Page 122 of Kane

Rev sighs. “We need a better system. You having half your shit there, half your shit here, and spending most of your time here makes no sense.”

I frown at her. “I thought you live here.”

Myka shrugs. “It’s complicated. I have an apartment, but Rev’s right, I tend to spend most of my time here. So really, I should let my apartment go, but then what do I do with all my stuff? I have furniture and whatever, and it’s not like it’ll fit here.” She sighs. “I signed a year lease, though. Not sure what to do.”

Rev shrugs back at her. “Pay to break it? I dunno, babe. Not gonna tell you what to do, but I figure it’d be easiest to just move in here and get you a storage unit. Eventually, we’ll get a place somewhere else, but for now, we’re here. And we’re here more than we’re at your place.”

I look at Kane. “What kind of working out were you doing in the car park?”

Kane tilts his head. “The car park?”

I laugh. “Yes, the car park. The parking lot.”

He laughs. “We were doing conditioning. There’s a big old tractor tire, we do tire flips and sledgehammers, and there’s a weight sled we push and pull. There’s kettlebells out there, too, we do swings and snatches and cleans and shit.”

I frown. “I do not know what any of this means.”

He waves. “Doesn’t matter, babe. We were doing stuff to get fitter rather than stronger.”

“But why is it in the parking lot instead of this gym?”

“Because it’s hot outside even early in the morning. Burn more, sweat more—get more results in less time. Plus, there’s not enough room down here for the tire flip and the sled. And we use the kettlebells on conditioning day, so we keep them out there.”

“And was Chance not working out with you?”

He nods. “He was, he’s just still out there, doing a few extra sets of swings and snatches.”

“What is a snatch, please?” I ask.

“It’s a swing that ends up overhead.”

I frown. “This does not help.”

“Do you know what a kettlebell is?”

I shake my head. “No.”

He laughs. “Then none of it matters. Next conditioning day, you can come with us and I’ll show you.”

I smile. “I should like that, I think.”

Myka snorts. “Dunno about that, hon. I’ve done their conditioning days with them. They’renuts. You think what we just did was hard? You’ll want to die when they’re done with you on conditioning day.”

I eye her. “That difficult, is it?”

She nods, eyes wide. “Told you, the boys arenuts. They’re former spec-ops, honey. They’re some of the fittest men on the planet, and just because they’re not active duty anymore doesn’t mean they’re gonna let themselves go. They’re still in killer shape. I’m pretty damn fit, but those boys can work circles around me and not break a sweat.”

“Dunno about that, babe,” Rev says, eying her appreciatively. “You’re more than pretty fit.”

Myka just grins at him, her eyes full of promise and meaning.

I sigh. “I have much work ahead of me, I see.”

Kane shakes his head. “Nah, babe. You do what you want to do. No one expects you to try to keep up with me, or even with Myka. You’re beautiful, and you don’t need to change a damn thing.”

I smile. “I appreciate very much that you say this to me, my darling, but I enjoyed this exercise with Myka. I want to be strong. I was not allowed to do anything but walk or run on the treadmill. The lifting of weights is most satisfying,becauseit is very difficult. I enjoy the challenge.”

He grins at me. “Then by all means, let’s get you strong. I just don’t want you to think you have to try to keep up or whatever.” He extends his hand to me, wiggling his fingers in gesture for me to accompany him. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up and go shopping.”