Chapter Thirty-Four
Tyler
I had laid fucking low for a little while after the incident at the gym. Although I was sure if anything was going to come from it, legally, then it would have by now, but I still couldn’t be too sure. So I stayed away until I was absolutely sure that the coast was clear. I certainly didn’t want to be charged with anything; not over a fight with that piece of shit.
However, I did curse myself for having a strike of conscious. I was pretty sure if anything, that would be what did me in. It was a stupid move on my part, but then again, it would have been worse if the man died.
Even though I hadn’t shown my face in the gym for a little while, I had monitored the news and there wasn’t even a passing story of a man being beaten to death in the local gym, so I figured I was out of a murder charge. It would’ve been assault at the most and I figured that if they were really looking for me, they would have found me.
After all, I hadn’t up and fucking disappeared.
In a way, I was proud of myself. I hadn’t killed him and with the mood I was in, that was saying a lot.
So, instead of the gym, I had worked out all I could on the beach. It wasn’t the absolute best scenario, but for a little while, it would have to do.
After a week though, I was in dire need of weight training and other essentials to my craft that just couldn’t be substituted by making up my own shit.
It went beyond a want. It was now a necessity and so, I ran over to the gym early that morning.
I had been around a lot of gyms in my life. It was where I felt relatively safe and so I was fairly certain that I understood the social structure. Even for something as big as someone getting the shit beat out of them, a week should be enough time where people were still talking about it in passing, but weren’t actively insinuating.
I prepared myself for chatter and even planned for it.
So when I arrived at the gym that day and flawlessly made it through my reps without so much as a pause, I felt like I could make it through anything that anyone had to say.
However, as I continued my workout, spending ample time in the room with other avid gym enthusiasts, some of which I had come to know by name, no one said anything about what had happened.
A few of them asked me where I was, because they hadn’t seen me all week, but even when I went up to the front desk to buy a bottle of water, speaking to the exact same man who I had informed of my suspicions, he said nothing.
In my paranoid mind, I began to think that perhaps this was all a trick. Was someone trying to fuck me up? Is this some kind of revenge? The accusation seemed laughable and probably would have been if I wasn’t so nervous.
However, I knew that if there were people who were on to me, if I did anything suspicious, it would not help me at all. So I did my best to remain calm.
When I was finished with my workout though, I couldn’t help but make my way down to where the fight had occurred. I went into the room and began to work out, but while I did so, I checked out the area where I had left the man. Everything seemed perfectly fine. There wasn’t a drop of blood, or a body, so I had no idea what was going on.
Maybe he was gone before anyone got down here… I thought, trying to reassure myself, but that didn’t really work.
I had expected someone to say something, but the fact that no one was saying anything, like it hadn’t even happened, was eerie and it made me increasingly uncomfortable. I was all right with dodging questions and playing dumb, but I was not prepared for such a deafening silence.
Therefore, as soon as I left the gym, I realized that I most definitely was in dire need of a drink. I decided as soon as I started my run back home, feeling far weaker than I should have, that I was going to go out on the town tonight and try to fucking relax.
I thought about asking Ashley if she wanted to join me, but since all I had received from her from the past week was radio silence, I figured to hell with her.
Deciding that I would return to my old ways, I came to the conclusion that what I truly needed was for tonight to be all about me.
After all, with all of the shit that had gone down throughout this entire summer, with the fucking domino effect that had caused me to freak out and realign all of my priorities, at least temporarily, I needed to get back in touch with the man that I was before meeting Ashley. I needed a night where I could just be me. I could chase girls, be an asshole and enjoy the true and lasting fruits of my labor without any strings attached.