Shivers ran up and down her spine as she adjusted her stance and waited for Natalie to return to her position. Natalie’s eyes flicked toward Travis just as Roxy struck again, and Natalie stumbled back a second time. Travis’s head swiveled toward them, and then Natalie groaned when he made his way through the sparring partners over to them.
“Focus,” he grunted at Natalie, who flushed crimson beneath her blonde hair. He stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. His honey-colored eyes bounced between them before returning to Natalie’s. He tipped his chin and said, “Show meyour stance. Learning how to takeanddeflect a hit is just as important as learning how to strike properly.”
Roxy straightened out of her stance while Travis worked with Natalie one-on-one, positioning her feet, knees, hips, and shoulders properly. Natalie’s face was burning with a blush, and Roxy couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at her own lips watching her friend struggle with having Travis so close. It effectively pulled her out of the dark spiral her mind had been in.
When he was satisfied with Natalie’s posture, he stepped into Roxy’s bubble, forcing her backward a step, and demonstrated a strike; though with a fraction of the speed and power that she was sure he could produce. Natalie nodded, concentrating as he repeated it.
Roxy took the moment to fully appreciate the man’s form while he wasn’t watching her. His sculpted back that rippled with muscle, covered in more black shaded tattoos. His waist was trim but thick, and she didn’t doubt for a second that this man’s core strength was impeccable with a tree trunk like that for a waist. The athletic shorts he had on accentuated the narrowness of his hips, and the muscles in the backs of his thighs and calves bunched and shifted with each move he made on the balls of his feet. It really truly was unfair how attractive he was.
As he straightened, she tore her attention away from his beautiful form, hoping it wasn’t mortifyingly obvious she’d been shamelessly checking him out as he turned to face her. He smirked at her, his golden eyes sparkling with humor at having caught her. One brow arched high, teasing her silently, and her belly did that annoying flipflop thing again.Damn him.
“You’re turn, Red. Show me what you’ve got.”
He widened his stance, taking over where Natalie had left off, those honey-gold eyes of his shining tauntingly. She gritted her teeth and shifted into position; her own eyes locked on his in a silent challenge.
She struck the mitt on his right hand and he grunted in approval. The sound ricocheted through her mind and scattered every coherent thought from her brain. He nodded once, shifting. The muscles in his chest, shoulders, and arms rippled. Her eyes tracked the motion and his quick smirk told her he’d caught her in the act.Fucker.
“Again, Red,” he taunted low.
She focused her gaze on the mitt on his hand, refusing to meet those teasing eyes, and did as he said, striking hard.
“Good,” he rumbled and she forced her face to remain impassive.
Her muscles were already screaming at her, tensed as she was with anticipation and adrenaline, as well as burning from the hour of work they’d already done. Her shoulders were going to ache after today’s class, she just knew it.
“Can you give me one more?” he asked gruffly, and she thought she just might die from the eroticism of that simple question. Her eyes snapped to his, her mouth parting. His lips tilted up in another almost imperceptible smirk as he tracked her response to the question.
She nodded stiffly, then took a deep breath in, focusing intently on the mitt that covered his hand. She struck again, annoyed with herself at just how much his approving rumble affected her, how much she realized she sought his approval. She wasRoxsanna fucking Roberts. She didn’t need any man’s approval.
But oh that sound that rumbled out of his chest was music to her ears, every damn time. He let that corner of his mouth lift in that teasing smirk again, before turning his attention back to the rest of the class. “That’s enough for today. You all did well. See you in a few days.”
And then he sauntered off toward the corner of the room, where his gym bag was situated on one of the many benchesthat lined the walls. Roxy and Natalie walked off in the opposite direction toward their own bags. Natalie was quiet, for once, probably still embarrassed at having Travis so close in her space and correcting her on her form, but Roxy didn’t mind the quiet. The thoughts roiling through her head were loud enough.
Ever since he’d stopped in at the bar, it felt like things had shifted between them. Were Moe, Lowell, and Rudy right?Washe interested?
She mentally shook her head. Even if he was—which she highly doubted, because, look at the guy—shewasn’t.
Shewasn’t.
Not totally, anyway.
Fuck. Okay, maybe a little. But only enough tolook, not to do anything about it.
Only because when he looked at her with those damn honey-golden eyes, she could feel it all the way to the very center of her. Like he could see everything, even the broken and ugly parts of her that she fought to keep hidden. And she hadn’t felt attraction to another man in so long… men weren’t worth the trouble that came along with the more enjoyable parts, so she’d kept her distance and stocked up oneh-hem… toys.
Toys that had gotten an obnoxious amount of use since he’d shown up at the bar, in those jeans and that cowboy hat… A flash of lightheadedness swept through her.
Natalie called a quiet, “Good night,” to her and Roxy waved as her friend exited the gym doors, heading down the sidewalk to her vehicle. Roxy sat down on the bench, taking several deep, slow breaths, eyes closed.
“I swear to God if you pass out on me again—”
Roxy let out a scoffing laugh and opened her eyes to find Travis standing in front of her, about four feet away. He’d pulled on a hoodie that had the sleeves cut off—did the man not own anything with sleeves still attached?—and the colorful athletictape had been removed from his hands. His gym bag was slung over one shoulder.
“I’m fine,” she said, softening her tone. “I just need a quick snack.”
“You need to start preparing a pre-workout snackbeforeclass, especially if you’re going to insist on working yourself as hard as you did today,” he grumbled roughly, and she narrowed her gaze on him in irritation. Before she could open her mouth to offer a scathing retort, he slid the bag down his arm until it thumped to the floor and he knelt by it, deftly unzipping a side pocket. He produced two small Tupperware containers, one filled with sliced orange wedges, and the other, filled with mixed nuts. He pried the lid off the one with the sliced orange, passing it to her.
She stared at the little plastic container in his hand for a long time before raising her eyes to his in shock.
