He went on the offensive with a quick jab combination but failed to make contact.
“What—” He blocked the uppercut and lifted his leg to keep his knee from being dislocated. “Do you know about—” He barely blocked the hook to his face. “Abby?”
Dani backed up and shook her arms, bouncing on her toes. “Who?”
Tinker straightened his arm and popped his elbow. “Abby. She was at the Knight’s party on Friday. She said she met you. Dark, wavy hair. Green, V-neck T-shirt. A little taller than you.”
He charged his sister, and she spun to avoid him, kicking him in the ass just to prove a point.
“Fuck.”
She chuckled in response. “Saw that coming from a mile away.”
He stretched his neck from side to side. “Abby?”
“I don’t know much about her. Hey, Ange.” Dani raised her voice so Angie could hear her on the other side of the Leonidas gym.
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember the woman Abby we met on Friday?”
Angie jumped onto the side boards of the treadmill before getting off and walking over to the mats where he and Dani were sparring. Although he used the term sparring loosely since Dani had surpassed his skill years ago. He was more of a human punching bag who occasionally swung back.
“Yeah. She came with Lindsey,” Angie said.
“So not with a guy?” he asked.
“No. Just Lindsey. Why?”
“Just wondering.” He was evading more than Dani’s punches.
Angie gasped in delight. “You like her! Tinker’s got a crush.”
He pointed at her as he circled his sister. “You, I can take.”
“Not with Dani in the room.” She sat on the edge of the mat and stretched her legs out in front of her.
“Besides, I don’t know her.” He grabbed his water bottle from the edge of the mat.
“Then why are you asking about her?” Dani asked.
Because he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head all day yesterday or that morning. Because he kept picturing the blush on her face and wondering what else he could make red. Because for the first time in longer than he could remember, he met a woman who wasn’t family, a co-worker, or a buddy’s old lady, and who interested him more than physically.
“Just wondering. She said she met Julia, and you yelled at her.” He pointed to Dani.
“Yeah, well. Julia was talking out her ass as usual.”
“She also said she liked you more than Julia.”
“I hope the fuck so,” Dani said.
“What I know is she teaches art and costume design at a local school, and Friday was the first time she’d been to a party in a long time,” Angie said.
“How do you know that?” he asked.
“Because she literally said, ‘I can’t remember the last time I went to a party that wasn’t for work,’” Dani said.
He took a drink of water. “You know her friend, though?”
