On My Knees (Bridge #1)(17)
Author: Meredith Wild

“Go to hell. It’s too early,” I groaned into my pillow, feebly shielding myself with another layer of blanket.

“It’s almost noon, Maya.”

I groaned again, a long sad moan that I hoped would inspire Eli to take pity on me.

“Come on. Get up. You’ve been bitching about going to the gym for weeks. I can’t take it anymore. We are going.”

I threw off the covers and glared at him. If he poked me one more time, I was going for blood. He reared back, hesitant, but determination glared in his eyes.

“Fine. Coffee first.”

“You want to put coffee on top of all that champagne you drank last night? How about some water?”

“I don’t care what the hell it is, as long as it buys me an extra fifteen minutes to wake up. Please go away.”

After a shower, I emerged from my bedroom. Eli shoved a warm cup of chamomile in front of me before I could start berating him again. I sulked into the couch. The warm tea was simultaneously easing my stomach and putting me back to sleep. Eli sat with me, and I debated telling him about my run-in with Cameron.

His eyes narrowed as if he were reading my mind. “You’re not telling me something.”

“How do you do that?”

“I told you.” He tapped his temple and grinned. “What’s up?”

“Cameron Bridge. That’s what’s up.”

“Shut up. You saw him? Last night?”

“No, at work the other day.”

He frowned. “Explain.”

“You could say we created a new memory.”

“Okay, that could be really bad or really, really good.”

I shook my head, unsure how to categorize our very unexpected and heated encounter. It couldn’t be only good or bad. Seeing him yesterday was in a confused category all its own. I ignored Eli’s question. He could decide after I told him about it.

“He found out where I worked from Olivia. When I left the office for lunch, he was downstairs waiting for me. Totally blindsided me but we had lunch, and… we talked.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Small talk mostly, but I mentioned something about closure that I think pissed him off, and somehow we ended up right where we left off. He basically implied that he couldn’t possibly imagine being married to me now.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. I didn’t really need to hear that.” The mere thought made me want to run back to bed and sleep until it didn’t hurt anymore. I would have if I’d had any faith that I would ever be rid of the pain that surrounded my relationship with Cameron. After yesterday, I was more convinced than ever that our breakup was a wound that simply wouldn’t heal, no matter how much time or distance we put between us.

“So he was a jerk, and then what? Did you just leave it like that?”

I finished my tea and set it on the table, not wanting to talk about what happened next.

“Spill it, Maya. For Christ’s sake. You’re killing me here.”

“He tried to kiss me.”

“Whoa. Okay, tried to kiss you?”

“I told him to stop, and he did. Then I left.”

“What?”

“I wasn’t going to let him kiss me out of nowhere. He walked out on me without a word five years ago, and I’m supposed to melt in his arms like a wilting fucking violet?”

“I don’t know.” Eli crossed his arms. “You might be right. Actually, yeah, fuck him. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“Or don’t fuck him,” I corrected.

He shrugged. “He may be a jerk, but he sounds like a hot jerk, and it’s never too late for breakup sex. One for the road, you know. Could be therapeutic.”

“I highly doubt it.” I rolled my eyes and hauled my ass off the sofa. Working out suddenly seemed better than spending another minute talking about Cameron. “Let’s do this.”

We headed out, and I was instantly freezing. Thankfully we weren’t trudging through snow, otherwise I would have definitely vetoed this excursion, again. After several blocks we were nearing the entrance of Cameron’s gym. I stopped short.

“Wait, I didn’t realize we were coming here.”

Eli frowned. “I’ve heard good things about it. It’s fairly new.”

“This is Cameron’s place.”

“What do you mean?”

“He owns this gym. Bridge Fitness… Cameron Bridge… Get it? I can’t go in there. What if he sees me?”

I was talking fast, the sudden prospect of seeing Cameron again so soon sending me into a mini meltdown. Eli rolled his eyes and hooked his arm in mine.