she’d share this news with the other members of the Golden Oldies, which meant everyone at the gym would know about it in a few days’ time.
Hannah harrumphed. “Drew Richardson. You never breathed a word, even when Maribeth tried to set you up with her granddaughter last week. If you have a girlfriend this lovely, you need to show her off.”
“I like the way you think,” Rosie said to her. “It was nice meeting you, but I’ll let you get back to your workout.”
“Wait,” Drew said. Maybe he was being greedy, but he wanted more time with her than just a quick interaction at the gym. “After you’re done, do you want to get a drink? Or some hot chocolate?”
“Hot chocolate sounds marvelous. Could we meet up in a half hour? I need to finish on the weight machines and grab a shower.”
“Perfect. I’ll meet you at the smoothie bar.”
As she walked away, he stared at her ass. Clad in black spandex, it was far too tempting.
Hannah harrumphed again. “Save it for later, lover boy. I want to finish up before I’m in the grave.”
“Sorry,” he said. “Let’s move on to the exercise ball.”
