"What is he doing here?" Venti said as he entered the gym.

"Who?" Max said, looking around for the source of Venti's disbelief."

Venti pointed over at the large grizzly bear doing barbell squats. "Him!" he hissed down at Max. "The grizzly bear!"

"Oh, him? He joined last week. Why're you so upset about it? He put you down as a reference. You got a free month because of him."

Venti looked back over at Charles. "What? You're kidding me. He did not," the jackal looked back down at Max. "Did he?"

Max shifted on his feet, feeling a bit nervous. "Venti, is there something I need to know?"

"He's my ex."

Max glanced over at Charles, then back at Venti. "I take it you and him ended badly."

"On my side, yeah, but Charles is great at tricking himself into believing things are perfect." Venti narrowed his eyes into slits as he watched the bear rise up and down on his powerful legs. "How did he find out I exercised here? There must be a half dozen other gyms. How did he..." His voice trailed off as he put two and two together, and came up with the obvious answer. "Max, I promise there won't be any drama."

"That's good, because I'd hate to try and get between you two. I'd be smooshed into a fine glue."

Venti didn't respond, moving towards the bear. People got out of the jackal's path quickly, watching the hulk close in on Charles. "Charles, did Alexander tell you about this gym?"

"Venti!" came the expected unwelcome roar, though the jackal was certain Charles was happy to see him. "Yeah, Bronx told me about this place. Said he liked it, thought he'd join it himself."

"Is that so?" Venti refused to acknowledge the bull had a nickname. The only Bronx he knew of was a cartoon on television, and he'd be damned if he used that nick on Alexander.

"He didn't tell me you was workin' out here, though!" The bear got up from the bench, slapping Venti on the shoulder. "Mebbe you and me can pump some iron, among other things! Haw!"

Fat chance, grizzly bear, thought Venti.

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