Chapter 5
Finn
Ineedtofocus.
I’ve been bouncing the tip of my pen on top of my knee for the past ten minutes, the numbers on the computer screen blurring in front of me as my mind keeps drifting off.
Or rather, drifting towardher.
I don’t know why I can’t get the image of her in that ruby-red leotard and those skintight shorts out of my head. It’s been days. I’ve seen enough half-naked women in my life to know I’m not that easily affected by them.
The thing is, I’m not thinking about her body. Or not only, at least. I’m mostly thinking about the way she looks when she goes through her routines.
She might think that night four days ago was the first time I’d seen her, but truth is, Ihavebeen the tiniest bit of a creep. I helped my mom out with cleaning a few times over the past two weeks, and every time I went to the gym, no matter how late, she was still there, practicing. That night was simply the first time I found the guts to say something.
But all those times I watched her, I couldn’t look away. Not wouldn’t.Couldn’t. It felt like watching a comet, knowing you’d get burned and still not moving an inch, the sight too wonderful to miss.
Throughout the years, we’ve had a few good gymnasts practice with us. One that went on to qualify in the World Championships a few years back, and the others performing well in one event or the other.
But Lexie? She’s in a league of her own.
She’s not good. She’s exceptional. And with the right training, she could make it big. I assume that’s her goal too. If not, she wouldn’t be practicing until god knows what time every night after work.
With my feet on the desk, I stretch back and look around. The office—my office—is decorated with all kinds of memorabilia I’ve collected over my years abroad. When you spend the majority of your twenties lounging on a beach chair in Bali or couch surfing in Europe, you don’t get to collect that much furniture or, let’s be honest, that much money. But trinkets that serve as memories, I have those by the dozens. When I first got the job, there was no official office for the farm’s manager, but ever since I took over and worked on some expansion, Martina and Dennis—Aaron’s parents, and my parents’ closest friends—have given me the okay to build one for myself in one of the barns, and I personalized it the moment I stepped inside.
The spreadsheet continues calling to me from the computer, but I know I won’t be able to focus on anything before I settle this.
I pick my phone up from the desk, then dial my mother. She answers on the third ring.
“Hey, you.”
“Hi. Got a minute?” I ask as I get up and start walking around the office. It’s not large, but it’s a place I love spending time in, with its bright-orange accent wall that reminds me of Tuscan rooftops and the soft linen couch I’ve taken a few naps on when I’ve woken up early for one task or another.
“Sure. Give me a sec.” I hear voices behind her, so she’s still at the gym. “Everything okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, why?”
“It’s not like you call me often,” she says, clearly aiming to make me feel bad.
“Mom, I see you more in a week than any respectable twenty-eight-year-old should see their mother.” Whenever she makes too much of one recipe for dinner, she invites me over, and more than half the time, I accept her offer.
What can I say? I’m a homebody these days.
She laughs. “Yeah, maybe.” A door closes in the back, then the voices disappear. “So, what’s going on?”
“I wanted to ask about that new girl you hired,” I say, as if I didn’t already know her name. As if I hadn’t alienated the girl already. I’m not delusional enough to believe Lexie will actually get over what happened in Italy that easily. If she were my sister, I wouldn’t want her to.
“What about her?”
“Well, I’ve seen her practice, and she’s good.”
“I assumed so. She has Olympic goals.”
“Wow.” So I was right. Sheisgreat. “So why’s she training here?”
“She answered the job offer for full-time coach, but her one condition was that she could practice in the gym whenever she wasn’t working.”
“So she doesn’t have a coach?” I ask as I scratch the back of my head. Maybe I just haven’t seen them around. Someone she’d have hired from another gym, maybe? That would make more sense than the other option. You can be a damn good athlete, but without a coach backing you, it’s almost impossible to get far, or at least far enough.
