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Luke
LivdisappearsfromsighttostarthersessionwithBrando,andIcanfeelJackson’seyesburningaholeinthesideofmyhead.Ifacehimandheslowblinks.“Whatthefuckwasthat?”
I let out a sigh. “She makes me nervous.”
He laughs and pats my shoulder harder than necessary. “I get it. She’s hot as fuck.”
He puts his hands in the air in front of him and steps away when I glare at him. “What?”
“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t flirt with her.”
He raises his eyebrows. “You laying claim?”
I cross my arms and narrow my gaze at him.
Jackson laughs. “Calm yourself, Timberwolf. I won’t steal your mate.”
I roll my eyes at him as he continues to chuckle. They started calling me Timberwolf in the Marines on our first deployment and I can’t get them to stop, though they use it less and less as the years go by.
“Was that Liv?” Mark asks, walking over.
I sigh and scrub a hand down my face. “Yea.”
Mark smirks. “She got you all tied up in knots?”
“He already used his Timberwolf voodoo on me,” Jackson says. I want to punch that stupid grin off his face.
Mark raises his eyebrows. “Damn.” He draws the word out much longer than necessary.
“Drop it assholes.” I grab the bar and continue my set in an effort to block them out.
“Yea, not happening. Nice try though,” Jackson says.
“You going to ask her out before someone else does? Every guy out here snapped to attention when she walked in,” Mark says.
I glare at the guy next to us, who drops his gaze and pretends like he’s not listening. My blood pumps faster. I add a few more reps and drop to my feet. Swallowing my pride, I look at my friends. “Guys, what do I do?”
They both turn serious. “Ask her out before she leaves tonight.”
I sigh and rub the back of my neck, nodding at Mark as an idea forms.
They give me a break and we return to our workout. When we finish up, I take a quick shower and wait for Brando and Liv in the office. After I fail to contain my nerves at just being near her, Brando helps me out and I latch onto the ritual of setting up the paperwork for her and escort her to the front once we’re finished. We arrive at the desk and the words spill out of my mouth. “Are you busy right now?”
My heart stops as Liv processes the words I blurted. I’m so outside of my element right now. I’m impressed I formed a coherent sentence. Liv smiles and my heart beats again.
“No, I’m free.”
Thank Christ.
“Do you want to go grab some fro-yo? I thought I could treat you after the one you lost in the alley last week.”
An adorable flush crawls up her neck and I resist the urge to reach out and touch the heat of her gorgeous pale skin. She tucks a loose strand of hair that fell out of her ponytail behind her ear and nods. “Sure. That sounds great.”
“There’s a place nearby. It’s walking distance.” I gesture towards the front doors, and we head to the street. The sun is about an hour from setting, the sky a brilliant orangish pink. We walk in silence for a couple of blocks. I adjust my ball cap a few times. “So how’s your brother?”
“He’s good. Busy.”
“Anything new with the case?”
