He stretches me out and slowly eases my leg down. I let out a sigh of relief. He leans back and laughs a little bit. “You’re doing great, you know,” he says.
“Really? I feel like I haven’t gotten any mobility back at all.”
“That’s not true.” He taps my knee gently. “You’re a lot more flexible now than you were when we first met.”
“Come on, no way.”
“I’m serious.”
I give him a look and he laughs. “You’re just trying to make some lewd sexual joke.”
“Please.” He grabs my hair and tackles me to the floor. I let out a gasp as he straddles me and pins me down. “I don’t need to make a joke, my darling.” He kisses my lips and I squirm underneath him. Anyone could come in and see him pinning me down there, taking me, but god, I don’t care.
He releases me and I push him off, even though I wish he’d stay. He laughs and strands, stretching a little bit. “How about some more work?”
“How about you work and I watch?”
He laughs again. I haven’t seen him so light like this before. Ever since he talked with his mother, he seems like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
I tried to get him to tell me what they spoke about, but he refused to say. He said he didn’t want to lie to me, and I didn’t really want to know. I decided to let it go there, but I can’t stop thinking about what their meeting was about.
Still, it’s nice to see him like this. He walks over to a weight bench and starts to do some reps. I watch him, just leaning against the wall. His muscles are gorgeous and his form is impeccable as he lifts over and over again before stopping and switching sides.
When he’s done, he looks over at me. “You want a turn?”
“No, thanks. I like the view better anyway.”
“Of course you do.” He winks. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”
“I definitely can. I just choose not to.”
He smirks at me and flexes a little bit. “Tell me you’re not swooning right now. And I’ll call you a liar.”
“I don’t swoon.”
“You do. You’re a lady.”
“If I didn’t have a broken leg, I’d beat you up right now.”
“I’d very much like to see you try one day.”
I roll my eyes at him and he just laughs, flexing some more. I throw a water bottle at him and he easily dodges it.
He goes back to working out and I just watch him. I can lose myself in the way the day flows along, spending time with Brent, working out, watching movies, sleeping together. At moments like this, Brent’s body bending to lift, his muscles straining, his face serious but still playful, aware of me watching, at moments like this I can forget about my father. I can forget about my past.
At moments like this, I think I have a future.
When he’s finished, I struggle to my feet. He runs over and helps me up the rest of the way and hands me the cane. I lean on it, but I don’t feel like I need it. I feel strong for once.
“I’m starving,” I say.
“I’m almost finished. Want to wait for me?”
“No, that’s okay. I’m going down to the kitchen. Think I can just ask for something?”
“Sure. Dorian’s going to yell at you, but you can do whatever you want.”
“Good.” I touch his face. “Don’t wait up.”
He grins. “I’ll come find you in a few. I’m nearly done.” I turn and start walking away. I get to the door before he calls out again. “Oh, Amber. Don’t mind the suits.”
“What?” I ask, looking back at him.
But there’s a mischievous little gleam in his eye. “You’ll see.”
I hesitate, frowning. I don’t like that look. It doesn’t mean anything good. But I turn away and leave the room.
As soon as I’m in the hall, I sense something. It’s someone following me, walking at a polite distance. I turn and nearly stumble as two men wearing dark suits are following nearby. They stop when I stop and just look at me with passive expressions on their faces.
“Uh, can I help you?” I ask.
“Security, ma’am,” one of them says. He has dark eyes, dark hair, and a face anyone would forget.
“Oh, god, no. I’m okay. Really.”
“You’re not, ma’am. Brent ordered it.”
I hesitate then groan. The suits.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Johnson. This is Patricks.”
The other guy, just as boring, nods at me.
I sigh heavily and turn away. I don’t know what I can say that’ll change things, and besides, it actually does kind of feel good to have them around.
Truth is, last time I went wandering around his house, I ended up getting abducted. There’s no guarantee that these two won’t try the same thing, but for some reason I feel better with them nearby.