Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“Okay. Sorry.”
He nodded, his eyes watching me carefully. “Three more sets. Watch your back, you’re leaning forward too much.”
I muttered under my breath but kept my eyes forward and made my way back across the room, lunging each step. My teeth still worried my bottom lip as I thought over the night before, wondering if I looked too much into it. Was he acting like a friend or was he really just showing me that eating healthy could work? I didn’t recall us really talking much about food, other than when we were doing dishes, but even still we talked about other things, too.
Sighing, I shook my head. Whatever. It was fine because he was still my trainer, which was what I needed him to be. He knew how to help me reach my goals, and that was enough for me.
Each lunge burned more than the last and I knew I was about to hit my limit. When I reached the other side and turned around, I hit something with the weight in my left hand.
“Oh!” I turned to check on whatever I’d hit, thinking I’d be apologizing to some tiny club member in booty shorts and a sports bra, but when I came face-to-face with Mason, I dropped both weights and stumbled back a bit. One of them fell on my foot and I howled out in pain as I fell to the ground.
Rhodes cursed and rushed toward me while Mason bent down to my level. “Oh my God, Natalie. Are you okay?” He moved to touch my leg but Rhodes beat him to it, pulling my foot up and tugging my sneaker off to inspect it as he squatted down next to me. His thumb moved across the delicate skin of my ankle and I hissed at the pain as chills raced up my legs and straight between my thighs. Rhodes followed the chills and lifted his eyes to mine. I blushed and looked away.
Which left me staring at Mason.
He watched Rhodes and made a face before turning to me and asking the same question again. “Are you okay? What are you doing here?”
Rhodes dropped my foot gently, leaving the sneaker off as he helped me to my feet. Mason stood with us. His eyes never left mine and I leaned on Rhodes for support, putting weight on my foot as slowly as I could. I was fine, but it smarted. “I… train here.” I swallowed. I wasn’t exactly ready for him to know that, but I guess I didn’t have a choice.
“Oh,” he said simply. This time his eyes shifted to Rhodes and then back to me before he spoke again. “I didn’t realize you were into fitness.”
I shrugged. “It’s, uh, a new hobby.”
He nodded. “Cool. Well I don’t want to interrupt your session or anything. I was just dropping off a donation bag from my mom for the fundraiser this weekend and saw you through the window. I wanted to say hi.”
I smiled, though it was strained. “Hi.”
He chuckled, and for a moment his chocolate eyes shined the way they used to when he looked at me. When I was his. It warmed my stomach and made me want to throw up at the same time, shooting an all-too-familiar pain straight to my chest. “It was nice talking to you last night. I’ve missed that, our late night phone calls.” He shifted. “Is that weird?”
Every muscle in my body was wound too tight, but I shook my head. “No. I get it.”
He smiled, just a tiny little curl on his lips. “Are you going to the fair tomorrow?”
I glanced at Rhodes then. He was still gripping onto my forearm and steadying me, though I had practically put all my weight on my foot again. “Yeah, Willow is dragging me,” I said, still watching Rhodes. When I faced Mason again, his smile was warm.
“Cool. Well I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” His eyes landed on Rhodes again and he looked him up and down slowly with a slight snarl in his lip. I waited for him to extend a hand to shake his or at least introduce himself, but he did neither.
I wasn’t sure how Mason was surviving Rhode’s glare.
After a moment, he nodded to me once more, his smile returning, before he stepped out of the gym and I was alone with Rhodes again.
“Thanks,” I said, pulling free from his grasp and rolling my ankle around before bending down to tug on my sneaker and retrieve the weights again. “I’m good. You want me to do another round?”
Rhodes was staring at me, his face completely void of emotion. “Not about a guy, huh?”
I swallowed, and suddenly the weights felt too heavy for me to hold. I placed them back on the rack and turned to face Rhodes. He hadn’t moved. “He’s my ex.”