by T L Swan
“I see you, Brock,” Bridget snaps. “Don’t roll your eyes at us.”
I look at her, deadpan.
Ben smiles sarcastically, happy that someone else is her target tonight.
We are sitting around a table of the crowded restaurant, but my mind is a world away from this lame conversation. I glance over to Tully who I have just seen at the bar as she talks to her friend, and I clench my jaw. I don’t want her to think I was blowing her off. She seemed to understand.
My eyes drop to the sway in her hips and her ass.
So… fucking… hot.
I’ve been hard all day thinking about her.
She’s wearing tight black leather pants and a feminine flowy top that shows just enough skin to drive any man out of his damn mind. Funnily enough, she’s dressed just how I like my women to dress: understated and casually sexy. I don’t like it when women try too hard. It has the opposite effect on my libido. Her hair and her face are pure perfection.
I get an image of those big pouty lips and I feel my cock harden. I catch my bottom lip under my front teeth as I remember what she looked like on top of me last night. Damn.
The girls and Adrian—or Murph, as we call him—drop into conversation. I’m sitting in between Joshua and Ben and my eyes go to find Tully again.
“So?” Ben murmurs so that nobody else can hear us. “How did it go from you checking that girl out in the gym last night to you kissing her on the lips at the bar just now?”
Joshua leans in to join in the conversation. He runs his pointer finger back and forth over his lip as he listens.
I scratch my head and shrug. “We kind of got busy.”
Bens glances up at the girls to make sure they can’t hear us. “Where?”
“In the gym bathroom, after you left,” I whisper.
Joshua laughs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“Fuck off,” Ben whispers, taking a quick look back at Tully. “How do you get busy in a gym?”
My eyes float back to the girls who are still deep in conversation. “I broke the rowing machine and tripped her over.”
The boys both lean in as they listen. “And?” Ben asks.
I hold my hands up in defeat. “I did what any gentleman would do.” I pick up a sweet potato wedge from the plate in the middle of the table and throw it into my mouth.
They both frown.
I chew it and swallow. “I took her into the bathroom to clean her up.”
Joshua rolls his lips, amused. “The old ‘pretend to be a doctor’ trick.” He shakes his head and sips his beer. “It’s been working for Cam for years.”
“Right?” Ben mutters, unimpressed. Cameron is Joshua’s brother. He’s a doctor and does ridiculously well with the ladies.
Joshua picks up a fry and bites it, speaking around it. “Did you close?”
I sip my beer and shake my head. “Nope.” I then glance over to see Tully and her friend leave through the front doors. “Although, it’s very fucking high on my priorities list.”
“What’s high on your priorities list?” Bridget interrupts.
“Going to the gym, Bridget,” I reply flatly. “Stop eavesdropping.”
Natasha and Bridget roll their eyes and go back to their conversation while the boys’ attention drifts back to me. “So, what now?” Ben asks.
I sip my beer. “Tomorrow night, I close the deal.”
Tully
I roll the pen to me on the desk with my fingertips, and then I roll it away. I’ve been doing this for an hour now, staring into space at my desk.
“You okay?” Rourke asks from his desk beside me.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You’re off today.”
I turn my attention his way and give him a sad smile. “I am.”
“Anything I can do?”
I exhale heavily and take my hair out of the ponytail it was in, quickly redoing it into the elastic. “You can take me out to lunch, if you want.”
“Sure thing. What do you want to eat?”
I shrug, uninterested in the world. “Anything fattening.”
He bends and gets his keys from his briefcase. “Anything fattening, here we come.”
We leave our office and get into the elevator. I stay silent and, thankfully, he lets me. That’s the beauty of Rourke. He’s the perfect work colleague, somehow knowing when I need to talk and when I just need the silence. He knows everything about me and yet never asks a single question. Like a healing balm, he slowly draws anything toxic out of me without me realising it.
Simon, my ex, is weighing heavily on my mind. I know that I was the one who gave us a forced break but it still hurt to see him laughing with someone else last night. I get a vision of him with her in a headlock and my stomach clenches. We used to laugh around town like that together.
Are they sleeping together? Of course they are, you idiot.
I taste bile in my mouth and I run my hand through my hair in total dismay. I can’t take this. I feel suffocated, unhinged and crazy. At this rate an unplanned trip to Borneo may be exactly what I need to clear my head.
I take out my phone and click into my travel app. What flights are on sale this week?
I’ve been on four overseas trips this year, but suddenly, I need to get out of here as quickly as possible again. What’s Simon even doing in Sydney, anyway? He's been living in Melbourne since we broke up. I had no idea he was even here.
Rourke glances down at my phone and sees the app I’m scrolling through. He raises an eyebrow and then returns to stare at the back of the double doors, acting as if he doesn’t know what I’m doing.
What am I doing? I don’t even know anymore.
The elevator doors open and we walk out into the parking lot.
“McDonald’s greasy enough for you?” he asks.
I nod. “Yep.”
We drive in silence to the parking lot. My phone pings a message, and I glance at the screen. Simon. I narrow my eyes and open the message.
SIMON: Hey, Tull
Sorry I missed your call last night.
I’m in Sydney for a conference.
I’m busy all day with work but I’ll call you tomorrow.
Hope you are well.
xoxo
I click out of the message angrily.
“Hope you are well,” I mimic in a snarky voice. “Asshole. Work conference, my ass.” I shake my head in disgust and turn to Rourke. “Simon is fucking someone while on a work conference this week.”
Rourke frowns as he drives. “How do you know that?”
“Callie and I saw him last night.”
He turns to stare at me. “With a girl?”
“Yes, with a girl.” I roll my eyes at his stupid questions. I’m so not in the mood for them today. “He wasn’t with a man, was he? We went down to the food and wine festival last night and seemed to see everyone we know.”
The car stops, and I get out, slamming the door hard behind me.
“What are you going to do?” Rourke asks as he runs to catch up with me.
I open the door to McDonalds with force. “Well, right now, I’m going to eat everything on the damn menu, followed by two hot fudge caramel sundae chasers.”
Rourke raises his eyebrows as he walks beside me, half scared to speak. “Okay then.” He looks up at the menu board with his hands in his pockets. “Let’s get started.”
I pull the tape through the dispenser and carefully seal the last box. I look around my living room at all the piled-up boxes. “I think we’re nearly done.” I smile.
“Thank fuck.” Rourke sighs. “There’s only one thing worse than moving.”
“What’s that?” Callie frowns as she licks the hot chocolate from her spoon. She gave up packing at least twenty minutes ago.
“Moving someone else,” he answers as he slides another box over to me for it to be taped up.
I smile, grateful for my beautiful friends. “Thanks so much, guys. I couldn’t hav
e packed this house up without you.”
“Yeah, well...” Rourke pauses for a moment. “After the day you had, I thought we may have been out drinking tonight instead.”
Callie frowns, her attention bouncing back and forth between us.
“God, you should have seen her raging around and shit,” Rourke says.
Callie’s looks my way in question, and I roll my eyes. “I was stressed.”
“Because?” she asks.
I shrug but don’t answer.
“Hope you’re well,” Rourke mimics in a baby voice.
I tape the box up, ignoring Callie’s questioning stare.
“I think Simon is just…” I shake my head as I search for the right words. “Maybe trying to work out what he really wants. You know, find the difference between a girl he wants to marry and a girl who’s nothing more than a good time. There is a big difference between the two,” I say.
Callie rolls her eyes and waves her spoon around in the air. “Here we go.” She looks at me, deadpan. “Can you hear yourself right now, Tully?”
“No, hear me out. There are two types of people on Earth. The ones you love and want to marry.” I pause for a moment. “For me, I want to end up with Simon. But then there are the ones you just want to fuck.”
Rourke stops what he’s doing and frowns, as if he’s hearing this theory for the first time.
“Yeah, I get that. So?” Callie continues.
“What type of person am I?” Rourke asks.
“The kind you marry,” Callie and I both answer in unison.
Rourke screws up his face. “I fucking hate that kind of guy. Why am I that kind of guy?”
“You just are.” I sit on top of the box. “And, I was thinking about it. I’ve been on two dates since Simon and I didn’t like either of the guys.”
“That’s because you’re a fucking idiot,” Callie snaps. “If you really wanted Simon, you would be with Simon.”
I try to think of someone I know that I can use as an example between the two different types of guys. “Oh, I know, take the gym junkie, for example.”
Callie’s eyes light up. “Oh God. Him! If you don’t fuck him, I will.”
I giggle. “See, perfect example. He’s the kind of guy you would have fun with and fuck, but you could never dream of a future with him.”
“Why not?” Callie asks.
“Because of the way he is. He’s just so sexual.” I frown as I remember myself being all whoreish in the bathroom with him.
“And this is supposed to be his flaw?” Callie frowns. “You need fucking therapy.” She rolls her eyes.
“Even I have to admit this gym junkie sounds hot,” Rourke adds.
“Well, you fuck him, Rourke. He’s obviously a player who does this sort of thing all the time. He got me all hot for it in the gym bathroom, and you’d have to be an idiot to fall for a guy like that.”
Rourke’s eyebrows rise, impressed. “You can actually pick up girls in the bathrooms? Where is this gym at, because I need to join as soon as possible?”
“Get in line,” Callie snaps. “You should see this fucking guy.” She drags her hand down her face. “And his friends, all suave and buff looking. Christ.”
I laugh and continue sticking the boxes together.
“Aren’t you supposed to be meeting him tonight?” Callie asks.
“Yeah.” I shrug. “I’m not going to go.”
Her eyes widen. “Why the hell not?”
“I’m tired, I have to finish packing for the move tomorrow, and….”
My voice trails off.
“And what?”
“Simon,” Rourke sighs, disgusted. “She’s sitting here thinking of fucking Simon and being loyal to him.”
“It’s not Simon!” I snap.
“Well, Simon’s probably balls-deep in his,” Callie air quotes, “non-wife material right now, and I can guarantee you that he’s not thinking about you, Tully.”
I fake a smile. “Funny.”
“It’s true.”
I stare at her for a moment.
“Get your mind off Simon. You need to have fun. You do have to admit that the gym junkie would be fun.” She puts her hands over her heart and throws her head back to the sky to feign fainting. “Oh God, so much fucking fun.”
I look at Rourke as he holds his hands up in the air. “Don’t look at me, I’m trying to work out how to jump the fence here. I need to convert myself from the marrying type of guy to the fucking gym junkie kind of guy… on the double.”
“You want to be the marrying type of guy,” I tell him.
“No, I don’t. I want to be the fucking type of guy. Nobody wants to be the marrying type of guy. Not even guys that are married want to be the marrying type of guy.”
I laugh.
Callie stands. “Come on, Rourke, let’s go. Tully needs to go to the gym.” She blows me a kiss. “Go to the gym, meet your gym junkie, and for the love of God, forget all about Simon.”
I swipe my key over the door scanner at 9:35 p.m. I’m late, but after not wanting to come and deliberating the whole thing for over an hour in the shower, I’m finally here.
I’m not really sure why but what the hell. It can’t hurt, I suppose.
I walk into the gym and look around. There are a few guys up the back, and one girl on the treadmill.
Brock’s not even here. All that overanalysing for nothing
Damn it.
I get onto the treadmill and start walking. I turn up the speed and walk faster. I suppose I’ll just work out then. That’s an anticlimax.
I took an hour to psyche myself up to be here and he doesn’t even show.
Fucking typical.
All men piss me off.
Oh well, his loss. I turn up the speed and begin to jog, but when I look up in the mirror there he is. I see him. He’s sitting on the weights bench in the corner, and he gives me a slow sexy smile. He’s wearing a white T-shirt and navy sports shorts.
My stomach dances in excitement. I force a smile to my face and then look down, pretending to be uninterested.
God. He’s so…
He’s probably nothing more than a prop.
That’s what I would do if I owned a gym. I’d pay gorgeous guys to hang out and just be present. It makes good business sense, for sure.
I run for fifteen minutes, while he does his repetitive weights sets and watches me. To be honest, I wish he would look away because I’m dying over here. I can’t run for this long normally. I’m totally showing off and I may go ass over tit at any moment, and skin my other knee down to the bone.
One man finally leaves the gym, and then five minutes later the other one follows. Another group of guys walk out from the back, until there is just one woman left in the gym doing sit ups. Brock’s eyes fall over to her, and I wonder is he thinking the same thing as me:
Buzz off, woman. Why are you in the gym so late at night, stupid?
I stop running and bring the treadmill back to a walking pace. I wipe my face with my towel and watch as the lady finally packs up her things and leaves through the front door.
Brock’s eyes find mine in the mirror and a dark smile crosses his face.
Shit, my heart begins to beat so fast. I keep walking, and he stands to make his way over to me.
“Hello,” he purrs.
I smile goofily. “Hi.” Why does he have to be so damn sexy? I can’t even pretend to be cool.
He puts his hand over mine on the handrail and I feel the energy zap between us.
“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” he says.
My eyes hold his as my stomach flips. “Y-you have?” I pant.
He nods slowly, his eyes never leaving mine, not even for a second.
“W-what were you thinking about, exactly?”
“I was thinking that I need to talk to you in private.”
I smile, God is he for real? “Is that so?” I look around the empty gym. “Is that why you had to wait for everyone
to leave so you could come and talk to me?”
“Well, I didn’t want anyone to be suspicious of the two of us talking the other night in the bathroom.”
“Talking?” I smirk. “Is that what you call it?”
He smiles sexily and my stomach clenches. Don’t smile at me like that.
“Yes.” He pauses and rolls his lips together, as if amused. “It was a very… stimulating conversation. For some more than others.”
Unable to help it, I laugh. “Yes, it was a very stimulating conversation that we had the other night.”
His eyes find mine. “Did you enjoy it?”
What’s it going to be, Tull? I get a vision of Simon with that girl.
Sink or swim.
“I did.” Our eyes are locked. “Very much, actually.”
Oh God, this guy makes me want to be a dirty whore.
Satisfaction flashes across his face and he licks his lips. He runs his hand up my forearm and his eyes follow his own touch. “I have something else to tell you.”
I act surprised. “You do?”
“Yes” He pauses for a moment. “I do.”
“What?” I ask, trying not to fall over on the treadmill from his touch alone.
“I can’t tell you here, Pocket.” His focus shifts to my lips.
“Why not?” I feel the burn from his gaze.
“It’s private.”
He takes his hand off my arm and I frown at the loss of his touch. “Where do you want to tell me this private information?” I ask as I play along.
“We should probably talk where we talked last time.” He bites his lip to hide his smile.
“Really?” I widen my eyes.
He nods slowly.
I continue to walk on the treadmill.
“So, I’m going to go into the discussion room now,” he says smoothly.
“The discussion room?” I raise my brows and laugh again. “You are something else.”
“I know.” He chuckles, and then gestures up to the ceiling. I look up.
A camera.
Shit.