“Good job with that. Keeping your cool and all.” Tyson says without showing a hint of emotion.
“Thanks.” I reply, not wanting to interact with him any more than I have to.
Once the floor is clean, I bring the barbell set up to the front desk. “Hey, Steph, we should probably have management take a look at the cameras, and check out the dumbbells. This one is covered in some type of grease. That’s why Bryant dropped it.”
“Well, that’s weird. It’s like dripping off the handle, ew.” She replies, picking up the phone to call the manager. When she hangs up, she turns back to me. “I’ll clean this up, and Joe wants to see you in his office about the incident.”
“Okay, thanks, Steph.” I tap the front desk, walking past to step into the manager’s office. “Hey, Joe.”
“Hi, Kip. Take a seat.” He’s looks away from the camera feeds to gesture for me to sit. “Listen, if it turns out someone actually greased the dumbbell, it’s going to be a huge issue for Pump Palace. I know Stephanie said it was really oily, but are we sure it wasn’t just from something on Bryant’s hands?”
“Joe, there’s no way. Like who would do that? Coat their hands in grease before lifting? Bryant is a regular here. He knows what he’s doing. And I am telling you, that dumbbell was absolutely coated in something.”
Joe sighs. “All I’m saying is that it wouldn’t be the first time someone has tried to pull something like this, I’m not saying here, but elsewhere, in order to sue.”
“You seriously think Bryant crushed his own foot for money?” I scoff. “How about we watch the footage and see what really happened?”
Joe plays through the footage, speeding it up. We watch through from yesterday, all the way through to when Bryant dropped the weight. At no point does it show anyone near the dumbbell racks, that is, not until Bryant picks it up to bring it over for his set. Fuck.
“No way.” I whisper disbelievingly. “Bryant would never do that…” Something is wrong here.
“Well, from where I’m sitting, he did.” Joe replies matter-of-factly.
“Wait, can we follow Bryant through the footage? Surely if he greased the weight or his hands we’d see it on camera.”
“Kip, his back was turned when he was at the weight rack. He could’ve easily done it then without being seen. Listen, I know you’re a good guy, and you want to see the best in everyone. But this time, I think you’re wrong. Just because you think you know someone, that doesn’t mean you really do.”
I guess Joe has a point there. I thought I knew Tyson for years, but it turns out I was wrong there too. My gut is telling me that Bryant wouldn’t do this, but the footage doesn’t lie, right?
What the fuck is going on at Pump Palace lately, and why is it always happening around me?
Charlie: I’ve been thinking about this all day…and I don’t want to make things weird but…do you think that maybe Tyson has a crush on you or something? That maybe he’s jealous of me because I’m with you?
Charlie: I just don’t get why else he’d be acting like this. Constantly trying to come between us.
I’m sitting on the couch, staring down at the texts from Charlie. I keep rereading it. There’s no way, right? Tyson is just mad that he lost his food source and can’t use me anymore. That’s all it is. He isn’t into me. That’s ridiculous. Tyson has only been with women since I’ve known him. He’s one thousand percent straight.
“Hey.” Tyson spooks me, plopping down on the couch next to me.
I flip my phone over, hiding my conversation with Charlie.
Tyson eyes me, looking from me to my phone. “That wasn’t suspicious as fuck at all. Chatting with your boyfriend about me?”
“Nope.” I pop the p, playing it cool. “What do you want?”
“Look, can we just talk, like friends? Like we used to? Seriously, since you’ve been seeing Charlie it’s been?—”
I cut him off, my hackles already rising. “Oh, you mean since I found out you were feeding off of me without my consent, and because of that I was turned into a vampire against my will? Cuz’ that’s got nothing to do with Charlie, that’s all on you.”
“But Kip…we’re bros. I only did it because I knew you’d be okay with it. Bros helping bros, ya know? If you had done it to me, I wouldn’t be mad.”
“I don’t know how many times we have to have the same fucking conversation.” I’m so exasperated with this fucker. “And I don’t know why you can’t get it through your stupid fucking head. I am not okay with what you did. Had you asked me, maybe things would be different. But you didn’t, and they aren’t. Your animosity towards Charlie makes no sense. If you can give me one solid, legit reason you hate him, it might be different. Although, I still would choose him over you.”
“He just came in here and fucked everything up between us.” It almost sounds like Tyson’s voice cracks as he speaks. “It was you and me for years. Wing manning together, being bros and roommates. What we had was good. I had you and you had me. And now I’ve lost my best friend.”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Great, is your boyfriend here again?” Tyson grunts.
