Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
I giggled. “It’s far from the same thing.”
“It’s similar,” he argued, pointing the fork he’d just pulled from the drawer at me. “And it made you smile, so you can guarantee I’ll be saying it again.” His eyes glistened and for the life of me I couldn’t figure him out. Last night, he was pissed at me and wrapped around an older woman in the hot tub. Not that he couldn’t be friendly with me and do the same thing, but still. He was different then — angry, distant. Now, he was grinning and making jokes. And cooking for me. Again.
He said we were just trainer and client, but this was the second time he’d invited me to his place. And, he brought me here because I’d been crying and he wanted to help take my mind off it. That seemed like something a friend would do.
I was going to need a chiropractor for the whiplash.
Rhodes went to work on whatever he was making and the minute the herbs hit the air, my mouth started watering. I was still kind of buzzed, which just made me that much hungrier. After he whipped up what looked like little muffins and popped them in the oven, he set the timer for ten minutes and we moved to the couch. He sat on one end and I hugged the arm at the other, like I was scared to touch him even though I’d just had myself wrapped around him on the way over.
“How are your feet?” He nodded toward where I was still stretching out my toes. There were red marks from the straps indented along the bridges of both of my feet, the edges of them outlined by dirt.
I shrugged. “They’ve been better, that’s for sure.”
“Here,” he said, leaning forward and lifting my right leg into his lap. I instinctively yanked it back.
“Ew, absolutely not. You are not touching my feet, especially after I walked around in wedges in the dirt all night.”
He chuckled, and it revealed a smile I hadn’t seen on his face before. It was mischievous, curious, and sexy as hell.
“Relax, Bug. I’ve dealt with way dirtier things than your feet.”
His electric eyes glimmered at that remark and he held his smirk. Hesitantly, I let him take my leg again. The minute his strong hands started working the balls of my feet, I melted back against the couch.
“Oh,” I groaned, squirming under his touch. He stopped, but just for the tiniest second, before continuing his slow assault. I watched his hands carefully, but I felt his eyes on me, not the work he was doing.
“You were drinking tonight.” It wasn’t a question, but I felt like I was being reprimanded.
“I needed to drink, Rhodes.”
He paused, switching to my left foot. “I get that, but alcohol isn’t going to help you reach your goal,” he said sternly. “I’m not saying you can’t ever drink, but it shouldn’t be often. And when you do, try drinking the low-calorie vodka and water. It doesn’t taste as good, but it still works the same and it won’t crush your nutrition for the day.”
I nodded. “You got it, boss.”
He smirked, but the crooked smile fell just as quickly as it had come. “Why did you need to drink tonight? What happened?”
A pain shot through my stomach and I pulled my legs into me instinctively. Rhodes didn’t try to pull me back. He let me retreat, pulling his right ankle up to rest on his left knee as he waited for me to explain.
“Well, my ex’s new girlfriend basically told me that I don’t belong anymore and that none of my friends even care about me, nor have they ever cared about me before. I’m the ‘rich fat girl,’” I word-vomited. “Her words, not mine. Though I can’t really argue her point.”
Rhodes balled up his fists, but he didn’t say anything. He just kept his eyes on mine, waiting.
“Willow, my best friend, didn’t hear her say it. But Mason did. And he didn’t do anything about it.” My stomach tightened at the admission and I felt tears sting my eyes again, but I shook them off. “So I bailed. And I just wanted to feel okay, I wanted something to make me happy, so I went to get food. Like always. Even though I knew I’d regret it. And…” I trailed off. “Well, you know the rest.”
He seemed to chew on what I’d just told him, his jaw flexing beneath his flawless skin. It was peppered with just the slightest hint of stubble, which worked with the shadow from his hat to frame his jaw in the low light. “You shouldn’t hang out with people who treat you like that, Natalie.”
I shrugged, untucking my legs from my arms and pulling them up under me to sit crisscross style, instead. “My friends aren’t the ones doing it. It’s Shay.”