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“Okay, show me how to jump. I’m ready.” There was a light in her eyes and she seemed excited.

Cade handed her a rope. “Let’s do this.”

Chapter Five

Stace

“Who are you looking for?” Rivera asked me the third time I glanced around the gym.

“No one,” I lied. I was looking for Hunter. I knew she was teaching a class today because I’d looked at the schedule and saw her name. She’d also been added to the gym’s roster of teachers along with a gorgeous picture. No bio, though, which was frustrating.

I could easily find her social pages, but that wasn’t the point.

Rivera and Coop shared a look.

“You’ve been twitchy this whole time,” Coop said, setting down her weights and picking up a heavier set for bicep curls. Her short brown hair was pulled back in a half-ponytail and she had her glasses on. Sometimes we called her the tiny terror because she might be short, but she was deceptively strong. Wouldn’t have gotten through training if she wasn’t. Rivera was about my height and wore her long dark hair pulled back tight. Remnants of her military background. She’d never enlisted but had been raised as an Army brat and it had rubbed off on her.

I couldn’t have asked for two better women to be my friends and sisters at the firehouse.

But right now? I needed them to mind their own business.

“I’m not twitchy,” I said, staring at myself in the mirror and pretending to be checking my form. My arms had really come a long way in the last few months that I’d been putting in the work. I didn’t have any serious goals, I just wanted to see what I could do if I trained hard. Seeing results was so satisfying.

Hunter’s yoga class had started. I’d been hoping she’d walk by, but either I hadn’t seen her, or she wasn’t here. I’d have to catch her on the way out, which meant I’d have to really stretch out my workout.

Rivera and Coop watched me for the rest of the workout, but it was easy for me to keep track of the time.

“I’m going to stay and do some stretching and foam rolling,” I told them when they’d finished and were ready to leave.

They shared a skeptical look but didn’t say anything as we said goodbye and that we’d see each other for training on Monday. In addition to our shifts, we had meetings and mandatory trainings each month. It was nice to get everyone together and bond while we kept our skills sharp.

So I wasn’t a total liar, I did do a longer stretching routine and some foam rolling. My muscles were going to be so grateful I had decided to hang around and loiter so I could catch a pretty girl.

At least I hadn’t crashed her class. That would definitely be taking things too far. Not that I hadn’t considered it, since Torrin was doing yoga now. Maybe I could convince him to go to one of her classes and do some recon for me. Would that be too much?

I had my phone in my hand to send him a message when a sound made me look up.

One of the gymbros was making way too much noise during his sets and needed to tone it down. I was just about to give him a glare when something else caught my eye.

Hunter. There she was, wearing a pair of tangerine yoga pants and a pink bra under a white tank. She looked like a piece of delicious candy.

Her hair was up, but it was done in some elaborate braided and twisted way that looked like it must have taken hours. She was speaking with someone else who had a yoga mat slung on her back, so I waited.

The other person said something that made Hunter laugh. They waved and left. Hunter took her phone out of her pocket and leaned against the wall as she checked it, frowning.

I did a quick check of my appearance with my phone and raked my hair back from my face. Seeing her after my workout wasn’t the best, but the first time we’d met had been at a fire, so I didn’t have much to live up to.

Grabbing my water, I crossed the space and stopped right in front of her. She looked up when my shadow covered her.

“Oh,” she said, blinking those gorgeous blue eyes at me. “Are you stalking me?”

“I don’t think so. We just both happen to be in the same place at the same time. Happens every day.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Seriously. Did you come here to see me?”

I held my hands up and stepped back. “Seriously, this is my regular workout time. My friends had to go and I was just finishing up.”

Her phone went off and she read a message and let out a frustrated sound that was almost like a growl.