Living In The Shallows (UK Crush #1)

Chapter Sixteen

When we arrived at the exercise room I was surprised by how busy it was. Apparently, management had reserved the room, and everyone there was associated with the tour in some way. I recognized some of them from show days, but some of them were complete strangers to me. I immediately regretted agreeing to come and work out with them.

"Matty, I thought it was going to be just us," I said nervously.

"Well, it is, this is all people we work with." He looked at me and nudged my shoulder. "Relax, no one is paying attention to anyone else, everyone just wants to get in some exercise after spending days on a bus and in a hotel, that's all." He smiled at me. "You don't have to do anything if you don't want to, just hang out and talk to me or something."

This last wasn't exactly true. The moment we entered, a large man approached Gethin and clapped him on the shoulder, greeting him with, "There you are, mate! Been waiting for you! Ready?"

Gethin didn't look too happy to see him, but he responded cordially enough, smiling and saying, "Always ready, Randy. Shall we get to it?"

"Who's that?" I asked Matty. "The huge guy?"

"Ah, that's Randy, he's crew. Always has to be the strongest, best, you know the type. Always challenging Geth to something. It's stupid because Geth doesn't care, but Randy won't leave him alone. If there's table tennis, he wants to wager, if there's a football net, he wants to count goals, if there's a basketball hoop, he wants to see who can shoot the most, it never ends. Who knows what it'll be tonight. Geth can't overexert, we have a show in a couple days, Randy knows that, too." Matty seemed concerned.

I decided that I'd just keep an eye on Gethin, and when Ronan and Teddy saw me walking toward him, they seemed glad. But when I got to him, Randy turned to me and eyed me up and down in a way that I really hated. Gethin wasn't thrilled, either, and stepped closer to me, putting an arm around my shoulders.

"So who's this young thing then? She with you?" he asked genially.

"This is Tinker Bell, our interpreter," Gethin said, hugging me even closer.

"Tinker Bell, how appropriate," said Randy with a smile. "Is that because you're such a cute little thing? Or because you're amazing in other ways?" Eww.

I stood there, wishing I'd worn something other than the yoga pants and sports bra I'd chosen. I was comfortable enough in front of the boys, but not in front of Randy the perv.

"So you going to work out with us, then? You've come dressed for it, haven't you?" he continued. Randy eyed Geth as he spoke, knowing that it really bothered both of us to have him paying so much attention to me. I just wanted to hide, and Geth was starting to really get wound up.

"Actually, no, I've changed my mind. I'm just going to hang out, keep Gethin company," I said cheerfully, putting my arm around Geth's waist and hugging myself to him.

"Brilliant," Randy said. "Geth and me, we have a friendly rivalry in the exercise department. Pushes both of us to work that much harder, doesn't it, mate?" He clapped Gethin on the back again.

"But Geth has a show in a couple days, right, Geth?" I chirped. "No overworking this close to a show. You could pull something." I turned to Randy. "After all, he's the reason we're here. Nothing works if he doesn't, right?"

"Right, right. We'll be careful, won't we?" Randy looked at Gethin and winked. What a creep. "We'll keep it low impact, how about that?" He stood still as an idea hit him. "In fact, I have a great idea! This hotel has a pool! How about a swim? It doesn't get lower impact than swimming, does it? How about that, Gethin? You fancy a swim?"