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“What did you need?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to see River looking between us. Nash called Cutler over to finish eating, and I turned my back to the guys.
“I, um, I noticed you were getting sick again in the alley when I took out the trash this morning, and I just thought I’d drop these off.”
“What are they?” River asked, and I closed my eyes for a second because he’d think there was more going on here than there was. I’d avoided her since seeing her at Whiskey Falls bar when I’d wanted to beat the shit out of Blane Johnson.
“They’re protein shakes. When you’re training hard, it helps to supplement in between your actual food meals. So, you can incorporate post-workout protein supplements,” she said, before clearing her throat.
“That was nice of you, Demi,” Kingston said from behind me. “Our boy isn’t keeping much down with these workouts he’s doing.”
“I’m fine. I’ll try them,” I grumped. I didn’t want her here, knowing how River felt about her. How we all felt about her last name. Her family.
But I’d come to realize that I didn’t hate Demi Crawford the way I pretended I did. Hell, I’d gotten off to her in the shower too many times to count, and this morning was no different. So, I’d been keeping my distance for a reason. I’d never act on this attraction, but it didn’t mean I didn’t want to.
It didn’t mean it didn’t exist.
Because it did.
But it couldn’t go anywhere.
But if River was a dick to her, I wouldn’t allow it. And I didn’t feel like getting into a fight with him at the moment. “How much do I owe you?”
“I was actually going to see if we could work out a trade.” She shrugged, and my gaze ran down the length of her, taking in her black leggings and fitted sweater. Her body was tight and lean, her tits small and perky, and my mouth watered at the thought of tasting her.
Good Christ.
I was clearly over-training because I’d been exhausted two minutes ago, and now here I was, finally hungry for something.
Something that I couldn’t have.
There were lines you didn’t cross.
Loyalties you stayed true to.
These guys were my family.
Ride or die.
Helping her out when she was in trouble that night was one thing. But anything more than that would never work.
She was a fucking Crawford.
Magnolia Falls royalty.
I was getting ready to get into the ring so that another idiot and I could bash one another’s heads in.
Demi and I were from two different worlds, and we needed to keep it that way.
“Like I told you, I don’t need charity. I’m happy to pay for them.”
I saw River move in my peripheral vision, and he walked over to stand beside me. “Don’t be rude, Romeo. Hear her out. What’s the trade?”
Her gaze bounced between us, and she did that thing I’d noticed her do every time I was around her. She pushed her shoulders back, lifted her chin up, and locked her gaze withhis. Almost like she’d practiced standing up for herself so many times and had to consciously remind herself not to back down.
“I’d like to take some self-defense lessons. I wanted to see if you had anyone here at the gym who could train me?”
“Did someone fucking touch you?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, and River raised a brow as he looked at me.
I was clearly concerned about her, and I’d just shown my hand.
