Page 47 of Good Enough

“It’s driving me crazy. What is it? It’s got to be a huge tattoo because I can see more ink on the back of your neck, and the design on the left side is similar in style.”

“It’s a Kraken.”

“Not an octopus?”

“A Kraken is an octopus,” he clarified.

“The Kraken is a Titan,” she corrected, “not a simple octopus.”

“Actually, technically, it’s a giant squid, and extra technically, it’s Norse, not Greek.”

It was clear from the look on her face that his tone had been sharper than he intended. The tattoo was not something he was comfortable talking about with her. That message was obviously received because she retracted her hand quickly from her tracing.

He apologized. “Sorry. That came out a bit grumpy.”

“Just a little. But that’s okay. I was prying. I shouldn’t have, and I’m sorry for crossing the line.”

“No, it’s okay. If it were that much of a dead zone for me, I wouldn’t let the ink show for people to see. I just”—he ran a hand over his hair—“I guess I’m not ready to talk about it. At least not tonight.”

“Understood.” She rolled over and gathered the sheets of paper from her side of the floor, making a haphazard pile of them. “Maybe someday you’ll share. But it’s okay if you don’t.” She took the orderly pile of papers he’d collected and added them to her stack, then stood up from the floor. “I’m heading to bed. I don’t want to be tired and cranky, or my trainer will make me run extra tomorrow.” She winked at him, then took the stack of papers over to the desk. “Night, Waters,” she called without looking back at him.

The door to her suite closed behind her.

“Night, Kubrick. Good dreams.”

15

MARCH 6TH

Waters

Things had settled into a comfortable pattern with Waters and the actors. And on the surface, things with Kubrick were smooth, too. But there were signs that some slight tension was present and felt by everyone when the two of them were together. Conversations would stop momentarily when one walked into a room where the other one was. If they were talking to each other, no one else talked but suddenly made themselves very focused on whatever they were doing. And even between the two of them, there was a subtle sense of wariness. Not painful, but clearly present.

Today, the actors and Kubrick had been training since seven a.m. It was now 10 a.m., and the rain that had been threatening for days had begun. Normally, February was when the rainy weather socked in, but today, the radar showed that they were on the edge of a late storm, and it was likely to be miserable today and possibly tomorrow.

After thirty minutes, the rain had picked up to “vigorous” and the temperature “bracing,” per Dawg. Lazarus, the grouch, but also the most focused one of the bunch, was grumbling something about “I’ll show you vigorous,” to which Dawg just laughed. Brick and Jumper were trying to outdo each other, pushing and shoving each other as they ran like two five-year-olds, and Enigma was keeping pace with Vixen. Kubrick was running by herself. Waters would speed up and slow down as needed, watching form primarily but also helping with the obstacles. Lately, no help was needed.

He was at the wall and turned to see the actors’ placement. His gaze automatically sought out Kubrick. She was just behind the leaders, Dawg and Lazarus. When they had started the course, she had been in a black Adidas running jacket, leggings, and sneakers, her Dodgers cap pulled low over her eyes, and sunglasses on despite the overcast day. He noticed that somewhere along the line, the jacket and glasses had been dumped. Now she was left in her sports bra, and the ball cap was turned backward with all of her hair piled up inside of it. They had just crawled through the mud pit under the barbed wire, and she was covered in the muck, almost looking like it was a spa treatment.

Mud, wet running gear, backward hat. Good goddamn, she’s gorgeous.

He had purposefully not paced with her despite how much he wanted to. He didn’t trust himself. It was hard enough standing beside her most of the day, listening to her direction, watching her reenact things for the actors. Filming wasn’t due to start for three weeks yet, but that didn’t stop her from using moments of training to do more foundational work that would be reenacted on film. She was not one to waste a chance to set and practice things early. The worst moment for him had been yesterday when she was showing Vixen exactly how to get into the proper body position she should create for the kissing scene with Dawg that happened directly after a fight scene they had just been practicing.

He didn’t know how he was going to be on set for the sex scene when that came up later in the filming process. If she was going to demonstrate any of that positioning, he’d lose his shit. Technically, there would be no reason for him to be there, but since she couldn’t go anywhere without him still, he obviously would need to be present. It was his job.

Keep telling yourself that, buddy. And while you’re at it, how many more places and ways can you think of to hide the bodies if those guys keep looking at her?

He knew his thoughts were irrational. They had to look at her when talking or listening to her. But he couldn’t help thinking stupid shit.

But now, the rain had become nearly torrential even though there was no thunder and lightning. Vixen was flagging, and they were approaching the last obstacle before the final quarter mile of straight-out running.

Suddenly, Brick and Jumper poured on the speed, bypassing Lazarus and Dawg, and hit the base of the wall, but they didn’t shoot to the top. He was about to yell at them for stopping but pulled himself back just in time. His jaw may have even dropped open. They turned to face each other and made a basket with their hands.

Within seconds, Lazarus and Dawg were on them using the guys’ hand baskets as springboards to the top of the wall. When they had the top of the wall in hand, they pulled themselves the rest of the way and sat astride the wall. Kubrick had turned on her speed as Brick and Jumper had passed her, and she had it perfectly timed to be at the height of her stride, jumping to put one foot in the basket Jumper still held. He flew her to the top of the wall so she could grab on, where Lazarus and Dawg grabbed her forearms to pull her to the top.

Dawg then slid over the opposite side of the wall, and once fully extended, hanging by his fingertips, he dropped to the ground. Kubrick followed, but when she let go, she fell into the waiting arms of Dawg. In the meantime, Jumper formed a lunge position against the wall so that Brick could scurry over him. As the smaller, stockier man stepped on Jumper’s shoulder, he was lifted like a circus acrobat, where Lazarus grabbed him by the forearms and hauled him to the top. Together, the two men sat astride the top, waiting to help the rest of their team.

When Enigma and Vixen arrived at the wall, Jumper formed the basket for Vixen’s foot, and she was up where the two men at the top each grabbed a hand, working together to secure her to the top of the wall so that she could crawl over, then slide down into Dawg’s waiting arms. When she hit the ground, Dawg grunted, “Go,” and the two women took off.