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I didn’t really know Rafe at all, but I could tell he was essentially dismissing us because he was feeling uncomfortable and awkward. It didn’t bother me—not much did, to be honest—and I was about to direct Vince over to the ring when my fellow wrestler spoke up.

“We won’t get in your way if we rehearse in here, right?” he asked Rafe cheerfully, not seeming to notice that the other ghoul’s shoulders were suddenly hunched and his head was bent over his laptop.

“Uh, no,” he muttered without looking up. “That’ll be fine. We’re just getting stuff ready for the online launch.”

“That could actually work great.” Paxton spoke up, lifting his head from the camera. “We can use you guys to make sure everything’s running how it should.”

“You’re gonna film us?” Vince batted his eyelashes and tossed back his long, dark hair coquettishly, making me laugh. “Make sure you get my good side, Pax.”

“Do you have a bad side, bud?” Paxton replied good-naturedly. He was used to our antics.

“Trust me,” I said dryly, tilting my head toward Vince, “this one has a bad side.”

Vince smirked as Paxton chuckled and asked, “Do I want to know?”

“Don’t know if you’d be able to handle it, Pax,” Vince teased.

Rafe had looked up and was watching us in silence, his expression telling me he was fascinated by the interaction and the conversation. But the moment our eyes met, he jerked his head back down.

A tiny rush of affection made me want to find a way to draw him into the conversation. He was a grumpy bastard who liked to complain, but I was starting to realise just how awkward and uncomfortable Rafe got in social situations.

It made me feel kind of bad for teasing him on his first day here.

And all those other times.

In my defence, he complained about everything. He called my having a couple of friends over for the evening a “party.” He acted like I had a different hookup every night of the week when, yes, while I did have a varied sex life, it certainly wasn’t that active. He made comments about my yard and unmown grass when it wasn’t any of his business. It felt like he’d decided to dislike me the moment I moved in next door, before we’d even spoken.

I was a pretty laid-back guy, but he still rankled me some of the time. Which, yeah, probably made me act out a little more than I would’ve if I hadn’t known how much it got to him. We just seemed to bring out the worst in each other.

Which was a shame. A real shame. In another universe, one where he wasn’t such an uptight bastard and was open to it, I would’ve enjoyed finding out for certain what he was like in bed.

Chapter Seven

Two Half-Naked Men Grappling and Writhing Around Together on a Mat

Rafe

I knew there was a reason I hated wrestling.

I just didn’t think it was this specific reason.

I kept my head lowered, perched on a rickety stool in the arena, hunched over my laptop as I stared, transfixed, at the screen. My face was on fire, pulse pounding in my ears. My body felt too hot.

And my dick was hard.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the live stream being fed to my laptop. I knew it was so totally wrong of me to be turned on by this, because they were just doing their jobs. Being professional. Rehearsing.

But they were still two half-naked men grappling and writhing around together on a mat.

And one of them was Ewen.

And apparently, I was really into both of those things.

It was making me incredibly flustered. All I wanted to do was get up and go hide in my office, but I couldn’t. Because of the hard dick in my pants. Everyone would see it the moment I stood up.

My breath caught when Ewen stood and pushed back his hair. He’d ditched his shirt, and his stomach gleamed with sweat. I stared intently at his abdominal muscles as they flexed with his movements, fresh heat creeping up my throat.

I was just… admiring his physique. He clearly worked hard on it. It was only polite to take the time to appreciate the effort.