by Toni Aleo
So really, I’m uncertain if I hate her or I love her. One thing is for sure, it wasn’t only our discussion that had me tossing and turning. No, it was the fact that I couldn’t get the image of Ryan’s sexy abs and thighs out of my head.
Damn it, I’m a hot mess express.
Which is why I’m so glad I decided to do yoga on this fresh and sort of brisk morning. Sitting on the mat I borrowed from Coach Melissa, I close my eyes and move my head in a circle to stretch. It’s four a.m., and because of that, just the serious yogis are here. I only come to this class once a month, and I hide in the back for the simple fact that I suck at yoga. I know. How can a gymnast suck at yoga? I dance and flip on a four-inch beam, but I don’t know. It’s not right for my body to be bent into those positions and told to hold them. It’s actually really obnoxious, but I need the stretch.
I let my head fall back as I exhale.
“Is this spot taken?”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Opening my eyes, I see a pair of striking blue ones looking down at me. Ryan points to the spot beside me. “You saving that for someone?”
He doesn’t wait for my answer; he sets his mat down before I ask, “What in the world are you doing here?”
“Yoga.”
“Be real.”
He gives me a look as he yanks off his pants, those damn short shorts teasing me. “What? I love yoga.”
“Hey, Justice. Dude, so glad you could make it.” I look up as the instructor slaps hands with Ryan before doing some stupid bro handshake.
“Yeah, man, I’ve been beat lately, but I gotta stretch my back. It’s getting tight.”
“No problem. I’ll make sure to focus on that.”
“You’re a rock star, Prince.”
Prince? What the hell?
“You know it.” He shoots Ryan a thumbs-up before walking away.
Ryan grins down at me. “Told ya.”
I look away, annoyed. Of course he does yoga. The universe is out to get me, I swear. I try to ignore him as he stretches in different positions, but of course, he’s Chatty Cathy at four a.m. “Did you and Amelia get all your work done last night?”
“Yes,” I grumble, pointing my toes to the front and then back.
“That’s good. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable yesterday.”
“No big.”
He chuckles before sitting down beside me. He’s a good two feet away, but he might as well be on top of me. My body is trembling. I want to watch as he stretches, but I am trying to be indifferent here. “You look mad.”
“I always look mad.”
“No, you don’t.”
“What?”
“You don’t. You usually have this sweet little tilt to your lips and your eyes are bright, but right now, you look stabby.”
I want to laugh. “Whatever,” I say, stretching my arms. “If you’re so good at this, why don’t you go to the front?”
He gives me a sideways glance. “’Cause I get a wedgie in these shorts. I don’t want girls checking out my ass.”
I groan. Now I’m going to be checking out his ass! “Oh please, you love it.”
“Nah, unless you want me to go up there so you can check out my ass in secret. I’ll do it for you.”
Please, God. Please don’t let him do that. “I am here to concentrate on stretching, not checking you out.”
He leans toward me, his very spicy and sexy-smelling cologne filling my nose. “But you are.”
I cut him a look. “I am not.”
“Oh, you totally are,” he teases, his eyes bright, before shaking out his wrist. His eyes are so stunning, and it’s then that I notice something.
“Where are your glasses?”
“I don’t wear them when I’m working out. They fall off my face.”
“Oh.” Oops, that was obvious. “Makes sense.”
“Why? You like them?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
I swallow hard. “I don’t care.”
“You do.”
Oh, I am going to kick him. “Leave me alone.”
“But I love making that little spot tick.” When he presses into the skin right along my jaw, I back away, gawking at him. My face is on fire, and my heart is in my throat. Jesus, I’m pathetic! He just touches my face, and I want to dry-hump him.
What in the world is wrong with me?
His lids fall a bit, such a sexy smolder on his face as he looks me over. “Man, you’re hot.”
I side-eye him. “Please.”
“Please take you, or please leave you alone?”
I groan again. Thankfully, Prince’s voice fills the little area we have all gathered in. There are probably fifteen of us, so we don’t take up much room on the quad. While it isn’t my ideal place to do yoga, thankfully, no one is really awake at four a.m.
Except Ryan.
As Prince goes on about body and soul, I feel Ryan’s gaze. I try so hard to ignore it, but apparently, the universe likes to fuck with me. Shooting him a sideways glance, I whisper, “Stop.”
“But you’re so beautiful.”
I glare. “You’re being obnoxious.”
He grins. “I don’t think it’s fair to expect me to keep that sentiment in. You are gorgeous, and it’s only right that I tell you.”
He’s impossible. Shaking my head, I close my eyes as instructed, trying to push away the bad thoughts, like punching Ryan in the throat, and let in the good thoughts, like climbing on top of Ryan and hoping he knows how to use his hands. Inhaling deeply, I let my breath out in a whoosh before repeating the action over and over again. Prince is rambling on about peaceful soul and mind. Usually, I use this time to think of my day, to go over what I want to do in the gym later, but that’s not the case this morning.
No, I have one eye open, watching Ryan.
Where the hell did his shirt go?
He’s sitting on his legs, his toes tucked under his ass as his palms face forward. His head is back, his throat long and corded as he looks up at the sky. Each breath he draws in fills his chest, and the muscles that move and flex are downright wrong, leaving me completely and utterly breathless.
“All right, let’s go to Chaturanga.”
Damn it. I missed the first pose.
Catching up, I get into the Chaturanga, and while I’d usually look up at the front, I look to where Ryan is doing it effortlessly. His body is a machine, and each part is fine-tuned, leaving me purring like a fucking cat.
Damn it!
“This is my favorite.”
My brows shoot to my hairline. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, it’s so good for the midsection.” This dude actually lifts up his hand, running it down his midsection while still holding himself up. “So good. The burn.”
“Show-off,” I spit at him, and he chuckles while Prince tells us to release. Falling to my stomach in a huff, I connect my gaze with his once more. “Aren’t you cold?”
“No, why? My tits hard?”
When he looks down, I do too, and then I start snorting like a pig. “What in the world?”
He laughs with me, his eyes bright as he shrugs. “What?”
“Why would that be the first thing you think of? You don’t have a shirt on, and it’s cold, duh.”
“Yeah, I guess, but usually, that’s how I tell people are cold. Hard nips.”
I’m still giggling. “You’re a freak.”
“So are you,” he accuses. “You’re laughing.”
I shake my head. “Whatever, it was funny.”
“It was, and I have to admit, you’re even prettier when you laugh.”
Pressing my lips together, I look away as my face fills with color. “Oh, hush.”
“Never.”
Prince says something, but I miss it. “You’re distracting me.”
He shrugs. “This is boring stuff anyway. I wanna do something fun. Like Bakasana.” When he transitions into the position
perfectly, I want to kick him, especially because now I have to do it to show off too. Getting into the position with ease, I look at him and he grins.
“Impressive.”
“Well, my midsection is pretty well worked.”
He licks his lips, his eyes moving down my body before meeting my gaze once more. “Mm, I bet it is.”
Yeah, I’m not sure what happens, but I promptly fall.
On my face.
Closing my eyes, I’m met by his laughter, and I want to die right there. I glare at him as I push myself up. “I don’t like you.”
“Yes, you do,” he teases as he moves into a handstand, pointing his toes in the air.
“I have half a mind to kick your hands out from under you.”
He comes down to his knees, a grin on his face. “Jesus, are you always this stabby in the morning?”
“I came to relax.”
“Is that not happening?”
“Not with you here!”
Ryan’s lips curve devilishly. “Wound too tight? Need some help? I can guide you through some poses if you like.”
I’m breathless, yet I want to hurt him. Man, maybe I am stabby? “Leave me be.”
I’m answered with a sinister chuckle. That alone should have told me this would be the most un-relaxing yoga session of my life. Ryan teases me through the whole rest of the class. Every time I find myself in a compromising position, his eyes are on me, drinking me in. When we’re finished, I’m supposed to be loose and relaxed, but I’m far from it.
Wound too tight? Yup, and then some.
Jerk.
Rolling up my mat, I tie it up with more force than needed as he speaks. “That was an awesome class. Great view.”
I look up at him. He’s towering over me, his mat already under his arm, while he holds his shirt and pants in his hand. “I wouldn’t know. Someone decided to mess with me the whole time.”
“Hey, you’re the one who kicked me in the ribs.”
“Because you were staring at my ass.”
“Well, yeah, it’s a great ass.”
“You are infuriating,” I say before standing up and sliding my feet into my shoes. “Goodbye.”
I start to walk off, but of course, he falls into step with me. “So, can I take you for a cup of coffee?”
“I don’t have time for that. I have to get to the gym.”
“Figured you say that,” he says, and then out of nowhere, Moon is standing with two coffees from Starbucks.
When he hands me one, I give him a dry look. “What are you, his coffee bitch?”
Ryan laughs as Moon nods. “Basically, he gave me the good bed in our room as long as I supplied him with coffee. He’s not a morning person.”
I glance over to Ryan. “Chatty Cathy over here?” I say, hooking a thumb toward Ryan, which makes them both laugh. “You don’t know him.”
“No, I do.”
I shake my head. “He’s been lying to you. He was all rainbows and sparkles for a whole hour of yoga.”
“He’s a freak,” Moon says, shaking his head, and I nod.
“Agreed, but thank you for the coffee.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank him. He bought it this morning.”
I look to Ryan, who is beaming down at me with this innocent look in his eyes that makes me hate to like him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I nod awkwardly, and then I start to walk away. But Ryan catches up with me almost instantly. “So, can I walk you back to your dorm?”
“Why?”
“Because I know you won’t go out with me, so I have to figure out ways to get to know you and make you find me irresistible.”
I raise a brow. “You can do that?”
“I think so,” he answers with a boyish grin. “But answer me this… Why don’t you want to go out with me?”
“I don’t have time.”
“Sure you do.”
“Okay, I don’t want the distraction,” I answer simply. “And I heard you don’t either.”
“Well, maybe I think you’re the perfect distraction.”
Yup, swooning like a schoolgirl over here. “You just think that because I’m not falling over you like everyone else does.”
“Nope, I think it because it’s true,” he announces, taking a sip of his coffee. But before I can disagree with him, he goes on. “What classes do you have today?”
“Lit, economics, psych, and computer science,” I rattle off, and then I look over at him. “If you’re going to walk with me, can you please put on clothes?”
He looks down at his naked torso and itty-bitty shorts. “But I’m hot.”
Oh, I know that. “So? Cover up,” I say, still walking, though he has stopped.
He laughs as he catches up with me again quickly. “Hold this.” I take his coffee but keep walking. He somehow dresses and runs back to me in no time. “Man, a weaker man would think you don’t like them.”
“Kinda wish you were a weaker man.”
“No, you don’t,” he says before flashing me a grin. “So, computer science, with Mr. Gav?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“He’s brutal, but I think I still have my notes I can lend you. He teaches the same thing every year.”
“Oh, thanks,” I say, having not expected that, but I need all the help I can get.
“No problem. I’ll get them to you.”
I bite my lip, unsure what to say next as we round the science hall.
“Do you like it here?”
“Yeah, I guess. When I’m not being harassed by guys in short shorts.”
“Tell me who they are, and I’ll take them out.”
I stop and look at him. “Ryan Justice.”
He scoffs. “No way. He’s a great guy. He wouldn’t harass you.”
“Gah,” I complain, though he just laughs.
“My mom says you’re gonna work for her this week.”
“Yup.”
“I’m gonna drive you and Amelia.”
“Oh.” That’s super awesome. Not.
“Maybe afterward, we can get a bite to eat.”
“Eh, probably not.”
“Why not?”
“I have a meet that following night, and we have to ride in a van to get there. Amelia is making me watch Lord of the Rings.”
His eyes light up. “Oh, you’re going to love it!”
“That’s what your sister says.”
Ryan grins as he walks ahead of me, walking backward so he can look into my eyes. I have to admit, it’s a mighty fine view from where I am. “Fine, I’ll get us some dinner, and we can go back to my place and chill.”
“Um. No.”
“Rude!” he accuses, and I can’t help it… I laugh. “We would have a blast.”
“I’m good.”
“Give me a good reason why not.”
“Because,” I say then, holding my hands up. “I’m not interested.”
He shakes his head. “Such a liar. You know I’m onto you, right?”
“Nothing to be on me about.”
“Oh, Sofia Castilleja, there is plenty reason to be on you.”
My heart skips, does a flip, and sticks its landing at his words. He’s killing me. My face is burning, and I don’t know what to do. Amelia was right; it’s really hard to resist this guy. When we come to the clearing that leads to my dorm, along the tree line I can see the sun starting to come up. It’s always my favorite thing to admire in the morning. It’s absolutely stunning. I’ve learned that fall in Tennessee is one magical thing, but having Ryan in front of it makes it a million times better. To my dismay though, he turns, pointing up to it. “Wow.”
That’s what I was going to say.
About him.
When he turns back, facing me once more, the dark oranges and grays play off his features perfectly. I can even pick the color of his eyes out of the sky since they’re so dark at this moment. Gazing up at him, I’m breathless as he looks down at me. He mov
es his eyes along my face and then to my lips. Drawing in a deep breath, I lick my lips, and I hate how much I want for him to kiss me. I shouldn’t want it, and honestly, how did we get in this position?
And why aren’t I stopping him?
When he steps toward me, my eyes widen, and I think I see his grin grow. He looks like a cat about ready to pounce on a poor little birdie, and I’m the birdie. With his eyes burning into mine, he reaches out but cautiously. I could move, I should move, but I don’t as his hand comes to cradle my face. Taking another step, he moves his body in line with mine, not touching me, but I can feel his heat. I drop my head back to look up at him as I part my lips ever so slowly. At this moment, breathing is not an option.
His eyes search mine, and I’m pretty sure my heart is about to come out of my chest. When his lips quirk up at the side, I’m convinced I’m going to cry in anticipation of what is about to happen. What should happen. Which is his lips coming down on mine. But instead, he whispers, “I love the way the sun is giving your hair a reddish hue.”
What?
Blinking, I can’t speak.
“Is your hair really curly?”
Is this really happening? I’m ready to kiss this guy after resisting him all damn morning, and he wants to ask about my hair? “Um…huh?”
He chuckles as he moves his thumb along my jaw, over to my mouth, pressing into my bottom lip and leaving a trail of white-hot heat. “Your hair, is it curly?”
I nod like a stupid bobblehead. “It’s a mass of curls that are unruly and rude.”
His lips curve even more. “I want to see it down.”
I swallow hard. “Oh, okay.”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, at the Bullies’ house party.”
I just blink. “I’m not going.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yeah, and I’d love for you to come with me.”
“Um…”
“Don’t say no.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to ruin this moment.”
“You know I’m going to say it.”
“But you shouldn’t,” he says softly. “Stop resisting what could be something really great between us.”