Jaz watched him carefully; did she detect his evasion of her question? She reached over into the desk drawer, pulled out a key, and threw it at him.
‘This is for your locker which is through that door,’ she pointed to the back corner. ‘Showers and change rooms are also in there.’
‘Thanks, I’ll come back later.’ He turned towards the door.
‘Ryan?’
‘Yeah?’ He turned to face her.
Jaz walked to him and handed him a piece of paper. ‘These are the times for the gym, and one of our regulars takes boxing lessons if you’re interested.’
‘Cheers, but I’m happy just doing my own training.’
She nodded. ‘No worries. See you around.’ She watched him leave. Watched him walk past the window with his long strides and his cute butt. Then she turned on her heel and headed back to the mat cleaning while she thought of his eyes and the mystery they held.
Chapter 5
Jaz had fencing practice after school so she’d organised Tick to open up the gym. It’s not like they ever had hordes of new people signing up to the gym. Ryan was the newest member in over five months. She’d thought about him a few times, wondering how he knew Pax. It had nothing to do with his strong jaw, manly build or his fine brown hair that was trimmed to perfection.
But Ryan had drifted quickly from her mind when Taylor appeared at practice. He made his white protective gear look so cool, while the rest resembled Froot Loops in straitjackets. Her day got better as they teamed up to practice together.
‘I liked it better when I could kick your arse easily,’ puffed Taylor as he took off his mask and clapped Jaz on the back. ‘But then again, it’s nice to actually have a worthy opponent who makes me work for it.’
Oh how she wished she could make him work for it, but he wasn’t interested. Yet! Don’t worry, she was still trying. Jaz took off her mask and walked with him towards the coach, who was already bellowing.
‘Don’t forget, the other school will be arriving in a few days. I want you kids ready by nine o’clock on Thursday. We will meet again then. Chop, chop, off you go.’ The coach scratched his goatee as they headed for the change rooms.
‘What’s Anna doing?’ asked Taylor as they paused outside the change room door.
‘She’s researching at the library…something that’s way over my head…and then she’ll come to The Ring.’
‘You off to The Ring now?’
‘Yep, no rest for the wicked. You wanna come and keep me company?’ Say yes, please say yes, she begged. Taylor was leaning his shoulder against the doorway so casually but if he leaned towards her a fraction, it would be much more intimate. Sadly, she could see the answer in his eyes already. She knew every silvery speck in them.
‘Can’t sorry. We’ve been invited to Minka’s dad’s new girlfriend’s gallery opening…some sort of abstract art.’
‘Painting with fingers?’ Jaz suggested.
Taylor laughed and nudged her shoulder. ‘I’ll text you a picture of it and you can see for yourself. You might be able to pick a finger painting better than I can.’ He squeezed her affectionately before pulling away. ‘Catch ya later, Jazzy.’
‘Yeah, bye, Tay.’ Jaz walked into her change room. She changed into her black trackies and hoodie before putting on her music. She decided a bit of Linkin Park was called for to vent some frustration and started her pavement-pounding run to the gym.
Jaz was still trying to de-Taylor-ise, so when she got to the gym it took her a few minutes to see a new body at the speedball. She’d stopped mid stride and gaped at the rippled back which gleamed with sweat.
Ryan in his shirt was impressive. Ryan without a shirt was bloody amazing. With a dry mouth, Jaz went to Pax’s office, sat behind the two-way mirror and found her gaze returning to Ryan’s body. Now that was a specimen of a man. Yeah, Taylor was good-looking and his body was lean but Ryan had those extra years of filling out, real muscles and strength. She could see long scars on his back. Some in the shape of a circle. Intriguing.
After a drink of water, she decided to do her yoga, which she did as often as she could. Jaz headed to her usual corner of the gym where her yoga mat sat waiting. She placed her feet at the end of the mat and started her Ujjayi breathing before moving through the positions. A calmness settled through her as she enjoyed the stretches.
It was a while later that she realised Ryan was on a mat not far from her. He looked like he’d been doing stomach crunches, lying on his back with his knees bent and his hands behind his head. But after a while she didn’t detect any movement. She glanced his way and met his eyes and he smiled. The bugger was just lying there watching her, and he had the nerve to smile! She tried to ignore him as she finished, thinking of her breathing and relaxing her muscles.