AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Except I should’ve never gotten taken down in the first place. My mind was drifting too much with her, and I needed to focus.
“Come on,” I said, shifting from one foot to the next, adding a bounce to my movements. “Show me what you got.”
She flashed a vibrant smile, pure sunshine and teeth, and my heart clenched hard. Goddamn, she was gorgeous. However, this time, I was ready. She rushed at me with another attack, and I settled back into automatic—analyzing the moves, sliding from one defensive strategy to the next.
I shut out thoughts of how much I wanted to slip between her muscled thighs and the equally distressing thoughts of how much I wanted to know what my family’s life was like at home, even if the discovery devastated me.
I was sparring with a client—nothing more, nothing less.
Droplets of sweat flew, breaths came in faster, and our bodies snapped into motion. Back in the ring. The rest of the session raced by as I took one mental note after another, making sure I had points to target for upcoming training.
Ames bounced on her feet, still full of energy, which was good. Girl had stamina.
Everything I saw from her impressed me, and it tracked for the determined-as-fuck girl I remembered. I never figured she would end up heading in the MMA direction, but I could see how she’d flourish and excel here.
“All right,” I said. “Let’s wrap up with some cooldown stretches.”
I ran us through a five-minute routine to settle from that faster pace, the thump, thump, thump of my heart steady. Better to keep my attention there than the thoughts that had run rampant through my mind earlier.
Like if she tasted as delicious as she looked.
Like if my parents were okay with her being queer when they’d never accepted me.
My throat tightened, and I slipped through the rungs of the ring to hop onto the ground.
Ames slid out and stepped up beside me. I walked toward the front of the gym, since I had another client coming in after her. She didn’t hit the lockers, though—no, she stuck to me. When I glanced her way, the look she shot me made it clear she wanted to talk. I stopped close to the door but far enough from the front desk to give us a modicum of privacy.
“What are you doing tonight?” she asked, her hand on her hip like she braced for battle.
My stomach flipped. Was this heading where I thought? “Ames.”
“Let me take you out.” Those blue eyes flared with an intoxicating intensity. “Dinner, a drink, whatever. I…didn’t think I’d ever see you again, and I’d regret if I didn’t shoot my shot.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Fuck, she was bold. And I hated that I liked it. But I hated even more that I had to turn her down. My gut twisted with something ugly. Was it from the past or discomfort with the present? This was a girl who’d been all freckles and smiles, sweet as could be. Only a monster would hurt her.
But I’d gotten the niceness shit-kicked out of me years ago.
Ames chewed on her lip. “Unless you’re already taken and I’m barking up the wrong tree? Or…straight?”
“No to both,” I murmured before I could stop myself. “Very gay and very single.”
Ames’s lips curled into a smirk. Why the fuck had I said that? This wasn’t a good idea with a client I didn’t know, let alone one who was part of the past I’d been forced to leave behind.
“I can’t,” I said plainly, crossing my arms as if that might bolster the shaky-as-fuck ground I stood on.
The smirk dropped from her face, and her blue eyes flashed with a vulnerability that made me want to wrap her in my arms.
Instead, I held strong. “I’m your trainer, Ames, and given the past—it’s better we don’t get involved.”
“Right,” she said, a slight tremor in her voice. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.” With that, she flashed a weak smile.
“Taylor.” Cortez hailed me with a wave from across the gym. The guy was a tattooed sweetheart on the quieter side, one of the trainers I’d worked with for a while. Neither of us drank, but we both hit the bars on occasion to find hookups regardless—which I had the feeling I’d need to do soon.
Ames slipped away without another word. Fuck, I was an asshole for rejecting her. Guilt twisted me like a scorpion stretch, along with a hefty amount of disappointment—which was ridiculous, since she’d just crash-landed into my life.
Cortez nudged me in the side as Ames headed to the locker rooms. “Who’s that?”
