A part of me wanted to tell her to bugger off. If she already had a trainer, she didn't need me. I wasn't a professional and never would be.
‘Don't be like that,' she said, obviously reading my facial expression. ‘I really need some motivation. If you do this with me, it will really help.'
Her smile was cute. Her head was bent backwards as she stood in front of me.
‘If we do this, we do it my way. I'm happy to use this, as I'm not qualified, but we do things the way I say.'
She jumped up and down. I had to restrain myself from snapping at her to pack it in.
‘We're going to have a lot of fun.'
My heart started to pump as she winked at me. I had never been around a girl that was so forthcoming. For a moment, I was tempted to tell her to forget it. An eighth of cannabis was sitting in my bedroom, ready for me to smoke. I missed my morning joint.
///
‘Are you going to read that?' she asked, pointing at the paper clutched in my hand.
I had to get away from the house. Sophie was stretching out in front of me. She turned away from me to use the wall for support. Her arse was enough of a distraction to make me think twice about leaving her to smoke.
‘Let's go for a little run,' I said, starting off towards Clapham Common.
She overtook me, sprinting at full pelt. The cars beeped at each other in the street. The office folk were on their way to their corporate jobs. I could never hold down a job that took away my freedom.
‘Come on!' Sophie yelled from ahead.
I ignored her. It had been a while since I had been for a jog. There was no way I was pushing myself past my limit on the first day. I knew how my body worked and what pace was best for me.
‘Why are you going so slowly?' She panted when I reached her.
I jogged on the spot as she got her breath back.
‘Listen to your breath. Listen to mine.'
She glared at me and pursed her lips. It seemed I had a bit of a princess on my hands. A pretty little princess, though. Training her would be bearable if she kept bending over.
‘You're not funny,' she said, reaching for my cap.
I spun away from her before she could grab it off my head. ‘And you're not tall.'
She let out a cry of outrage and launched at me. Her arms came around my chest and her legs wrapped around my waist. Her boobs pressed into my back. Her hair brushed against my neck as she hung on.
‘What are you doing?' I laughed.
‘I might not be tall, but I'll kick your-'
I put my hands under her knees and started to run with her. The squeal that left her mouth went straight into my ear. I tried to duck away but her arms clamped around me as she held on.
‘Stop!' She giggled.
The park was ahead, so I took her inside. She took the cap off my head, so I dropped her. She was panting as I walked backwards.
‘I like your shaved head. You should leave this off more often.' She put the cap on her head. I couldn't help smiling. It suited her.
‘I can think of a much better way to get fit,' she said.
My eyebrows rose as she walked with her hands on her hips.
‘I would say great minds think alike, but no one can match my intelligence. Especially not a girl.'
It took a moment for the words to sink in, but once they did, I allowed her to come for me. I was having too much fun to stop teasing her.
‘You are so … '
She ran forward and threw her fist into my arm. It rebounded. She grabbed her knuckles as she came to a stop.
‘Can't match me in strength either, can you?'
‘There is one thing I can match you in,' she said, cocking her head to the side as she sucked the skin on her hand.
I froze. Her eyelids lowered as she looked me straight in the eye. I liked a girl that was down to earth. My throat moved as I swallowed the saliva that filled my mouth.
‘What's that then?'
The corners of her lips lifted into her cheeks as she took her hand away from her mouth.
‘The bedroom.' She spun away, swaying her hips as she walked off.
My mouth hung open as I watched her leave. I had known her for five minutes and she was the first woman to ever shut me up.
She stopped suddenly and glanced over her shoulder. ‘Are you going to take me to yours? Or are you afraid I'll beat you?'
She didn't have to ask twice. It wasn't every day a woman offered herself to me. Who was I to disappoint a princess?
Chapter Five
‘You're still fit considering you're not training anymore,' she said, blowing out the smoke from her mouth.
Taking the joint out of her hand, I pulled a drag on it. She was my perfect girl. When she had asked if I had a smoke, I had fallen in love. Okay, not literally, but she was my type of woman.
She leant up on her elbow and looked down at me. I had one arm behind my head.
The bed was soft underneath us. The door was locked so the others couldn't get in. I usually had the house to myself during the day, so I wasn't worried about anyone walking in on us.
‘I think it's a bit odd that you're called Taurus and your sister is called Cancer.'
I stubbed the end of the joint in the ashtray and lay back down. Sophie folded herself around me and snuggled into the crook of my neck. The scent of her freshly washed hair mingled with the smell of my sweat.
‘We're an odd family,' I replied, closing my eyes and letting the fog overtake my brain.
She blew against my skin as her fingers ran over the stubble on my chin.
‘Well, so far, I really like the two people I know already,' she whispered, licking my ear.
///
My consciousness was losing the battle to stay alert. The exertions and dope made me feel extremely chilled.
‘Don't sleep,' she whined.
I pretended to snore, which made her slap my chest. The sting didn't break through the fog. I forced my eyes open.
‘Getting high makes me want to talk,' she said.
‘Really … ?'
There was nothing more to say. Why did women feel the need to talk so much? If I could just drift off to-
‘Taurus!'
‘What do you want?'
She laughed. The tinkling sound made me smile. It was nice to have a body wrapped around my own. The weight of her against me was snug. It was something I could get used to.
‘Why don't you want to talk?' she whispered in my ear.
‘Because I'm stoned,' I replied.
The sharp tug on my nipple made me sit upright. Sophie giggled as she tried to tickle me. There was no point, I was numb.
‘Why do you have to be such a girl?'
I grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head.
Her eyes sparkled up at me. My chest expanded as my eyelids drooped.
‘Because I am a girl. I'm bored. Let's have some fun.'
‘Have I not given you enough fun?' I wasn't sure that I could repeat what we had shared so soon.
She tugged her hands. I didn't free them. I pinned her to the bed with my weight.
‘Not that type of fun. Another type … '
Her raised eyebrows challenged me. ‘Are you going to tell me?'
‘I want to dance the night away.'
I slumped down. She emitted a puff of breath and moaned as I landed on her.
‘My brothers go clubbing all the time. Go with them.'
She shook her head, knocking my chin with her nose. ‘No. I want you to come. I have some pills at home. They'll make it much more fun.'
My eyes had been closed but one popped open. Rolling over, I pulled her with me. She sprawled on top of me, her hair fanning over my face. I spluttered when I inhaled some of it into my mouth.
‘Are you that hungry?' She giggled.
‘Okay, let's do it.' I laughed as she clambered off the bed.
‘Yeah?' she asked, looking over her shoulder at me.
Rolling onto my side, away from her, I muttered my consent. I liked getting off my face. Now I had the perfect girl to do it with.
*
My siblings were so much better than me. Why were we really on earth? I didn't believe that we were literally here to have a relationship. There was no mission. Nick was a psycho man that wanted to kill us for some reason, but I didn't think it was because of love … or whatever.
‘It's good to see you getting on with Sophie,' Cancer said.
The queue was long. We had been waiting for a while, which made me zone out. My mind wandered when left to its own device. It was the reason I smoked so much dope.
The bassy music filtered to us every time the door opened.
‘Yeah, she's … '
The princess in question was chatting away to Leo. They talked about music. She fitted in with my brothers and sisters. She had made herself at home, introducing herself as soon as anyone had come home. It had been her idea to drag everyone out with us.
‘I don't remember the last time you came out,' Cancer went on.
I patted my pocket to make sure the pills were still inside. Sophie had made me put on smart trousers and a dark red shirt. She had threatened to burn my cap if I didn't leave it at home. I was looking forward to the chemicals in the pills changing the chemicals in my brain to make me feel good.
I researched a lot things. Life was a mystery but I knew most of what there was to know. The body had always fascinated me, which was why I had gone into personal training. I wanted to know the psychology and physiology of people. Why did humans think the way they did?