“Come on, Rockstar,” he cajoled next to my ear. “Show me what I taught you and I’ll let you up. Wouldn’t want to mess up your pretty hair with all this activity.”
“At least I have hair, you asshole,” I grunted, then went limp from sheer exhaustion. I came up with a new tactic. Instead of continuing to fight with him, I took advantage of our close proximity as his body blanketed mine.
“What do you want to know? You probably know more than I do. I’m sure this is just some dumb test you’re putting me through in case I get taken hostage and need to keep Cole’s middle name a secret.”
As he chuckled at me, he relaxed his grip, but didn’t let me go. “First of all, why would someone take you for that purpose, and two, why would you need to keep his middle name a secret?”
“Because he hates it. He gets so mad at his mama when she calls him Josephus. It’s a family name or something.”
He-Man continued to laugh, and it made me smile. “Goddamn you’re fun. Just answer this. Is there any reason for Jake to want to get back at you?”
“No,” I whined, dragging the word out. “It’s not like I kept up with the asshole. He wanted to leave, so we replaced him. Sammy’s a better drummer, anyway.”
He-Man nodded, and when he was least expecting it, I hurled my body to the left and knocked him off balance just enough to get out from under him. Adrenaline flooded my bloodstream and, rather than make my escape, I jumped on him like an idiot and attempted to hold him down.
As the perfect specimen of a man looked up at me with pride in his eyes, I taunted him a little more.
“Now who’s in charge?”
He snorted. “I guess it’s you. I’ll give you this one, Rockstar. But there’s one problem.”
I furrowed my brows at him. “What?”
He smiled at me. “You told me Cole’s middle name.”
I groaned and looked up at the ceiling. “YouJedimind tricked me or killed me with exercise, He-Man. Can we go eat now? I’ve got to shower and get to practice.”
“Sure. But you’re gonna have to get off me unless you want me to roll you again.”
Before I could give him some smartass answer, a booming, yet teasing voice yelled out across the gym. “What the fuck are you two doing?”
We both turned our heads toward He-Man’s grinning teammate, Dreamboat. Brent Trainor was full of charm and always had a smile on his ridiculously handsome face. I don’t know where they found all these hot SEALs, but I almost wanted to join the military if this rockstar thing didn’t work out.
“Practicing,” He-Man scoffed. “I’m teaching him some self-defense and trying to get information out of him. He was just about to crack before you came in and interrupted my interrogation.”
Brent grinned. “I don’t think you’re doing that right, Phantom. He should be under you. And it looks more like you’re teaching him how to ride you, but hey, if you’re into that, you do you, bro. I’m gonna go over here and run on the treadmill. I’ll just watch.”
“You’re an asshole,” he muttered.
At his observation, my heart pounded a little harder in my chest. I guess we looked a little intimate since I was still straddling him. Rolling to the side, I sprang to my feet and used the tail end of my t-shirt to wipe the sweat from my face.
“You ready to go?”
Turning around, I found He-Man appraising the ink on my arm.
His eyes were fixed on the tattoo of a broken heart. He gently ran his fingertips over the artwork, tracing its outline as my skin heated under his gentle touch. I wanted him to keep touching me.
“Is that about him?”
“It’s a reminder about my life,” I said, looking into his eyes. “It reminds me about what happens when I’m weak, and care too much. That’s what happens every time I trust someone with my heart.”
He-Man pulled his hand back. “I hope it becomes a reminder of your previous life.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. “Let’s go. I’m hungry.”
He scanned my face, then nodded once.
“Let’s go, Rockstar.”
