Chapter 11

Jadon sat up. Seemed they wouldn't do any lifting while the talking went in and he didn't want to have this conversation on his back. "Tomorrow is Monday," he stated and watched his friends to see if they got his point. From their blank stares, he knew they hadn't. Jadon huffed. "Some of us are CEOs with companies to run."

Ezra turned to Kaelo. "Did you hear anything?"

"Seriously," Jadon gritted out.

Both men ignored him. Kaelo tilted his head and gave the perfect impersonation of a confused dog. "It sounded like he was trying to convince us that he actually cares about his job."

Jadon's mouth fell open. He blinked. "I do care."

"No," Kaelo stated firmly with a finger raised. "You care about your father's approval. I keep telling you, man, let go of that pipe dream before you end up killing yourself."

Feeling more irritated and tense than he had been when he arrived at the gym more than two hours ago, Jadon crossed his arms over his chest. Kaelo wasn't telling him anything new. It was an ongoing argument among them.

When they had been younger, the three of them had shared the desire to go into business together. That vision had been crushed when Lewis informed Jadon it was his duty to take over the real estate company.

Jadon wouldn't say he hated his job. He just wasn't passionate about it. And he knew it was because of his decision to work for his father that his friends hadn't ventured out on their own, either.

Kaelo had found himself helping his mother with her hotel business, while Ezra was playing pretend at owning and running a sports wear boutique. Neither of his friends were happy about the circumstances. But Jadon thought there was nothing he could do about them. Every man had to make a decision. His had been made for him, but still, the principle still held true.

"We are not getting into that today," Jadon told his friend in a tone that said that he wasn't joking around.

For a beat, Kaelo just stared at him. Then he raised his hands in a placating gesture before he pointed at the bench. "Are you lifting or what?"

"Yo!" Ezra suddenly cut in. The excitement in his voice was enough to grab Jadon's and Kaelo's attention. They both turned their heads and looked at their friend. But Ezra wasn't looking at them. He had his eyes fixed on the other side of the room.

Jadon followed his friend's gaze and almost rolled his eyes when he realized what had grabbed his friend's attention so hard. He should have known. "You are a man whore," he told Ezra.

The words didn't faze the man. Ezra grinned. He shot Jadon a wink and then focused back on the two young ladies taking selfies in front of the wall to wall mirror. They didn't have a lick of sweat on their matching sports bra and leggings, so Jadon assumed they were the kind that came to the gym for social media and not the actual exercise.

Not that their bodies needed it. Both women didn't seem to have an extra fat cell in their bodies, from what he could tell. And he could tell a lot considering their bras barely covered some pretty full looking breasts. Most of the pink contraction was made up of intertwined lines that revealed more than they hid.

The leggings were tight and black with a section of pink on the side to match the bra. The pink section only went mid-thigh. The rest of the material was some sort of transparent mesh. In all honesty, Jadon could see why his friend was salivating like a dog that had seen a juicy bone. Jadon opened his mouth to tell his friend to go for it, but before he could, Ezra spoke.

"Jadon, man. You should totally ask one of them out."

"What?" Jadon turned away from the women and gave his friend a perplexed look. "Why would I do that? I'm not in the mood to date anyone."

"Why not?" Kaelo asked, apparently fully on board with Ezra's suggestion. "Dating is what normal people do. You know? It's that annoying process that lets us decide if we like each other enough to live under one roof and breed the next generation of troublemakers."

Both Jadon and Ezra gaped at the man. "Dude, who hurt you?"

"Oh, shut up! Just go and ask one of them out. Think of it as a birthday gift to yourself." Kaelo winked.

Jadon scowled at his friend. He loved the guy, but right at that moment; he wished all sorts of evil stomach maladies to surprise his friend while he was stuck in traffic. It must have shown on his face because after a beat, Kaelo narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at Jadon. "Loosen up, Jadon. You are only twenty-seven, not seventy-two. Live a little or that damn CEO office will suck the life right out of you."

"I dare you," Ezra added with a mischievous grin.

Jadon closed his eyes and groaned. "You didn't?"

Ezra chuckled. "Oh! I did. I so dare you, Jadon Paterson. I dare you to walk over there and get one of those girl's numbers."

"You know we are not teens anymore, right?" Jadon hedged.

Kaelo shook his head, now grinning as hard as Ezra. "Either do it or lose."

Jadon glared. They had been daring each other to do stupid things since the day they met and realized they had the same kind of crazy. Jadon had never lost a single dare, something he enjoyed rubbing in their faces. He wasn't prepared to do so now.

"Fine," he stated and stood up off the bench. Maybe some female interest was exactly what the doctor ordered. Especially after everything that had happened in the last two weeks. Well, he was about to find out.