Where I Need to Be (Club 24, #1)

Chapter One

When life hands you lemons, they say to make lemonade. Well, life just handed me a whole lemon tree. Three weeks ago, I felt like nothing in my life could go wrong. I was in Hawaii with my best friend, Ryan Kennedy, her boyfriend, Max, and who I had thought to be the love of my life, Travis.

Travis and I met almost two years before at a New Year's Eve party that Ryan invited me to. Her boyfriend had just made partner at his law firm and threw a huge party at his house to celebrate his promotion and ring in the New Year.

Travis was an attorney at the firm as well and I would like to say it was love at first sight, but looking back, it was never love. I was instantly attracted to Travis but it had taken us a few dates to actually click. He had short brown hair, green eyes and a sweet, innocent, charming side to him. The side that opened doors for you, pulled out your chair and even cooked and cleaned up after himself. I thought I had met the one. Wrong.

"All right, Spencer Marshall, it is time to get your ass off the couch and start acting like you have a life again," Ryan said as she came storming into our house stomping on the hardwood floors with her heels. She stopped walking when she reached the couch I was sitting on—the couch which was starting to grow accustomed to my daily and nightly ritual and had formed the perfect indention of my butt. "You've been moping around here for two weeks and I'm no longer going to let my best friend waste her life away over a guy."

"Go away!" I shouted at her as I stuffed my face with a spoonful of mint chocolate chip ice cream. "I'm fine." Ryan was right though, I needed to stop moping. My mom always told me that no man was worth my tears. But in all honesty, after dating someone for almost two years, aren't you allowed a few tears and some depression after you walk into his office and find him banging his secretary on his desk? I had just wanted to surprise him and take him to lunch. I didn't realize he had a surprise for me, too.

"Tomorrow night I'm going to scope out that new gym Club 24 that opened near my office. My boss is writing a story about it and asked me to use the free two-week membership pass we got to do some research and get the low-down so she can use it in her article for the website."

I worked as an Executive Assistant to the CEO of a start-up internet company based out of San Francisco called Better Keep Jogging Baby or better known by our website, www.bkjb.com. Our company was dedicated to providing fitness and nutrition information to the world.

"Spencer, you better or I will kick your ass when you get home and drag you to the gym with me on Tuesday morning." Ryan and I met our freshman year of college at UC Santa Cruz nine years ago when we were eighteen. Over the years, I'd learned that her threats were really promises. She was not kidding.

"All right, all right, I'll go pack my gym bag...after I finish this bowl of ice cream." Ryan rolled her eyes at me and I stuck my tongue out at her. I appreciated her support and enthusiasm, but I had never been a morning person and I wasn't about to start now.

*~*~*

My Monday workday dragged on and on, and all I wanted to do was go home, get in my PJs, and watch The Voice. When five o'clock rolled around, I honestly had half a mind to bypass the gym and do exactly that. I remembered Ryan's threat, and I sure as shit didn't want her waking me up at 5:00 a.m. to go to the gym before work. Regardless, it was part of my job, and at least my boss had promised me extra vacation hours for doing this for her.

All right, time to get this shit over with. Club 24 was an up and coming chain and I needed a new gym anyway. I used to go to the gym with my ex, Travis, or as Ryan liked to call him now, TravAss. I really hoped that I would never have to see him again, so thankfully this gym opened over a month ago and was close to work and home.