She lifts her shoulder nonchalantly. “Yeah. Go, Seattle.”
Does she know we’re playing Seattle?
“No.” I scoff. “No, no, no. You can’t cheer for fucking Seattle, Ce.”
She yells across the gym. “Go, Seattle!”
“Chargers!” Gavin calls back, and now I’m looking between the two of them.
I point at her. “Traitor.”
She laughs. “Wear your Seattle shirt, but I promise you that we’re beating them.”“Really?” she mocks. “So confident.”I nod. “Very confident.”
“Treadmill?” she asks, and I nod.
“I need to walk off this sudden anger I have.”
She laughs, leading the way.
I don’t know what has shifted, but this ten-minute treadmill jog has been quiet. The air is stiff, so I slow down the treadmill to a walk.“Ce, did you know we were playing Seattle?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. Honest coincidence.”
“But you don’t believe in coincidences.”
She shrugs. “I don’t, but right now it’s ironic, isn’t it? My Seattle skyline shirt is very modest. It’s a size large. I look like a child when I wear it. You said modest, and my brain went to Seattle.”
I continue my walking pace, staring into the distance, trying to put this together. “Let me get this straight. You don’t believe in coincidences, but you will for irony?”
She nods, pursing her lips. “Yeah.”
“Okay,” I say, nodding.
We walk for about five more minutes when the front door swings open and loud voices spill in. I immediately recognize those voices. I glance over, and Scott and Westley are looking straight at me.
The front desk greets them, asking to see their gym membership, which we all know they don’t have. I hop off the treadmill, not explaining a thing to Cecily as I walk over to the front desk. They’re signing up for a free trial.
“Well, well, well, there he is,” Scott slurs, dropping the pen. He shakes my hand and turns to Gavin. “Give us a second.”
We walk to the side where no one can hear us. The second we have our privacy, I turn to Scott and Westley and say, “What the hell are you two doing here?”
“Honestly, I didn’t believe that she was real, so we decided to drop in.”
Cecily comes out of nowhere and says, “Hi, boys.”
I wipe my mouth with frustration as their attention turns to her. Scott’s eyes light up, and he doesn’t skip a beat. Westley stiffens as he turns to her. He’s always quiet, but I can read him easily right now.
“Hi,” Scott says politely. “You must be Cecily, the island.”
She nods, looking at me. “I will forever be known for my Instagram name.” She looks at him, and fuck, he’s drooling. She doesn’t seem to mind. “I prefer just Cecily.”
“I’m Scott, and this is Westley.”
“Dildo has friends,” Cecily mocks.
Scott and Westley break into laughter.
“How does she know your nickname, dildo?” Scott’s eyes widen as he looks at me.
