I Loved Her First

Chapter Three

The next morning Adam is up early and on his way to meet Sam at the gym soon after he's up. The pair have yet another mixed tag match against the blade and the bunny on Rampage that they need to do a little bit of training for. Just so they are prepared for whatever their opponents have to throw at them on Friday. 

Adam gets to the gym and for once finds that he's there before Sam is. Normally she's present way before Adam ever manages to pull himself out of bed and together. Confused, Adam slings his gym bag over his shoulder and pulls out his phone. He pulls up Sam's contact info and is about to call her when he spots her walking through the doors. 

"Sam, hey." Adam puts his phone away, relieved. 

"Adam! Damn, you actually beat me here for once." Sam laughs, a coffee in her hand. 

"Yeah, when was the last time that happened?" Adam laughs with her. 

"A while, definitely," Sam replies. "And it wouldn't have happened if Jay didn't insist that we get coffee before the gym." She points behind as Jay comes through the door. 

"Oh." Adam's heart jolts for a split second as Jay walks up to him and Sam. "Jay, what's up, man?" He greets his buddy. 

"Adam, Sam told me that you two were gonna work out today. I hope that you don't mind me joining in?" he asks Adam casually. 

"Nah. No problem, man." Adam shakes his head. 

"See, Jay." Sam knocks her fist into Jay's arm. "I told that Adam wouldn't care." She grins and downs the rest of her coffee. "I'm gonna go change, meet you guys back out in a minute." 

Adam nods and watches Sam dump her empty coffee cup into a trashcan then head to the woman's side of the locker rooms. Jay finishes off his coffee and does the same before he and Adam walk to the men's room. 

Adam puts his stuff away in one of the rented lockers and watches Jay do the same. Just a hint of jealousy ripples through his mind at the thought of Sam hanging out with Jay first thing in the morning. 

"So, you and Sam got coffee?" Adam can't help but ask. 

"Yeah." Jay nods. "She actually let me crash at her place last night." He explains. "I was just going to rent a hotel while I'm in town, but Sam insisted that I don't waste the money." 

"Oh, that was nice of her." Adam coughs. 

"Yeah, but that's always been, Sam." Jay nods and pulls a tank top over his head. "She's the sweetest one of the lot." He chuckles to himself. 

"Yeah, she is." Adam agrees, a small hint of disdain in his voice.

Jay takes notice of the slight change in Adam's tone, but he elects to ignore it for the moment. He hasn't seen Adam in a few years after all, so it could be nothing. 

The pair head out of the locker room and meet up with Sam filling up her water bottle at one of the fill stations against the wall. Sam greets them with her usual friendly smile and screws the cap on her bottle. 

"Well don't you make an intimidating pair?" Sam jokes. "What are we starting with, boys? I was thinking cardio." She suggests.

"Sounds good to me." Jay shrugs. 

"Yeah, cardio is fine." Adam agrees. 

Sam nods and the trio head over to all the different cardio machines. Sam opts for the stair stepper since it doubles a workout for her abs and gluts. Adam and Jay both go for the standard treadmill, either side of her. 

"Adam, Sam was telling me that you two have been trying to make the mix tag league a more popular thing." Jay doesn't take long to pick a topic of conversation. 

"Yeah." Adam nods. "Tomorrow will be what? Our sixth match, Sam?" He glances over at Sam. 

"I think so, yeah." Sam nods. 

"I think that it's a brilliant idea," Jay replies. "Plus it's something that you really don't see that often in other companies." He adds. 

"Exactly!" Sam beams. "We're hoping that if we can get it mainstream enough, then Khan will let us introduce some kind of tag championships for it." She explains. 

"Mhm, it was originally Sam's idea," Adam adds on. "She and a couple of the other girls in the locker room came to Khan and Sam's brothers with the idea a few months ago." 

"Right on!" Jay nods and reaches over to high-five Sam. "Girl power!" He jokes. 

"Not girl power, Jay." Sam corrects him. "Just straight-up power." 

"Right, my bad." Jay chuckles. 

'There it is again.' Adam thinks to himself. That seamless charisma and understanding between Sam and Jay seemingly overnight. And it irks Adam down to the core. He can't help but envy Jay for making talking with Sam so effortless. It's preposterous. 

After cardio, the trio switches over to weight for about an hour or so. Adam continues to pick up on the little interactions between Sam and Jay as they all talk amongst themselves. So, in an act of pure envy, Adam decides to ask Sam to lunch. 

"Hey Sam, I was gonna ask. You wanna grab some lunch after this?" He asks Sam on their way back to the locker rooms. 

"Lunch? Yeah, I could grab a quick lunch." Sam agrees with a smile. "Hey, Jay. I'm gonna grab a quick lunch with Adam then meet up with you later back at my place." She jogs over to Jay for a second. "Here's the house key, help yourself to whatever." 

Adam watches Sam fish her house keys out of the pocket of her leggings and hands it over to Jay without a second thought. Adam has been to Sam's apartment plenty of times, but never once has she offered him even an emergency key. 

"Great, thanks, Sam." Jay nods and takes the key. "Adam, see you later, mate." He waves to Adam. 

Adam gives a courteous nod to Jay and watches him walk off while on his phone. Sam jogs back over to Adam with her same smile. 

"So, what's for lunch?" She asks with a playful grin.