Watch Me

"Work," Jude murmured.

Whatever sense of calm he’d managed to find after we'd started working out was gone again. He was tapping his foot and looking at everything but me. I was used to high-energy people, but something about Jude's energy level was different. It had a franticness about it. He always seemed so… unsettled. It pained me to see him like this.

"It's Saturday," I pointed out. "You sure you don't want to take it easy today?"

Jude merely shook his head. He didn't even need to consider my words. I suspected Jude really didn't know how to take it easy.

I knew I should just let him go to work like he wanted, but instead of keeping my mouth shut, I said, "Do you like basketball?"

My question seemed to catch him off guard because Jude stopped looking back and forth between the two windows of the SUV and instead looked at me. "What?" he asked.

"Do you like basketball?" I repeated.

"Watching or playing?"

"Well, either, I guess," I said. "But for the purposes of this conversation, playing."

"Yeah, I do. Both."

I nodded. "There're always pick-up games going in the park. What do you say we go check one out?" I could see it was on the tip of his tongue to say no so I added, "Come on, it'll be a good way to cool down. We can grab a quick bite to eat afterwards and then you can still go in to the office if you want."

I found myself holding my breath in anticipation as Jude considered my words. When he nodded, it felt like the biggest of wins. I managed to play it cool by nodding my head and saying, "Good," but inside I was doing a victory lap even as I called out the new destination to the driver.

So much for not becoming too emotionally invested.

Chapter 12

Jude

"Okay, now?" Nikolai asked.

I glanced over my shoulder and said, "Not yet. They're still watching."

"Fuck," Nikolai growled. He straightened even more and kept his strides smooth and steady as we calmly walked away from the basketball court. I found myself holding back a smile as Nikolai continued to let off a string of soft curses beneath his breath. I once again looked over my shoulder and saw that the young men we’d been the focus of had all finally turned their backs on us.

"Okay, coast is clear,” I said to Nikolai.

"Thank God," he responded with a rush of air as he put a hand to his side.

I chuckled and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I may need you to carry me to the car, but it was totally worth it," he said as he rubbed what I assumed was a stitch in his side.

I finally just gave up holding in my mirth and laughed out loud. "You did good, old man."

"Hey,” Nikolai groused. "It's not like you're even in the same age group as them."

"The oldest kid was nineteen," I reminded him. "I’m twenty-six."

"When it comes to guys that age, every year is like dog years. So your twenty-six is more like forty-five," Nikolai said.

"So how old does that make you?" I asked.

"Fuck you," Nikolai said before he gave me a light shove. I laughed again as we made our way back to where the SUV was waiting for us. Unlike the heavy tension that seemed to always be between us, things seemed different for the moment. The silence was different. It was comfortable and easy.

I hadn't had high hopes for the morning but it had turned out to be a lot of fun. I’d already been on edge when I’d left my apartment and having Nikolai be the first thing I saw hadn’t helped. My nerves had been shot as we’d left my building and had stayed with me well into the self-defense session Nikolai had insisted on me participating in.

It had taken a considerable amount of time for me to focus in on just him and not our surroundings, but once I had, I’d started to make sense of the moves and had been able to replicate them. By the end, I hadn't just been going through the motions. I'd been truly focused on watching Nikolai's body so I could counter his mock attack and react appropriately. I’d felt like a million bucks by the time Nikolai had called it quits and praised me. The feeling had lasted for all of two minutes after he’d gone to get us some water. At that point, the gorgeous Dannie had approached me and introduced herself and I’d mentally gone on the defensive.

But the pretty blonde’s charming and genuine nature had been hard to resist and soon we’d been talking like old friends. That had lasted until the moment Nikolai had returned and Dannie had wrapped her arms around him. Knowing I’d been in the presence of yet another one of Nikolai's romantic partners had obliterated all of the confidence I’d been feeling. Between suspecting Nikolai had hooked up with Angel after we’d gone our separate ways the night before and learning that he and Dannie had history, I'd been more than ready to get the hell out of the gym and back to my normal routine.