Chapter 12

twelve

. . .

Demi

I’d finishedmy workout at the gym, and I’d found it difficult to keep my eyes on Pinky and not keep looking over at Romeo. He looked so damn good when he was training. I mean, he looked good when he wasn’t training, too, but seeing the way his muscles flexed in his biceps every time he hit the bag… The way the sweat dripped down his chiseled abdomen…

My mouth watered at the thought.

I was trying to focus on the positive things, and Romeo was at the top of that list. I’d gotten another cryptic text this afternoon, and I knew it was from Ronny. He asked if we could talk, but he’d sent the messages from yet another unidentified number, so I couldn’t prove it was him or that he’d violated the restraining order.

I’d asked my father what to do, and he’d just said that he would handle it. He said Ronny wasn’t stupid enough to try anything when he wasn’t allowed to come near me. I hoped like hell that he was right.

I’d spent the last hour cooking while Romeo finished his workout. I’d researched the hell out of diets for boxers.

Because when I wasn’t with Romeo, I was thinking about him.

I knew that he didn’t cook, so the shakes could make up for some of his needed caloric intake, and he’d already said that they were making a huge difference. But he needed actual food, as well. A balance of carbs, proteins, and fats if he expected his body to perform efficiently.

He’d texted a half hour ago to say he’d finished his workout and was heading home to take a quick shower, and he’d be right over. I finished up the salad and paced around the apartment.

Why was I nervous?

We’d been spending a lot of time together. Never at one another’s homes, though, so maybe that had me on edge.

Maybe it was the way we were openly flirting now. Talking about dating one another and teasing each other about it every chance we got.

I walked over to the window just as Romeo walked out his front door with some voluptuous blonde stepping out behind him. My mouth fell open, and I squinted when they turned around.

“Ugh,” I groaned once I realized it was Monica Vain.

Her name was very fitting. She was a stuck-up drama queen. She’d made endless fun of me one day when I’d been out at the lake with a group of friends in high school. She’d called me “string bean” as if that was some original, brilliant insult. I couldn’t stand the girl.

If you looked up mean girl in the dictionary, there’d be a photograph of her. She liked to break down other girls and women and thought it elevated her.

I’d never been impressed by her.

And what were they even doing? Sneaking in a quickie before he came over to my house for dinner?

How shady is that?

I was seething. He could go back to eating his lame-ass diet for all I cared.

But of course, I couldn’t look away. He had his arms folded over his chest, and she kept touching his shoulder, which infuriated me even more.

What right did I have to be this pissed off?

We weren’t together.

We’d never even kissed. What was wrong with me?

But I was so freaking pissed off I couldn’t see straight.

As if he could feel my anger, his head snapped up, and his gaze locked with mine. I jumped back and tried to hide behind the curtain.

Shit.

I’d just been caught snooping on a guy I wasn’t even dating.

I hurried over to the kitchen and pulled dinner out of the oven and sipped my water as I tried to tamp down my irrational anger.

I quickly dialed Peyton.

“Hey, girl. I texted you to come meet me and the girls at Whiskey Falls.”

“I can’t tonight. But I have a quick question.”

“Let’s hear it,” she said.

“Is it normal to be jealous over a guy that you aren’t even dating?”

“Hell yes. Totally normal. Let me guess… your non-boyfriend, who you spend endless time with, who happens to be a Greek freaking god and is ridiculously protective over you, is the one we’re talking about?”

“Yes. He’s coming over to eat,” I said, but she interrupted me.

“Eat what? You?” she said, her voice laced with humor.

“Oh my God,” I groaned. “Stop acting crazy. Salmon.”

“Bummer. Okay, so what’s the problem?”

“He ran home to shower after his workout, and then I looked out the window and saw Monica Vain leaving his house. And she keeps touching him. I have a crazy urge to claw her eyes out.”

She was laughing hysterically now. “You’re jealous, babe. You like him. Just admit it and then tell him and claim your man.”

“What if he just slept with her?”

“Please. He doesn’t strike me as a man who would do the deed quickly. He seems like the kind of lover who takes his time. You know, worships every inch of your body.”

“You are not helping,” I said, just as the bell rang from the back door downstairs. “Damn it. He’s here. I’ll call you after.”

“Tell him how you feel, and stop being a baby. And then offer yourself up for dessert!” she shouted.

I ended the call and stormed down the stairs because I was pissed. Regardless if we were nothing, he’d agreed to come to dinner, and then he’d squeezed in time with another woman before he came over here? Who does that?

I pulled the door open and glared at him. “Thanks for gracing me with your presence, Lord Romeo.”

He chuckled, and I turned around and stomped up the stairs to my apartment as he followed me inside.

“Wow. This is nice.”

I’d almost forgotten he’d never been here.

I moved to the kitchen and started scooping the pasta aggressively onto his plate. I didn’t reply, and I could feel him moving closer. He stood right behind me, his chest pressed to my back. His warm breath tickled my ear, and I snapped the ladle against his plate and added more pasta.

“You mad, Beans?” he whispered.

“Why would I be mad?”

“I don’t know. I saw you looking out the window, and it seems like you’re taking your aggression out on that pasta.”

I dropped the ladle to rest in the bowl and set the plate down because it was hard to breathe with him this close to me.

Cedar and sage were flooding my senses.

But it was more than that. It was just Romeo. His whole essence was overpowering.

All-consuming.

My heart was beating loudly in my ears.

“Did you sleep with her?” I had no right to ask, but I wanted to know.

He chuckled before leaning closer and nipping at the lobe of my ear. He turned me around so we were facing one another. “Are you serious right now? You think I finished that grueling workout and then had a quickie with Monica before coming over here?”

“How would I know what you do?”

“Would it matter to you if I slept with her?” he asked, his fingers moving to my jaw and his thumb tracing along my bottom lip.

It was hard to think straight. “I don’t want to make you dinner if you just fucked my teenage bully.”

“I love when you say fuck.” His lips turned up in the corners. “What did she do to you?”

“She always made fun of me for being too skinny in high school. She had it out for me.”

“Because she was clearly jealous. You’re gorgeous, and she’s insecure. And the answer to your question is, no. I didn’t fuck her tonight—haven’t been with her in over a year. I used to date her, and it was a volatile relationship. She slashed my tires when I ended things with her. I wanted away from that shit.”

“So why was she there?”

“She showed up at my door and asked if I could sign her younger brother’s boxing gloves. He used to train with me, and he’s away at school now. She wanted to send them to him because she said he’s excited about the fight.”

“Oh.”

“Oh,” he said, his tongue shifting back and forth across his bottom lip.

“You done being jealous?”

“I was never jealous.” I tried not to smile.

“Sure, you weren’t. So, are you going to feed me now?”

I studied his features, and for the first time, I saw how tired he looked. He’d worked out for hours today, with not one but two intense workouts. The poor guy was probably ready to fall over, and here I was, acting completely irrationally.

But he was still standing so close to me. I put my hands on his hard chest.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“For what?”

“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“You just stormed up the stairs and beat the shit out of that wooden spoon, so yeah, I’m going to make you say it.”

I tipped my shoulders back, and my gaze locked with his. “I was jealous. Is that what you want to hear?”

A wide grin spread across his handsome face. “Yeah. That’s what I want to hear.”

“Why are you so happy about it?” I groaned.

He pulled back, and his mouth collided with mine. His hands cradled the sides of my face as if he wanted to hold me there forever. My fingers moved beneath his hoodie, desperate to feel his skin. His tongue slipped into my mouth, and he turned my face to get better access.

There was a desperation. A need so strong, that before I knew what was happening, his hands moved to my ass, and he lifted me onto the counter as he stood between my thighs. The spoon rattled to the floor, and the plates clanked against one another, but I didn’t care.

We tasted and explored and kissed until my lips ached. He pulled back, eyes wild as they took me in. My chest was rising and falling, and I missed him the minute his lips weren’t on mine.

“You’re fucking beautiful, you know that, right?” he whispered. “I can’t stop thinking about you. Wanting you. Even though I know I shouldn’t.”

My hands were still tracing the muscles on his abdomen. “Why shouldn’t you want me?”

He looked so tortured by the question.

“Like I said, I don’t take things that aren’t mine.”

His stomach rumbled beneath my fingers, and we both laughed. “All right. Let’s leave it right here. That was some kiss. And now I’m going to feed you, and you can tell me all the reasons why we shouldn’t kiss again.”

He grabbed me by the waist and set me on the floor. I laughed when I saw the spoon on the floor and the pasta from one of the plates had spilled all over the stovetop.

He helped me clean up the mess, and we both washed our hands. I loaded him up with salmon and explained the reasons why he needs extra protein right now. We sat at the little table for two in the kitchen, and I placed the fresh salad between us.

He listened intently as I explained the benefits of carbs and protein and fat while he was training. He groaned when he took the first bite of the pasta.

“It’s homemade pesto. You can take a jar home with you. It’s made with fresh basil, garlic, and pine nuts. You can add it to your protein or your grains.”

“Were you always interested in this stuff?” he asked as his eyes widened when he popped a bite of the salmon into his mouth. “Holy shit, this is good.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. “Thank you. I got really into nutrition after Slade had his boating accident. He was in a lot of pain and wouldn’t eat. I was convinced good food could cure him. But I hadn’t been prepared for him to get addicted to opioids, and no amount of nutrition could overcome what he was dealing with.”

He chewed, and his gaze watched me intently as he listened. We talked for hours, and he told me about his father’s battle with drugs and alcohol after we’d cleared the table and moved to the couch.

“It was a lot of responsibility when he was gone during those years, serving time for his third DUI.” He shook his head. “But it was also the reason he finally got sober, and he came home a different man. I’m grateful for the years we had together after that.”

“I love that he got clean and sober. It’s not easy, and my biggest fear is that Slade will never get to the other side of this.”

“Opioids are brutal. He got hooked after the boating accident?” Romeo asked.

“Yeah. It’s not fair, you know? He was in this horrible accident, and the doctor prescribed a medication that was supposed to help him, not derail his whole life.”

His mouth opened, and he looked like he had something to say, but he stopped himself.

“What? You can tell me. Nothing will shock me about my brother at this point.”

“No, it’s nothing. I just didn’t know that he didn’t have a drug problem before the opioids. I thought it started earlier,” he said, his voice low as he ran his fingers up and down my forearm.

“Not that I’m aware of. It all started with his accident. With that medication they gave him.”

He nodded and leaned back against the couch, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.

“I should probably get going. I’ve got to be up early to run. Joey is going to ride an electric bike next to me tomorrow to push my ass even harder.”

“You’re already pushing so hard as it is. You don’t want to run yourself into the ground.”

He reached for my hand and intertwined our fingers. God, I even loved his hands. His fingers were long and lean and engulfed mine.

“You worried about me?”

“What if I am?”

“You don’t need to worry. I’ve got a lot more in the tank than this. Yes, I’m tired, but I’m ready to do this. To see how far I can push myself. I look forward to waking up and getting after it.”

“Hey, I have an idea. You could come run at my house. I mean, my parents’ house. We’ve got several acres that we share with my grandparents. There’s lots of wide-open space, and I could ride Teacup, and push you out there, too. She’s an older horse, but she can go for several miles. We’ve got trails, and there’s the area down by the water that would be good for training.”

He studied me like the offer was completely ludicrous. “I don’t think that would go over well.”

“For them or for you?”

“For either.”

I shook my head. “What the hell is your problem with my family? Yes, my father can be judgey, and they’re a bit much sometimes, but if they got to know you, and you got to know them, this would be something we’d laugh at later.”

“Let’s do this another night. I need to get home.” He pushed to his feet.

“I’m not kissing you again until you tell me why you hate them.”

He tugged me to my feet. “You ready to tell me about the dude who scared the shit out of you?”

“Another night, Golden Boy.” I echoed his words.

He nipped at my bottom lip, and I groaned. I wanted to get lost in this man. To wrap my arms around his neck and keep him here.

“Thanks for dinner.”

“Thanks for the hot kiss.” I followed him down the stairs so I could lock up.

He walked backward after he stepped outside. His eyes moved to my mouth, and he shook his head before holding his hand up and jogging to his place.

And I missed him the minute he was gone.