Maybe it was pure naïveté that made it so difficult to compute that a guy she had met only once and hadn’t even exchanged words with had just tried to molest her? Feeling her stomach flip, Ari grew angry at herself for not having reacted faster before the ugly power of the seal had taken over for her. She drew in another shuddering breath. She had to act cool or the guys would know something was up. She was supposed to be upset with Jai anyway after last night, right? And she and Charlie were still on unstable ground. That left Trey, who didn’t know her well enough to know when something was seriously up with her.
The guys all turned at the sound of her approach and she gave them a vague, uncomfortable nod. “Did you start without me?”
“No,” Jai replied. Ari gulped when his eyes narrowed. Damn. He saw too much. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” She brushed him off and hoped he’d think it had to do with last night. “Can I spar with Trey today?”
Trey grinned at her. “Of course you can, sweetheart.” He winked at her flirtatiously and it amazed Ari how one guy’s flirting could be harmless whereas another’s could be so sleazy. She shivered again, and this time Trey frowned. “Sure you’re okay?”
“Ari?” Charlie asked, eyeing her carefully. “You look pale.”
Ari glanced from one to the other. She needed girlfriends. She was so sick of being outnumbered. Turning the tables on them, Ari shrugged. “I didn’t sleep well.” She glared at Charlie and then Jai and they both blanched, assuming they were to blame for her sleeplessness. “Trey?”
He nodded, looking a little confused. “This way, mademoiselle.” She followed his tall, athletic body toward a large mat in the back of the room.
Sparring with Trey eventually relaxed Ari until she no longer felt guilty about what she’d done to David. She’d made sure no one would ever find out about what she’d done and a tiny part of her believed that he’d deserved that loss of control. A tiny part of her wished she could take credit for being such a badass.
So lost in thought, Ari let her guard down and Trey swept a leg out across her shins, knocking her off her feet. She slammed on to her back with a silent ‘oomph’. Too busy trying to suck in the breath knocked out of her, Ari was oblivious to Trey’s playfulness until he was straddling her, holding her pinned to the mat. He was a strong, exciting weight on her and Ari flushed, a breathless giggle falling from her lips as he growled at her.
“What are you doing?” she squirmed, sure her face was beet red from being held down by one of the nicest and most gorgeous guys she’d ever had the good fortune of meeting.
“Attacking you.” Trey wiggled his eyebrows comically like a master villain. “Isn’t that the whole point of this exercise?”
“And what am I supposed to do?”
“Uh, get me off of you. Isn’t that the whole point of your exercise?”
Charmed, Ari relaxed completely. “Maybe I don’t want to.”
Trey’s grin couldn’t get any wider. “Are you flirting with me?”
“Maybe.”
His head dipped closer to her face and Ari lost her breath again, eyes caught in his steel gray ones. “While I would love to take you up on the flirting,” he squeezed her wrists to demonstrate his sincerity, “I think it might get me killed.”
Ari felt a little disorientated from the warm weight of his legs across hers and his powerful body perched so tantalizingly near. She’d been thinking how great it would be to want someone as easygoing as Trey, instead of loving someone as hardheaded as Jai. “What?”
Trey raised his head to look across the room. Whatever he saw made him chuckle and he bent down to whisper in Ari’s ear, “Jai would kill me. Don’t give up on him, Ari.” He sat back, smiling at the obvious confusion in her eyes. “So, I get Charlie is in love with you and everything, but do you think he might be bi?” he asked hopefully.
Startled by his complete change of subject, Ari could only shake her head with a laugh.
“Bummer.” Trey looked genuinely disappointed. “He’s got that whole moody, damaged thing going on. It’s hot.”
“What’s going on?” Jai’s deep voice rumbled above them and Ari flinched, catching sight of his angry upside-down face.
“Nothing,” Trey replied easily, letting go of Ari and helping her to her feet. She swayed a little. “Just sparring.”
Jai gave him a stony look and Ari ignored the annoyance in her chest as Charlie approached, wearing the same expression. She blew an exasperated breath of air out at them. “We were just messing around.” And then, just to be contrary, Ari shared a secret smile with Trey, hoping it would irritate the hell out of her guardian.