AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Charlie disappeared into the office during the class and closed the door. Maybe I misjudged him the first time we met. He seemed nice and friendly then. Now, he didn't seem to want to know me. I wasn't necessarily here to make friends. I was here to make money. But it wouldn't hurt if he was nice to me. Would it?
"That's it for today, thanks for coming." I stood by the door and waved each parent and child out until they were all gone, then closed it behind the last of them and stepped into the office.
"Break time until the after-school crowd gets here," I remarked.
Charlie grunted. He was bent over the desk, eyes on the computer screen.
I watched his back for a moment, then crouched to feel around in my bag for my lunch. When I stood up again, he hadn't moved. For some reason, that annoyed me.
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked.
I remembered what Mannix said about asking for what I wanted. What I wanted right now was a straight answer. Was that too much to ask?
I thought he wasn't going to respond, until he sat back from the screen and half turned his face towards me. "It's nothing, I'm busy. These invoices won't send themselves."
I perched on the side of the desk beside him. "I could help."
He glanced at my legs, bare up to the hem of my shorts. "No," he said a bit more forcefully than was necessary. "I mean, I'm fine. Nicola or I would need to sit down and explain how to do it."
"I did invoicing in my last gym, it's the same software." Even if it wasn't, it was exactly the thing I picked up in about thirty seconds flat. "I'm a computer science major too," I said lightly. Anything to relax some of the tension in the room.
He ran his fingers through his short hair. "I can't let you do anything without Nicola approving it anyway. Right now, you're only approved to coach."
"Yeah, okay." That was, or at leastsounded, legitimate. Nicola was the boss after all. She might want to see what I could do before she gave me extra duties. After all, there was a difference between saying you could do a thing and actually being able to do it. She might have been burnt before by people not living up to their hype. It happened all the time. No doubt when she was ready, she’d take a look at what I could do and decide then.
"I guess I could tidy up out there." I nodded to some boxes and mats which were slightly out of place.
He looked relieved. "Yes, you could go and do that."
I gave him a long look but he already turned back to the screen and hunched over again. For some reason, he seemed to want me as far away from himself as he could get me.
Was Mannix really that scary standing in the door glaring at him? A little bit intimidating, sure, but not that scary. Not to me anyway. I wouldn't have thought he'd be too scary to Charlie either, but what did I know? I hardly knew the other coach.
It took me all of two or three minutes to straighten everything, before I sat on a box to eat my lunch.
I peeled open the box and frowned at the contents. I'd only packed a sandwich and a banana, but the box now contained an additional red velvet cupcake topped with black sprinkles and an edible decoration in the shape of a crown. If I had to guess, I'd think it was a collaborative effort between Ice and Mannix. I wouldn't have thought they were so romantic, but they had bought me a car. What was a little cupcake in comparison? It was sweet of them.
I was good and ate the banana first, but then couldn't resist biting into the cupcake. It was light and fluffy, and delicious. I presumed Ares hadn't contributed to it, because it didn't contain sand or gravel, or as far as I could tell, poison. Would he dare to do that, knowing the other guys might be pissed off? I liked to think, in spite of his glaring and sneering, he wasn't really an asshole. The jury was still out on that. Hopefully at some point, he would have a chance to prove me right.
I was licking crumbs off my fingers when I glanced towards the office and saw Charlie, his eyes on me. Before he realised I was looking, I saw his expression. He had the same hunger in his eyes as the guys did when they looked at me. Unlike their bold, unapologetic lust, his was laced with caution. Like he was looking at something he knew he couldn't have. But that didn't stop him from wanting it.
He realised I saw him watching and ducked down, out of sight. I was starting to think maybe he was slightly unhinged.
For the first time since we met, I felt uneasy about him. I didn't think he'd touch me or do anything to me, but working with him might be more difficult than I hoped. I wasn't going to quit. In spite of the guys’ assurances they’d make all my dreams come true, I still wanted to work and make my own money. If there was anything my mother taught me, it was never to rely on other people for financial support. Especially her.
Whatever happened, I’d always want to take care of myself. I fully intended to pay the guys back for the car, even if it took me years to do it. I was going to need one hell of a good job to make enough money for that.
Soon I'd have my degree and I had a shit load of determination. I knew I had what it took to succeed. My eventual goal was to have my own company, making and maintaining security software. I had plenty of ideas brewing in the back of my mind, but I'd need a lot of money for those too. Much more than a gymnastics coach would ever make, but this was a start.
With any luck, Leo and Mum would let me keep living with them so I could save.
Who was I kidding? Mannix would insist I stay, regardless of what they said. Could he overrule his father? Probably not, but he'd try. He was at least as determined as I was. That was part of the reason I was attracted to him. In spite of his harder edge, we had some things in common. Backing down if we wanted something very much, was not an option for either of us. Not for the other two guys either, although Ice covered it by being easy-going.
Now I was thinking about the way his cock felt sliding into me, thrusting in and out. I couldn't wait to do it with him again, and with Mannix.
Okay, and with Ares. At some point, I'd need to sit down and talk to him. We needed to clear the air.
I hurried off to get a big drink of water before the next class started. There wasn't time for a cold shower, so it would have to do. I could distract myself from that line of thought by wondering again why Charlie was behaving so strangely.
