Page 8 of The Girlfriend Card (Vegas Sin #4)
Girlfriend Card
Dakota
B eads of sweat glistened on my forehead and trickled down my face. I held a hundred-pound dumbbell in my hands, a fire in my legs as I pumped out one goblet squat after another.
“Nine … ten … eleven,” Parker, our strength and conditioning coach, counted reps. “One more, Dak. As soon as you drop that dumbbell, I want you going straight into alternating lunge jumps. Don’t you dare take a breather.”
With the last rep, I dropped the weight from my hands and exploded into a series of lunge jumps. But after a few lunges, my form began to falter. This was my fourth pass through this circuit, after all, and I was gassed.
“Don’t half-ass these, Dak!” Parker roared in reprimand.
“ Fuck off! ” I yelled, but my outburst of anger gave me a boost of superhuman strength—and I pushed harder and fought through the burn.
Yeah, Parker knows what he’s doing. Don’t be fooled by me telling him to fuck off—he’s a good dude.
When he’s not killing us with his workouts, that is.
In his mid-thirties, Parker was a hockey player himself upon a time, but his playing days ended once he graduated college and it was time to find a job.
With the way he’s always pumping iron in the weight room, though, you’d think he was an NHL’er with a regular shift.
Us boys in the locker room love to give Parker shit, joking that he never got the memo that his playing career’s over and he can take it easy on the training now.
Hm.
Come to think of it, maybe that’s why he’s so sadistic on us with his workouts …
“That’s it! Last one!” he yelled, rushing me over to the incline bench. “Chest press, let’s go!”
My tired body practically flopped onto the bench. Getting the eighty-pounders in the air was miserable. I could barely get six reps, let alone the twelve Parker demanded.
The exercise circuit ended on the floor, in an adductor side plank, with Parker pacing around me, his eyes glued to his stopwatch.
“Stay strong, Dak … thirty more seconds …”
I gulped, trying to stay focused, but every muscle fiber running up the side of my body strained. A terrible searing sensation engulfed my abdomen, and I wanted to give up so bad. My body began to quake and tremble.
“Twenty more seconds! YOU GOT THIS, DAKOTA!” Parker bellowed. “DO IT FOR JANE!”
If he was trying to motivate me, Parker couldn’t have said anything worse. As soon as he said “Jane,” I deflated like a balloon with a leak, and I sounded like one too, as my body slowly sank into the lush astroturf. “ Pffffffffffffffffff. ”
“Shit. My bad.” Parker laughed. “Guess Jane doesn’t get you motivated, eh? My bad.”
I rolled over onto my back, chest heaving as I panted for air. “The fuck, Parks? How do you know about Jane?”
He threw me a towel. “How could I not know about your girlfriend, the lovely Miss Jane Doe?”
“Seriously, Parks.” I buried my face in the towel and mopped up the sweat. “How’d you hear about Jane?”
“Through the grapevine,” he said with a wink.
“So everyone in this whole organization knows I’m full of shit, huh? Great. Just great.”
“Ah, hell. I’m just messin’ with ya, kid. The only reason I know is because I asked Killer. I knew something was up when he asked me if I’d scuttle my summer plans to train you all summer.”
“C’mon, it’s not that unbelievable, is it?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Dak, I can’t even get you into the weight room during the season.”
“Fair enough.”
“Anyway, I wanted to know why you were so interested in training all summer. I figured it had something to do with that video.” He snickered. “Killer told me I was right. Then he told me that you’d played the girlfriend card to take the heat off yourself.”
I folded my arms. “Hey, who says it’s a card? Who says she’s not real?”
“Whether or not she exists, it’s definitely a card,” He chuckled. “But I’m curious. Does she exist?”
I stared into his piercing eyes, wondering if I could trust him.
Parker and I were going to be spending a lot of time together this summer. Might as well tell him the truth. I could use a confidante.
“Aw, hell, Parks.” I waved a hand. “Jane’s fake as fuck.”
He snickered. “Yeah. Figured.”
“Killer tell you about this dinner, then?”
He tilted his head. “What dinner?”
His eyes widened once I explained it to him.
“Oh, shit, bud. That’s fucked.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“What’re you gonna do?” he asked.
“I can’t not go. And I have to bring ‘Jane.’”
I told him about my attempts to hire an actress.
“While the rest of my teammates were having an incredible time at the year-end bender, I spent all day and night yesterday holed in my condo talking to Craigslist wackos. All day and night, Parks.”
I didn’t get any sympathy from Parker, who only laughed and nodded approvingly. “Good. Good. Sounds like you’re taking this seriously, then.”
“Parks, you wouldn’t believe the number of crazy people out there on Craigslist. And none of them are even close to what you’re looking for.”
“So you didn’t find the girl, I take it?”
“Well. There was one. She said she’s studying theater at Stanford.
No idea if she looks the part, because she doesn’t even have Instagram.
But I talked to her on the phone and she at least sounds cute.
” I sighed. “But none of that really matters, because she said she doesn’t wanna do it.
She’s only meeting me for lunch today because I practically got on my hands and knees to beg her. ”
Parker chuckled. “You offered to pay her, right?”
“Of course. I started at ten grand, but she said no.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah. Then I doubled it to twenty.”
“She still said no?”
“She said it’s not about the money. I don’t know what’s up with that.” I scoffed. “Offer most girls twenty grand, and they’d do any thing you want, Parks. Not this one.”
“You said she goes to Stanford. Maybe she’s wealthy?”
“And I thought of that, too—but then, why would she be looking for jobs on Craigslist? Doesn’t make sense.”
“Hm. Good point,” he said, stroking his chin. “Maybe you could offer her something else?”
“Yeah, but what? ’Cause I’m stumped. If money doesn’t do it, what the hell am I supposed to offer her?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know the girl. Just listen to her. See if there’s anything else you can do for her.”
“Wouldn’t it be ironic if the one girl in Las Vegas who could actually help me tonight, is also the only chick in the world who doesn’t care about money?
” I sighed. “Once she shoots me down at lunch, that’s it, I’m fucked.
I’m either canceling on dinner, or I’m rolling into Mr. Capuano’s mansion solo. Either way, he’ll be done with me.”
Parker stared down at me, his arms folded. “You want my honest advice, Dak?”
“Sure, let’s hear it.”
“Forget the girlfriend act. There’s no way you’ll be able to pull that off with some girl you just met. Mr. Capuano will sniff that stunt out in a minute, and it’ll only land you in more trouble.”
“Okay, so what do I do?”
“The only way out of this mess— any mess—is to tell the truth, Dak. You’d be surprised how far the truth can get you in life.”
I scoffed. “So I should go marching into Mr. Capuano’s house and tell him straight to his face that I’ve been lying my ass off?”
“Only about having a girlfriend. That was dumb as hell, and you’ll have to beg for mercy for that one, obviously.
” The coach shrugged unsympathetically. “But the rest—that you’re going to get into the best shape of your life this summer?
That you’ll come into training camp leaner, meaner, and stronger than ever?
” He ground his fist into his palm. “ That part is true. I’ll make sure of it. ”
“Fuck,” I grumbled. I could tell he was eager to get back to work, but I was still beat. I tried to buy some time. “Hey, Parks. I’m really sorry you had to give up your summer plans because of me, by the way.”
“It’s my job.”
“Can I ask what you had planned?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I was gonna take my wife and kid up to our cabin in Muskoka for the summer.”
Shit. Canadians love Muskoka. To a Canadian, Muskoka is basically the Garden of Eden. That had to sting …
I gulped. “Is that why you’re kicking my ass so hard bad today, Parks?”
“Oh, it’s not just today,” he said with a maniacal grin. “This is gonna be all summer long, baby.”
“Fuck …” I whimpered.
“Enough chit-chat. Time for core work.” He clapped his hands impatiently to get me off the floor. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”
Grumbling a string of choice words under my breath, I grabbed my bag and dashed for the exit.
“Have fun on your date!” Parker called after me with a cackle. “See ya back here at three o’clock!”
The clock showed a quarter until noon. Our workout was supposed to wrap up at eleven, leaving me plenty of time to shower and freshen up for my coffee date at noon with Olivia. Parker had other plans; he’d kept me as late as he possibly could because he clearly got off on torturing me.
On the other hand … I guess I couldn’t complain too much, considering I single-handedly ruined the guy’s summer.
I ran as fast as my weary legs would carry me across the parking lot and jumped in my Porsche 911. The turbocharged engine roared to life, and the tires screeched in protest as I peeled out, eager to make up for lost time.
Thankfully, my hustle paid off, because I made it to the Arts District in the nick of time. I stepped into the quaint cafe Olivia had chosen and took a look around.
I pulled out my phone and texted her. “Hey, I’m here. Where are you?”
I had no idea what she looked like, but I was pretty sure she wasn’t here. Everyone here looked like they didn’t want to be bothered.
While I waited for her reply, I stepped up to the counter and ordered a large Americano, a Cuban sandwich, a grilled chicken salad, and a protein shake. After I paid, I checked my phone—she still hadn’t replied, so I texted her again.
“Everyone here looks like a hipster. Are you a hipster? Please say no.”