I tried to cancel going to Bear Night, but between Nick and my brother nagging me, I decided it’s just easier to go. I mean… it does sound kinda awesome. Bears and the real live people who appreciate them? I could do worse with an evening. If nothing else, it’s better than using a dating app and being automatically matched with someone who has “no fatties” on their profile.
So, here I am at Wrecked in the middle of Bear Night, and yeah, I bet Roly’s in hog heaven. There are bears as far as the eye can see. Thankfully, it didn’t take me too long to find Nick on the other side of the gym.
“Hey, Heath! How are you doing this evening?” he asks, looking especially fit.
“Feeling a little nervous, to be honest with you. Not sure I belong.”
He gestures around us, confused. “Why? This evening is exactly for guys like you.”
I look around again, and yeah, the bear action is pretty fucking hot. But I see a lot of sharply honed muscles and prosthetics and tattoos full of military meaning, and in comparison, I feel like the Pillsbury Doughboy and a poser to boot. “I’m still feeling a little weird about not having served.” I shrug, toeing the concrete with my athletic shoe.
“You’re signing on to the business, right?”
I shrug again. “Yeah.”
“So… you’re using your wealth to support a veteran-owned business that supports other veterans, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And when you go in for a typical business deal, do you usually look like an anxious kitten?” Gesturing to my face, he asks, “I mean, is that how you got Jean-Pierre more money in his retirement year than the year he won the championship?”
I’d been scanning the gym, but his question snapped me up real quick. “Excuse me?”
“You’ve got these sad, down-turned kitten eyes happening right now, and it’s freaking me out. Where’s the financial beast Jean-Pierre promised me?”
I crack my neck and straighten my posture. Fucking anxious kitten my ass. “All right, Poindexter, show me what you got. Convince me that this is better than working out at home while watching Poldark.”
He grins and chucks my shoulder. “Happy to,” he says. “But first, the numbers you asked for.” He hands me the top sheet for the first twelve months of business, a smallRMin the lower left corner of the document.
“Roly put these numbers together?”
Nick smiles and nods, proud of his cousin. “Yep. Took some extension classes, and now he’s our cash flow king.”
I’ll need to do an audit before I sign on, but all of the numbers are going in all the right directions, and Roly, for all of his faults, has accounted for every penny. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. I have no idea how he stays on top of things this well with everything—and everyone— he’s doing.
I ask Nick a few more questions, but we’re standing in the middle of a packed gym, so we quickly switch to workout mode, and he has me show him what I do at home. I go through my routine, and he only needs to give me a few pointers here and there. He’s a physical therapist, so I also ask him about Ashley’s plantar fasciitis, and he has some pretty good advice for that as well.
Nick leaves me to take care of the next client on his schedule, and I wander around, getting a feel for the gym and its clientele, picking up snippets of conversation here and there. The people here love this gym, and they think the world of Nick and Roly and what they’re doing for local vets.
Not looking where I’m going, I run into a small, dark-haired man and reach out to catch him before he falls to the ground. For a half a second I think it’s Roly, but his beautifully accented “Oh, shit!” tells me otherwise.
After I set the petite man to rights, I apologize profusely. “I’m so sorry. This is my first Bear Night, and I’m very distracted,” I say on a chuckle. “Did I hurt you? Are you okay?”
The man straightens his T-shirt and looks up at me, wonder in his eyes. “I’m… I’m fine. Wow, you look like somebody that I used to know.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
His eyes go a little sad, but he nods in the affirmative. “It’s a wonderful thing. Wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to come here tonight, but I’m glad I did.”
“Then I’m glad you did, too. My name’s Heath. And yours?”
“Rafiq. But everybody calls me Rafi.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Rafi. So, does that mean that you’re new to the gym?”
He nods. “Yes, I— I’ve been keeping to myself these last several months, and it is good to get out. To see people. Especially if they look like you,” he says, blushing as though he’d shocked himself with the flirtation. Adorable.
“Well, if you want to get out again, give me your number and I’ll give you a call.”
