A Silent Hope

Chapter Twenty Nine

Mackenzie

The locker slammed shut and I turned to the culprit. Paul stood there with a smirk on his face.

I tried, I really did try, to keep the smile off of my face. But I was too happy from my night with Thalia and how we left things this morning. The woman, for once, didn't seem to be holding back and was carefree around me.

"What?" I asked with my barely contained smile.

"Somebody had a good night."

I put on my jacket and held onto the lapels. "What makes you say that?"

He chuckled as we headed out the building. "It's written all over your face."

I shrugged.

Paul and I made our way to the gym in his car. The first thing I noticed when I walked through the door was a different receptionist at the desk. My eyes automatically scanned the room for her, but she wasn't anywhere around.

"Miss manager is probably in the office, Romeo." Paul whispered in my ear.

"I'm not looking for anyone." I quickly responded.

"You're a horrible liar, Jace."

"I'm an awesome liar." I huffed and headed to the changing rooms.

I spent those two hours working out and adding to the conversation. Brian had joined us and I mostly left Paul to deal with him while I tried to focus. However, every now and then my eyes would search for her. No matter how many times I saw her or heard her voice, I still desired more.

It wasn't until I was on my last set of squats did I see the woman emerge from somewhere. A smile immediately fell on my lips as I watched her gracefully stroll through the gym with Dwayne at her side. I waited until she was done so I could bother her a little or a lot.

But before I could do that, I saw Brian approach her. My brows threaded as I looked to where the man was supposed to be and where he actually was. There was an annoying tug in my chest as they exchanged a few words.

"Competition?" My friend whispered in my ear.

I nudged him hard with my shoulder. "No."

"Go." He pushed me forward.

"Go where?"

"Just go."

I nodded. "I'm going." I stumbled up to the woman just as Brian walked away with a smirk on his face. "What did he want?"

She sighed and turned, I naturally followed as she walked. "Asking questions he already knows the answers to." She stopped right at the office door and faced me.

"Like what?"

"He asked me out once. He wanted to know if I changed my mind."

I kept the frown off my face with great difficulty. "And what did you say?"

"What do you think I said?" An amused smile accompanied the question.