“Watch your tone.”Jerk off.
That was all I said as I stood by and watched Syd accommodate this selfish old man, who probably had more days behind him than he had ahead. The ungrateful bastard didn’t even thank her, once she removed the blood pressure cuff from his arm and allowed him to stand and continue in the direction of the finish line.
“What the hell are you doing here? And why are you being rude?”
“Me?” I pointed at the fossil who’d barely made it two yards from us. “Don’t you mean him?”
Syd shook her head. “I’m talking to you. You didn’t have to talk to him like that.”
“He didn’t have to speak to you that way.”
Syd snapped her head back in obvious surprise. Hell, internally, I had the same damn reaction. Why anyone speaking to her in such a condescending and abrupt tone bothered me was a fucking mystery. One I didn’t have a particular interest in delving into at the moment.
Syd folded her arms. “He’s not the only one who’s spoken to me like that lately.”
“Yeah, well, he isn’t me.”
She lifted an arched eyebrow and my fingers itched to grab both sides of her face to pull her to me. That particular urge had been occurring more and more lately. No matter how many times I visited the Peach Pit to get sucked off or to fuck one of the chicks who looked just like Syd, it did fuck all to curb my mounting desire for her. My damn trainer, nonetheless.
“No, he’s not you. He had a certain charm.”
My frown deepened, but Syd laughed as if her joke was hilarious. My fingers itched again, but this time it was to paddle her ass. I really was losing my shit over this woman, and I doubted she had any idea.
“But what are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.”
What the hell did you go and say the truth for, idiot?I lambasted myself. It was the truth. The only reason I was anywhere in the vicinity of this damn race was because she was there.
“Why? Did you have an issue with your workout this morning? Did Daniel show up for the sparring match?”
“Yeah, he was there, and it was fine.”
“How did it go?”
“I kicked his ass. He’s a pansy. I’m gonna need stronger sparring partners if we’re getting me ready for the Rodriguez fight.”
She appeared relieved. “Oh, so you’re here because you don’t think I’m holding my weight as a trainer. I thought you might be thinking that.” She nodded as she fixed the chairs and the medical supplies that sat on a small folding table for the racegoers. “But right now, we’re still in the figuring out one another phase. Besides, with the recent changes to your diet, I’m letting your body adjust. We’ll start taking it up a few notches in the next couple of weeks.”
I nodded, not really caring about the particulars of the training regimen she was putting me through. I knew my body and fighting well enough to know it wasn’t the time to up my training. For her part, Syd kept up on latest research, constantly checked in on my diet plan and introduced me to a new physical therapist to aid with recovery. I wasn’t a hundred percent certain she knew what the hell she was doing, but at least, she put on a good show.
“Yeah, whatever,” I responded because I had no other words.
She shook her head. “You don’t like to say much but there’s a whole world of thoughts happening in your eyes.”
Peering down at her, I wrinkled my forehead. For the second time, I allowed myself to stare at her in the eyes, not to look away. Yup, that same feeling that caught me off guard the first time we met was still there.
This time it was accompanied by a feeling of drowning. A feeling I wasn’t unfamiliar with. Shaking my head to remove that memory, I lifted my gaze to look at the people around us.
“So, this is your day job, huh? What, I’m not paying you enough?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t start training you for a paycheck.”
“Then give me my money back.” As per the contract she signed, she received twenty-five percent of her stated total so far.
She laughed and shook her head. “Where do you think your nutritionist, physical therapist, and new equipment is coming from?”
I cocked my head to the side. “You’re paying them? Out of your salary?”
