after Zack's grandfather, and he had already managed to steal the hearts of the entire family. Laney had a hard time with labor and ended up having a C-section. She was still in the hospital, but was scheduled to come home within the next day or so if all continued to go well.
I'd already been to work at the coffee shop and up to the hospital to see Laney, and now I was headed to the gym. I drove there in the same car I'd been driving before I won the lottery. It was a tiny hatchback that Laney bought for herself a few years before. She and Zack gave it to me for next to nothing about a year ago when she decided to get something bigger. My hatchback ran well and would certainly do for now. I'd been too busy in the last month to even think about buying a new car or spending any money at all for that matter, which was "an ideal situation," as Zack said.
He put my money into a few different bank accounts, but hadn't done anything complicated with it just yet since it was a busy time for all of us. I hadn't sprung for a new car, but I had plans to do it soon and had been doing some research online trying to figure out what kind I wanted. It was the first big purchase I would make and I had trouble even hypothetically spending the money. I had already changed my mind about what kind a dozen times. My old car would have to do until I figured it out.
I pulled up to the gym about 10 minutes before class started. I parked next to a car I recognized, and waved at the girl who was sitting inside, but she was looking down and didn't see me. It was a girl named April who was at the gym almost every time I was there. I wasn't sure how long she been boxing, but I knew it was a lot longer than me because she had major skills. I had partnered with her a time or two since I'd been coming, and she gave me pointers the whole time.
April drove a tiny, rusted-out car that reminded me of the one Laney sold for eight hundred dollars before we left Washington. Her windows were down and I leaned over to stick my head in her passenger's side.
"Hey April, you comin' to class?" I asked.
She gasped and jumped, making me jump as well.
"I'm sorry, I thought you saw me," I said.
She wiped at her eyes before looking at me with a smile that was clearly forced. "Hey Lexi," she said. "No, I'm not coming to class for a little while."
"Is everything okay?" I asked.
I barely knew her and figured I was overstepping my bounds with the question, but I just couldn't help myself when she was clearly upset.
She smiled really big and nodded. "Oh yeah, it's fine. I'm fine. I just—" she hesitated and then rolled her eyes, still smiling. "It's just this stupid car. It needs some work. Anyway, I'm just putting my membership on hold for a couple of months while I take care of it."
I nodded. I had no idea that the gym would let a person put their membership on hold, but it made sense that people would have to do that because it was pretty expensive considering the specialized training they offered.
"That's cool that they'll work with you," I said.
"Oh, they're really cool about it. I have to do it from time to time if something big comes up. You know how that goes." She smiled. "It's not a big deal."
"Well, I hope you make it back soon," I said. "We'll miss you in there."
"Oh, I'll be back, don't worry. I can't stay away long."
We smiled and waved and said our goodbyes and the next thing you know, I was inside wrapping my hands for class. I ended up partnering with Jason Lane. It was something I did on a fairly regular basis. He'd turned out way less despicable than I imagined, actually. He was a good partner and seemed to get the hint that I wasn't interested in jumping into bed with him. He was a total gentleman, which was a nice surprise.
We had a great work out that night. Josh was coaching the class and Jason and I hit a rhythm as partners. It was a lot of fun but it was tainted by my concern for April. I hated that she had to miss out on it and thought
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