I pull away from him and strut over in Julian’s direction.
“How’s he doing?” I call.
“Pretty good. I made him do extra strength work today since he missed our first session in the morning.” Julian hops out of the cage, pulling off the wraps secured to his hands.
“Just mostly trying to keep him sharp and focused.”
Kayden comes up behind me and does a little shadow boxing combination. “I’m at the top of my game,” he declares confidently.
“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” I say, and Kayden shakes his head, feigning a smile.
Julian, looking like he’s completely over the both of us, shuffles to his office to wind down from the session. Which leaves me and Kayden alone in the gym.
He nudges me on my shoulder. “How was hanging out with Alyson?”
“Great,” I say, following him to the bench where most of his stuff is at. He plops himself down. “Bonded over our love for Gilmore Girls. Told her about the Jax-Beth drama. I think she might have called Beth a bitch at some point after I told her what she did, but I might have heard it wrong. If she did, I think we’re gonna get along just fine.”
“It’s nice to see that you’re spending time with family,”
Kayden notes thoughtfully. “Even if it’s one out of the whole bunch.”
“Yeah, well.” I give a cold shrug. “I didn’t exactly have many great options to choose from.” My gaze pivots to Julian’s office, where he’s busy cleaning up his desk. “At this point, Julian’s probably the closest thing I have to a dad.”
Right then Julian lifts his head to peek at us through his window and I send him a cheeky wave. Julian glares back and shuts the blinds to his office.
I face Kayden. “He loves me. He just doesn’t want to admit it.”
“He does,” Kayden says with a hint of a smile. He takes a swig from his water bottle before lowering it and resting the bottle on his thigh. “He raves about you all the time when you’re not around.”
“As he should.” I flip my hair confidently.
I edge closer to Kayden and he curls a finger around one of the belt loops of my jeans and tugs me to him.
“You reek by the way,” I say as my head dips down to take a huge sniff. I make a disgusted face. “You need a shower.”
“Take one with me,” Kayden murmurs, hooded eyes sweeping over me as he lifts the hem of my shirt a little and presses a lingering kiss on my bare stomach. I gasp at the sensation, my breathing becoming shallow as he continues to sweep the pads of his thumbs over my bare skin.
I jerk my head at Julian’s office. “What about Julian?”
He tilts my chin toward the exit, where Julian just slammed the door shut on his way out.
“Does that answer your question?” He tells me, swinging me up on his arms and hoisting me over his shoulder.
“You’re insane!” I squeal, hitting him on his back with my fists weakly. “Put me down. Now.”
“Come on. Ease up a little,” Kayden coos as he carries me into the men’s showers. He puts me down and nudges me into the tight space. “Relax, just get in with me and . . .”—he follows me in and shuts the shower door behind him. A hand clamps around the knob as he continues his sentence—
“. . . get real wet.”
He twists the knob. Water rains down around us.
I laugh incredulously as the steady stream of water soaks through our clothes, making them cling to our skin.
Before I can even mention that I didn’t bring a spare change of clothes, Kayden pulls me in for a hungry kiss, devouring my lips with his. A low, pleased growl runs through his chest as he tilts my head to align our mouths better.
Yeah, okay, fuck that then.
Feeling his warmth in my mouth just as our bodies touch sends a rush of exhilaration down my spine and into my core. I find him irresistible like this, especially when he’s all hot and bothered from training. I want so badly for him to use the same aggression he showed to Julian on me, except this time all over my fucking body.