When I look up, Nate’s frowning at me. “What’s up?”
I rub the back of my neck, embarrassed he clocked me so fast. “Does your stepdad have dogs?”
“No, why?”
“No reason.”
He hums to himself while he operates the coffee machine in his grey sweats. The fabric hugs his nicely toned ass. He was bullshitting me when he said tennis players were skinny nerds. Nate, at least, has the body of those hockey players Stacie’s always watching on YouTube. “What are you doing today?”
“I’ve got a shift later.”
His head pops up from the machine, a big smile on his face. “So you’re free?”
Shit. No, I should go and see my guy, get more weed to sell. Bill day is coming up fast.I hesitate, trying to come up with a good excuse.
He’s giving me those puppy dog eyes.
“My next match in the Ivy’s coming up,” he says like he knows I’m trying to find a way to say no. “I thought maybe you could help me train.”
“Why me? Don’t you have teammates for that?”
He shrugs. “I’m not really on good terms with my frat president right now, and he’s also captain of the tennis team.”
“What happened?”
He shrugs. “Nothing. He can just be a lot sometimes.” He forces a smile and pulls me in by the waistband of my pants. “And anyway, I’d rather spend time with you. I thought we could go for a run on the beach.”
“I don’t run.”
He snorts. “So how are you so in shape?” His eyes roam over my body and I almost fucking blush.
“I lift weights.I don’t run.”
“You’re lucky, you must have a good metabolism. I start to get a muffin top if I eat too much pizza and don’t do enough cardio.”
My heart sinks. I pull him in tighter and grip his hips. “So fucking what? Get a muffin top.”
He laughs, burying his face against my neck. Fucking hell. That fresh sweat smell drives me crazy.
“I’ll watch you run on the beach, if that helps?”
His head snaps up. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. But only for an hour or so. There’s some shit I have to do today.”
He frowns. “You’re not going to see those guys who gave you a black eye, are you?” His gaze strays to the fading bruise under my right eye. The bridge of my nose still hurts a bit, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.
“No. It’s something else. And I haven’t got a black eye.”
He raises one eyebrow. “Like what?”
I loosen my grip on him and step back. “Nothing.”
“Is it another guy?”
“What? Fuck. No, obviously not.”
He looks sad now.Fuck.
