Gregory Girls Gone Wild - Chapter 32: Chapter 32

The next day was furiously cold. Rainey sat on the ledge of the delivery truck, drinking from a thermal of hot chocolate. She watched as Ethan Kankle carried dozens of boxes to the art building.
Danika sat next to her, leaning comfortably against the truck wall.
"Now this is what I'm talking about," Danika gestured towards Ethan.
Ethan glared at both of them. "Are you ladies done with your break?"
"Not yet," Rainey said cheerfully. "Go ahead and carry the rest of the boxes inside."
Ethan scowled at her. He wore a black vest with nothing underneath, leaving traces of his bare, white chest peeking through. Rainey could tell he was freezing but trying hard not to show it.
She impatiently pushed her hair away from her eyes. It was Tuesday morning—Ethan's first day back. She had been dreading his return until Danika had thought up a brilliant idea to help smooth the transition.
"Isn't it nice to kick back and let a man do all the work?" Danika asked, grinning.
Rainey snorted. "He reminds me of a rat on steroids."
Danika chuckled as Ethan staggered into the art building, and tripped over his own feet.
"Are we evil?" Danika rubbed her chin.
Rainey shrugged. "Probably."
Danika pondered over this for a second. Then she yelled,
"Hey, we're running behind, Ethan! Chop, chop!"
Ethan hurried back, a sour expression on his face. Rainey surveyed Danika for a moment.
"You know," Rainey said, raising an eyebrow. "You're not gonna get off that easy."
"Excuse me?" Danika replied, outraged.
"Next station, you can give him a hand." Rainey patted her shoulder.
Danika groaned. After finishing up, Ethan shut the truck hatch with both of them inside, and drove to the next destination. Rainey watched in satisfaction as both her employees carried the remaining load.
It was good to be boss.
Danika reached behind her to grab another box. Rainey flinched unconsciously. "Oh, sorry."
"Uh, no you're good—" Danika said awkwardly.
Rainey saw a flash of her bare neck under her fleece jacket, then looked away while Danika shuffled towards the gym.
"Hmph," Ethan said, observant. "You two are acting weird."
"What?" Danika turned around.
"You two seemed to be best buddies last time I saw you," Ethan emphasized. "Couldn't keep your hands off each other."
"We still are," Danika frowned. She cleared her throat.
"Whatever you say," Ethan shrugged. "I can never tell whether you two like each other or hate each other's guts."
"If you've got time to ponder the merits of our friendship, you're probably not doing enough work," Rainey said pointedly.
"Friendship, is it now?" Ethan sneered. "First day of work, I remember you two were at each other's throat."
"I do get the urge to rip her throat out once in a while," Danika said cheerfully.
"Ah, yes," Rainey said dryly. "I know how to choose loyal employees, don't I?"
Danika went inside the gym. Ethan watched her go, then said unexpectedly, "I heard you met Sam."
Rainey looked at him in surprise. "Yeah. He's an interesting guy."
"What did you talk about?"
"Nothing much really."
"Oh, come off it," Ethan said. "Did you talk about me?"
Rainey thought for a second. "Actually, we did. I didn't think it was humanly possible but Sam seems to dislike you more than I do."
"He's always had a big head. I never liked him."
Danika was in viewing distance of the truck. Ethan said quickly, "I'm supposed to invite you to one of our meetings. Next Tuesday, if you can make it."
"What for?" Rainey frowned. "You want me to tag along to your crazy meetings?"
"Don't act stupid," Ethan glowered. "I know you haven't signed the forms or sent the check yet. You're still in."
"That's because I don't have the money yet," Rainey said irritably.
Ethan studied her for a moment. "I think you're a liar, Dumar. And you don't even know it."
"What's up?" Danika interrupted. She looked between the both of them.
"Nothing," Rainey said, avoiding Danika's bright gaze. "Ethan was going to drive the truck back for us. We're done here."
"Oh great," Danika said happily.
Ethan slammed the truck shut and drove off, leaving Rainey to a turbulence of her own thoughts.
"Wanna work out with me?" Danika asked. "The gym's right there."
"Now?" Rainey asked distastefully. "We just got off work!"
"Just for one hour," Danika said. "We got to beef you up before your meeting with the Dean."
"Right," Rainey said, thinking. "That's next Tuesday too."
"Too?" Danika slung her arm over Rainey's shoulder. "You got other plans?"
"I'm a busy bee," Rainey shrugged her arm off. "So how do you work out? Cardio? Weights?"
"All of the above," Danika replied. They entered the work out section of the gym, Danika swiping her university ID at the entrance.
Except for a few muscle heads in the corner, the gym was relatively empty. Danika headed straight to the area with the stand in bikes and treadmills.
Rainey discovered that Danika was pretty hard-core when it came to working out.
"We'll go easy today," Danika said. "Here hop on this."
Wary, Rainey climbed onto a treadmill machine. Danika hopped onto one next to it. Rainey turned on the lowest setting.
"Doing a nice little jog?" Danika grinned.
Rainey gritted her teeth. After getting the hang of the machine, she slowly turned up the setting. She ran faster and faster.
"Hah," Rainey grunted.
Danika began to break out into a sweat. She slid off her shirt and discarded it behind them. Underneath she wore a tight sports bra. Rainey kept her eyes trained on the pedometer. One mile...one point five miles. After a minute, Rainey took off her own shirt.
"Trying to catch up?" Danika huffed.
"Don't need...to...try..."
After reaching ten miles, Rainey collapsed on the floor, drenched in sweat. "Give me...a minute..."
Danika stood on either side of the treadmill like an overlord. The tracks zoomed under her at an impossible speed. "That was pretty good...for a high schooler."
"Do...you always...have to...tease me?" Rainey muttered, out of breath.
"Yes."
"Why don't you give it a rest?"
Before she knew it, Danika was behind her, sitting down and supporting her back.
"What are you doing?"
They were lying on the floor, Rainey's knees bent, Danika's legs spread out on either side.
"Lean back," Danika insisted. "It'll help you breathe better."
"I can—breathe—just—fine." Rainey was beginning to see black dots. Instinctively, she leaned her head against Danika's neck, and Danika scooted up so that their skin was flush with one another. Rainey closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath. She felt hot.
"May I?" Danika asked.
Rainey nodded. Danika pressed two fingers against her neck, where her pulse was rapidly beating. "Press your hands against your knees, Ran-Ran."
Rainey complied, feeling stupid that she was so out of breath. She delivered packages for a living. This shouldn't be so hard.
"You get so angry when I tease you, Rainey. You push yourself too far." Danika's breath tickled the back of Rainey's neck.
"That's because...you never know...when to stop."
"Don't you know how to get me to stop?" Danika asked seriously. "We've known each other for how long now...and yet you still don't know me."
Her words were beginning to sound hazy.
"You're so competitive, Rainey. It's so easy to rile you up. Maybe because you're the boss. But you don't have to be the boss all the time."
Danika checked her own wrist pulse and then checked Rainey's neck again. "All you have to do is give up once in a while."
Rainey's heartbeat was moving slower, but she had yet to regain control of her breathing.
"Give up?"
"You could make me to do anything you wanted if you surrendered once or twice," Danika mused. "Like if you said you were feeling tired after the seventh mile. I would have let you won."
Rainey made a face. "Yeah right."
Danika let go off her neck. "No, really. I'm a sucker for a pout."
Rainey doubted that Danika would ever stop teasing her. She scooted a few inches away. Feeling better, she stood up and stretched her hands to the ceiling. "What next?"
The weights were easier, in Rainey's opinion. They took turns spotting each other. A couple of guys were checking out Danika, Rainey noticed, but Danika was focused on making sure that Rainey wasn't being crushed by the weights.
"You sure do work out a lot, huh?" Rainey wiped the sweat off her face. Danika's biceps were flexing with each thrust.
"Yup," Danika groaned. "Got to be in top shape."
"And why is that?" They switched positions.
"You and I sort of have a tendency to getting attacked every other week."
"Right," Rainey said, straining under the weight.
"Easy, tiger."
"No—I can do another set."
After the workout, Rainey was tired but satisfied. She felt energized, and liked the way her body felt.
"Do you think I'm getting a six pack?" Rainey checked herself out in the locker room mirror.
"Maybe if I close my eyes," Danika grinned.
Danika took a quick shower, so Rainey decided to as well, getting rid of all the sweat and stink she had accumulated in the past two hours. This place has a pool and a great facility, she thought as she scrubbed herself. And it's free for students. She could see herself taking showers here when the water ran out in her apartment. She had been missing out.
"Hey, can I borrow some clothes?" Rainey asked Danika in the changing room. "I don't want to change back into my dirty ones."
Danika rustled through her locker. "Sure, but it might be a little big."
Rainey felt like a SoundCloud rapper in a baggy shirt and track pants two times her size. On the opposite side, Danika was struggling to close the clasp to her bra. Rainey watched, amused, as the clasp kept slinging across her back.
"Need help?"
"Oh...um, yes," Danika hesitated. "If you don't feel weird about it."
"Why would I feel weird about it?"
Danika smiled slightly as Rainey hooked her bra with ease. "You said something a long time ago. Something about being afraid of staring at straight girls too long in the dressing room."
"Should I be afraid?"
"Not of me," Danika replied. "Stare at me as long as you like."
Rainey looked up quickly. Danika winked, like she was joking and searched her locker for clean clothes.
This girl, Rainey thought. When is she ever serious?
She observed that Danika's smile had vanished as soon as she turned away from her.
That night she punched Mickey, she remembered. When she told me about her abusive ex-boyfriend. She had been pretty serious then.
Rainey frowned. Ever since that night—no, ever since winter break, Danika had seemed different. Like something was on her mind.
"Hey," Rainey said, stretching her arms. "I'm hungry."
"Are you working tonight?" Danika asked, closing her locker.
"Nope. You want to grab dinner?"
"Actually, I have a lot of studying to do—"
Rainey's stomach rumbled. She had an idea. "I'm starving, Dani. You worked me so hard and you're not gonna take me to dinner?"
Danika turned to her, surprised. A dazzling smile spread across her face.
"Take you to dinner? Who do you think I am?"
"My best friend in the whole world."
"Who's the suck up now?" Danika grinned. "Fine, homework can wait. Let's go."
"I wish it was that easy," Rainey flapped her over sized sleeves sadly. "But you see...I haven't been paid yet and the only money I have is set aside for my utility bills..."
"Poor Ran-Ran," Danika sympathized. "I'll treat you to the best dinner in town. You can even get dessert."
Danika wrapped her arm around Rainey's neck. Rainey grinned to herself. Danika really was a sucker for a pout.
At the restaurant, Rainey couldn't wait to order her food. She ordered a spicy jalapeno burger with a side of curly fries.
"Pass the spicy ketchup, please," Rainey asked, mouth full.
"Oh, shit," Danika searched her pockets. "I forgot my wallet."
Rainey put her burger down.
"Of course."