After they stopped at a greasy diner for burgers and fries, they made their way to the park.
It was packed full of people taking advantage of the warm day. This winter had been mild in comparison to last year. Today was relatively warm at sixty, but the breeze kept a slight chill in the air, making it clear that winter hadn’t fully left yet. As she waited for Brody to get a blanket out of the car, she scanned the grass for a sunny spot, seeing that everyone else had the same idea.
Luckily, there was an area in the center of the field where they could settle in.
After Brody spread out the blanket, he motioned for her to sit, which she did, then he situated himself beside her as he dug into the bags and handed her the food. Silence descended between them. She watched the runners, the mothers pushing their babies around the walking path, the toddlers squealing as they ran through the fields. No words were needed between her and Brody.
They could just sit by each other and enjoy their surroundings.
She liked that.
What she didn’t like? That she wasn’t completely aware of him. When Tommy sat beside her, she was in tune to every shift he made. If he moved closer to her, her heart would stutter. If he shifted away, she’d anticipate the next time he would come near her again.
Why couldn’t she be more aware of Brody?
Did she need to try harder?
Maybe that was it. She scooted a little closer to him. When he followed her lead and slid next to her, bracing his arm behind her so his body cocooned her, she waited to feel something.
Anything.
There was nothing.
She blew out a frustrated breath.
Then Brody motioned with his cup to the other side of the park. “Well. Look who we have here.
Seems Tommy pops up wherever we are.”
“What?” Julie whipped her gaze toward the area where he was pointing.
There was a guy with a ball cap on over there with Mac Hannon, about half a football field away, in the middle of lowering his body into a plank position. When the guy launched his body off the ground to land on his feet and then jump up in the air, she gasped.
Tommy—and he was wearing the hat she’d bought him.
Sweat sleeked his skin. When he dropped back into plank, his arms flexed, displaying the always impressive muscles in his biceps and shoulders. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
God, he was the sexiest man on earth.
“My God, what’s he doing?” she whispered.
“Burpees.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know that.”
Brody chuckled. “Figured you might, but wasn’t sure how to answer the question.”
“I meant why is he with Mac?” As far as she knew, he hadn’t really talked to anyone from the training facility except Dante since Mike had told him to get out.
“Looks like they’re doing a conditioning session,” Brody said.
And Mac didn’t seem like he was close to letting up, either, with his stopwatch out. Even though she couldn’t make out the words, she could hear Mac yelling at Tommy. Not like that was anything new. Fighters all seemed to yell at each other when they trained, especially the coaches.
But what did this training session mean? Had Tommy decided to try to get back into MMA?
Would he even be able to? For his sake, she hoped so. She knew how much he loved fighting. But MMA also came with a lifestyle…one that had changed him. For the last four months he’d been away from it. What would happen if he stepped back into that life?
She shook her head. It was his life. As his friend, all she had to worry about was being supportive.
Worrying about those other things was girlfriend stuff. And that was not her place.
…
He felt fucking alive.
Tommy had been taking a run in the park when he’d bumped into Mac doing the same. They’d started bullshitting, and one thing led to another, and the next thing he knew they were both headlong into one of Mike’s conditioning sessions. One of them would stand with the stopwatch, barking orders, while the other busted serious ass to get as many completed as he could before time ran out. It was something Mike had set up because every damn one of the guys was so competitive.
By the end of the session, they’d had a killer workout of sprints, burpees, push-ups, and squats.
Tommy’s muscles quivered as his fingers bit into the grass for one last plank. His hands shook.
He was breathing hard. Adrenaline pumped through him. He’d been working out solo for so long, he hadn’t realized how much he missed the rush, the high that came with competition, of having someone yell at him to move faster.
“All right.” Mac clicked the button on his stopwatch. “I think we’ve about killed ourselves today.”
Chuckling, Tommy pushed up from plank and brushed off his hands. “Damn, man, that was awesome.”