The Bad Boy (Black Mountain)

They stopped in front of the treadmills and Mary picked one before getting on and starting it up. For the next five minutes they were silent, and Mary had forgone bringing her headphones because she thought Darcy would want to talk or gossip, but her friend only had attention for Mica.

“You got it bad,” Mary said, and Darcy laughed, not even trying to deny it.

They fell into that comfortable silence again, and with it came Alex bombarding Mary’s thoughts. For the last fourteen days she’d managed to tutor Alex and keep things professional, even if it was only on the outside.

Margo’s wedding was next weekend, and midterms right after that. She was determined to make sure Alex passed that class if it killed her. No way in hell would he be able to hold it against her if he failed. He was smart, more so than he gave himself credit for.

She turned the speed up higher and started running. Sweat started to bead at her temples and she stared at the lone TV that hung on the wall across from them, a football game plastered across the screen. For a moment she looked down and focused on the stats of her workout, and when she lifted her head, she saw the man who was now in the ring.

Her running faltered slightly because she knew who it was even if right now all she could see was the hard, muscular expanse of his back.

Alex.

He was in the middle of the ring grappling with another guy. His moves were powerful, exact, and had her whole body heating in a totally inappropriate way.

Mary couldn’t stop watching as he bent at the knees and wrapped his arms around the guy’s torso. He lifted him off the ground and had him over his head in a surprising move of strength. She didn’t blink, couldn’t stop herself from watching. Hell, Mary didn’t even breathe as Alex brought the other guy down on his back, the entire ring seeming to shake.

Over and over they fought, but the entire time Alex had the upper hand. The men broke apart when a guy older than Alex by maybe a decade stepped into the ring. His blond hair was in a faux hawk, and there was no denying the raw power that he wielded as his muscles clenched and relaxed, his limbs covered in a slick sheen of sweat.

Mary could tell this man held authority.

Movement to her side caught her attention, and she forced herself to look away from Alex. Mica sauntered over to them, his body sweaty, his dark hair plastered to his forehead, and his lip ring glinting under the fluorescent lights. His focus was wholly on Darcy.

Her friend was off the treadmill before it fully stopped, and as soon as she was within reach of Mica, the beefy fighter snatched her up and pulled her in tight to his body. The embrace was uncomfortably intimate, and she forced herself to look away and stared back at Alex.

Her breath caught when she saw him staring at her. Sweat dripped down his face from his dark hair, over his neck, along his wide shoulders, and down that ridiculously ripped abdomen. His chest was rising and falling from exertion, and the way his muscles clenched and relaxed was mesmerizing.

The way he watched her couldn’t be called anything but transfixed.

And the way his gaze traveled down her body, the way she saw his pupils dilate, told her one thing.

He felt exactly how she did. Hot, desperate, needy, and trying to keep the intense arousal in check. Her pulse kicked into overdrive, her palms started to sweat like the rest of her body—which had nothing to do with being on the treadmill—and all she could do was stare at him.

She reached out without looking down, and shut off the machine, her focus never leaving Alex’s. This reaction to seeing him bordered on insanity. Mary just needed to go, before she did something she regretted like go up to him, take his face in her hands, rising on her toes, and kiss the hell out of him.

Yeah, that would be something she could never take back, and would set into motion a lot of things that could backfire.

Not to mention she needed to have some self-control and pride, needed to hold her ground because no matter if Alex meant how he acted or what he said… The words had come out of him. The actions had been delivered.

And he needed to feel how much that had wedged a wall between them.

18

“I think I’m done here, Darcy.” Mary tore her gaze away from Alex and walked past Darcy who was still in Mica’s arms. She made her way quickly to the locker room.

“You okay?”

Mary lifted her hand and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good,” she said as she diverted from getting her bag and beelined it to the locker room. She pushed the door open, heard it close behind her, and made it a few steps before she leaned against the wall and exhaled.