Other people will make her happy.
“I win,” Green Street says as they all rise.
“Did you?” Noah dusts off his pants. He takes Quinn’s hand,helping her up.
“Better not let the mayor see his sister riding your back,” the other one warns. “Or…maybe he should.”
I grab my towel as he gestures to the security camera in the corner behind Van der Berg’s head.
“I’d be more worried about the other half of her family tree,” I interject, taking a seat at the arm press again. “One Trent will kill you both, the other will hide it.”
I didn’t mean to say it—or insert myself—but she’s not getting a quality workout with these two dipshits anyway. I know, in the basement of my mind, that I’m full of shit, but it’s a good enough excuse. She’s busy, and she’s here to workout.
Lance takes his cue, stepping off to make a call, and I begin my reps, not looking at either kid.
“Who are you?” Van der Berg asks.
But Quinn responds before I have a chance to say anything.
“This is Lucas Morrow.” She stands at the lat machine, elbows pinned to her waist as she just moves her lower arms, pushing the bar down. “He used to babysit me.”
Babysit?
I dig in my brow. Why would she say that? As if I’m so much older.
And these dickheads don’t need to know my name.
I rise and lean down, changing the pin on her machine to add more weight. “It wasn’t babysitting.” I lift the corner of my mouth in a smile. “It was my pleasure.”
“Morrow…” someone whispers.
I stand up straight, eyeing Green Street. He zones in on me, brows pinched together, and I can see the wheels turning in his head. My pulse throbs in my neck.
“How’s everything coming with the house?” Quinnasks me.
Noah touches her shoulder, giving her a nod as he takes his loss and leaves.
When he’s gone, I reply. “It’s going well.”
“Do you think it will sell quickly?”
Her eyes shine, wisps of hair falling around her cheeks and shoulders from her ponytail. I intended to give her the hat back, but…it’s nice to see her face.
“Why?” I ask. “Anxious to be rid of me?”
She moves to the next machine. “I’m just starting to wonder if I need a place of my own.”
As in buy my parents’ house? I go still for a moment, letting the thought sink in.
That would actually be nice.
I’d know it was staying in the family, so to speak, and she would take care of it. I never intend to return to the Falls, but that house was where I met Madoc. Made some good memories. Came of age. I’d love to know it was going to someone who would respect it.
But she doesn’t need a place of her own. I glance at Green Street.Where she can have a personal life…
I inhale a hard breath. “Stay with your parents,” I tell her, moving to the pull-up bars with my towel and water. “For as long as you can. Trust me.”
No need giving herself a mortgage, especially when Madoc says she’s at the shop eighteen hours a day anyway.
