Lily needed to move. The tension from the party, the slap, the kiss, and the way Gerald had taken her the night before sat heavy in her body. She changed into tight black leggings and a sports top, then took the private elevator down to the gym inside the apartment complex.
The gym was quiet at that hour. She put on headphones and started with the treadmill, then moved to weights. She pushed herself hard, sweat running down her back, until her arms and legs burned. For a while the physical effort drowned out the noise in her head.
When she finished, she grabbed her towel and walked into the women’s locker room. The door had barely closed behind her when she heard voices near the far lockers.
“That is the girl Gerald Maldovo has been keeping,” one woman said. “ Everyone knows she is just
