Herd That (The Valentine Boys 1)

I swallowed and trailed my eyes upward even farther to find Ace’s amused face staring down at me.

“I told you to grab a ten and a five, not a forty-five for each side,” he said.

I blinked. “I got a ten and a five just like you said.”

He pointed to the plates that I’d gotten.

“Those are twenty-fives, and those are…”

I kind of stopped listening then because his penis was starting to grow.

My eyes were enraptured as I licked my lips and stared at it.

Sweatpants should be illegal.

What in God’s name was whoever invented them thinking? Did they not have any care at all for the female population?

How was a woman supposed to think with something that damn sexy staring her in the face?

Then the dick moved away, and I heard weights hitting the floor as my new weights were adjusted.

“Now try it,” he said, his dick once again coming back into view.

I did, straining to get it up once again. However, this time I managed it.

“You just did seventy-five,” he said. “Want to try for more?”

No. No, I did not.

“Sure,” I croaked.

He added on two of the tiniest plates I’d ever seen and then came toward me once more.

“Spot?” Ace asked, I nearly moaned in pain as I got another up close and personal look at his dick.

And his thighs. Because those were just as lovely, too.

Wrangler jeans or sweatpants. It didn’t matter.

They were fucking sexy on the man, no matter what.

Jesus Christ, I was burning up on the inside.

“Ready?” he asked, urging me on.

I closed my eyes, trying to close out the large cock and rock-hard thighs, only to curse myself when I even imagined them with my eyes closed.

I once again managed to get the bar down and all the way up, but this time instead of adding more, I stood up and started shaking my head.

“That’s my max,” I decreed.

He grinned. “Eighty pounds. Not too bad.”

I worked out my shoulders.

“You done?” he asked.

I swallowed hard and looked over at Desi, who was now talking to Callum, blushing profusely as she did.

“Yes!” I announced loudly. “Desi said she was taking me to lunch!”

“Where to?” Callum asked curiously.

“The deli!” I chirped, nervous now.

“We were going to go there, too,” Ace said, sounding amused. “Would you like to walk with us?”

No, no I would not.

“Sure.” Desi, the traitor, clapped.

I felt like I deflated.

I turned stiffly and walked over to where I’d drank nearly my entire thirty-three-ounce water bottle—who in the hell drank that much for thirty-five minutes of work?—and snatched it up.

Finishing it off, I tossed it into the trashcan—or at least tried to. It bounced off the rim and rolled across the floor, coming to a stop next to a bag that Ace happened to be leaning over to pick up.

He picked up my water bottle, too, and tossed it from across the room into the trash.

It didn’t hit anything but the bottom of the bucket on its way in.

I glared at the bottle.

Then stomped my way out the door.

I honestly considered getting into my car and driving away, but I knew that Desi would skin me alive if I did.

For some reason Desi had turned into a stage-five clinger the moment her ex-husband left her. She needed me to validate every move she made, and she used me as a crutch to help her move on.

Not that I minded.

Well, kind of.

I minded when she invited hot guys to go eat with us.

Then an idea hit me.

Surreptitiously, I pulled another bottle of water out of my gym bag and ‘accidentally’ spilled it down my white t-shirt, making sure to saturate it. Cursing as if it’d really been an accident, I said, “Well dang it!”

Cheerfully turning around as everybody was gathering their belongings to leave, I gestured to my shirt.

“Well, this ain’t gonna work. There’s no way in hell I’m going out in this,” I declared loudly.

Ace’s gaze was the first ones to rise, and the moment he saw my shirt, his eyes widened.

I looked down and grimaced, seeing the reason behind his wide eyes.

My shirt was white, and I was wearing a very thin white bra that made little to no difference nipple-coverage wise.

Crossing my arms across my chest, I said, “Sorry, y’all. I’m going to have to take a rain check.”

Desi narrowed her eyes, but it was Ace who said, “I have a t-shirt you can wear in the truck.”

I grimaced.

“I guess I could go buy a shirt,” I mumbled to Ace.

Desi hefted her bag up over her shoulder and turned to Callum, speaking to him in low tones.

Ace started digging through his gym bag.

He nodded his head and bailed, taking off to the front door, I could see his truck was parked right outside. He was in a hurry and I tried hard to keep the laughter from my face.