Chapter 10

CHAPTERTEN

Liv

It’s early Sunday afternoon, and I’m sitting on my bed with my laptop open, studying for an upcoming dance history test. The subject matter is quite dull, but it doesn’t help that the weather outside is gorgeous. My mind keeps wandering back to the day I spent with Ryder yesterday. Currently, he and Jaxon are out getting Ryder’s car to a repair shop, while Chase is minding the studio. I haven’t heard from River, but Ryder told me that’s because he’s studying hard himself, so I don’t worry too much about it. I find myself once again gazing out the window instead of focusing on my laptop when there’s a knock on my door.

I get up to answer it and take a quick glance in the mirror. The upper half of my hair is styled into two mini buns to keep it out of my face while studying, and the rest hangs loosely down my back. I’m dressed in jean shorts and a long-sleeve white Henley, which is unbuttoned and reveals a hint of cleavage, but I opted not to wear any makeup since I was just at home by myself.

When I open the door, I’m surprised to see Gunner standing there. He’s wearing navy shorts and a tight, dark red T-shirt, which is a more casual look than I’ve ever seen him in before, aside from the oversized shirts he wears to bed.

“Hey, bun bun,” he greets me with a grin, reaching out to flick one of my mini buns, but I quickly swat his hand away.

“Hey, Hulk,” I say with a smile, and can’t help but admire his muscular biceps. “Have you been hitting the gamma radiation lately?” I tease.

Although I was aware that he’s built like a brick wall, I’ve never truly seen the extent of it because of his suits.

“What are you up to, Livy? Want to get out of here for a bit?” he asks with a smile.

“I’d love to, but I have to study,” I say.

“You can study outside. Just take your laptop with you, and we’ll head down to the beach. It’s depressing to stay cooped up inside on such a beautiful day,” he insists, and I chuckle at his persistence.

“Not that I’m complaining, but why are you in such a good mood?” I ask.

Gunner walks inside my apartment and spots my beach bag, which contains my towel, sunscreen, and sunglasses. He closes my laptop and puts it inside my bag before grabbing my sandals.

“Can’t I just be happy to spend my day with my best friend?” he says, looking over at me with a grin. “Is there anything else you need?” he asks, and I chuckle.

“No, I think you’ve got everything. I just need to put on some makeup real quick and grab my car keys. If we go anywhere today, we’ll be driving topless,” I inform him.

He comes over to me, grabs my keys from the desk, and hoists me over his shoulder.

“Gunner!” I squeal in surprise.

“You’re pretty enough already,” he says, and I hear the smile in his voice.

He closes my door and locks it, all while still carrying me on his shoulder. Gunner only lets me down when we are in front of my Mini and I feel the blood rush back down from my head. I put our stuff in the trunk before I walk up to the driver’s side again.

“Nice, I always wanted to figure out if I would fit in this sardine box,” he says, eyeing the car, and I point a finger at him.

“Hey! No shaming the car. Jaxon fits, so you will too,” I say.

“I am bigger than Jaxon,” he says, making a face as if I insulted him.

“Really?” I ask, frowning at him.

“I’m at least four inches taller than him. And wider,” he says, standing up straighter. I bring my hand to my chin, acting like I have to think about it.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” I tease.

“Next time we’re together, we should stand back-to-back so you can see,” he suggests confidently.

“Let’s go, Mr. Big Man. We can put half of you out of the window when you feel cramped,” I reply.

He scoffs at my comment and makes his way to the passenger side, but not before admiring the Mini once more.

“It’s a cool car, I’ll give you that,” he says with a grin.

We both climb in, and I smile at Gunner as I start the engine.

“See, you fit, you big baby,” I tease. He grimaces at me before I ask, “Where are we heading?”

“Red Reef?” he asks, to which I nod in agreement, and we drive off.

* * *

When we get to the beach, we search for a spot that’s a bit secluded from all the families so we can spread out our towels. When we sit down, I position myself to face him, while he lies on his side, his head propped up on his elbow.

“How are you?” I ask him, and he smiles up at me.

“I’ve never been better,” he says, making me smile back. “How are you doing? How was the shopping trip?” he asks me, and I change my position to match his.

“It was fun. Miami is pretty cool,” I say.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” he says, nodding, and I laugh.

“What, not big enough of a city for you?” I ask.

“I’m not really a big city person,” he says with a smirk.

“What kind of person are you then?” I ask as I lie back on the towel, looking up at the sky.

“More of the beach lounging type,” he answers.

“Any specific beach?” I ask.

“My favorite is Fort Zachary in Florida Key West,” he says. “I’ll take you there for a weekend soon.”

It only occurs to me now that I live near Florida Key, and it fills me with excitement. Mind blown.

Gunner interprets my silence as agreement.

“We can drive, since it’ll only take about four hours or so, and rent a nice hotel or beach house,” he suggests.

“Wow, that sounds perfect,” I say, a smile spreading across my face.

After a while, we sit back up and watch as two guys jog past us.

“If you ever see me jogging, call the police because someone is forcing me for sure,” Gunner says with a grunt.

“Not a fan of cardio?” I ask, chuckling. He lies back down on his towel and turns his head to me.

“Do I look like I’m doing any cardio besides dancing?” he asks.

I smile and lie down as well, turning my head to him but squinting against the sun and using my hand to shield my eyes.

“You would love all the new workout machines at Tanner Fitness. You should come work out there with me sometime,” I say.

“As if I’d ever lay a foot in that fancy ass studio,” he responds with a huff.

“Why not?” I ask.

“Because you don’t need all that expensive shit and membership to work out. That’s some fancy people stuff,” he says.

“But I work out there too, you know,” I protest, furrowing my brow in confusion.

“Yeah, and you’re the fanciest person I know,” he says, laughing.

“Hey, I’m not!” I say defensively, feeling a bit insulted.

“Sorry, what? I can’t hear you over your finger food board,” Gunner says, a hand on his ear.

“It’s called a charcuterie board,” I correct, narrowing my gaze at him.

“You’ve proved my point,” he replies dryly, raising his finger in the air and turning his head back up to the sky, but I notice the corner of his mouth lifting up in a smirk.

“Why does it sound like an insult when you say I’m fancy?” I mutter.

“It’s not, Livy,” Gunner replies, turning to look at me intently. “It’s just that you come from a different world than I do,” he says with a shrug.

“How would you know that?” I ask, frowning at him.

“I can just tell,” he responds simply, then adds, “You should come work out with me sometime in my old-school gym with old-school weights. Those machines are not the way to build up muscle.”

I can’t resist teasing him a bit since he called me fancy.

“Funny, Jaxon uses them, and his muscles are just fine,” I point out.

“Nah, his muscles are just for show. They look good but aren’t worth anything in a fight,” Gunner says, and I choke on my own spit, I have to laugh so badly.

“You do know he’s an ex-MMA fighter, right?” I remind him.

“Emphasis on ex. He was good once, but he’s slacking now,” he says with a shrug.

“So you think you could take him in a fight?” I ask, and he sits up, frowning at me.

“You think I couldn’t?” he asks.

“He was an MMA fighter, Gunner.” I laugh.

“And I’m a fucking bodyguard that protects fancy ass people like you every day with my life!” he snaps, getting agitated, so I can’t stop now.

“Mostly with your gun,” I say with a shrug.

He stands up and hoists me over his shoulder once again before walking towards the water.

“Gun!” I giggle and punch his back. “Let me go!” I cry out as he stands in the ocean, the water up to his knees, and turns me over on his shoulder so that my head is hanging over the water. Some of my hair is already wet. He puts his arm around my waist to free his other hand while still holding me steady, which I find impressive, until he pulls out his phone from his back pocket and starts recording a video.

“Tell your precious Jaxon that I’m the one who would win in a fight, or I’ll dunk your pretty head,” Gunner threatens, but he’s laughing too.

“No!” I protest with a giggle.

“Say it!” he insists, and I can’t help but laugh and squeal in response. He laughs and shakes his head. “Come on, Livy.”

“No!” I shout, still laughing.

“Fine, seems like you’re going down then,” he says, pretending to pout.

He lowers my body, about to dunk me into the water. I close my eyes and squeeze my nose shut with my hand, ready for the saltwater to get me, but Gunner chuckles and stops just before my buns would have gotten wet. He spins me and sets me down in the water that comes up to my thighs, making my shorts wet.

“Loyal to the end, it seems.” He flips the camera and says to the screen, “If you’re not half as loyal to her as she is to you, dumbass, I’ll come for you and prove that I’d definitely win that fight.”

He ends the video, and the next thing I hear is a whooshing sound.

“You didn’t really just send that to him, did you?” I ask, laughing. When he says nothing, I add, “Since when do you guys text?”

“Since you just up and left,” he says with a shrug, taking my hand to guide me out of the water.

“Oh,” I murmur.

We sit back on our towels, and I’m more than ready to bask in the sun so my clothes and hair can dry again, when my phone chimes with a private text from Jaxon.

That’s my good girl.

I can’t help but swoon. Gunner leans over my shoulder to look at my screen and rolls his eyes before lying back on his towel.

We hang out for a few more hours, chatting about everything and nothing and enjoying each other’s company while I conveniently forget about studying. We get a pizza before we go back home and eat it while watching a movie at my place.