Breaking Beast (Pounding Hearts 4)

He shoots me a look and says, “No,” but there’s a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. “This is to help you start gaining.”

“Mmmhmm,” I hum skeptically, scooping another bite into my mouth.

After about four more bites, I’m completely stuffed but there’s still a pretty sizable pile on my plate.

“How many eggs did you give me?” I ask.

“Three,” he answers, layering bacon on a plate.

Ugh. Two is usually my max.

“There’s no way I can eat all of it,” I groan and push away my plate.

“If you want to win that five grand in six weeks you’ll clean your plate.”

I shoot him a dirty look but he’s not even looking my way. He’s right, of course, but that doesn’t make swallowing the eggs down any easier.

Pulling my plate back, I dig back in.

I finish off half the pile left on the plate before he sits down at the table to join me.

“Bacon?” he asks, nudging the plate towards me.

I shake my head and press my lips together. I wonder if I look as green as I feel.

He laughs and crunches down on a crispy piece.

Bite by bite, I finish off the pile. By the time I reach the bottom, I’m so full I feel like I’m going to pop.

“You sure you don’t want any bacon?” he asks, waving a piece at me.

Groaning, I lean back in my chair. “If I eat another bite I’m going to puke.”

He makes a face and pulls the bacon back. “Save that shit for Dale.”

“You don’t think he’s going to push me as hard today, do you?” I ask, seriously hoping not.

Lifting his wide shoulders in a shrug, Alex swallows his bacon and stands from the table.

His lack of an answer isn’t very reassuring.

I grab my backpack from the floor and stand with him. “Do you?” I press.

Now I’m feeling really full and apprehensive. It’s so not a good mix.

Alex shrugs his shoulders again and walks over to the refrigerator, pulling out our lunches. “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.”

Dammit. I was afraid of that.

Chapter Ten

Alex

Breakfast has been tense the past few days. It’s like we’re both not saying something but I can’t figure out what it is. It could be about the time I caught her checking me out, but I think there is more underneath that hasn’t reached the surface yet.

Fuck it, that’s my specialty—burying and ignoring. That’s probably why I haven’t settled down yet like Chase and the rest of them. I ignore problems and walk away from a relationship when it gets to be too much work.

I don’t like it when things become difficult. I like to have a woman for a couple months then move on.

Christy sticking around the house for however long is going to make shit tricky, but whatever. She can’t go back to sleeping in the slums because she’s got too hard of a fucking head.

I won’t allow it.

Watching Christy get out of the car and walk into the restaurant, I feel that familiar tingle in the back of my head telling me I need to get laid and let out some of this pressure building up inside my balls.

I pull away from the restaurant and head back towards the main drag.

“Damn! I need to get laid,” I grumble. Jerking off in a shower isn’t doing jack shit.

Stopping at a red light, I quickly swipe through my contacts, looking for something to stand out to me. Melody’s name looks just about perfect.

Putting her on speakerphone, I press dial button.

“Mmm, where have you been, Beast?” she asks me as soon as she picks up the phone.

“Working my ass off, girl. What are you up to tonight?”

“I was going to hang out with some friends. But if you know of something better…”

Shit, she seemed like a really good idea before I hit dial. Now… I feel bored with her already.

“Shit, the boss is calling me, let me call you back,” I say right before I disconnect.

Okay, so not Melody, she’s just not what I want.

Looking through the phone, I spot Sophia and press dial. She will work.

“Hey Alex.”

“Sophia, let’s get some dinner tonight? What do you think?”

“Sure, when?”

“How about I pick you up at eight?” I ask.

“Okay, sounds good to me. I’m about to head into court… I’ll see you then,” she says before she hangs up.

Good, I got a date lined up. This should help me get back on track. I need to get over whatever the fuck my head is going on about and the best way to do that is to get under a beautiful woman.

* * *

Rolling to a stop in front of Sophia’s apartment, I point my head up at the high-rise apartment. I look at the glass reflecting the downtown night lights in all their splendor.

This city is pretty damn cool looking when you look at its reflection.