As if he senses me, he lifts his eyes and meets mine. The dazzling smile breaking free on his lips is for me. He gives me an enthusiastic wave with his hand. The girls follow Victor’s every move as he walks to the glass door and opens it.
“Tia, are you already done?”
And at that moment, the girls acknowledge my presence. Their gazes bounce from Victor to me and vice versa. Their jaws are about to hit the floor.
“All done. But I can wait if you need more time.”
How hard was he going for thirty minutes?
Victor closes the door behind him, walks past the girls, and comes to me. One girl lifts a single eyebrow and exchanges a glance with the other, who is still recovering from doing a double take.
I don’t like their words about Victor sleeping with women off campus. Does he really do that? Now that I think about it, last Thursday night he wasn’t home and must have come back really late. The week before that he was gone on Thursday again. That was the night when the guy at the food court invited us to a party Victor couldn’t go to.
I press my lips together so some stupid question doesn’t escape. It’s none of my business.
Victor’s unstrapping his gloves. His fingers are scraped, red, and swollen. The roughness of his hands doesn’t repulse me. The opposite—it sends my brain back to when he made me come with his fingers. And although his hands were calloused, when he touched my skin and my breasts, he was so gentle and tender.
We pass by the front desk, and Lily mouths,How did it go?I give her a thumbs-up. She watches me and Victor, who is now taking the tape off his wrists, and then Lily gives me a knowing smile.
Victor opens the car door for me with one hand while holding his gloves and tape with the other. He moves to the side of the trunk and takes off his shirt and puts on a new one. Not that I’m staring in the side mirror. Thank goodness changing his shirt takes less than ten seconds or I’d be squeezing my thighs together for a lot longer. He throws his gloves and tape in and shuts the trunk. I drag my eyes away from the mirror and look straight ahead, pretending my body isn’t affected by the sight of his hard, naked chest.
He slowly backs out of the parking spot.
“Tell me about your interview with Evan.”
Did I mention his name to Victor?
“You know him?”
“I’ve known him since my freshman year, not very well, but I talk to him when I go to the gym. He’s into MMA too.”
“But you didn’t talk to him about me, right? Before the interview?” I bite my tongue.
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked, but the thought that Victor could sway the interview process disturbs me. I want to earn the job, not get it because of connections.
Victor sends me a questioning glance. “Of course not. I’m not intervening.”
I let out a sigh. “Good.”
I briefly talk to Victor about the interview and my crazy idea to teach fitness classes. “I think you may be right. I’ve labeled myself as a nonathletic, but that’s not true. I want to see what I can do. I like the challenge.”
Victor smiles brightly.
The distance is short and we’re almost to the driveway.
“Tia. I was thinking…”
“Oh no!”
He laughs. “No, listen. This is serious. It’s best if you take it easy on your brother. He’s feeling guilty for not being around when you needed him.”
I sigh. “I want to make it work. But he can be so… controlling and unreasonable.”
“He’s the way he is because he cares about you. You bring protective feelings out of him… and me. We want to help you.”
I scan Victor’s profile. Straight nose. Sharp cheekbones. Sculpted perfection.
“I must have been ten. The bully from my class terrorized me at the playground. He pushed me and threw sand at me for no other reason than he liked torturing kids. Alek was around and made him eat sand while I was screaming at him to let the bully go.”
