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“You are out of shape, kid.”
“How are you in such good shape? You seem to be drunk a lot of the time.”
He flashed me that million-dollar smile and I realized something. Either Shane had been born with literally perfect teeth, or he’d had exceptional dental care growing up. Shane was not what he seemed.
He was no poor boy, turning to a life of crime and grease due to a terrible upbringing.
I stared at him.
“Well?”
He shrugged and winked at me. My heart did a little flip-flop. He didn’t mean to flirt. He was just joking around. He had no idea I was about to melt into my shoes.
“Good genes.”
“Right.” Good genes was an understatement. I rolled my eyes and wiped my sweaty brow. He really was incorrigible. “So, are we done?”
“You can’t handle the heat, huh?”
He flexed, and I tried to hide my stare. The man’s muscles had their own zip code. They were gleaming in the sun. Well, that made me feel a little bit better. At least he was sweating a little.
It made me feel like slightly less of a wuss. And I was a wuss, with a capital ‘W’.
“Guess not. Thanks for trying.”
“You will be in fighting shape soon, kid, I promise.” He slung his arm over my shoulder as we walked back to the house. “If I have to drag you out here every morning, kicking and screaming.”
“Great,” I muttered sarcastically, trying not to inhale the scent of his sweat. Creepy, Parker. But it was great. He really did want to help me. And his arm over my shoulder was the closest thing I’d had to a hug in years.
Once inside, he grabbed a cold beer and plopped his sweaty, gorgeous body on the couch.
“Don’t you want to shower?”
“You can go first.”
“Nah, it takes me a while.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at me and stood, bringing his beer with him.
“I won’t ask why.”
I blushed bright red, realizing that since he thought I was a teenaged boy, there was only one reason I would be in there that long. But he was wrong. I spent most of my shower time trying to hide my boobs from him. It wasn’t easy to keep them down. Worse yet, they seemed to be growing because of finally having enough food to eat.
It took a while to make sure my hair looked realistic tucked under my hat. I knew I should cut it all off but I hesitated every time. I looked boyish enough the way I was, I figured. I had learned that brushing my eyebrows downward and never plucking also added to the illusion.
And a secret part of me hoped that maybe, just maybe, I could drop the charade. Soon. And that he wouldn’t hate me for it.
I poured myself a glass of water and turned the TV on, listening to Shane shower.
It was better not to think about what he was doing in there. Rubbing his big, rough hands over his perfect freaking body. There would be bubbles, of course, and—
The water turned off, and Shane called out that it was my turn. I turned down the hallway just in time to see him mosey on down the hallway, clutching a towel that was loosely slung over his narrow hips.
My mouth went as dry as the Sahara. He was golden everywhere. Shiny, wet, glorious bunches of muscles and flat planes that formed a perfect whole. His skin was covered in tattoos. Way more than I’d imagined. Scars too. I watched him walk past, my fingers itching to trace those scars. To kiss them. The big one on his back that looked like he’d scraped the skin off. And another one on his side that disappeared beneath his towel. I found myself wondering just how far it went.
“Kid? Something wrong?”
I shook my head and practically dove for the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror for a good long while, wondering what the hell I was going to do. As much as this place was growing on me, I had to move on. Shane would be angry at me when he realized I was a girl. Angry and probably disgusted that I’d been crushing on him the whole time like some sort of freak.
No, not a freak. People had all sort of complicated identities. I knew that. But I wasn’t one of them. I wasn’t born into the wrong body or with a fluid gender identity. I was just a liar.
And the last thing I wanted to tell anybody was why I felt safer dressed as a boy.
Even knowing all that, it did nothing to stop the flush of desire I felt for him. I doubted anything would.
When I finally turned the water on, I turned it on cold.
Chapter Nine
Shane
“Come on, kid. I gave you a day off yesterday. You need to shake a tail feather!”
