AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can straighten up,” Murphy instructs. He stretches his legs out into a V position and we mimic his movements. “I haven’t smoked a cigar in ages. You know what we should do?” he asks, then continues before anyone replies. “We should get some good weed for that night.”
“Oh, man.” I try to recall the last time I smoked, and from what I remember, it was back in college.Those were the good old days.“I miss weed.”
Kaiden shrugs. “I was never much of a smoker. But the night we go out, there won’t be any substances that could make us pop on a piss test.”
“Fair enough,” Murphy says. “Although, the chances of us being tested during the offseason are fairly slim.”
“Do you want to take that risk? Especially when we’re the current champions?” Kaiden asks.
“Which is all the more reason for the league to ‘randomly’ choose one of us to test,” Darius points out.
“Yeah, I say we avoid that situation altogether. We don’t need anything casting a pall of suspicion over the phenomenal season we had. We earned those results the old fashioned way—with ball-busting hard work,” I say.
“Goddamn, Goode. Since when are you the voice of reason?” Murphy asks.
“Holy shit, you’re right,” Darius agrees. “Are you feeling okay?” He places his palm on my forehead.
“Knock it off,” I tell him, batting his hand down. “You know I’m always up for a good time—”
“AGoodetime,” Murphy corrects, cutting me off.
“I’m always up for somefun, but after the gains we’ve made, I don’t want anything ripping them away,” I say.
Kaiden lays his hand on my shoulder in solidarity. “I agree. How about we talk less and stretch more. I’d like to get home before bedtime.”
Murphy shakes his head. “Cool your jets, grandpa. It’s only two o’clock.”
Kaiden, smiling good naturedly at the ribbing, retorts, “Yeah, but I go to bed at five.”
Murphy finishes making us contort into positions our bodies weren’t meant to do and then it’s time for my favorite part of working out—lifting heavy shit. I put my earbuds in, get my music going, and get down to business. Grabbing two fifty pound dumbbells, I get situated on the black padded bench and lie back. Calista slips into my thoughts again, but I focus on pressing the weights directly above me and keeping my back on the bench. Slowly, I pull the weights down, touching the dumbbells to the sides of my chest before pushing them back up again. I repeat this exercise fourteen more times before moving on to the next one. By the time I’m finished with my routine, an hour has passed and my shirt is soaked with sweat. I’m weak with hunger and my entire body hurts. But it’s the kind of pain I thrive on. I fucking love this feeling. And now, I’m about to go home and eat like a king.Life is good.
CHAPTER7
CALISTA
With my earbudsblaring one of my favorite Prince songs, I dance around the kitchen, collecting ingredients for dinner. My hips rock side to side as he sings about how it doesn’t matter how much money a woman has, she can be his girl.
Returning to the island with my arms full, I carefully extricate each item from my hold. My hips swaying to the beat, I measure out seasonings and add them to the bowl.
Ryder went to work out a couple of hours ago and I’m not sure when he’ll be back. But it’s coming up on dinner time, so I might as well at least get a jump on preparing the meal. I can throw it in the oven once he’s back.
Dancing backward for three steps, I drop it low as Prince passionately sings about women ruling his world. Balancing on my toes with my legs spread wide, I drap my hands over my knees and bounce my ass up and down while belting out the lyrics. I’m in the middle of a particularly enthusiastic booty pop when I notice Ryder watching me. Seeing him not only throws off my rhythm, but it causes every ounce of coordination I possess to disappear in an instant. Tumbling sideways, I fall to the floor with the grace of a toppling stack of bricks.
Ryder is next to me in a flash, kneeling down to help me sit up. He places an arm around my back and gently tugs the earbud from my ear. “Are you okay?”
My initial reaction of horror and embarrassment is quickly replaced by amusement when I become aware of the look of concern on his face. You’d think I’d fallen from the second story instead of a matter of inches. And of course he saw my less than stellar dancing skills. This is right on par with every other embarrassing thing that’s happened to me in front of attractive men.
Yanking the other earbud free, the absurdity of my situation hits me full-force, causing uncontrollable peals of laughter to spill from me.
Once Ryder realizes I’m not hurt, he guffaws right along with me. It’s the loud, gut-aching kind of laughter that seems as if it’s never going to stop.
With the weight of his arm around me and his warm breath fanning over my cheek, reality slowly creeps back in. Our eyes meet and the laughter abruptly cuts off like a switch has been flipped. A powerful need curls in my stomach. All I want is to lean forward and press my lips to his. But that can’t happen, no matter how much I’d like it to. Acting on my attraction to him would be unprofessional, and since I’m here in a business capacity, I mustn’t cross any lines.
Shifting to my knees, I push myself to my feet and straighten up. “How was your workout?” I mention the first thing that comes to mind.
He bounds to his feet in one smooth motion. “It was great, thanks. I’m going to grab a shower while you make dinner. Do you need my help with anything before I go?”
“Nope. I’m all set. Thank you for offering, though.”
