For now, at least.
I take out my phone, quickly glancing at my schedule for tomorrow.
“Really? Checking your phone now? I’m hurt,” Dylan teases, pretending to stab himself through the heart.
I snicker under my breath, locking the phone and putting it back in my pocket. “Just checking to see what time I need to head into work.”
Dylan snickers. “You’ve been here drinking with me for the past couple of hours and you just think to check that now?”
I shrug. “Didn’t occur until just now. Normally, my times are pretty consistent, but I start training a new client tomorrow. My schedule is already so packed—and now they add this. I don’t know why they didn’t give them to Jillian.”
Dylan laughs, shaking his head in mock sympathy. “Yes, it’s truly shocking.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Seriously, dude?” He makes a pointed WTF face.
I stare at him.
He sighs heavily. “It’s because you’re the big-deal Instagram star. People actually want to train withyou, not whore Barbie.”
I huff a laugh at the colorful nickname for my ex, not really in the mood to dive into the intricacies of my social media status. “Yeah, yeah. In reality, it just means I have to wake up an hour earlier.”
Dylan gives me a slap on the back, smirking. “Come on, man. Who knows? Maybe this new client will be a breath of fresh air. Something to shake up your routine. You need that right now.”
I raise an eyebrow, the idea intriguing, yet unlikely. “Maybe. But I’m not holding my breath.”
I glance at my phone one more time, the name of the new client is just another line in a sea of appointments. Unremarkable and unknown.
And yet, as I slip the device back into my pocket, there’s a strange flutter in my stomach—an inexplicable sense of anticipation that I can't quite shake off.
Probably the beer and Dylan’s prediction, come to think of it.
I need to forget that night and focus on the here and now.
“Let’s hit the road,” I say, pushing back from the bar. “We’ve both got early mornings.”
Dylan groans. “Don’t remind me.”
I slap him on the back. “You’re the one who wanted to run a coffee shop, man. You have no one to blame but yourself.”
He nods. “Don’t I know it.”
We throw down our cash to cover the tab and tip and I wave at Brian. He’s busy talking to another patron, but he tips his chin in goodbye. Then, Dylan and I head out into the cool night air.
I can’t shake this strange feeling. Like I’m on the cusp of finally breaking free from Jillian’s shadow.
I throw a casual arm around Dylan’s shoulders. “To new beginnings, eh?”
He chuckles, wrapping his arm around my waist. “And the mysterious women who make them happen.”
CHAPTER2
Carlie
The shrill cry of my alarm wrenches me from sleep—a rude intrusion if you ask me.
Why did I do this to myself?