All Fired Up by Dylan Newton

Author:Dylan Newton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2022-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Zander shut and locked the front door to his studio, flipping the sign to Closed after the last of the Lamaze class attendees left, along with his sister-in-law.

“I checked on Imani. She’s still out,” Kate had said, before leaving herself. “I’ve called her grandmother and let her know she’s sleeping off a migraine. Gigi told me Imani hasn’t slept well in months, and it’s catching up with her. I…I didn’t know she was suffering from insomnia so bad. It reminds me of when she was in high school right after her mom died. Do you think she’s okay?”

Zander’s eyebrows rose. How in the hell was he supposed to know? He’d been with her not even three full days this calendar year, and he was the expert? But he sensed Kate needed more generic reassurances.

“Don’t worry, sis,” he said, as he carried her yoga mat out to Drake’s truck. “I have a bunch of work to do in the studio, so she can sleep as long as she wants. I’ll have her text you when she wakes. I don’t offer Sunday classes, so I can run Imani home whenever she’s ready.”

After Kate reluctantly left, Zander got to work cleaning up. He covered the food but didn’t toss anything, in case Imani was hungry when she woke—she’d barely touched her plate from this morning. Then he dug around in his tea stash to find the bags of chai, recalling her breakfast-beverage order from room service during their weekend at Niagara Falls. He set those out where Imani would see them when she woke and came downstairs, making sure his hot water carafe was still full and piping hot.

Once everything was put away, he didn’t feel like messing it up by getting out his clay and beginning the set of mugs he’d promised a client. He gazed out the studio windows at the sun-dappled area of his narrow backyard. It was such a beautiful summer day—perfect to be outside. Figuring he’d be quieter if he were outdoors, he crept upstairs to grab his throwing axes.

He was proud of his ninja ways, as Imani didn’t stir when he carefully picked up the four metal axes from his bookshelf. He glanced at her still form, an arm thrown over her eyes, her luxurious mahogany hair splayed out on his pillowcase like a mermaid’s. Not wanting to be a creeper who stared at a sleeping girl, he retreated downstairs and out the back door, closing it quietly.

Zander set up his target in the tree-shaded plot behind the studio, away from the beehives. After a brief stretch, he started tossing axes. He’d created the spray-painted wooden target from an old bunch of pallets he’d disassembled and nailed together, attaching it to a hay bale situated on the opposite side of the lot, toward the river. After a few minutes of throwing, he started to loosen up, and his muscles got warm as he found a rhythm.

He’d retrieved his axes for another go when he heard a

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