Free The Trainer by Jamie Lake Page A

And if he was, what would happen if his ex found out? He knew she’d use it against him somehow to extort more money from him. Worse yet, she might keep his daughter away from him. His heart stopped at the mere thought of it.
    No, whatever had happened, whatever was going to happen, he probably shouldn’t encourage it to continue. He needed to keep it just business and pretend it never had happened.
    But still, long after his daughter had gone to bed in her bedroom, he found himself staring up at the ceiling then out the window in his own bed, thinking about Chris.
     
     

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CHAPTER 14
     
    A s he approached him on the basketball court, Chris had no idea how close Mason had come to cancelling the next morning’s session.
    “Hey, morning,” Mason said, acting casual.
    “Good morning,” Chris said, working up a smile.
    “How’d you sleep?” Mason said , making no eye contact as he turned a medicine ball around in his hands.
    “Good, good ...” Chris said, anxiously wondering if he would ever look up, and if he would acknowledge that something happened between them, or, if worse yet, that they had made a mistake.
    “So, I thought we’d do something a little different today,” Mason said briskly. “Tossing the medicine ball back and forth is a great way to get that core strong.”
    “Sure, sounds great,” Chris said, sounding distracted. Incredible feelings of hurt  were beg inning to sting in Chris’ chest.  Even if things weren’t sexual yesterday, he still thought that at least they had made a strong connection as friends: Mason was acting as detached as a dentist or an airline employee.
    “So, catch,” Mason said , tossing him the ball. Chris almost lost his balance, but caught it and spun, the strain and effort snapping him out of his trance.
    “So...I don’t even want to mention her name...but I see about your ex,” Chris said, cracking a smile.
    “Oh, my God. I was so embarrassed, man,” Mason said. “Now you see why I’m ready to pull my hair out when I’m around her.”
    “I’d do worse than that,” Chris said. “I’d probably leap to my death.”
    Mason laughed darkly.
    “Your ex and my ex ought to get together.  What a team they would make,” Chris said.
    “Is he that bad?” Mason asked.
    “He’s awful, Mason. I don’t like to talk badly about people. It was never a habit before he dumped me, but he’s just so cold and heartless. I can’t believe I didn’t see it in him. We were together for almost four years.”
    “Four years, wow . So, if he came to you, apologized, and said he wanted you back, you wouldn’t take him back in?” Mason asked, as if he were testing the waters of what things might look like in Chris’s future.
    Chris hesitated just a tad too long for Mason’s taste before he blasted, “No. God, no.”
    “Ah, your heart’s still with him. That’s sad if he really is as terrible as you say.”
    “What makes you say that?” Chris asked , defensively.
    “Just a feeling I get. I’m pretty good at reading people.”
    “Yeah?” Chris said. “And what else do you read about me?”
    Mason shrugged, tossing the medicine ball back . “I don’t know. That you’re a good guy. That you care about people. I haven’t even read any of your writing, and I can tell you’re an amazing writer. I bet you’ll be a huge success. That you’re smart. I know you said you wanted to have kids one day, and I can tell that you’d make an amazing dad one day if you wanted to.”
    “That’s all?” Chris cracked a smile, tossing the medicine ball again. “Jeez, you make me sound amazing.”
    “No, it's just...your ex was stupid to dump you, that’s all. And you’re lucky he did, because you deserve better. You’re a real catch.”
    The words lingered with Chris , and he felt the tingle of excitement, the warm glow of happiness at Mason’s praise. When he walked over suddenly, his expression changing to one of sober