Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
But would he see it that way? Sudden panic coursed through me. Would Bones see this gift as a sweet, ‘welcome to the gym’ gesture. Or would he think there was more meaning attached to it? Would he think I was coming on to him?
For a second, I held the shorts out in front of me, examining them, trying to see what he could misconstrue from the gift, before changing my mind all over again. It was only a piece of clothing, for crying out loud. He might just take the gift for what it was—a meaningless clothing item. I was definitely overthinking this.
With a newfound confidence, I strode down into the main room to try to catch Bones at the end of his first workout as an official member of the gym and give him the welcome gift. A small part of me also wanted to see if he was all right and if the other fighters were treating him well.
I had walked by Frankie giving Teo an ass chewing for being a dick to Bones in the locker room. I normally tried to tone down Frankie, but this time, I wanted the guys to know there would be consequences if they fucked with Bones. I didn’t want him to go through a real-life upheaval to get back into the sport he loved, just to face all kinds of crazy bullshit inside the gym.
He would have to face it in the outside world, as it was.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do about that, however much I wanted to. But I didn’t want shit within the gym. Not only would that affect everyone’s head game, but it might also push Bones away before he’d really had the time to settle back in.
But as I entered the gym, I quickly realized I was too late. The training session was already over, and most of the fighters had dispersed.
I headed toward the locker room, smiling and acknowledging the other guys as they filed out, freshly showered and dressed. Because I was pretty sure that I’d seen every other person, except for Bones, I had no hesitation with simply walking in there to see him. If everyone else was dressed, then he must have been, too. And to catch him alone was absolutely the best way for me to do this.
My heart raced with excitement as I imagined how his face might light up when he saw the shorts. They were just like the ones he once wore before. Same colors and design. Bones embroidered on the waist. I had seen a picture online when I had been researching and thought it might be a nice gesture. Or a stupid one. I still wasn’t sure.
“Bones,” I called out tentatively, my voice echoing around the room. “Bones, are you still in here?”
When he didn’t answer me, I started to assume I might have missed him, that maybe he’d gotten dressed quicker than everyone else. So, with a heavy heart, I turned to go. That was the moment I heard a clattering from across the other side of the locker room, much nearer the showers, and my heart clenched all over again.
“Bones,” I called out again, this time with much more confidence. “I have something for you. I wanted to give it to you now before—”
Holy fuck!
I found myself standing dead in the middle of the room like a statue when I finally saw him. It was as if my limbs had completely iced over, freezing me in position, while all of me heated up painfully. My brain screamed at me to run, to get the hell out of there, but my body simply wasn’t paying any attention.
Bones was basically naked…
I needed to get the hell out of there!
“I… I…” I finally managed to splutter out. “I’m so sorry, I’ll just…”
That body! His bare ass was dangerously sculpted. And when he turned to face me, with abs dripping wet from the shower—he was like a freaking Greek god. That abdominal V of his had droplets running down the lines all the way to the small towel that barely covered his dick that I desperately wanted to see. Even with a flimsy cloth covering his manhood, his incredible body had the power to turn me into jelly.
I was staring at him like an idiot, openmouthed and everything. If he didn’t think I had the hots for him before, he sure as hell did now. I couldn’t stop staring at that towel, hoping he would drop it.
“I have something for you,” I forced myself to gasp out, “but I’ll wait for you outside.”
It wasn’t until I had raced from the locker room, and I was panting heavily with my eyes closed, leaning against the ice-cold wall behind me, that I realized he hadn’t even tried to hide himself. He’d simply stood there, smirking—flirting—at me, almost as if he wanted me to keep on looking.