My skin prickles with something I refuse to acknowledge.
He’s worked his body to the brim of exhaustion, and just staring at him without a shirt on makesmeexhausted. It’s becoming harder and harder to deny that my body finds him attractive. My stomach flips each time he gets close to me, and a rush of heat slips down my spine whenever his hand lands on my hip.
I have to glance away.
It’s too dangerous to look him in the eye right now.
I turn abruptly, which isn’t obvious at all.
The door creaks open. “Now that you’re done fantasizing about me, what do you want?”
And just like that, I want to smack him.
I turn and fling my hair over my shoulder. “You’re supposed to be taking it easy. We have a race soon.”
A bead of sweat drips off the end of his nose and onto the floor. “This is taking it easy.”
I cross my arms. “You’re usually done by now and posted somewhere in the lobby, waiting to tell me that I’m late or something. So, try again.”
Rome blinks a few times, and I wait for him to spill about his father showing up, but instead, he pops his AirPod back into his ear and shuts the door in my face.
I gasp.
He didnotjust do that.
I stomp after him.
The gym is hot and stuffy, which doesn’t help my already flushed cheeks.
I walk over to him, ignoring the rippling of his back muscles, and rip the AirPod out of his ear.
He turns and wraps his sweaty fingers around my wrist. The AirPod drops to the ground, and I try to jerk my arm back.
It doesn’t budge, and Rome’s fingers squeeze tighter.
“Why don’t you just tell me why you’re really here, Princess.” His tone is low but smooth.
My pulse flies beneath my skin.
I swallow and raise my chin. “I came to check on you.”
He squints, the blue hardly visible behind his dark lashes. “You came to ask questions.”
He isn’t wrong, but he isn’t fully correct either.
Whether I want to admit it, there is a deep-rooted part of me that wants to make sure he’s okay. Ellis’s earlier statement presses on my mind, and I don’t like it.
“That’s not true,” I argue. “Believe it or not, I care about my driver.”
Something flashes over his face, but the moment passes quickly, and he’s back to acting like the villain. His tonguejolts out of his mouth to wet his bottom lip. “Your pulse says otherwise.”
I forcefully tug on my wrist again, and this time, he lets me go. I’m not expecting it, and I stumble backward. I lose my footing, but instead of colliding with the floor, I collide with something else.
Rome’s bare chest.
His hand splays on my lower back, and he presses me to his firm body. I peer at him with wide eyes, and he gazes back at me with a knowing glint. “Careful, Tess. I might think you came here for something else if you keep looking at me like that.”
One second, I’m staring at his mouth, and the next, I’m shoving him away. “Ugh! You are so irritating!”
