Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 822(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 822(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
“Hmm.” I grunted and she smiled again.
I listened to her walk down the hallway, and all I could think when she shut her door behind her was how, ever since I first told her about Jenny, she’d been saying the same thing ever since.
Keep holding back on what I want and how I feel and I will only be hurting myself.
Chapter 13
Drake
I was at the gym again.
It was a ritual of ours—Oscar, Otto, and me.
Every single day of the week unless we had to work. But none of us did on this day. I spent three hours in Animal House in the morning, before the sun came up, three hours at night when the sun went down. I hated Flex’s gym. Even though I could get in for free, I refused to work out in a place under his rules.
That’s how much I despised him—to the point that I would throw out $36 bucks every month rather than attend his gym like the rest of the fighters.
Otto was working on bicep curls with 80-pound dumbbells.
Oscar was doing abdominal work, huffing like a maniac in a marathon—up and down, toe touches, penguins, all of it.
I’d just finished a set of cable crossovers, and as we all worked out, a group of girls walked by, giggling and smiling.
Otto flirted back of course, but as always, I didn’t pay them much mind. Oscar would look, but he’d never smile back or anything—nothing to lead anyone on. He was picky… and honestly I think he was too afraid to interact.
“Dude, your phone keeps buzzing.” Otto dropped his dumbbells, moseying towards my bag.
I released the D-handles on the cable machine, the loud clanking of the metal catching him off guard. He stopped making his way towards my stuff, holding his hands in the air and laughing.
“I wasn’t going to check your shit. Chill,” he antagonized.
“Yeah. Sure.” I picked up my cellphone, unlocking it and reading through the messages.
Jenny: I’m afraid to ask so soon…
Jenny: but I’m going to anyway….
Jenny: you ready?
Jenny: Okay.
Jenny: You wanna do lunch? :)
I tried hard not to, but I couldn’t help the smile that twitched at my lips.
Otto stepped in front of me, one eyebrow cocked. I looked up and Oscar was no longer doing his abdominal work on the mat. His knees were drawn up near his chest, his elbows resting on top of them.
They were both staring at me.
“What?” I snipped, frowning.
“What the hell are you smiling at?” Otto probed, grinning way too hard.
“None of your damn business,” I mumbled, replying to her messages quickly.
“It’s gotta be Jenny,” Oscar laughed.
“Dude, it has to be!” Otto stepped to my side but I shut the screen off, backing away.
“Why does it matter?”
“Because you never fucking smile, man. Why do you think we were staring?” Otto gave an obvious look, narrowing his eyes.
“Because you two are lame as fuck,” I responded.
“Repeat that in the cage,” Otto challenged, throwing his fists in the air and building a stance.
“Why? So he can beat your ass?” Oscar busted out in a laugh.
I looked at Otto as if he’d lost his damn mind. He was only kidding, but it was so funny to see him try and challenge me.
He always did it as a joke, but he and I both knew if it came down to it, he wouldn’t win. It’d been proven dozens of times when we were younger… when we were forced to fight.
Dropping his arms, he sighed and picked up his dumbbells again. “But seriously? Is that the Jenny chick?”
“Might be.”
“What was that shit last night with her running out and you chasing after her?” Oscar asked.
I shrugged, picking up one of the round iron weights off the stand. Lying on the bench, I started my first set of reclined leg curls. “She called me a jerk,” I huffed. “I didn’t stand for it.”
Otto scoffed. “Oh, please. Like we didn’t see you all up on her when you went outside.”
I avoided his gaze and fought a laugh.
“Yeah,” Oscar chimed in. “Saw that shit too. She must have called you one hell of a jerk for you to suck the air out of her lungs like that.” He cocked an eyebrow.
“He went after her fast as hell, right?!” Otto clutched himself, huddled over in laughter, and when Oscar agreed and did the same, I lowered my weight and sat up straight.
“Oh, like you have any room to talk, Mr. Sweet Talk.” My gaze darted over to Oscar as he grabbed the bar above his head and started pull-ups.
“I’m not afraid of admitting it. Mr. Sweet Talk gets the fucking job done.”
Otto and I laughed. These guys, man. I couldn’t win with them. They were a complete duo—hilarious together.
“What did she want?” Otto gestured at my phone.
“She wants to do lunch.”
“Should go,” Oscar puffed, pulling up again. “Day off. Why not?”