Free Save the Date by Susan Hatler

made me wish I’d put on more than my fluorescent yellow sports top and tight black shorts which, while comfortable for dance class, made me feel way too naked under Ethan’s gaze.
    There was a chill in his tone when he said, “You didn’t return my text.”
    Hearing the hurt in his voice melted my defenses. “I’m sorry.”
    He stepped aside, so the next person in line could claim my vacated treadmill. “I don’t want you to avoid me. We’re still friends, right?”
    Instead of reaffirming I wanted to move to a galaxy far far away from him, I said, “Of course.”
    The tension in his face relaxed. “I’m glad. I’d hate to think we couldn’t hang out anymore because of one slip.”
    A slip? What was that supposed to mean? Not that I thought kissing me should’ve rocked his world, but . . . actually, yes, it should have. It’d sure rocked mine.
    I gritted my teeth, and shrugged. “No big deal.”
    “Good.” He started toward a treadmill that had just opened up. “I’ll see you soon then.”
    “Okay,” I said, as he walked off.
    How infuriating. Here I’d been (unwittingly) picturing our future together all afternoon (and most of this evening), and he thought of it as a slip? Whatever.
    I started toward the locker room to shower, then spun around, and marched over to where Ethan had just started a slow jog. I tapped him on the arm, which was tantalizingly hard.
    He looked down at me, and frowned. “Did you forget something?”
    Yeah, I forgot to make my kiss memorable, apparently. My brows came together. “No, but, as a friend, I think it’s unfair that you’ve been dangling this secret over me all week. You need to tell me what it is.”
    The corner of his mouth turned up. “No.”
    Argh! When had Ethan become so irritating? “Why not?”
    He shrugged. “I’ll show you. But only when you finally admit you’re dying to see it.”
    I inhaled deeply. Ethan Harrison was the most infuriating friend ever. But I could play his game. “Not only am I dying to see it, but I would strip down to my underwear and run naked through this gym to see it.”
    Heat sizzled in his eyes, telling me our kisses had affected him, and he must’ve swallowed his tongue because he only made a choking noise in response.
    Ha. “Great. I’ll meet you in the lobby after your workout.”
    Satisfied, because he was gaping after me, I went to the locker room to take a shower.
    A cold one.
    ****
    After my shower in the locker room, I dressed, and was just about to zip out to the lobby when I heard a soft, mewing sound behind me. A row of lockers down, I found a slender red-head, sitting on a bench with her head in her hands. “Kaitlin?”
    Her head snapped up, and she swiped her cheeks. “Sorry. I didn’t know anyone else was in here.”
    Uh, yeah. There were several showers going right now and women lined up at the mirror grooming. “What’s wrong?”
    She shrugged helplessly. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
    Yeah, I’d said that plenty of times myself. “You can talk to me.”
    Her eyes watered. “I got laid off. I’ve been trying to find work, but there is absolutely nobody in this entire city who’s hiring in H.R. right now.”
    My entire body froze. “H.R.?”
    She nodded. “Human Resources. I was the H.R. Manager at my old office. I loved my job, but the company combined the position with the executive assistant’s in order to save costs.”
    A boulder formed in my stomach, and I dropped down on the bench next to her. “You loved it, huh?”
    “Passionately.” She sniffed. “I’d been with the company for four years, knew the job inside and out, then when they didn’t need me anymore, they let me go.”
    I felt my forehead wrinkle. “That’s awful.”
    “Well, they did give me two weeks severance, but that’s long gone. Unfortunately, I don’t have much in savings so I’ll have to move back in with my parents until I can find a job . . . I don’t know, scrubbing toilets or something.”
    Listening