“You were slow,” Gray countered with a grin as he pulled his leg up behind him to stretch it out.
Straightening, I watched him as he switched legs, making sure to pull them close and ease the tension in his muscles. “You heading to the house or back to the stadium?”
“Stadium.” Gray looked at the watch on my arm. “Time?”
“You have a half hour before yourfirst class.”
“Plenty of time.” As he dropped his leg, he stretched his arm across his chest. “I’ll even have time just to walk back.”
“Okay.” My eyes ran over him, taking in the damp shirt, the strong legs, the muscular forearms. He had to be exhausted. I pitied the fact that he had to walk back to the stadium just for a shower. The words were out before I even thought about them. “You should have taken your stuff and showered here.” With more willpower than I knew I possessed, I kept my face blank as I cringed internally at my thoughtless offer.
“You been thinking about me in your shower?”
With reddening cheeks, I looked away from his piercing blue eyes and down at my feet. My feet were safer; they didn’t see through my defenses and strip my soul bare. “No, you know what I meant,” I mumbled as I smoothed my T-shirt over my hips.
Gray stepped closer to me, and I had to stop myself from being a complete cliché and holding my breath. I watched his gaze roam lazily over my body, slowly, torturously dragging his eyes up to meet my frozen stare.
“I’m not sure I did know what you mean, why don’t you explain it to me?” Gray’s voice was low and husky, and dear God, did he know he was looking at me like that? It seemed that I was a cliché after all, as I felt my pulse racing, and my lips parted as I saw the heat in his stare.
“Gray.” I swallowed past the hoarseness of my own voice. He took another step, and now he was almost pressed against me. I quickly looked around to make sure there was no audience.
“Nervous?”
“No,” I breathed as he dipped his head down. The smell of him, a mix of sweat, spice, and smoke, combined with his raw sensuality, was wreaking havoc with my senses.
His lips skimmed my jaw as he breathed one word into my ear. “Liar.”
It was as if he had thrown a cold bucket of water over me. Ijerked back from him as my hands flew up and pushed him back. Anger replaced anticipation as I watched him step back, his cocky smirk wide as he laughed at me.
“God, you’re a complete asshole,” I growled at him as I shoved past him, and angrily I climbed my stairs to my apartment. “I hope you get a cramp!” I called over my shoulder before I slammed my apartment door closed behind me.
My shower was cooler than normal, and well, it should be. What was I thinking?I knew better how much of a bastard Gray Santo was. Tipping my head under the spray to wash out my shampoo, I let my temper cool, and despite myself, I gave out a low chuckle at his complete assholeness. And yes, it was a word. It was a word that was in the dictionary, and beside it for a definition was a picture of Gray Santo.
As my fingers combed my conditioner through my hair, I remembered the last time he had touched me. Really touched me. The way only he could. Maybe I needed a mindless hookup to get me to move on. It had been a while after all. Rubbing my exfoliating shower gel across my skin, I thought about it. The Saints were playing at home this week, so there would be a party somewhere, and I needed to be there.
I lost my virginity when I was sixteen. I had hooked up with a number of guys since then. Some were good, some were terrible, only one made my body sing for him, and only two I had ever actually cared about. Maybe that’s where I was going wrong, maybe I needed to feel something for the guy. Or maybe I just needed one hot hookup that blew my mind while rocking my world.
After twisting my hair to get out the excess water, I dried myself hurriedly. I had spent too much time in the shower, and now I was going to be late if I didn’t hurry. Blasting my hair with the dryer until it was half dry and wild, I quickly ran it into two French braids.
I got dressed quickly and grabbed my book bag and a protein bar as I rushed out the door. My first class was at one of the sports buildings beside the stadium, and it wasn’t lost on me the irony of the fact that I should have gone with Gray instead of getting dressed here.
Power walking as I ate my breakfast, I cursed myself for forgetting my water, internally seething that it was all Gray’s fault while also knowing it wasn’t his fault. Not really. My phone started ringing, and I answered it with a smile.
“Hey there.”
“You heading to class?” Jett asked me, and I could hear students and knew he was already at his first class of the day.
“Yeah, heading there now, I took too long in the shower,” I replied as I took another bite of my breakfast.
“You seen my brother?”
I paused chewing, hesitant about what I should say. “Yeah, he joined me on my run this morning.”
“Of course he did.” Jett sounded frustrated but amused.
“What’s going on?”
“What time are you free?” Jett asked me instead.
