Bringing up the weights, I move to shoulder press. “What? The logical one? The one that lets actions speak before pre-conceived notions?”
Dagger stands, resting his hands on his knees hunched over. “You are the least logical motherfucker I know, Hart.” He waves his arm at the ceiling. “Your entire life doesn’t make sense. You live in a mansion that is bigger than a hotel. You get the hottest chicks but refuse to keep a girlfriend. You don’t have to work, and yet you have a career that forces you to work more often than not. So, while you’re over there spewing logic, we’ll all be over here on the other side of the fence looking at you like you’re nuts.”
Defense. He’s put me on defense and I hate feeling this way. Stomach twisting, fists bunching, but he’s my friend. He has to be speaking the truth, right? At least his version of the truth. “Don’t bring my life into this. You know better than that.”
“I only bring it up when your glaring wealth keeps you from relating to the rest of us.”
I drop the weights and they thud on the rubber floor. Turning to face my friend, I glare. “Because you’re so fucking relatable yourself? How many friends do you have outside of the Teams?”
He sighs and rolls his eyes. Like Marley does when she’s told no. “Oh, fuck off. No one outside of the Teams is…legit enough.”
I inhale in a deep breath. “You’re a crazy motherfucker, Dagger. That’s why no one is your friend. We all have things that aren’t relatable. I was born into a wealthy family. I can’t change that. It’s not like I came out of the womb with Franklins in my fist begging for my trust fund. I wanted to live a life of service and I also happen to be wealthy. That’s the order.”
“Yeah, yeah. Everyone knows how awesome the Hart family is. We got it.” Dagger drags knuckles across his lip to clear sweat on the way to a treadmill in the opposite corner of the gym. He’s finished talking and that’s the way it goes. It will be normal between us by the end of the workout, like the disagreement never happened. Partly because we’re good at bottling emotions, and partly because that’s how the brotherhood works. Nothing will sway my high opinion of him even if he pisses me off and vice versa.
I finish off my last set of dead lifts and head into the attached bathroom to shower. There’s a couple shower stalls in the room with a toilet and sink area. In the corner, there’s a soaking tub that I use to ice my body. A steam room and a sauna are down a narrow hallway to the right, and complete the workout facilities perfectly. It’s barebones compared to the lavish interior upstairs. I soap up with my favorite soap that Margarita keeps stocked in all of the bathrooms in case I shower, and I let my mind wander. What if I didn’t break up with Chantal? What if I flipped my narrative and tried something new? Some things I can’t change, like my financial status. Other things my friend mentioned, I could work on.
I shake my head. “Nope.”
Dagger is showering when I leave to go back upstairs. I hear him humming an eerie rendition of a popular song. He keeps some clothes in one of the guest bedrooms next to the gym. I’ll still be ready before him. Dagger’s hair takes forever.
Mayton’s will be an informal occasion, so I throw on some jeans and a black tee. There’s a wide mirror in the back of my closet. I pull on the sleeves because it’s tight around my biceps and slide my fingers into my wet hair and ruffle.
“Good to go.”
Chantal’s panties catch my eye on the floor by the bed. I toss them in the trash can in my bathroom and head for the kitchen to grab my phone. While it’s on my mind, I shoot Chase a text.
Luke: Chantal is out. Beware.
She’s a hostess at one of his nightclubs and he’s the one who introduced us at a party. Chase is basically the reason I have a sex life at all, honestly. It’s early in the day, so I know he won’t respond. He’ll be asleep for another couple hours.
“Let’s go, pretty boy,” I call out, cupping my hand by my mouth. I walk to the exit that leads to my garage and open bay door number four. The yellow Lambo. My favorite weekend ride.
Dagger walks out of the bay toward his truck and we head to Mayton’s.
