Christmas with my Three Best Friends (Lucky Lady Reverse Harems)

Chapter 15

15

Jax

A week has passed since I last touched Shay in her office after seeing her with Vincent. I still can’t shake the rage. I have punched the sand out of the punching bags in my training hall, and I have yet to release the pressure that’s been building up since. I took her so hard and so mercilessly… she loved every second of it, but I couldn’t give her the reassurance she was probably hoping for. How could I, when the four of us have repeatedly insisted we’re just fucking around and making Shay’s naughty list come true? Nothing more, nothing less, because we’re friends and business partners before anything else.

Then again, the business side of things isn’t getting better, either. It’s bad enough there’s tension between the four of us on an intimate level. The gym’s low performance in this financial quarter has only made it worse.

I sit in one of the guest chairs in Richard’s office. Marius occupies the other one, while Richard shuts his laptop down and leans back in his recliner. The soggy Thursday afternoon has impacted my mood, and not for the better.

Things were easier in Chappaqua. It was just us. Four bodies and souls that made sense together. They still make sense, but the world around us is different. Colder. Meaner. Rougher. And Richard’s constant shifts in attitude toward the gym are concerning.

“It’s not looking good,” he says. “If this quarter continues in the same fashion, we won’t be able to cover our rent.”

“We haven’t implemented all of our new programs yet,” Marius replies. “We only need a bit more time.”

“Time isn’t something we have much of,” he says.

I scoff, cracking my knuckles in a bid to relieve some of the tension. “Rick, we’ve got enough on our plates as it is. Marius is right. We’ve been working our way through the new programs, trying to kick start them in a way that actually draws new customers in. We did the soft launch on that fitness and cardio evening program on social media. We did the soft launch on my kids only training on the weekend. We’re doing full launches next week.”

“I’m well aware and grateful to you both for all the effort you’re putting into it,” Richard replies. “I’m just not sure how we’re going to manage.”

“You could cover another month or two,” I suggest. “We’ll consider it a business loan and pay you back as soon as the new programs lead to new sign-ups. Shay wants to do a six-month subscription offer where the seventh month is free. That should get us some hard cash in advance before spring.”

Richard thinks about it for a moment while I let my gaze wander around his office. Unlike mine or Marius’s or Shay’s, Richard keeps very few personal items in this room. There are plenty of fitness and bodybuilding books, business and finance books, sure. A couple of his bodybuilding awards gather dust on a single shelf. A few photos and his fitness certificates on the eastern wall. But other than that, there isn’t much to suggest this is his office, his sacred place within our gym.

I remember his old office. I remember his home office, too. Both were infinitely more intimate and welcoming than what’s in this room—oddly enough, it’s the first time I’ve actually noticed what should’ve been a rather telling detail before. Richard’s heart isn’t into this place, not as much as it should be. No wonder he keeps considering the possibility of dropping out. It’s a bothersome thought I can no longer shake, especially in light of this uncomfortable conversation.

“How would you go about paying the loan back?” he asks me.

“We’d do even rates on a monthly basis as soon as business starts picking up,” I reply, then look to Marius for approval.

He nods slowly. “I think we’d be able to start paying you back from June onward.”

“And what if you can’t? What if the gym fails to grow its clientele?” Richard replies.

“Ye of little faith.” I sigh deeply as my little joke falls flat. “We’ve come this far, haven’t we?”

“And you remember the deal we made in the beginning, don’t you?” he shoots back.

His doubtful demeanor is starting to get on my nerves. I love this man like a brother. We’re sharing an incredible woman, a business, and a fitness passion—all three were supposed to be elements that brought us closer together, not pushed us apart. It’s too much for me to handle at this hour. The idea of losing this gym, of losing him as a partner… I can’t fathom any of it. So I stand up to my full height, giving him a hard look.

“Listen, Rick. I’m not ready to discuss failure just yet. You shouldn’t, either,” I say. “It sounds to me like you were never truly into this gym like Marius, Shay and I were and still are. You might as well admit it.”

“Jax… I’m a businessman, first and foremost. I have to consider every possibility, and I have to know your thoughts on each possible scenario so I can better plan,” he replies. “This isn’t personal. And trust me, my heart is in it all the way through, but my pragmatism forbids me from simply jumping head first without asking reasonable questions. You would do the same if you were in my place.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” I say. “I would devote myself to the business and go out of my way to make sure it survives its first two years before I call it quits.”

“Rick, Jax has a point here. We feel like you’re getting ready to jump ship, not merely weighing your options for the future,” Marius interjects. “And I get where he’s coming from. We may not have as much invested in this place as you, but we’ve got hours, sweat, and plenty of nerves at the foundation of this business. It counts as much as your cash…”

Richard concedes. “That’s true, and like I said, I’m not pulling the plug anytime soon. I simply wanted to know how—”

“No, you simply wanted to know the best way to weasel out of this deal, and I’m not ready to let you bail out just yet.” I point a stern finger at him. “I’m done for now. We’ll talk about this again next month, Rick, after we see an inevitable uptick in our sales figures.”

“Jax, hold on.” Richard tries to stop me, but I’m already out the door.

I need more than a few deep breaths for this anger to subside.

I stand by the reception desk, mindlessly watching some customers come and go. A few head for the lockers to change. Others get their gym passes back before they can leave. Somehow, this gym functions smoothly, regardless of our difficult conversations. We shouldn’t be having any difficult conversations. We should be working together. Sticking together through thick and thin.

Alice is busy sorting through the locker keys. For the umpteenth time, they’ve been scrambled and moved around. Either she or her colleagues put them in the wrong boxes again, and now they need to be taken out and put back in their appropriately numbered boxes. I watch her mumbling and grumbling like an old lady at the supermarket counting coins at the register. I can’t help but chuckle softly. For a moment, my mind is pulled away from the gym and relationship troubles I never thought I’d have to deal with in the first place.

“Hey, handsome,” Alice says when she notices me. Almost immediately, she shifts in her seat and turns to face me. “What brings you around here at this hour?”

I check my watch. “I’m always here at this hour.”

“No, you’re usually in there,” she replies, nodding at the training room behind me.

“Ah. Fair enough. Just needed to clear my head for a minute. I had a meeting with Rick and Marius.”

“You seem worried,” Alice says. The expression of concern on her face doesn’t stop her from straightening her back so I get a better view of her perky breasts. I don’t think she’s wearing a bra underneath our branded polo t-shirt. Not that it’s doing much for me. My mind is glued to Shay in every possible way. “Is something wrong?”

“Not really. Business stuff, mostly. Nothing for you to trouble yourself over.”

“You’re under a lot of pressure, I get it,” she says and slowly gets up. “I could give you a back rub to help with the tension in your shoulders.”

I stare at her, wondering where she gets the audacity. Fully aware that she and Richard had a bit of a thing before she came to work here, I know Alice only has a job here because he felt bad for her. She comes from a rougher neighborhood and had it rough growing up, but I also believe we are responsible for our choices and behaviors. Right now, her behavior is telling me she’s itching for something that would get other employees here in trouble.

“I’m good, thank you,” I reply with a dry smile. It should be enough to get her to back down.

But Alice comes closer. “Oh, come on, it’s not like I’m gonna bite. Besides, you need to chill out for a bit. Don’t you have clients coming in soon?”

“I do, which is why I’d rather just go in and work on my training program.”

“It’ll only take a minute,” she says, closing the distance between us.

The tension in my shoulders is certainly real, and it’s only getting worse as she puts her hands on my chest. She feels the muscles underneath the fabric of my t-shirt, fingers traveling upward over my shoulders as she squeezes gently. I can’t lie, it does feel nice, but her gesture carries an erotic component that is beyond inappropriate.

“See? I can already feel you relaxing,” Alice murmurs, inching closer.

“Maybe you should—”

“Oh, shush, Jax, we both know it feels good,” she purrs softly.

I should push her away, but my body won’t move. It’s not an attraction, I’m not interested in her. No, it’s my own doubt and insecurity regarding our relationship with Shay that’s messing with my senses. I’m hesitant in my response, even though every nerve cell in my brain is screaming at me to move back, to put some distance between us.

Alice giggles as she tries to wrap her arms around me, flirting outrageously. As if summoned by fate to smack me in the face, Shay walks out of the gym, pink-cheeked and sweating from her treadmill workout. She sees us, and whatever good humor she had until now is instantly gone.

The devastated look on her face has me reeling as I push Alice away. “I said no,” I growl and point at the keys still scattered across the reception desk. “You’ve got work to do, Alice, and so do I.”

“Okay, fine, Mr. Grumpy,” she scoffs and takes her seat, barely noticing Shay as she walks past us.

“Hold on, Shay.” I try to catch up with Shay, but she waves me away.

“I’m busy,” she says.

I hear the anger in her voice. I feel the disappointment. All it took was a moment of hesitation to further disrupt the balance between us. Naturally, I feel terrible. Unworthy. An absolute moron for not pushing Alice away immediately. It was bad enough that I’ve been constantly thinking about our business and its chances of success, about Richard’s inconsistency on the matter, about Chappaqua…

How could it ever work between us in the long term? Shay was right. I was used to being on my own, never settling down with anybody and just focusing on my career and my passions. I was used to living alone, my heart completely unattached. Now, however, there’s a string connecting my soul to hers, and the future isn’t looking as bright as it did a couple of weeks ago. I’m not sure where we’re headed, but maybe implementing that whole naughty list of hers was a bad idea, after all.