Kyle's Return (8 page)

“Tyler’s not going to fire you, love. I mean, I
already got my ass kicked by Dean. Why not add a bunch of women to
the mix?” It didn’t help that he paraded to the front half-naked,
showing off his perfectly tanned and tattooed muscles. “Which of
you ladies want to work with me first?”

Almost instantly, all of them lifted their hands in
the air. Kyle’s smug expression made me want to slap him. “Okay,
fine you can help. But if I get in trouble, I’m going to say you
forced me and there was nothing I could do.”

“I’m okay with that.”

Rolling my eyes, I focused on the ladies. “Girls,
don’t hold back. Give him hell.”

***

KYLE HAD BEEN outstanding with the women. He’d
let them pound on him and gave encouragement every step of the way.
I wondered how the ladies would feel if they knew of his past.

“Out of all the women, I think Sherry enjoyed having
you the most. Did you see her face? I’ve never seen it that shade
of red before,” I laughed.

Chuckling, Kyle put his shirt on and zipped up his
gym bag. “Probably because she tried to cop a feel. That woman
scares me.”

Shaking my head, I pushed him out of the room so we
could make our rounds through the gym. “Thank you for helping me
tonight. You surprised me.”

He winked. “You’re welcome. What do you need me to do
now?”

I pointed to the treadmills. “Make sure all the
machines are turned off and then move to the weights and straighten
them up. Once I check the rest of the stuff we can go.”

He turned to head to his section while I started on
mine. “If I keep spending my time here, Tyler’s gonna have to put
me on the payroll.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I laughed. Out of the
corner of my eye, I watched him bend down to straighten the
weights.  His muscles tightened and flexed as he moved them
around. Was it wrong that I wanted him to hold me again? Hell, he
could hold anything against me at this point. “Would you really
want to work here?”

He glanced at me over his shoulder. “I don’t know,
but one of these days I’m going to need to find a job. I can’t live
off of my money forever.” He finished up his rounds and joined me
at my desk. Once I fetched my gym bag and phone, we were ready to
go.

“What else do you do besides fight?”

We started for the door and he shrugged. “To be
honest, not much else. Fighting was all I’ve ever done. I made
triple on my fights at the Dark Side compared to the UFC. I guess
it’s a good thing I learned to save money.”

Opening the door, I waited for him to walk out before
locking it. “I’d say so. I’m sure you’ll find something. If you
find a way to get back into Tyler and Kacey’s good graces I know
Tyler will find something for you to do.”

He chuckled. “And I can only imagine what that
something would be.”

We walked side by side around to the parking lot and
noticed it was exceptionally dark. “The parking lot lights are out.
That’s strange,” I noted. My danger instincts went on full alert
and Kyle could sense it.

He put his arm around my shoulders but kept vigilant
as we walked the rest of the way to our vehicles. Little did he
know I had a gun in my bag. I slipped my hand inside and felt the
cold metal on my fingers. Tyler understood my need to carry one and
allowed me to bring it to work. It helped me feel safe. When we got
to our cars, I expected someone to jump out, but no one did.
However, the feeling in my gut was still there.

Once I unlocked my car door and opened it, the
interior lights helped illuminate the surroundings. That wasn’t the
only thing the light uncovered. “Holy fuck,” I gasped, grabbing
Kyle’s hand, “look at your truck.”

He looked down and his whole body tensed.
“Motherfucker,” he growled. Someone had vandalized the whole side
of his truck and keyed the words
Stay Away
in big, scraggly
letters. Bending down, he surveyed the damage and held his head in
his hands. “I guess I can’t say I don’t deserve it,” he claimed
sadly.

Anger boiled in my veins. “Yeah, but they need to
stop being pussies and bring their issues to you and not your
goddamned truck.” I yelled it so that if the fucker was still
around they’d hear me. “I swear, if this is someone at my gym I’m
going to kick their ass.”

Reaching into my bag, I pulled out my phone and
dialed Tyler’s number. Kyle got to his feet. “Who are you
calling?”

“Tyler.”

He grabbed my phone and turned it off. “No you’re
not.”

“Why? This happened on his property. He’ll want to
know.”

Sighing, he passed my phone back to me. “But if he
finds out, he might ask me to stay away. If he does, I won’t have a
choice.”

“Dammit, Kyle,” I griped, putting my phone in my bag.
“This isn’t right. What are you going to do?”

He huffed and turned his attention to the scribbled
words. “I’m going to get this fixed and move on. I knew what I was
getting myself into when I moved out here.”

I placed my hand on his arm. “It still doesn’t make
it right.” My stomach churned looking at the damage. “You can’t
drive around with your truck like that. When do you think you can
get it fixed?”

“We have a mutual friend in California who can do it,
but I haven’t talked to him since I helped him with Gabby. I don’t
even know if he’ll talk to me, let alone fix my truck.”

“Paxton?” I asked.

“Yep, he’s the best. It’s just I don’t want to ask
him yet. I’m probably the last person they want to spend time
with.”

“You’d be surprised about Gabby. Maybe when you
decide to go I can come with you. It’ll help soften things up.”

“You’d do that?”

“They’re my friends, Kyle. I’d do anything to spend
time with them again. I miss California.”

He sighed. “So do I.”

My phone began to ring so I fished it out of my bag.
It was Nicole, probably wondering what was taking me so long. “It’s
Nic. When I’m late, she always calls to check up on me. Will I see
you tomorrow?” My heart dropped when he shook his head.

“I think I’m going to lie low for a few days. It’s
probably for the best.”

I nodded, even though deep inside I wanted to see him
again. “I understand. You’re not going to pack up and skip town are
you?”

He laughed and pulled out his phone. “No, love. Give
me your number and I’ll call you back so you’ll have mine. Feel
free to text or call anytime.” Once the numbers were exchanged, we
said our goodbyes and I got in my car. As soon as I got home and
pulled into the garage, my phone buzzed with an incoming text.

Kyle:
Will u miss me this week?

Me:
Wouldn’t you like to know.

Kyle:
Don’t worry. I’ll keep asking until you
say yes.

Me:
You’ll be waiting a long damn time.

I walked inside, staring at my texts with a big grin
on my face. With her hands on her hips, Nic glared at me, wearing
her strawberry shortcake apron.

“Girl, where have you been? I tried calling you.
Dinner’s been ready for forty-five minutes.” Her face softened when
she noticed my smile. “Oh, look at you . . . I guess I’m not the
only one taken now.”

“Greg?” I asked excitedly.

She grinned. “Yep. It looks like our love lives are
finally looking up.”

I threw my bag on the floor and sat down at the
kitchen table. The food smelled amazing. “I wouldn’t say my love
life is looking up, but it’s definitely not looking down either.” I
just had to keep it a secret for now.

***

DURING KYLE’S ABSENCE, I watched every person
who walked through the doors to see if I could sense any trace of
gloating; especially Dean and his friends. I even worked out around
them and heard nothing about them taking the credit for Kyle’s
truck.

“Is there a reason you keep checking your phone every
other minute?” Tyler asked, sidling up to my desk.

“Nope,” I said, shutting it inside one of the desk
drawers. I wasn’t about to tell him Kyle and I had been texting
incessantly the past three days. “I was looking at the time.”

He leaned over on the counter and shook his head,
smirking. “I’m just going to pretend I believe you. So what are you
doing tonight?”

I narrowed my gaze. “Going home. Why?”

“I figured we could celebrate your promotion tonight.
Kacey’s expecting us at the restaurant after we close.”

“Sounds good to me. Is Nic still invited?” I
asked.

He groaned and then finished with a smile. “As long
as she doesn’t talk the entire damn time, we’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I have other
plans for her.”

“Good. We’ll close up a little early and head out.”
As soon as he walked away, I picked up the phone and called
Nicole.

“What’s up, chickadee,” she answered.

“Not much. Just calling to tell you we’re having
dinner at Kacey’s restaurant tonight and you’re invited. Tyler
wants to celebrate my promotion and reward me for my hard
work.”

“Awesome. Call me when you’re about to head out and
I’ll meet you there. Greg’s coming over for a little bit.”

I laughed. “Just make sure you get to the restaurant
on time.”

“I will, I will. There’s nothing wrong with a little
afternoon delight to get the party started.”

“Have fun with that. I’ll see you later.” Shaking my
head, I set the phone down. She might as well have fun on her
afternoons off because it wasn’t going to last. I was determined to
get her a job. She just needed the confidence and a push.

My phone started vibrating in the drawer. I slid it
open and to no surprise it was Kyle, again.

Kyle:
Miss me yet?

Me:
Nope.

Kyle:
What are u doing tonight?

Me:
Going out with Tyler. Jealous?