5. Leo

5

LEO

J acob and I made our way to the gym, with him now dressed in a thin, black t-shirt and a pair of shorts that clung to his thighs. I struggled to keep my eyes to myself, my gaze desperate to take in every inch of him in an outfit like that.

Once we entered the gym, I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the moment I had to tell everyone the photoshoot was off. It was hard enough for me to let people down in general. The idea of letting down a group of men who had enough cash to buy me?

Enough cash to break me?

I was shaking on the inside, even though I was doing a good job of hiding it on the outside.

"Hey, boss!" Diego greeted me with a wide smile. He held a heavy weight in each hand from where he sat on a workout bench. He looked right at home among the expensive machinery and the red-and-black color scheme of the gym, his outfit matching it perfectly.

"Hey! There we are!" Chris was the next to greet me, taking a seat beside Diego. He scoffed as he noticed Diego's weights. "Really? Is that all they have you lifting in the league?"

"Shouldn't you be more concerned about your feet, soccer boy?"

"Hey! No bickering in the gym!" Andrew called out from the treadmill. I didn't think I'd ever seen anyone run that fast before. "We're supposed to treat this place like a temple!"

"Yeah, yeah. Right." Chris nodded before he offered Diego his hand. "Truce?"

"Truce."

Just then, Keith slithered toward us from somewhere out of the corner. He was wearing a relaxed workout look, with an old jersey and tennis shoes. I rolled my eyes nearly as soon as I spotted him, everything about his demeanor instantly annoying me.

Keith walked up to Jacob, like I was completely invisible. "Hey, there. Damn, you look good in your workout clothes."

Jacob ignored him as he looked over at me. "How are you feeling? Weights? Treadmill?"

"Is nothing an option? I'm pretty sure I'm getting enough of a workout with this low-grade panic attack that I'm having."

"Weights? Treadmill?" Jacob repeated, his eyes locked on mine. "Come on. I know things seem chaotic right now, but I've got a plan. I promise."

I grimaced, even as I took a step closer to him. "Fine. Treadmill."

"Perfect." Jacob smiled before he headed toward Andrew. A few moments later, we were on treadmills, side by side. Our pace was slow to start, almost like we were going for a leisurely walk around the block.

"So, what's your plan?" I asked, my nerves causing my stomach to get tangled up in knots. "You've been playing it kind of cool since?—"

"My plan is to focus on the workout."

I let out a laugh, before I realized that Jacob's expression was stoic. "Wait. You're serious?"

"Dead serious." Jacob nodded before he upped the speed on his machine. "Make sure you keep matching my pace."

"Is this some kind of challenge?" I upped the speed on my treadmill until the speed matched for both machines. "You think I can't keep up with you or something?"

"We'll see." Jacob cracked a smile as he broke out into a light jog. I did the same, and for a few minutes, we jogged side by side.

Then, Jacob set his speed even higher, breaking out into a full run. Soon, I was running right beside him, taking deep breaths as I focused on my feet, on the way my arms swung up and down as I moved. I always found it was so much easier to run when my mind was on anything else but the running itself, so I let my thoughts drift through the wind.

"Fuck. You're good." Jacob grunted. "This is where I usually lose people."

"Maybe I'm not like other people."

"Yeah. Maybe not." Jacob hummed before he went back to running at full speed, with an expression on his face that I couldn't quite make out.

Weights were next.

I spotted Jacob as he pumped iron, his back resting against the workout bench, his muscles bulging as he expertly handled the weights in his hands. I inwardly groaned as I watched him but couldn't touch, my fingers aching to trail down his skin, to feel his muscles underneath my fingertips.

Needing to distract myself before I pounced on him in public, I let my anxieties guide the conversation. "Is it plan time yet?"

"Plan time?"

"What are we going to do about the photoshoot? What are we going to tell the photographers?"

"I thought I said we were focusing on the workout?—"

"Yeah, and now you're done stalling for time, right? And you've come up with something really good?"

Jacob sighed as he set down the weights. "You're very impatient. You know that?"

"I just like to know what's going on."

"You just like to be in control." Jacob lightly chuckled before he lowered his voice. "Which is funny, because in my experience, you love taking directions from me."

"Don't," I warned, my voice low, too. "If you start flirting with me in public, all bets are off."

"You think I wouldn't take you? Right here? In front of everyone?" Jacob leaned closer to me. "I told you, Leo. I always go after what I want, whenever I want it?—"

"Leo! Just the guy I wanted to see." Tommy cut into our conversation, and then blew out a heavy breath. "What's going on here? Change of scenery for the photoshoot?"

My heart sank inside my chest.

Shit.

We were out of time. I needed to tell Tommy what was going on with the photoshoot, which felt like I was sealing my fate in the very worst way.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Jacob replied with a nod. "A change of scenery. Do you think it could work? Getting photos of the guys in here?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. This place has fantastic lighting." Tommy whistled. "As long as the boss-man thinks it's good to go?"

"Yeah. Actually… That sounds great." I let out a sigh of relief. "Kind of getting the guys in their natural element."

"Sounds fun." Tommy gave us two thumbs up. "I'll go let the other photographers know what the new plan is. You might want to let the guys know, too, so they don't tire themselves out before the real work begins."

Jacob turned to me. "I'll go let the guys know. You can get some ideas for the shots together? Before we're ready to go?"

"You'll let the guys know?" I raised an eyebrow. "You're not trying to commandeer my set, are you?"

"I'm just making sure my plan goes off without a hitch."

"So, filming in the gym was your actual plan, then?" I rested my hands on my hips. "Why didn't you just tell me that earlier, Jacob?"

"Because that was only part of my plan. The other part was getting you to loosen up, and exercise tends to help with that." Jacob smirked. "I could tell you were letting the stress get to you."

I playfully rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Go round up the guys. I need to think about how we're going to translate the shots from outside to inside."

I'd been pacing back and forth in my bedroom, trying to visualize a new campaign. Thankfully, Tommy had texted me that the guys had requested about an hour to get ready, as they cleaned up just enough to look effortless in their photos.

By the time I returned to the gym, it was late morning, and the guys were ready to go. Jacob was leaning against a wall, his eyes scanning over the athletes.

But it wasn't like he was checking them out. It was more like he was their coach, preparing to call all the shots during their game.

Interesting.

I looked over at Tommy and the rest of the photographers, fiddling around with their cameras and lighting umbrellas, working some kind of magic that I would never understand. I walked up to them and asked, "Is everything good to go?"

"Yep. Just start calling the shots, Mr. Director."

"Great." I pointed at Chris and Andrew before I motioned toward the weight bench. "Can I get my football star and my football star over there?"

They high fived and walked toward the weight bench, standing next to each other.

"I was thinking maybe you two go back-to-back? Like a cheesy 90's poster?" I started. "It can be one of our fun moments from the shoot?—"

"If I may?" Jacob raised his hand like he was in class.

"You may?" I was puzzled by him jumping in, not expecting him to have any opinion about the photoshoot.

"I think you should play up the US vs. UK rivalry angle? You know, maybe have a photo of them looking like they want to kill each other, and then, you have the one where they go back-to-back to ease the tension. Kind of like, see, look, these two are actually good friends."

"That's a pretty good idea," Tommy murmured. "What do you think, boss?"

"I think we should go for it. Thanks, Jacob."

There was a slight smile on Jacob's face as he watched the guys move into position. Within seconds, Chris and Andrew looked like they wanted to go for blood. As the camera flashed, they changed poses, going from Chris pretending to kick Andrew in the stomach, to Andrew grabbing Chris around the neck for a headlock, and then to Andrew and Chris both screaming in each other's faces.

It was perfect.

I caught myself looking over at Jacob every so often, my eyes drifting to him even when I tried to focus on the photoshoot. Each time they did, it was like he was expecting it, that same slight smile plastered across his features.

Ugh.

He knew he was distracting me, and he liked it.

We moved on from Chris and Andrew. Now it was Keith and Deigo's turn in the spotlight.

"Okay, so you two are going to be near that back wall. And I was thinking we could play around with the height difference? Since Keith is so much taller?—"

"Ooh, that's good," Jacob added. "Kind of like a teasing thing? Keith has height and Diego has the muscle definition. Maybe we do one with Diego flexing and one with Keith acting like he's about to dunk on him?"

"That's… another great suggestion." I tried and failed to hide the surprise in my voice. I wasn't used to people pitching ideas to me unless they either worked in PR, too, or were on a social media team. "What do you think, Tommy?"

"Sounds like fun." Tommy beamed before he motioned for the guys to get into place, slightly shifting his camera.

Just like before, as the camera flashed, I found myself being drawn to Jacob. And there he was, with that slight smile, like he already knew about the effect he had on me.

Maybe you need to be thrown off your game.

Jacob's earlier words came back to me in that moment, casually floating across my brain.

"Are you trying to take my job? Is that what this is?" I jokingly pressed as I got undressed in my oversized bathroom. Jacob and I had found ourselves both walking back toward my bedroom, even though I hadn't extended a verbal invitation.

But honestly, I didn't have to, not with the way I'd been staring at him throughout the whole photoshoot.

"I just had a few ideas. That's all." Jacob shrugged. "But I didn't mean to overstep. And if you'd shot any of them down, I promise I wouldn't have been an asshole about it."

"Yeah, I don't really get the asshole vibe from you."

Jacob chuckled. "Did it feel strange?"

"Did what feel strange?"

"Not holding the reins all by yourself," he added. "Having someone help you put the pieces together."

"I don't know. I think I actually kind of liked it." I thought over the question as I finished pulling off the rest of my clothes. I held a hand underneath the running water of the shower, testing its heat on my palm. "When you're the one with final say on everything, it can be way too much pressure. This way, it felt like I was sharing the load."

"So, you'd say you felt like a weight was lifted?" Jacob suggested, as he pulled off the rest of his clothes, too. "Like some kind of release?"

"It feels like you want me to use some pretty specific language to describe the feeling?"

"Maybe so." Jacob closed the distance between us, his arms wrapping around my waist. "Or maybe I just wanted to see if you'd be interested in a different kind of release? Something… deeper?"

"Hmm. Let me think about it." I pretended to hem and haw. "Are you sure you could give me that deep of a release? What's your return policy like?"

"Try me on for size and let's find out." Jacob's tone was low and lustful.

I ran my hand underneath the shower again, this time the water being the perfect temperature.

"What are you thinking right now, Leo?" Jacob asked, his arms wrapping even tighter around me, keeping me in place.

"I'm thinking that I want to see what you can do," I replied, as I trailed my fingers down the side of his face. "Ready whenever you are."