Chapter Thirty
Severine hopped back and forth anxiously. It was seven in the morning, on a weekend. She should be studying for finals, creeping on Facebook, calling her mom. Instead, she was pounding on Anne’s door.
After Severine’s tenth pound, she answered. A blanket was tossed around her shoulder, part of her black hair was sticking straight up, and she had a serious case of morning breath. “What. The. Hell. Do. You. Want?”
“Go to the gym with me,” Severine said anxiously.
Anne groaned and leaned her body against the doorframe dramatically. “Screw you, Severine. It’s what, four in the morning?”
“It’s seven.”
“What’s the difference?” Anne grumbled.
It was time to be in bed, sleeping the morning away. But Severine needed a breather—from everything. “Can you just get dressed and go with me?”
“Why now? Are you Rocky? Are you training for a boxing match?” Anne peered closer, and checked Severine’s eyes. “Did you take speed or something? No human should be awake at this time.”
“I agree, but I finished studying a few hours ago, and I can’t sleep.”
Anne nodded groggily. “You know you’re screwing up my REM cycle, right?”
“Meet me downstairs.”
“Bite me, Severine.”
* * * * *
Severine had never been a good runner on a treadmill. Was it just her or did everyone feel at some point they were going to fall off the damn thing and bust their ass? It made her nervous.
Next to her was Anne, who was walking as slow as a snail. She said she was walking off her sleep hangover. Severine wholly believed her. But Anne hadn’t complained once the entire two hours they had been there. Anne knew why Severine was up. They didn’t have to say anything; she was just there for her.
The screen flashed: three miles. For once while working out, it was a fast three miles. She slowed the machine to a cool down and stared up at the flat screen mounted in front of her.
Her muscles burned in pain. It was helping, though. The anger rolled off her in waves and down to her feet, pounding away all her hatred. Severine pressed stop and chugged a bottle of water.
“I thought you were gonna run the belt off.”
Severine kept her expression neutral and turned around. In front of her, Thayer stood in a pair of basketball shorts and a cut off. He looked at her with no sympathy. Severine could’ve kissed him for that.
“You feel better?”
She shrugged her shoulders but smiled. “I’d feel better if I could rip your brother’s eyes out.”
His lips went into a thin line. “Ben told me that Lily wants you to stay with them.”
Severine walked in step with Thayer. “Benji has-”
“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Anne shouted behind them. “I’m okay over here!”
Severine turned back to look at her friend. Her head was inches away from Thayer’s bicep. Even sweaty, he smelled good. “I’m waiting for you!”
“Hardly. I’m gonna head out early. I think you kicked your anger right in the ass. Adios, Severine.” Anne halted in front of Thayer and craned her neck up to his face before looking at Severine. “No one should look this good after a workout.” She walked away but shouted out, “No one!”
“So, Anne still likes me.”
“Anne likes no one. And why would anyone dislike you?”
“Because of the whole...”
“You didn’t cheat on me.” Severine looked around the gym as she waited for the awkwardness to kick in or for Thayer to find an excuse to leave. It never arrived.
“Have you talked to Mac?” he asked quietly.
Severine motioned for him to follow her. “Barely. When I do, none of my questions get answered.”
Thayer nodded his head. “So you’re really not going to take him back?”
It was the tone of his voice that made Severine stop walking. He stopped with her but stared ahead with a frown on his face. “No, I’m not. Do you find that hard to believe?”
“Maybe I do.”
“I can’t persuade you to believe it. There’s really nothing left to salvage.”
He opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to say more, but he quickly shut it. “I don’t think he’s going to give up, Blake.”
Severine looked down at the ground. “Does it really matter anymore? Besides, it’s not like we were together for years or even a year. Hell, Thayer, it was only a few weeks. Kids in middle school have longer relationships.”
“People f*ck up, though.”
Severine looked up him at sharply. “Are you standing up for him?”
“I’m the last person that will stand up for him. But what are you going to do in your next relationship? What if the next guy does something stupid?”
“Simple. I’ll just stick to my serial dating. My graphical chart has proven that going on a few dates and moving on has been a statistical success.”
“Because you get to know none of them,” Thayer muttered.
Severine huffed and placed her hands on her hips. “Really? You’re going to give me advice? You do the same thing.”
He smirked, but his eyes were serious. “Because I know from date one who’s worth my attention and efforts.”
“You can tell that quickly?”
Thayer snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”
His face was pensive as he waited for her to speak. Severine thought over her words and avoided his gaze. “I think you’re right about one thing.” Thayer merely raised his eyebrows. “I’m realizing that I knew nothing about Macsen. I thought I knew who he was, but there’s another side of him that I’ve never seen.”
“You have no idea,” Thayer said seriously.
She wanted to suddenly blurt out how sorry she was for judging him so quickly. Funny how she saw the side of Thayer no one ever did. How much she preferred it to the snarky, quiet one that every girl sighed over and loved.
“I didn’t, did I?” Severine asked him. “That’s my mistake. I won’t make it again.”
Thayer looked at her and stepped closer. “He’s one guy, Severine. Don’t place the rest of us in that light.”
“I won’t.” Severine didn’t know if she could keep true to her words. Once you’ve been burned, it was possible to forget, but a scar would always be there, reminding you of the one mistake.
“Hey.” Thayer nudged her lightly on the shoulder. A part of Severine wanted him to keep his hand there. “You looked like shit running on the treadmill.”
“Thank you for that.”
“That’s why I wondered if you’d want to run with me upstairs.”
“Upstairs?”
“Above the court, there’s a small track for people to run.”
Severine automatically looked up to the ceiling. “Since when?”
“Since forever. Follow me—it’s on the opposite side. You would’ve noticed before, by the magic of sight...”
Severine aimed a kick at his calf, and he dodged out of the way with a boyish smile playing on his face. “Come on, Blake.” He grabbed her hand in his, without asking, and without caring what they’d look like.
Severine held tight and followed him to the opposite side of the building. When they reached the basketball court, sure enough, a set of stairs was right next to the entrance. They walked up the stairs, and Severine’s legs were already cringing in pain. “So this has been here the whole time? Am I the only one that has been clueless about this?”
“Nah. If you venture this far you’d notice it, but you’re not a true gym rat.”
The small track came in sight. Only one other person ran quietly. It was a perfect place for Severine to run off all her stress in silence.
“So you want me to go? I’ll run with you.”
Severine riveted her gaze at Thayer.
He shifted forward on the balls of his feet. “If you want me to. You just seem...” his eyes glanced at her thoughtfully, “lonely.”
She was, completely and wholly. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Severine watched him nod and look away. She didn’t miss the slight smirk on his face as he went to stretch. She was finding more reasons to count on Thayer—more reasons to depend on him when she wanted to break down and fewer reasons to care about having feelings for him.