“Couple weeks. But I had a coach pushing me every day.”
Cody flexed his hands, looking at the rope like it had personally offended him. “I’m going to ring that bell.”
“I know you will.” Roan clapped him on the shoulder. “Now you’ve got a concrete goal. Something to work toward. A mentor of mine used to tell me that the first step to reaching your goals is to know what they are.”
“Yeah. Cool.” Cody glanced in the direction of Reese’s studio. “Since Reese came to your class—you should go to hers. With us. Tomorrow.”
“You think?”
“Yeah. I mean, she did your thing. You should do hers.” Cody’s expression was carefully neutral. “Fair’s fair.”
Roan studied him. The kid was testing him. Seeing if Roan was all talk or if he’d actually follow through on something uncomfortable. Or was he matchmaking like his Aunt Grace? Either way, he couldn’t say no.
“You’re right,” Roan said. “That’s fair.”
“Cool.” Cody hesitated. “If you go … I’ll go. And if you dance, I’ll dance.”
“Deal,” Roan said. “I’ll do it, even if I look like an idiot.”
Cody raised one shoulder. “I mean, how hard can it be?”
Roan laughed. “You know you just doomed us.”
Cody chuckled, shaking his head. “Probably.”
“We’ll suffer together.”
“Yeah.” Cody hesitated. “I hate doing stuff I’m bad at.”
“Most people do.”
“But Reese and the girls are cool. They won’t mock us, right?”
“No way. That’s not the point of all this,” Roan said. “We’re having fun. Waking up our bodies and our minds. Exercise is the key to so many things.”
“Yeah. I forgot how much I missed working out hard like that.” Cody brushed hair away from his still sweaty forehead.
“You’re welcome here any time, okay? I’m hoping to get more people in, but right now I’m still getting the word out.”
“You need any help?” Cody asked, looking down at the floor. “Because I don’t have much else going on. I could clean for you. Or whatever you needed.”
Roan could hardly believe his ears. This kid was making himself vulnerable. Asking for work. He swallowed a lump in his throat. “Actually, yeah. I could use some help. You want to stick around for my next class? I’m doing a complimentary one for anyone who wanted to come by. I’m trying to get people in here and hooked.”
“Sure, yeah. Can I work out with them?”
“If you’re up for it, I’d love to have you.”
“I mean, I wouldn’t mind learning how to become a trainer,” Cody said, sounding like it was just a passing thought.
Roan knew better. This kid was putting himself out there. It was exactly what Grace had hoped for.
“I think you’d be great at it.” He didn’t want to commit with too much enthusiasm and scare the kid off. What did the kids call it? Thirsty. Right. He didn’t want to be too thirsty. “If you’re interested, do some research online. Get more familiar with the exercises and concepts.”
“Did that last night. I’m kind of obsessed.”
Roan couldn’t help but smile. “Well, okay, then. Let’s get some protein in us before the class starts. I’ll make you a smoothie in the back office. I’ve got protein powder and some bananas. I can tell you more about what it takes to become a certified trainer.”
Cody’s eyes lit up. “My mom used to make me a smoothie for breakfast. She put peanut butter in them.”
