Page 21 of Tough Guy and the Show Off

I raise an eyebrow as I study my friend. His tone is off, and there’s an edge of bitterness to it. Oh shit. Did he want her?

“Do you want to go back and close the deal?”

Trav scoffs at that. “Not even a little. Besides, she wasn’t interested in me.”

“Obviously, I wasn’t interested in her either or I might’ve noticed this flirting you say took place.”

Trav’s blue eyes settle on my face for a few seconds before he blinks and moves out of the way of a morning commuter.

I hope he’s not feeling weird about me crawling into bed with him last night. He always lets me during storms, but if that’s changed, there’s only one reason it could have.

“Thanks for letting me crash last night.”

His face lights up, relieving some of my worry. “Anytime, Beau. You know that.”

“I think you were gonna sleep through it if it wasn’t for me.”

He screws his face up for a second before laughing softly. “Maybe, yeah.”

We get to the gym, finish off our shakes, then hit the weight room. I like this place. It’s well-equipped, clean, and the other customers leave us alone even when it’s obvious they recognize us.

Travis drops to the mats right away, pulling his leg to his chest to stretch. I find myself watching him for a second, the curve of his back, the strain of his muscles, the way his shirt rides up just enough to show off an extra inch of skin…

I shake my head and snap out of it, focusing on my own stretching.

We move through our workout, spotting each other like we always do, but for some reason my mind keeps wandering, my eyes catching on the way Trav’s muscles ripple and bulge under his skin, the way the colors and shapes of his tattoos stretch and bend with every movement.

“You’re getting huge, man,” I mutter as I watch him work through another set of bicep curls.

“Thanks. I’m inspired by this massive D-man on the team. We call him Bozy. You ever heard of him?” He winks at me as he drops the weight machine.

“Whatever.” I chuckle.

Travis pops off the seat and wraps his hands around my upper arm. “Come on, Bozy. Flex for me.”

I shake my head, moving to take the seat he just vacated, but he stands in front of me, grinning and squeezing my arm.

“What if I bat my eyelashes like a puck bunny?” He flutters his eyelashes, making me cackle. “Does that work?”

“You look like a bug flew into your eye.”

He pops his bottom lip and gives me a puppy dog look that actually fucking works on me. Rolling my eyes, I flex my bicep and he squeezes a little harder.

“Goals.” Trav finally releases me. “Now help me bench.”

We move to the weight bench and I stand over him, watching as he lifts the bar and brings it down to his chest. The vein in his forehead pops out, and his cheeks turn red with exertion. My gaze drifts from his face down his chest and then to his arms, and not for the first time today, I wonder why I can’t keep my eyes off him.

We move through several sets each before switching to the hamstring curl machine. Trav gets on it first, face down, curling his ankles under the bar and lifting up. His ass muscles flex under his compression leggings, and then something really fucking weird happens.

I get hard…

Watching my best friend work out.

With an abrupt cough, I drop to the floor into plank, holding myself up until my arms shake. I need my dick to chill the fuck out, but that’s not happening as memories of Trav jerking his cock flit through my mind. It doesn’t help my situation that every few seconds Trav grunts through his reps.

With my eyes closed, I imagine something unsexy, conjuring up the memory of walking in on my folks back when I was thirteen. Damn near scarred me for life. That thought finally does the trick and my dick practically shrivels up. I fall onto the mat face-first, breathing hard as my muscles tremble.

“That was impressive,” Trav says, suddenly right next to me. “Ready for more?”