Free Second Lies (The Second Life Series) by Jessica Cruz Page A

dog he saw me as.  I might’ve been a stripper, but at least, I could afford the lifestyle I wanted to live.  Again, I hit the bag.  Hard .  The shock ran up my arm.
    “Faster,” Craig muttered. “You’re thinking too hard about this.”  I struck the bag, left, right, with powerful blows.  I kept going until my sides and arms hurt with an intense burn. “Good.”
    He handed me a bottle of water, and I guzzled it down wh ile he strapped on these leather, cushioned pads on each of his hands.  This was my favorite part.  Of course, I was aiming for the pads with each of my kicks and punches thrown, but they were still directed towards Craig.  This man knew exactly how to drive me crazy, so it was pure ecstasy to target my aggression at him.
    “Keep going,” he said as I continued my combination of hits. “C’mon, you can hit harder than that.  Don’t make me start calling you Paris again.” He shot me a grin that boiled my blood.  I was definitely not Paris.
    An hour went by, I was completely spent.  I felt a lot better than before though.  Craig took a seat next to me on the bench where I was downing water.  He stared ahead while he spoke to me, “So this guy, Garrett, is he your new boyfriend?”
    “More like my ex-boyfriend’s brother,” I rolled my eyes.   My life was always throwing a curve ball at me. “It’s not complicated.  We were drunk and having a good time.  That’s it.  There was nothing sexual about our relationship.”
    He laughed and shook his head full of his trademark bleach blonde spikey hair, “I saw the picture, Adriana.  It looks like he’s got a hard on sticking in your ass.”
    “Well, he didn’t.  Garrett is just a guy who I kind of knew who I ran into at a boring art show,” I shrugged. “It was better than drinking by myself.”
    As infuriating as he could be, Craig had turned into quite a friend over the past couple months.  He said what was on his mind and called me out when I was distracted about misplaced emotions.  It was exactly what I needed.  He was good to me…even though I wanted to hit him sometimes.
    “So if he’s not your boyfriend then that means you’re free to date?” He smirked his wide toothy grin at me.  I sighed, wondering where this was leading to. “My buddy’s in Philly for a few days.  How do you feel about a double date?  I promised him a good time if he came up to visit me, and all of Taylor’s friends are busy.”
    “ So I’m your last resort?” I shrieked. “Let me guess.  He’s some sort of giant meat head professional fighter like you?” I hated that type of guy.  They were all magnetized to my gym; it was like a constant, giant pissing contest in here.
    “Yeah, he’s a pro fighter,” Craig laughed, “but that doesn’t mean he’s not a cool guy.  Come out with us tonight.  Have a couple beers.  It’s not like you have a life anyway.  You’re always working out here.”  He gave me a small push to my arm. “You have my permission to take a night off.” He waved his hands in circles around me , making an annoying ghost noise at the same time. “I use my magical trainer powers to release you from a night of kicking the shit out of the bag while pretending that it’s me.”
    “You know that I do that?” I laughed.
    Craig frowned, “Well, now I do, but I guess I’m glad to be of some inspiration.”
    “Fine,” I laughed, going to the front to grab my coat. “Set it up.  Message me where to meet you, and I’ll be there.”
     
    Gloria walked into my apartment, carrying a bag full of makeup and accessories.  She looked me over, standing in nothing but a bathrobe with wet stringy hair. “Jesus, you weren’t kidding when you said you hadn’t put any effort into your outfit.”
    “I just got out the shower,” I closed the door behind her and plopped myself on the couch. “Honestly, I’m not sure why I agreed to this.  Dennis keeps calling me to attend these fucking dinners and