Page 10 of Love at First Rep

Garrett gasped, as if he hadn’t taken a breath in too long.

“I still can’t believe you’re here,” he rasped. “Tell me again this is real.”

Rafe took two slow steps toward Garrett, meeting him where he stood. He raised his hand, reaching for Garrett’s face, but instead of pressing his hand against Garrett’s cheek, he flicked his ear.

“Ow! What the fuck was that for?

“I’m proving it’s real,” Rafe said with a shit-eating grin.

Garrett grumbled all the way up the stairs, and Rafe did his best not to ogle Garrett’s ass as he followed.

He failed.

5

RAFE IS ALIVE.

Rafe is back in my life.

Rafe is a lying son of a bitch.

Rafe didn’t have a choice.

Rafe is alive.

Garrett cycled through the same thoughts over and over again as he threw weight around at the gym a little more aggressively than normal.

He was in the middle of a round of Russian kettlebell swings when Tobias approached him.

“Hey, don’t extend too far when you’re taking it over your head. You don’t want to rip your arms out of their sockets.”

Shit, Tobias was right.

His anger was affecting his workout, and even though he was in great shape, bouncing back from an injury wasn’t easy at forty.

On his next rep, he made the adjustment and tried not to kill himself for the rest of the workout.

He thanked the universe for the reprieve from the clusterfuck back at home. The gym tended to be his safe space. It was a large open area, like a warehouse, except a boxing ring stood in the back corner, ropes and rings hung from the ceilings, freestanding punching bags gathered in another corner and the longest squat rack he’d ever seen lined one wall. It was everything he required, especially when he needed to destress.

The day before, he’d left Rafe to his own devices while he went to work, and he’d prepared himself for chaos when he returned. But all he found was Rafe passed out in his guest room, snoring softly.

Rafe could sleep like the dead when it suited him, but he’d always managed to wake at the drop of a hat if the situation called for it.

Standing in the bedroom doorway, Garrett remembered the time they took shifts sleeping outside on a rocky outcrop. Rafe was sound asleep until the rumble of a truck had him snapping awake, his gun at the ready, prepared to face anything in a matter of seconds.

Garrett let him sleep. He had no idea how long he’d traveled to get to him or what he’d been through. He had so many questions for Rafe, but they could wait until the next day.

When he awoke that morning and Rafe was still sound asleep, he figured he might as well head to the gym.

Now, he put every one of his frustrations, his anger, his confusion into his workout, and if he wasn’t careful he’d hurt himself.

With Rafe back in his life, he feared getting hurt was inevitable.

How could it not be?

Once he had Rafe in his arms, it was like twenty years had disappeared and all his feelings for his best friend returned like they’d never left.

He couldn’t forget some of Rafe’s last words to him, though.