Page 24

Liam

I’ll be there in 15

“What’s up?None of you bastards wanted to keep your names as the headliners of your business?”

“I got the discount when Liam was riding the office supply girl.” Dax shrugs his shoulder before pulling me in for a hug.

“How are you, KB?”

“I still have a few more days untilmy first physical therapy session, but I can’t sit around anymore. I’m ready to get back in the gym and do something.Anything.” Desperation bleeds from my tongue.

“That’s all well and good, mucker, but how areyou?”

It’s not that I believe people around here don’t care about me. They absolutely do. But whenever I think about sticking around this town and these people, my chest fills with concrete. There’s an immense amount of guilt that I carry for being a disappointment to them. They’ve always had my back. As I’ve wallowed in my self-pity over the last few weeks, I’d be lying if I said that some of that guilt wasn’t over letting them down.

“I’ll get there,” I reply.

Dax pats my good shoulder. “Yeah, ya will.”

We share an understanding nod before I break turn to finally take a look at his gym. “The place looks great.”

“If only I could keep eejits like this one out.” He nods toward the front just as Liam enters, holding the door open for two women who eye him up and down. He returns their flirtatious grins before doing his typical peacock strut over.

“Boys!” he yells, arms outstretched. “Do we need security with someone of your caliber in here, KB?”

“Feck off.”

“I’m just asking.” He puts his hands up in mock defense. “Want to make sure we don’t run into any problems.”

“No, Liam. Unfortunately, youareour biggest problem,” Dax answers.

I move over to the dumbbell rack and pick up an eighteen-kilogram weight. I need to ease back into a routine that I can safely manage without the use of one of my arms, but I also need to go slow, considering my sleep schedule has been completely fucked. After about five hours of sleep yesterday, I heard a rustling outside of my house, and when I peeked outthe window, I found Taylor crouched down on all fours, calling to some stray.

“You coming tonight, mate?”

“I’ll be there,” Dax replies. “I’ve got a date first, so depending on when that ends, I might be a little late.”

“A date, huh? Who’s the unlucky lady?” Liam jabs and Dax whips a towel at him.

Liam jumps back, laughing.

“Don’t worry about it. Worry about your own dry spell.”

“Hey! It’s not a dry spell. I could get it wet if I wanted. I’ve just been busy.”

“Busy with your right hand.”

Liam responds with his two middle fingers. We all break into laughter, and I breathe a little easier, falling back in with my mates so easily after so much time away.

An hour later,my breath is heavy, short, and choppy. My hair is damp, and sweat is pooling at my lower back as I make my way to the gym door.

“You done, mate?” Dax’s voice echoes through the front entrance.

“I have to get back in time to shower and eat before I resume my post for the night.”

“Damn, I still can’t believe AB’s got you on a night shift. I didn’t even know you guys had someone on night duty.”You and me both.

“I’ll be back tomorrow. What’s the membership routine around here now?”