Sweat it out, I figured. Burn it off. Get all the ugliness out of me. Jamie showed up sometime around my third circuit to bribe Renata into letting him use the tanning bed for free. I heard him in there, sucking up to her, telling her how accurate her horoscope reading had been. As I headed for the lockers, Jamie called, “Hey, Mike. Wait up.” He whispered urgently to Renata, loud enough for me to hear, “Hide that. Don’t let her see it.” Renata moved an object off the coffee counter to the shelf below. What? Who cared? I wasn’t in the mood. Jamie caught up with me at the door. “We need to talk.” “I have to take a shower.” “Good idea. You reek.” Jamie plugged his nose and followed me into the changing room. I shoved him out and slammed the door. He was still chatting up Renata when I emerged a few minutes later. Spotting me, like he’d been lying in wait, he said, “Go ahead and warm up the bed, Renata.
