When I was done, I placed it upside down in the drying rack next to the sink before turning around.
She was staring at me in awe.
“What?” I asked.
She opened her mouth, and then closed it, allowing her gaze to go from my cup to my face and back.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man wash a dish without being asked in my life,” she mused.
I snorted. “My parents raised me to either wash my own shit, or I didn’t eat. Trust me when I say, I really like eating.”
Cannel giggled as she followed me out of her home, only stopping for a few short seconds to grab a wallet from the front entryway table and her phone.
I also noticed that she had a small bulge at the small of her back, letting me know that she was carrying.
I liked that she wanted to protect herself.
I liked even more that she was mostly hiding it.
If I hadn’t been paying such close attention to the curve of her ass, I wouldn’t have even realized that it was there.
“Ready?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at me.
I grinned. “Ready.”
CHAPTER 11
Time is precious. Waste it wisely.
-Cannel to Will
CANNEL
To say that the man was ripped would be an understatement.
To say that the man worked out hard would also be an understatement.
I watched in awed silence next to my brother, as Will and another guy named Soren worked out doing what he called a ‘team’ workout.
That meant synchronized pull-ups. Synchronized push-ups. Synchronized squats with a really, really heavy barbell.
And even more synchronized stuff that I didn’t know the name of.
“Umm,” I said, saliva filling my mouth. “You don’t look this ripped.”
Thief rolled back onto a foam roller, working on a sore shoulder he said, “If I had four hours to dedicate a day to working out, sure. I could pull that off. But I’ll bet your guy also eats great, too. And just sayin’, but I have so much stress right now that I’m about a hundred and fifteen percent sure that if I had to give up beer, I would likely give up breathing because where would be my joy in life?”
I looked away from Soren and Will to stare into my brother’s eyes.
“You look tired.” I paused. “And what happened with your kids? I thought they made your life worth living?”
He snorted. “They did… do. But she’s gotten to them.”
She being his ex-wife, Trista.
“What did she do now?” I asked curiously.
“What hasn’t she done?” he grumbled. “But this time, I think she made them a deal. They can do what they want, she’ll fund their shit, and they live at home.”
“So something that every nineteen-year-old and thirteen-year-old wants,” I guessed.
Thief shrugged. “I’m not actually sure. But they also don’t like that I told them that they needed to have jobs. Boston dropped out of football and baseball, and there’s no fuckin’ reason that he needs to be at home doin’ God knows what when I’m workin’ my ass off doin’ two jobs, for him to just fuck around at home while I’m doin’ them. Comin’ home to a dirty house. Food gone. Boys at my place wreckin’ shit. And don’t even get me started on Clem.”
“Now I’m afraid you’ll have to tell me about Clem,” I said, looking across the room at Clementine with her best friend, Sophia. Those two were the only reasons that any of this with CrossFit was happening. If they hadn’t stayed friends over the years, I was sure that Thief would’ve let Madden and Taos go like he had all his other friends.
“She’s hiding shit. Gettin’ home late. Actin’ all shady when I ask her what she’s doing and where she’s going,” he grumbled under his breath. “Shit, I gotta go call my lawyer. I forgot I had a lawyer thing today.”
And without another breath, he was up and across the gym without another word.
I allowed my eyes to go to Clem once more, then studied her.
She kept laughing with Sophia, not acknowledging her father.
Which was weird. Clem and Thief had been as thick as thieves since Clem was born. It’d driven Trista batty.
“Owwww, fuck!”
I whipped my head around at that loud curse to find Soren on the ground laughing his ass off, and Will holding a plank.
I was studying his arms as they held him aloft. Then looked over at Soren as he once again got himself up to his feet, then jumped over Will’s body.
Last time he must’ve clipped Will on the way over.
My lips twitched at the language.
“I can’t believe you’re seeing him.”
I looked up to find Sophia taking a seat on one side of me and Clementine on the other.
“Why?” I asked, returning my gaze to where Will was holding his plank.
His neck muscles, and his shoulders. The sweat dripping down…
“Because he’s scary,” Clementine answered. “He’s seriously scary. You can’t even get close to my dad sometimes, and you’re seeing him?”