I nod, probably too cocky for my own good. “I’d rather you show me what to do than screw it up on my own.”
Something unreadable flickers across his face.
“Okay,” he says finally. “But we do this right. No sneaking around. No starving yourself. No chasing some number that doesn’t mean anything.”
I look him up and down, staring at his chest, his abs, his muscular thighs. I bet he’s sporting two six packs and a full package of sausages under his gym clothes. I can’t help the smirk that plays across my mouth.
“Deal,” I say. “You like bossing me around, don’t you?”
And now I don’t feel so bad about sneaking around. It landed me one on one time with Grey, and that’s way better than Flex Appeal.
Grey
I should say no, nip this in the bud. That’s the responsible move. The clean one. The one that keeps everyone in their proper lane. Instead, I feel a sharp, instinctive twist in my gut at the thought of someone else teaching her, correcting her, putting their hands where mine already know they’d fit too easily.
The jealousy catches me off guard. I tamp it down just as fast. It isn’t my place to feel territorial with Kari. Not with the history we’ve had. I’m not boyfriend material. I’m like an older brother, the one who tried to keep her and Darby out of trouble, not create messes that could blow up in my face. Or worse, hurt Kari… or my sister.
But Darby did ask me to check on Kari. Cheer her up. That’s the truth, and it’s the lifeline I grab onto before my thoughts can wander somewhere dangerous.
This is me doing what my sister asked. Making sure Kari’s okay. Helping her feel better. Showing her a few workout basics so she doesn’t get hurt chasing some standard she thinks she has to meet. There’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing inappropriate. Just form, posture, and guidance… from a family friend.
Boyfriend ruse be damned.
I frame my mindset with all the chaste perimeters, then I look at her again. There isn’t a damn thing she needs to change about her body. She’s soft and curvy in all the places that cause my focus to blur. She’s fitter than she gives herself credit for. Strong, too.
I see it, even if she can’t.
And so what if having a workout buddy throws off my filming schedule? I can deal with that later. Film after she leaves. Pick a different night. The page, my dream gym…both can wait. What’s important is helping Kari see what I see. That beauty runs much deeper than what people see on the surface.
“No more sneaking into the gym without me,” I say. “When management’s around, we stick to our story.”
“You mean you’ll be my boyfriend?” She continues to smirk.
I can’t quite read the glint in her eye, but if there’s anything I know about Kari, it’s that she pushes boundaries just to see how far she can get. And I know what she’s capable of.Trouble.
“Just making sure you stay out of trouble,” I say. Which is a lie. I’d be more than her boyfriend in a heartbeat.
“I can handle myself.” She places her hands on her hips, as if that could convince me.
But it does make her boobs jut out, a little perkier. Which I have no business noticing.
“Sure you can,” I chuckle. “Like the time you played tag with a bull?”
Kari and Darby once dared each other to slap a local farmer’s bull one afternoon. Neither of them took into account that the bull was bigger, meaner, and faster than them. Darby reached the bull first, slapped it on the ass and took off like a bat out of hell. Kari stopped dead in her tracks as the bull huffed and drew its hoove back, ready to charge.
I jumped the barbed wire fence, hollering and waving. Anything to distract it while Kari made a beeline to safety. As soon as she was safe, I cut through the fence as fast as I could. It wasn’t until the adrenaline evened out that we realized the barbed wire ripped a gash under my armpit.
“That was different.” She wrinkles her nose. “I could’ve made it, butnooooo… you had to be macho.”
“I saved your ass.” This time I chuckle. We could go round and round about the bull, but deep down, I know she could’ve made it. But I’d never forgive myself if she’d been hurt.
Still have the scar, but I’ll never forget the look of horror on her face when she saw my shirt soaked in blood. That was the first time I saw her so scared. I vowed I’d do everything I could to keep her safe and out of trouble.
And right now feels like a whole lot of trouble waiting to happen.
5
Kari
