Chapter 1
EJ Decker
~
Chicago, Illinois
March
"EJ, you have a guest at the front desk. Caleb is here to see you."
It was Becca's voice on the walky-talky, and EJ took the gadget off his belt and held it to his mouth, pressing the button. "Thank you, Beck. I'll meet him there. Tell him I'm on my way."
"Gotcha," Becca replied.
"Thanks, tell him three minutes."
EJ clipped the walky-talky to his belt and picked up the pace as he walked toward the front desk of his gym. It was quite a trek because the Chicago Elite Training Center spanned ten acres. There were multiple large-scale buildings, including an ice skating rink where EJ had been when Becca called. EJ knew the quickest route to the front desk area where Caleb had come in, and he made his way there, his long legs making determined strides.Finally, he rounded the corner and saw Caleb there, smiling and talking to Becca.
EJ slowed down a bit as he crossed the expansive lobby to the desk. Caleb saw EJ approaching, and he wrapped up the conversation with Becca and came to meet him. The two gentlemen took off walking side by side in the wide hallways of the ETC.
EJ's new brother-in-law had been to their gym many times. He had a membership there and worked out regularly on his own. Caleb would have normally walked past the front desk and into the gym by himself. But today, EJ had scheduled a meeting with him—one where they would go into EJ's office and sit for a talk.
EJ had texted Caleb last night and asked him to do it as a favor. It would be in a pastor-type capacity, and it was the first time he had ever asked Caleb to do anything like that. Caleb had only been married to his sister for a few months, but EJ was comfortable around him and trusted him. Caleb did chaplain work for two different sports teams in Chicago, and EJ knew that he was great at listening to life predicaments and giving sound, Biblical advice. He was looking forward to bouncing some personal things off of him, and he needed to go deeper than he had during their casual talks at family gatherings.
The two gentlemen had some ground to cover to get to EJ's office, but they walked quickly and madeit there in a couple of minutes. Caleb had no idea why EJ had brought him there, so he made small talk about what he had just eaten for lunch. EJ wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to say or how he wanted to say it, so he was glad for the easy conversation.
EJ walked into his office and motioned for Caleb to sit on the couch with him. "I know you're probably curious about why I brought you here. And honestly, I don't know what I'm looking to… uh… I guess there are just a few things, personal things, with women, that I wanted to run past you."
"Of course," Caleb said easily. He settled into the corner of EJ's couch, and EJ had the feeling he was doing the right thing by talking to him.
He let out a sigh as he considered where to begin. "It's about women."
"That's fine."
"You know I broke up with Kayla."
"Yeah, that happened right after the wedding, right?"
EJ nodded. "Uh-huh, it's been a couple of months. I was basically waiting for the wedding to happen, but I knew before then it wasn't going anywhere."
Caleb winced at him. "Brutal."
"I know. I feel bad. That's why I have you here."
EJ paused, but Caleb just relaxed into the corner of the couch and waited for him to continue.
"I don't know what to say about women, Caleb. I can't find one I trust. There's not a single one I trust."
"That's a problem," Caleb agreed.
"I know."
"So, that's what happened with Kayla? You didn't trust her?"
"That's what it boils down to. I've been thinking about it, and that's the root of it all."
"Do you not trust them to be faithful to you?"
