“You don’t want to go?” Butch cocks his head.
I look at him, perched on the edge of my desk with that overly enthusiastic grin on his face. I still feel like I need to pinch myself to check that everything that happened over the weekend was real. He’s actually into me. He doesn’t want to share me. Helikesme. And all of a sudden, it sounds kind of fun to go out with John and the others this weekend… if only to show off the sweet, sexy, charming guy I’m seeing.
“I was going to blow it off, but if you’re free, it could be fun.” Then again, I don’t want him to get his hopes up and think this is going to be some wild college hangout. Maybe “fun” is too strong of a word.
“Count me in,” he says enthusiastically.
“Yeah? You really want to come?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Okay, but this won’t be, like, a kegger or anything. It might actually be kind of boring. Mostly just a bunch of anthropology nerds complaining about the workload of the PhD program and worrying over funding cuts.”
“I happen to like anthropology nerds.” He looks me up and down and winks.
“Flirt,” I murmur, leaning in for another kiss.
My heart thunders as soon as my lips touch his, and the shape of his smile against mine makes my stomach flutter with happy little butterflies.
The sound of the office door swinging open makes me startle back from the kiss after just a minute, wiping the back of my hand over my mouth and smoothing my hands over my clothes, even though they’re not out of place. My officemate, William, stops in the doorway with his mouth open in surprise and a blush creeping into his cheeks.
“Sorry, I didn’t know—usually you’re not in here…”
“Sorry, it’s my fault,” I assure him. “My uh… Butch stopped by with coffee… and… Sorry.”
We both laugh awkwardly, and Butch stands up to offer his hand.
“Butch. Percy’s boyfriend.”
Boyfriend. Warm fuzzies flood my body, and I’m sure I have the world’s dopiest smile on my face.
“Nice to meet you. I’ll just…” William points over his shoulder to indicate that he’s going to give us some privacy.
“It’s okay, I actually have to get to class.” I stand up and grab my bag and the coffee Butch brought me. “Want to walk me there?”
“Hell yeah.” He reaches for my hand, and my stomach flutters again.
How is this man even real? He’s too perfect. But I’m not about to question it. I’m just going to enjoy the hell out of it as long as it lasts. Maybe forever? Would that be too greedy of me to hope for? Fuck it, I might let myself hope for it anyway.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
PERCY
A beadof sweat trickles down my neck, and I glance over at Butch, fully expecting to see a hungry look in his eyes. He doesn’t disappoint. Heat flutters in my stomach, and I keep running, bumping my speed up another couple of notches. If I didn’t have the numbers right in front of me on the treadmill display, I’d never believe it. I’m going twice as fast as I managed to go on my first day, and I’m already over three miles without wishing I was dead. Although, the thought of that half-marathon is still daunting as hell.
“Maybe the spring is a little too soon to do that half-marathon. There’s probably one I could do next fall instead. Or I could wait until the following spring, really make sure I’m in shape for it,” I pant, watching the distance tick up, closer and closer to my three-and-a-half-mile goal for this morning.
“Spring is plenty of time.” Butch pushes himself a little faster too.
“It’ll be humiliating to finish last,” I mutter, reaching my goal and slowing to a cooldown walk.
“The only thing that’s humiliating is not trying, Rocky,” AJ chimes in from a few feet away.
“That’s right,” Silas says. “I’ve been doing Strong Man competitions for years, and I can tell you that coming in last never feels as bad as sitting it out.”
Callan snorts a laugh right in the middle of his lat pulls. “Not to be the odd man out or anything, but losing fucking blows, and my advice is to use that fear of humiliation as motivation to train your ass off for the next five months. Don’t aim to be able to run thirteen point one miles, aim to be able to run twenty miles, so you can be sure you’ll crush your goal.”
I look over at Butch so he can weigh in, although I have a feeling I already know which camp he’s going to fall into on this one. He slows down to a walk and wipes the sweat off the back of his neck with a towel before shooting me that patented Butch Grin of his.
