14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Cody

I wake up to the sound of someone banging down my door.

“Ellsworth! What the hell are you doing in there?”

Yanking my legs out of bed, I stumble across the room to open the door. Mo is waiting on the other side, looking like he’s about to take part in an Under Armour commercial.

He smirks, glancing down at my black briefs, “I shouldn’t have left my change in the car.” Unzipping the gym bag slung over his shoulder – Under Armour, of course – he tosses me some clothes.

I blindly catch them, eyes still half-closed from the sleep I was so rudely torn from.

“What time is it?”

“Time for you to be out of bed.”

Mo waits while I fumble my way into more sponsored gym wear then throws a pair of brand-new sneakers at my feet.

“I thought you were an early bird like my sister.”

I grunt, bending down to slip the shoes on, “Not when it’s Christmas break.”

“Everyone takes a break during the break. This is the time to get ahead.”

Once he’s satisfied that I am coherent enough to follow him, Mo turns and marches out of my room.

I fall in step beside him, doing my best to stifle a yawn. My eyes are bleary and probably bloodshot, but Mo’s are as bright and clear as the icicles dripping outside.

It’s annoying to say the least.

We pass the weight room Stella showed me last night, the “smaller” one of their two gyms she’d said. Her definition of small has some serious misconceptions because the glistening dumbbell racks lining the tasteful navy walls easily put Taber’s weight room to shame. The pristine black benches and rubber mats look clean enough to eat food off of, and don’t get me started on the row of mirrors lining the far wall.

It’s every gym bro’s wet dream.

We round another corner, successfully exceeding the mental map I’d made from Stella’s tour. At this point in the corridor, Stella and I had gone right, into the East Wing, but Mo takes a sharp left turn and jogs down the set stairs that open up before us.

I quicken my pace to keep up, sneaking curious glances at the two other floors we pass.

“For someone who slept for seven hours, you aren’t moving too fast this morning.”

Mo’s voice is laced with humour, his condescending tone exactly as it was when I was a freshman. I open my mouth to correct him then shut it. I still don’t know what time it is but it’s probably too early to deal with the fallout of going on a midnight tour with his younger sister.

We approach a beautiful crystal sliding door, the design indecipherable but breathtaking, nonetheless.

“Here we are.” Pulling the door open, Mo beckons me inside.

I take one step forward before coming to an abrupt halt when I spy what’s inside.

A stadium-sized scoreboard blinking 5:17AM.

And Stella dangling upside down, midair, in the middle of the room.

Mo chuckles, brushing past me, “Close your mouth, Ellsworth. It takes away from the jawline.”

I snap my mouth shut, mind struggling to process what is being laid out in front of me. Stella wasn’t kidding when she said the other gym was small, this gym could easily fit four of those inside and still have room leftover.

“What is she doing?” My eyes haven’t strayed from the small frame hanging wrong-side-up off one of the many ropes dangling from the ceiling.

That’s right, I said ropes plural. An entire section of the O’Brien’s fitness arena is allocated for ropes and rings. There’s another section that seems to be made completely of trampolines.

It’s like the freaking Olympics.

“She’s rope climbing. Without using her legs.” Mo shrugs casually, “She’s still working on mastering the L-sit rope climb. Going upside down helps keep the pressure on your arms and less on your core.”

I watch in amazement as Stella inches her way up the rope. Her platinum topknot remains stubbornly intact in the precarious position.

“Shouldn’t someone spot her?” Pressure builds in my chest as I realize just how far off the ground she is. A fall from that high could be fatal.

Mo shakes his head, “That’s what the crash mats are for.”

I squint, just barely making out the outline of a thick, black mat covering the otherwise spotless hardwood.

Movement hits my peripheral and I glance over to see none other than Jonathan O’Brien in one of the many squat rack sections. I watch in amazement as he loads up a barbell with more weight than I’ve ever lifted, but before I can watch the execution, Mo claps my shoulder and leads me the other way.

“Alright Ellsworth, time to put your recovery to the test.”

We wander closer to Stella, who finally reached the top, and is making her way back down the rope. I breathe a sigh of relief when her feet finally reach the ground, her bright red face throwing me a smile as we walk by.

“What do you have in mind?”

I’m not one to back away from a challenge, but I’ll admit there’s some trepidation in my voice. Mo might not be a cardio nut like his sister, but that doesn’t mean his workouts are any less brutal. They just hurt in a different way.

He shoots me a grin and I bite back a groan.

We stopped in front of the battle ropes.

Stella

Inhale…. Exhale…

The humid air of the sauna coats my lungs in a warm blanket, my body sagging with exhaustion. Sweat drips from my nose onto my extended thigh, and I watch the droplet make a lazy trail down my bare leg.

I breathe through the last of my stretches, the ache of hunger sinking in. I’ve only been up for a couple of hours, but dinner feels like a lifetime ago.

Quickly grabbing the discarded tank top from the ground, I spring to my feet, the burst of energy in tune with the burst of hunger.

I sigh with pleasure when I push open the door and a rush of cool air hits me.

“Guess it was my turn for the free show.” Cody grins, his sweat-soaked shirt plastered to every rigid edge of his chest. He jerks his thumb over his shoulder, “Mo sent me to grab you to go get breakfast…”

I’m so distracted by the wet t-shirt that it takes me a moment to realize Cody’s smile has slipped from his face and the teasing glint has disappeared from his gaze. He takes a step closer, his eyes trained on my bare torso.

“What happened?”

I freeze, realizing my tank top is still in my hands and not on my body. My tattoo and my scar are on full display.

He swallows thickly as he takes another step forward, “What happened, Stel?”

The pressure builds in my chest until it feels like I’m back in the sauna and my lungs can’t take in enough air.

“My mother was killed in a car crash.”

Cody’s eyes flick to my face, and I can see the understanding dawning.

“You were in the car.”

I nod, dropping my gaze to the ground. I hate seeing people’s pity.

“We got run off the road by a drunk driver. Mom died of internal bleeding, I got away with a few stitches.”

I can feel Cody’s stare, but I refuse to look up. There is one person in this world I do not want sympathy from and that is Taber’s lacrosse captain.

“I think it was more than a few stitches.” His voice is soft, like he’s scared I’m going to flee at any second. Which, for the record, did cross my mind as a viable option.

I force out a painful laugh, “It was just enough to ruin bikinis for me. Anyways, we should probably get going…”

“You don’t wear bikinis?”

“I don’t know if your vision is intact, but this,” I gesture towards the warped skin gracing my side, “Isn’t what people want to see when they go to the beach.”

My ex-boyfriend taught me that. He couldn’t stand the sight of my scar, claimed it turned him off. Said it reminded him of death.

Long story short, we were never going to work out long-term.

Turning so my back is facing Cody, I yank the tank top over my head and tug it past the point of interrogation. He’s still staring at me when I turn around, his expression is unreadable.

“You ready for breakfast?” I interject a false brightness to my tone, pretending we didn’t just dig up years’ worth of grief and physical therapy.

“Yeah.”

He falls silent as we head towards the kitchen, climbing back up the stairs to the main floor. A somber mood falls upon us as we walk, side-by-side, with Cody casting the occasional side glance my way. It doesn’t take long for me to snap.

“What? If you have something to say, just say it.”

I’ll admit, my tone tends to grow sharper when I’m uncomfortable. Or hungry.

“It’s just…” He frowns, his dirty blonde eyebrows scrunching together, “You shouldn’t bottle your grief up like that and you shouldn’t hide your scars from the world.”

I don’t know what I was expecting him to say but it wasn’t that.

“That scar is a part of you. It’s proof that the O’Brien’s never give up, even when your world is torn apart. It shows you’re a survivor.”

I’m completely speechless but the silence only adds fuel to his motivational delivery.

“You have an amazing body, Stel. It deserves to be shown off.” Cody shrugs as if the compliment didn’t just set every nerve ending on fire.

“Didn’t think you’d noticed, Captain.”

“When it comes to you, O’Brien, I notice everything.”

Damn it, now I’m grinning like an idiot and Cody is looking pleased with himself. I hate it when men use their charms knowingly.

He clears his throat, “But my point is, you are strong Stella. Strong in the figurative sense as well as the physical. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t.”

We end our conversation as we enter the kitchen, Mo and my father already stationed at the dinner table with steaming omelettes in front of them. Cody breaks off to go sit beside Mo, and I head off in search of our personal chef.

My body feels shaky as I request my usual protein shake order, but I can’t tell if the shakes are from my workout or the emotional garburator Cody just put me through.

The one thing I do know is it’s only been twelve hours since Cody Ellsworth stepped foot inside my house and somehow, he has already taken possession of what’s left of my heart.

And it’s absolutely terrifying.