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But he doesn’t. Instead he reaches into his short’s pocket and pulls out a bead bracelet. He takes my wrist and ties it there. It’s nothing fancy, silvery blue beads on an elastic band. Kind of ugly, actually.
“There’s a shopping center across the street from the hotel with a grocery market, a mattress store and a craft place. It gets kind of quiet in my room all alone,” he says, his green eyes taking on that sad puppy dog thing that makes me smile and ache at the same time. “I walked around for a few hours last night.”
“You know, a mattress would have been appreciated, too,” I say and waggle my brows at him.
“Do you think of anything other than sex?”
Not when you’re around, I think, but say, “My mattress sucks. That’s what I meant by it.”
“Oh,” he chuckles. “Anyway, somehow I stumbled into the beads aisle. These reminded me of the color of your eyes. So, I got them and made it for you. Look,” he turns the bracelet to show me the hanging C he’s added.
I look at the thing with new fascination. My chest tightens and I feel the tell-tale sting of tears in my eyes. Part of me is frustrated with him for doing this incredibly sweet thing that’s going to make me like him even more than I already do. I want to yank it off and tell him I in fact hate jewelry.
The other part of me, the one with gooey feelings, wants to say thank you. But words alone don’t seem adequate. When I look up at him, he’s so hopeful I can’t bring myself to reject his gift.
Standing on the tips of my toes, I kiss his lips lightly. “Thank you.”
A clearing of a throat has us both turning to Julie. “Class has started. I suggest you two get out there,” she grumbles, and Dean and I race out before she has time to give us a lecture.
This afternoon is all on Tony. We’ve earned the day off, but I still wanted to get a workout in. Having heard Dean tell Julie he’d be at this class has nothing to do with it.
By the time we get to the floor, Tony has begun the class. It’s a full-body partner workout.
Dean looks at me. “Want to be my partner?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Why not?”
We stand by each other as listen to whatever the hell Tony is saying. I want to pay attention, but I’m too busy glancing over at Dean, giggling every time his eyes meet mine. Shit, I like him a lot. And I don’t like that I like him so much that I revert back to this teenage mess.
As if I wasn’t already being tested beyond my limit when it comes to Dean, today’s workout seems to be made to tease.
Interlaced sit-ups start the class, where we have to face each other with our legs interlocked, his thick leg between mine. Every time we “sit up,” our faces come mere inches from touching, his breath so close I can feel it blow across my lips.
Dean has a clear advantage during the wheelbarrow, and he lifts my legs easily, pushing me too fast down the floor. I can’t walk my arms fast enough and I end up eating it several times. And even though it’s at my expense, I laugh with him, making it harder to workout.
I make faces at him during a banded partner squat, where I’m tied to him by a thick band and we have to squat while leaning away from each other.
“Coop, look at me,” I tell him, and cross my eyes. He tries not to laugh, and looks away. “Look at me. Am I making you uncomfortable? Coop!”
He finally looks at me and laughs so hard he can’t stay up. When he falls back, his weight pulls my much lighter frame, and I land on top of him. I’m straddling him when I recover and sit up. When we look at each other, we’re not laughing anymore.
Sure, we’re sweaty. It’s never been something that’s attracted me. But something about Dean’s sweat, the scent of him, heats me up in a way that can only be explained by biology. He’s releasing a lot of pheromones and my body is obviously responding to that.
Time freezes, and in that one millisecond I’m on him, I become fully aware of our position. His heart races furiously beneath my palms as I press them to his chest. Our bodies fit together so perfectly, it’s hard not to naturally fall into a sexual position. In this sense, we were made for each other.
But there’s also a little more to it than that, I realize, as the bright lights above hit his eyes in just the right way, and for the first time I can see the little specks of brown and gold in his jade eyes. I try to count them. As if he knows what I’m doing, he widens his eyes, staring at me with wonder.
“You guys alright?” Tony asks, offering me a hand.
We break apart clumsily, and unwillingly. I tuck my hair in behind my ear and glance at Dean. He’s twisted inside, I can tell. He wants me, too, and that gives me hope.
The entire workout is filled with extra touches and silly laughter, and it’s over before I’m ready for it to end.
“Thanks for the date. Tomorrow, dinner?” he asks slyly.
“Wait, what? No, see, this wasn’t a date. This was a workout.”
He leans against the wall by me as I put my things together and says, “One through which you wore my gift. You laughed, and played, and don’t think I didn’t catch you looking at my ass.”
