More to Us Page 21

  "Kira, what's wrong?"

  "Nothing," she snaps.

  "Are you mad at me? Because I wouldn't add more weight?"

  She sighs. "No. But I don't appreciate you telling me what I can and can't do. I know my limit, and my limit is fifty more pounds."

  "Fine." I stand back. "Go ahead."

  "You don't have to watch me."

  "I'm your trainer. That's what I do."

  She starts to extend her legs and I can already see it's way too much weight. But she grits her teeth and grabs the side handles and pushes through it. One rep and her face is already red.

  "Kira, I'm serious. That's too much weight. Straining that much raises your blood pressure."

  "I'm 21. My blood pressure is fine." She does another rep, forcing a breath out as she extends her legs, gripping the hand bars even harder as she lowers her legs.

  Why is she doing this? Why is she pushing herself like this?

  "Would you please stop watching me?" she asks after the fourth rep. "I've got this. I don't need you to spot me on the machines. And it's getting late. You need to finish your own workout."

  Why is she in such a bad mood today? She wasn't like this last week when we worked out together.

  I walk away, feeling frustrated and a little angry. I'm not someone who gets angry very often, but I do when someone I care about is doing something that isn't good for them. Like my dad and his smoking. He goes outside after meals and smokes and I yell at him for it but he never listens. He says a couple cigarettes a day won't kill him, but I don't want to risk it. I already lost my mom. I don't want to lose my dad too.

  I return to the free weight area and do some pull-ups on the bar. Just as I'm starting my fifth one, I hear weights clanking down. I let go of the bar and turn back and see Kira still on the machine but grabbing her leg, her eyes squeezed shut, biting her lip.

  I race over to her. "Kira, what's wrong?"

  Her eyes pop open. She looks panicked seeing me there. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

  "Don't lie to me." I put my hands on her leg. "Where does it hurt?"

  "It doesn't. It was just a leg cramp. It's gone now."

  "Your leg cramped because you were using too much weight." I step back. "Get off the machine. You're done."

  "I was already finished anyway. Hamstring curls are next but that guy's on the machine." She motions to him. "Maybe I'll do the calf press." She slowly gets up.

  "You're not doing any more today. You've done enough."

  "I'm not done. I have the whole circuit to go through." She takes a step and her right leg buckles. I catch her before she hits the ground. "Another leg cramp," she says, holding onto me as she stands up.

  "That was more than a leg cramp. You shouldn't have been lifting that much weight. Now you hurt your leg."

  "I didn't hurt it," she says in a hushed, angry tone. "It cramped up. Everyone gets leg cramps. Now would you let go of me?"

  "Only if you don't do any more."

  "But I'm not—"

  "You're done." I keep hold of her arm. "You still have to bike to campus, then walk to class. Trust me, your lower body will get plenty of exercise."

  She sighs. "Fine."

  I let her go. "I'm gonna go get cleaned up for work, then I'll drive you back to your apartment so you don't have to take the bus."

  "I don't mind taking the bus."

  "Just let me take you. I guarantee you'll like my truck better than the bus." I smile. "And if you ride with me, the driver will give you a kiss when he drops you off."

  She smiles back, that angry look finally going away. "Okay. I'll get my stuff and wait by the front desk."

  I watch as she walks to the locker room, limping a little. Damn, she's stubborn. If she'd just listened to me she wouldn't be limping right now.

  She's quiet as we drive back to her apartment.

  "What time do you have class?" I ask as I pull up to her building, parking right in front of the door so she can just go right in.

  "Not until ten," she says.

  "You need to get some ice on that." I point to her leg.

  "I don't need ice. It was a leg cramp." She opens her door and turns to leave.

  I hold onto her arm. "Why are you lying to me?"

  "I'm not." She sounds angry again and keeps her back to me.

  "You hurt your leg. It wasn't just a cramp. Leg cramps go away."

  "It was a cramp." She pulls on her arm but I don't let go.

  "You were limping when you went to the locker room. You hurt your leg, and I want you to put ice on it."

  She nods. "Yeah, fine. I will."

  "Kira."

  "What?"

  "I don't know why you're so mad at me today, but can I get a kiss goodbye?"

  She finally turns around, smiling weakly. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. I'm just tired, and stressed about class."

  "You're gonna do great." I kiss her. "I'll call you later, okay?"

  "Yeah. Thanks for the ride."

  She limps a little as she goes through the door. It really pisses me off that she did that. I hate seeing her hurt, and even though I warned her, I still feel like it's my fault. I shouldn't have let her lift all that weight. I should've lowered it, then stayed there and watched her.

  My phone rings. It's Jake.

  "Hey, you back from the cabin?" I ask.

  "Yeah, we got back late last night. We had a good time, but I kind of missed not being at the Wheeler Labor Day cookout."

  "You didn't miss much. It was the same as always."

  "Yeah, but still. Traditions. Gotta keep them going. So I heard you brought a guest yesterday."

  "Yeah. Kira came over."

  "You've been dating this girl for over a week. Must be serious." He chuckles.

  "Maybe. I don't know yet."

  "So it really is serious? I was just kidding around. I didn't know you liked her that much."

  "It's too soon to know what's going to happen, but right now, everything's going great."

  "Then I think you'll like my news."

  "Why? What's going on?"

  "An apartment opened up in my building. It's just a studio, but I figured that's perfect for you since you aren't home much. You always say how much you like my loft so now you'd have your own. And you'd finally get out of Dad's house so you could have girls over. Or one girl in particular." I hear the smile in his voice.

  "How much is the rent?"

  "I'm not sure, but it's a studio so it'll be less than mine. So what do you think?"

  "Yeah. I'm definitely interested."

  "Then you'll have to act fast. Sometimes these rent out within the day."

  "I'm on my way to work. I can't get over there right now."

  "Then meet me here at lunch. I'll talk to the manager and tell her you're coming to see it."

  "Sounds good. Thanks."

  I've been putting off getting an apartment but I think it's time now. I get along great with my dad and have no problem living with him, but sometimes I do want more privacy. And now that I have a girlfriend, I don't just want privacy, I need it. I need my own place.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kira

  "I got an apartment," Austin says as he comes in the door, a huge smile on his face. It's six-thirty and I invited him over for dinner. His arms go around me and he kisses me. "Now we can finally be alone. No roommates. No family walking in. Just us."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "My brother, Jake, told me about an opening at his apartment building. It's just a studio but that's all I need. I went there and checked it out during lunch, then I went back after work and put a deposit down. Someone else also wanted it but I got it before they did."

  "That's great! When do you move in?"

  "Not until the end of September. I was hoping to move in earlier than that but that's the soonest it's available. But it's less than a month away."

  I loop my arms around his neck. "So you'll finally be able to have girls over?"

/>   "Just ONE girl." He kisses me. "Is Amber home?"

  "No. She won't be back until after ten. I haven't started dinner so..."

  "Forget dinner." He lifts me up and I wrap my legs around him. "I already ate."

  I laugh. "I did too."

  "I knew you didn't invite me over here to eat," he says, carrying me into the bedroom.

  "I will some other time, but we haven't done this since Sunday and—"

  He kisses me, and starts undressing me, and I forget whatever it was I going to say. We have sex, twice, then linger in my bed until Amber gets home. I'd like Austin to spend the night but I have homework to do.

  It's only the first day of class and I'm already losing motivation. I'm in classes I don't even want to be taking but my advisor assures me they'll count towards whatever major I choose. But I have no idea what that will be. I talked to some people in class today, all freshman since I'm taking all freshman classes, and at 18, they all know what they want to do with their lives. They've got it all mapped out, just like Amber does. But I have no clue what I want to do. My mind is solely focused on gymnastics. That's the only thing that interests me.

  The week goes by and I see Austin every night. I also see him in the morning at the gym. I didn't tell him this, but I started going to the campus gym in the afternoon because I feel like my morning workouts aren't enough.

  Ever since the incident with my leg the other day, Austin is keeping a closer eye on me during our workouts and keeps fighting with me every time I want to add more weight to a machine. I told him he can't train me if he's going to limit how much I can do, but he still tries to, which is why I decided to work out on my own later.

  So in the afternoon, I go to the campus gym. I mostly do cardio, along with some stretching and yoga to maintain my flexibility. Sometimes I also do weights, but lighter weights than I do in the morning, and I increase the reps.

  All this working out is paying off. I feel myself getting stronger and my endurance increasing. But my leg isn't holding up well. It's used to gentler workouts for shorter amounts of time. It doesn't like being pushed to the limit. It hurts all the time so I load up on ibuprofen to make the pain more manageable.

  Between the workouts and spending time with Austin, I haven't had much time to study. I had a quiz last Friday and barely passed. It doesn't count much toward my final grade, but still, I can't get another barely-passing grade, which is why I spent most of this past weekend doing homework and studying.

  Now it's Sunday night and I'm finally allowing myself to relax and watch movies with Austin. We had dinner, followed by sex, and now we're lying on the couch. Amber's gone again. She's been gone every night this week. I don't know where she goes. I can't keep track of her schedule.

  My phone rings but I ignore it because it's on the coffee table and I can't reach it. I'm lying in between Austin and the couch and I don't want to get up.

  "Don't you want to get that?" Austin asks as the phone continues to ring.

  "I'm too comfortable. I don't want to move."

  He chuckles and sits up enough to get the phone. "What the hell?" he says, holding the phone up. "It's some guy named Luke."

  I laugh. He's just teasing. He knows Luke is my little brother. "Give it here."

  He hands it to me and I answer. "What do you want, goofball?"

  "We just got back from camping," he says, sounding excited. He's 10, and still in that little kid stage where everything's exciting. "And guess what?"

  "What?"

  "I made a fire all by myself. Dad showed me how."

  "That's cool. What else did you guys do?"

  "Went biking. The trail was all muddy. It was so awesome. I got covered in mud."

  I laugh. I'm sure my mom loved that. She's probably in the laundry room right now pre-treating all the mud stains on their clothes. She's an expert at getting stains out, a skill she learned while raising three boys who love playing in the mud.

  "Where's Mom?"

  "I think she's doing laundry."

  Just like I said. She's off fighting stains. I think she secretly likes doing it. She sees it as a challenge, almost a war. It's her against the stains and she's determined to win.

  "I caught a snake!" Luke says.

  "Gross! Why'd you pick up a snake?"

  "I didn't pick him up. I set a trap and caught him. Then I let him go."

  I swear, my brothers do the weirdest things. Who would want to catch a snake? I run whenever I see them.

  "How's school going?"

  "It's okay. Josh has a girlfriend." He says it in a singsongy way that tells me Josh just walked in.

  I hear him in the background. "Shut up or I'll tell everyone you wet the bed last night."

  "I didn't wet the bed!" Luke yells.

  I hear Josh laughing, then hear his voice as he takes the phone. "Luke spilled his water bottle all over his sleeping bag. It looked like he wet his bed. Nate took a picture in case we need it for blackmail sometime."

  "You guys are so mean."

  "Hey, he deserves it. The idiot caught a snake and let it loose in the tent. Scared the shit out of me."

  "Josh!" I hear my dad yell. "Watch your language."

  "I gotta go," he says. "Talk to you later."

  My dad gets on the phone. "How's it going, honey? We missed you this weekend. Camping wasn't the same without you."

  "Between the mud and the snake, I think I'm glad I didn't go."

  He chuckles. "Yes, well, we still missed you."

  "I miss you guys too." I really do miss them. My brothers drove me insane when I lived there, but now I miss them. And my parents.

  "How are classes? Did you get your homework done?" he asks as if I'm a kid who needs the reminder.

  "Yes, Dad." I roll my eyes and see Austin smiling at me. "My homework is done. And classes are fine."

  "How's everything else going? Did you and Amber go out last night?"

  "No. She had to go to some event for a club she's in. I swear she's in like fifty clubs."

  "Why don't you join one? It'd be a good way to meet people."

  "Clubs are too much work. Amber's never even home."

  "So what'd you end up doing last night?"

  "I went to hear Austin's band. Then we went out and got something to eat."

  "You've been spending a lot of time with that boy. Is this getting serious?"

  "No." It's not true, but I can't tell my dad that. He's always lecturing me not to get serious with a boy until I'm out of college and have a job. This is despite the fact that he met my mom in college and married her a month after they graduated. But apparently I'm not supposed to do the same thing.

  "I don't want him interfering with your school work. And you shouldn't be spending all your time with him. You need to find some other friends, preferably girls."

  "Yeah. Got it," I say, still snuggled up next to Austin. Thank God my dad can't see us. Austin is shirtless, and I'm in a tank with no bra and a pair of lace-trimmed, boy-short panties. "So is Mom around?"

  "She's doing laundry. Your brothers and I got ourselves into some mud and you know how your mother is. As soon as we got home, she had to get to work on those stains." He chuckles. My mom's stain obsession is a long-running joke in our family. "She said she'll call you later."

  "That's fine."

  There's a loud noise in the background.

  "That didn't sound good," my dad says. "I better go see what your brothers are up to. We'll talk soon, honey."

  "Yeah. Bye."

  "How's the family?" Austin asks, taking my phone and setting it back on the table.

  "Crazy as always. They just got back from a camping trip."

  "How'd it go?"

  "There was mud and a snake. That's about all I know."

  "Sounds like a fun trip."

  I smile. "Sound similar to your family trips? With four boys, I'm guessing there was a lot of mud involved."

  "Mud. Snakes. Frogs. You name it. If it was disgusting or made a mess,
we were all over it." He chuckles. "I don't know how my mom survived. At least your mom had a daughter to help balance out all the testosterone."

  "True, but I was kind of a tomboy growing up. I kind of still am. I like camping, and I don't mind getting muddy. I'm not a girly-girl."

  He slips his hand under my waist and pulls me against him on the couch. "I think you're pretty girly." His other hand tugs down my tank and he cups my breast and smiles. "Like this right here? All girl."

  "Well, yeah." I kiss him. "I'm girly in some ways."

  We continue kissing and end up back in the bedroom.

  The next week, school gets even busier. I'm assigned tons of reading, a paper to write, and I have two tests to study for. I'm taking four classes, or five if you count the lab. I had to take a science course, so I took biology which has a lab. Actually, biology isn't that bad. So far, I'd say it's my favorite class. I've never considered myself a science person, but I am interested in health and fitness, which is a type of science. My biology class is for non-science majors so the professor tries to limit the scientific jargon and use examples we can relate to. Right now, we're studying metabolism, which I find interesting because I like learning about nutrition.

  Austin has been coming over every night, but I only let him stay a couple hours. I'd love for him to stay longer but I need time to get my homework done. I've been in class for two weeks and already feel like I'm falling behind.

  Now it's Friday night and we're driving over to Van and Dylan's house for a party. They only live a block away from their college campus so I'm sure the place will be packed with college students.

  I've been preparing myself for tonight, knowing girls will be coming up to Austin and touching him and asking him to sign their bodies. I hate that they do that, but I've accepted that it's just part of dating a guy in a band. I knew that when I met him, so I'm trying to be okay with it even though I don't like it.

  "So I talked to Harold today," Austin says.

  "Why'd you talk to Harold?"

  "To check up on him. See if he needs anything."

  "Does he?"

  "No, but his neighbor does. The lady that lives next door has a leak in her roof and can't afford to get it repaired so my dad and I are gonna go over there tomorrow and fix it. You said you're studying tomorrow, right?"