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I shifted my gaze up toward Parker and lifted my eyebrows in question. He only shrugged.
Even though I was no longer his client because we’d both agreed that I no longer needed the assistance of a life coach—especially after how well I’d handled myself during my testimony at Ethan’s trial where he was found guilty of multiple counts of rape and was currently in prison—we still liked to get in some Saturday morning workouts together. And when Bella had declared she wanted to join us, Gracen decided to tag along too. But they’d disappeared almost immediately after we started the warm-up run.
Parker suddenly nudged my arm, then tipped his chin forward, making me look ahead. And there they were. Bella sat upright on the bench nearest the front doors and leaned back, resting her weight on her hands with her face lifted toward the sky, like someone sitting on a towel at the beach would do to soak up more vitamin D.
Meanwhile, Gracen lay draped over her lap, looking for all the world like he was asleep.
Parker and I jogged that way, deciding to end the warm-up run in front of their bench.
“What the hell?” Parker asked, lifting his arms as he laughed at his girlfriend and slowed to a stop in front of her. “We thought you wanted to work out with us.”
Bella waved her hand at her face, cooling herself down before she announced, “Yeah, but Gracen and I decided we’re not fans of running.”
At the mention of his name, he opened his eyes and sat up, yawning before smacking his lips and grinning affectionately at me. “Oh, hey. Is it over already? Good run, guys. Way to give it your all.” Then he slapped his hands together and glanced around. “What’s next?”
“Why don’t you two just go on home?” Parker suggested dryly. “If you can’t make a simple lap around the building, then no way are you going to want to sweat on the basketball court.”
“Eww, there’s sweating involved?” Bella wrinkled her nose as she pushed to her feet, groaning and stretching as she did. “Sweating is so gross.”
“Oh, really?” Parker countered by snagging her waist and tugging her against him for a heated kiss. When he pulled back to grin at her, he winked. “You weren’t saying that last night.”
“Ugh. Now that’s disgusting,” Gracen told them, pulling his face back with a wince. “Seriously. You two are enough to make a person gag.” Then he popped to my side and smiled brightly. “Hi. Don’t worry, I like sweat. Especially your sweat.” And he demonstrated by licking away a droplet that was trailing down the side of my neck.
To say the least, by the time we made it to our reserved room, everyone had been thoroughly kissed.
“Alright,” Parker announced, fetching a ball and slapping it between his palms to gain our attention. “Let’s team up. El, you’re with me.”
“Whoa, hey. Now, wait a second,” Gracen objected. “You can’t just take my girlfriend as your teammate.”
“What?” Parker asked innocently. “I’m letting you team up with my girlfriend. Besides, we can be the Lowes against the non-Lowes.”
The twins shared a suspicious glance before Bella shook her head. “Uh-uh. I smell a conspiracy.”
“Oh yeah,” Gracen agreed, folding his arms over his chest and turning back to arch one eyebrow. “They’re definitely up to something.”
“We are not up to anything,” Parker insisted, lifting his hands and laughing over their paranoia. “I’ve just never played on the same side as El before. It’s always been one-on-one sessions, so we’ve been opponents. This is my first chance to be her teammate.”
“Well, I’ve never played on the same side as you before either,” Bella argued, setting her hands on her hips. “So what’s up with that?”
He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Baby, we team up together every damn night.”
“God,” Gray groaned, throwing his head back and digging his palms into his eye sockets. “Will you two stop saying shit like that? I’m going to grow up with serious mental issues.”
Parker snorted. “You? grow up? Yeah, right. Besides, you already have issues.” Then he dribbled the ball once before catching it again. “Now, come on, are we going to play or not?”
Bella scowled toward her brother. “They’re so going to kick our asses.”
“They really are,” he agreed. But then he glanced my way, and the expression in his gaze instantly softened. “But I can’t imagine losing to anyone sexier,” he announced. “So let’s get this beating over with.”
“Great!” Parker cheered and immediately tossed the
ball toward me.
Ready to get my groove on, I flashed forward, dribbling toward the basket. Bella cried out in despair and dove after me, completely missing me and stumbling off somewhere to the side behind me. Gray started toward me too, but Parker leaped into his path, successfully blocking him.
I stopped short of going in for a layup because jump shots were my jam, and I took careful aim.
A moment later, the ball sank through the hoop, nothing but net.
