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Well, obviously, Eve didn’t suspect Brody had any ulterior motive. “I don’t know. He found your flier, and when I told him what it was for, he thought I should try out.”

“But how did you get from that to him training you?”

I shrugged, feigning innocence. “I hadn’t exactly agreed to anything, but then he turned up at the Plume, presented me with a pair of skates, told me he was going to coach me, and marched me off to the gym.”

Eve’s mouth dropped. “Holy hell, girl. You and Brody Flockhart went to the gymtogether?”

It was as if she’d heard no other part of my explanation.

“And what happened?”

“You know, nothing. Much. Just gym stuff.”

She shook her head, pink curls dancing around her face. “Details, please. You don’t get to go to the gym with a certified ‘sex god’ and not tell meeverything.” Eve reached up and wrapped air quotes around the words sex-god.

I giggled. Talking about Brody felt a little naughty and a little forbidden, as if I was admitting my first crush to my best friend. In fact, wasn’t that exactly what I was doing? Only a long time after the fact.

“Well, he showed me some exercises and…”

“And?”

“And then I elbowed him in the balls and threw water over him.”

Eve’s face moved from shock to delight. From open mouth to wide grin.

“What the hell?”

“I know.” My half-eaten bun stuck at the back of my throat, and I hung my head a little. “I couldn’t have made more of a fool of myself.”

“What did he say? What did he do?”

Did I dare tell her? I was already wading through a deep pool of humiliation, but Gran always said go big or go home. “He took his top off and asked me to punch him.”

“What?” Eve squealed at the top of her lungs as if someone had stabbed her with a cattle prod.

Before I could explain and make his actions seem reasonable, Gran busted into the room with a frown on her wrinkled brow.

“You okay, ladies?”

I held a breath. What had she heard? Thinking as fast as Usain Bolt on a sprint, Eve spun around with a grin on her face. “Yes, thank you. I was just telling Ro I’ve volunteered for the yodeling choir. We’re going to sing at the Oktoberfest party. I was showing Ro what I’d learned so far.”

Gran raised her eyebrows as if digesting the information. “Lovely. But if you don’t mind me saying so, you sounded pitchy, dear. I’d suggest gargling salt and less starch in your diet. Works for me.” With a wave of her hand, Gran backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Eve giggled. “Your Gran is wonderful.”

My heart warmed. “Isn’t she?”

“So,” she said, returning to her questioning. “You punched him?”

I bit into my bottom lip. “A little.”

“And how did it feel?”

How could I describe it? Forbidden, sexy, confusing. No. None of those adjectives covered how strangely exciting punching him had felt. “He’s big and hard, and…”

“And?” She paused and narrowed her eyes at me. “Ro, you’re blushing. Holy crap! Don’t tell me you’re drinking the Flock Kool-Aid now, too?”

“No!” The word came out like a yelp. “But it’s hard not to notice him. I mean, he’s around a lot, and he’s hardly an eyesore.”