“And?”
Gus shrugged. “She said you walked her home and shedidn’t kill you.”
“Excellent. You wanna get back to work now?”
Me pulling the boss card was as rare as my own brother giving a shit, but Gus knew when to quit. He gave me another hard look, then went back to measuring out the felt for the garage roof we were working on.
I spent the rest of the day ignoring him. At five o’clock, I ditched him outside his house and drove away withoutpeeking at Mia’s bedroom window. I went straight home and took a shower, then hit the gym, smashing the treadmill, then the weight room—an exercise in solitude I often craved when Gus and I didn’t wind up in the pub.
Rushmere’s fitness centre was fairly quiet, just the after-work crowd getting their workouts in before heading home, and a couple of brothers I often saw in the pub—faces fromschool whose names I could never remember. Benton? Benson? Fuck. I had no idea. And I didn’t much care. I kept my headphones on and ignored the world—standard OP—and finally found my chill halfway through my third set on the bench press.
Relieved, I pushed through a fourth, then stood, enjoying the rush of endorphins buzzing through my fatigued muscles. I wasn’t a meathead, but staying strongkept me sane.
At least it did until I lazily scanned the room and spotted a petite blonde lunging with a loaded barbell slung across her slim shoulders.
Jesus. Really?
Every instinct I had told me to turn tail and run all the way home. To lock myself away and pretend the spectacle of Mia easily lifting a ridiculous weight while she lunged like a pro didn’t make my dick hard.
ButI remained rooted to my spot, transfixed. Mia had always been fit, even in our chain-smoking youth, but I’d never seen her lift, and never imagined that her lithe teenage body would mature into the shapely curves she had now. Her upper body was slight, but her legs—her thighs, man. How the fuck was this life? And how the hell had I not noticed how tight and firm she was the other night?
Erm,maybe because you’d been knuckle deep in—
I killed the thought before I embarrassed myself in front of the people who were starting to notice me staring across the gym at Mia, especially the younger Benson brother, who was glaring at me like I was having a wank in a play park.Fuck, I need to get out of here.So much for my safe space. I was starting to wonder if I’d ever leave the house againwithout stumbling across something that put Mia on my mind.
Reeling, I escaped to the changing rooms and took my third shower of the day. A cold one this time, and I felt marginally calmer after. Calm enough to stroll through the gym without glancing to where I’d last seen Mia. I made it all the way outside until the sight of her leaning against my van tripped me up all over again.
Cursing,I stomped to the passenger door and slung my bag on the seat. “What do you want?” I said roughly. “A lift home?”
“No.”
“Sure about that? Because I’m gonna start thinkingyou’rethe one loitering around every fucking corner.”
“I was in the gym first.”
I closed my eyes and sucked in a breath. When I looked at her again, her taunting sneer made me want to punch something. “Look, Idon’t know what you want, and I don’t care, okay? You made it clear there was only one thing I’m good for these days, and I gave you that. What more do you want from me? A repeat performance?”
She said nothing, but her expression flickered infinitesimally.
Fuck.
Cue more staring. Was she serious? Ten years of silence, a chip shop reunion that had made it plain she hated my guts, nowshe wanted me to make her come again? Was I even awake right now?
The urge to bang my head on the van was strong. I settled for leaning against it and folding my arms. “Be clear. I’m not in the mood to play games.”
Another flicker passed over her delicate features. She stepped closer and trailed a finger down my forearm. “I don’t like you,” she whispered. “And I can’t see a time when thatwill ever change, but I liked how you made me feel the other night. For a little while, it all went away, you know? I want that again.”
I wished so hard I didn’t know exactly what she meant.
But I did know.
I hadn’t come that night—at least, not with her—but I’d drifted home on a cloud I couldn’t describe, a hazy place where nothing existed except her shuddery cries and her hot breathagainst my skin. My booze buzz had faded like it had never been there at all and I’d gone to sleep with my dick in my hand and a smile on my face I barely recognised.
Of course, by morning the idiocy of what we’d done had kicked the shit out of me, but I couldn’t deny that I wanted that oblivion again. Craved it. And the fact that she wanted it too?
Yeah. Perhaps I was dreaming after all.
“Did you just pass out?” Mia demanded. “Because if you’re just going to ignore me, I’m done with this conversation.”
