Nope, not at all.
‘Or the way his ass looks in those leggings.’
“Shut up!” he shouted, his voice echoing in the empty gym.
“Uh, you all right, Tobes?”
Apparently not as empty as he thought.
Cole frowned at him, concern in his gaze.
“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t…” he said, then cleared his throat. “What are you still doing here?”
Cole shot him a surprised glance, probably thanks to the hint of vulnerability Tobias let slip before adopting his typical frown.
“Soooo, I wanted to check with you about maybe hosting my friend Abby’s going away party next week.”
“I already said no, Cole.”
“You did say no, but I didn’t get to give you my whole pitch.”
Tobias gave him a withering glare that did nothing to quell Cole’s eagerness. “Still no.”
“What if I told you I would clean up everything before and after so you won’t even know a party had been here?”
“Still no. I don’t want to have to worry about people touching things they shouldn’t or messing with the equipment.”
“What if I also clean the gym bathroom every Saturday after class for the next month?”
Tobias couldn’t help furrowing his brow.
“Can’t you just use someone’s house?”
“Everybody’s houses are still in holiday mode and no one wants to host. None of our houses are made to entertain more than ten people.”
Tobias understood the problem. The holidays were a wonderful time of year, but they were also exhausting. Now that he was in charge of a child, the holidays wore him out more than a two-week road trip with the Inferno.
“I dunno, Cole. It’s a lot.”
“Okay, here’s my final offer. I’ll clean everything before and after the party, and during if needed, I’ll clean the bathroom once a week for the next month,andI’ll owe you a favor you can redeem at any time. In case you need help with any new friends or employees or… anyone.”
Tobias squared his shoulders and crossed his arms.
The pose scared most people, but not Cole. The guy had some kind of death wish.
He narrowed his gaze and stared Cole down.
“A favor?”
“Yup, anything you want,” Cole confirmed, nodding.
“Anything, huh? What if I asked you to quit the gym?”
Cole looked aghast, and then confused. “Wouldn’t itbe easier to make me go to one of the classes you don’t teach so you could still take my money every month?”
Tobias couldn’t really argue with that. He didn’t plan on kicking Cole out of his class, let alone his gym, but he couldn’t help but fuck with the guy after all the shit he’d pulled over the years.
“Okay, what if I ask you to change to a different class?”
