Gym Junkie

He stares at me for a moment.

“You’ll never know if you can have a girlfriend if you don’t try it one time?” I smile hopefully.

“I’m not having him waiting in the wings for me to fuck up.”

“What do you mean?” I frown.

“Just what I said. If you end it with him, we can see how it goes. If you are keeping him on ice then forget it.”

“I know.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “I’m going to end it with him regardless of what happens here with you and me. I know if I have these feelings about you, it’s not right to stay with him.”

He raises his eyebrow and I know his interest has piqued.

“You scare me?” I whisper.

Tenderness crosses his face. “Why?”

“I’m just one girl. You’ll probably be bored with me in a week.”

He shakes his head as he wraps his arms around me, and in that moment, I know it’s going to be all right. “You’re an idiot.” He bends and gently kisses my lips. “I’ll probably be bored of you in two days.”

I giggle. “Please work on some new romantic material,” I mutter dryly.

He kisses me. “This is how I am.”

“I like you how you are.” I squeeze him in my arms. “But as the boss of us, I would like you to research the romantic material manual, please.”

He chuckles. “I’ll look into that.”

“I’ve had the worst week, and I’m terrified this is going to fall apart and you’re going to hurt me?” I whisper.

He brushes the hair back from my forehead and studies my face. “Maybe.” He shrugs. “I don’t know, Tully, I’ve never done this before.” Our lips meet again.

“I’ll make a deal with you,” I whisper up at him.

He smiles against my lips. “What?”

“You teach me the physical things that you need me to know, and I’ll teach you the emotional stuff that I need you to know.”

His eyes search mine. “I don’t know how good of student I’ll be.”

I reach up and brush his hair back from his forehead. “I’m just asking you to try, Brock.”

He nods and wraps his arms around me. “Okay.” He kisses me softly. “We can try.”

I smile into the darkness, my heart racing wildly in my chest. His body is still inside mine as he lies behind me.

I’m back in his arms and all is right in the world. He tenderly kisses the side of my face and I smile against him as he holds me close. He feels it, too, I know he does.

We just made love, and unlike all the other times, he was gentle and loving and everything feels so right. He slowly slides out of me and kisses my lips as he holds my jaw in his strong hands. “You want a glass of water?” he asks.

“Please.” I doze back off in the darkness.

“Here you go.” I open my eyes to see Brock in front of me holding my phone out.

I lean up onto my elbow. “Huh?”

“Call him.”

“What?”

“Call him and tell him you’re with me. You’re not to speak to him again unless I’m in the room.”

Chapter 13

I frown as I look up at him. “What?”

“You heard me.” He sips the water from his glass casually. “Dial the number. Now.”

“I’m not calling him with you listening.”

He stands at the side of the bed completely naked. “Oh, yes, you are.” He rearranges his dick with his hand. “You want to do this thing between us.” He raises his chin defiantly. “Let’s go.”

“Let’s go? What the fuck does let’s go mean?”

“It means I don’t do things by halves, and if you belong to me then I won’t have you speaking to him when I’m not here.”

“We’re friends, Brock.” What the hell?

“No. Your friends are Callie and that weird girl. This other guy is your ex and I don’t do exes.” He clenches his jaw and I can see his agitation building. “If you’re with me, you don’t fucking talk to him.”

“Brock, this is going to be a drawn-out, painful conversation. It may take hours.”

He sits on the bed. “I’ve got all night.”

“I’m not doing it with you listening, Brock.” I get out of bed in a rush and storm into the bathroom. “I can’t believe that you even think that I would.”

He storms into the bathroom behind me. “Oh, you better believe it. We can drive around to his house if you’d prefer.” He nods as if processing that thought. “Yeah. Let’s do that. Let’s go and see him together. I want to meet this fucker, anyway.”

I turn the shower. “Have you gone fucking crazy?”

“All week I’ve been going fucking going crazy, Tully, thinking you were with him.”

I scowl and get under the hot water. “You’re an idiot. Why would I be with him when I was calling you every minute of the day? He lives in Melbourne and he’s going to London. I haven’t been with him for eight months.”