Page 92 of Reluctantly You

He laughs loudly. “It’s not my fault you kept checking out my ass.”

My cheeks flame and I shove at him, trying to move past him, but he stops me, his hand wrapping around my neck.

“I love it. You checking me out.”

I lean into it for just a moment before moving away, the two of us walking toward the lockers.

As we do, I hear a familiar voice, “Hi, Mitchy!”

I sigh as I turn around and see Emery waving at me. His shirt is inside out and his pants are on backward. He looks half asleep.

“Hey, you okay?” I ask, my brows furrowed in concern.

He shakes his head and then nods. “Just tired. Thought it would be a good idea to get up early and come here, but it was a terrible idea… Hey, I know you!”

Emery bounds up, tripping slightly, and I have to catch him in my arms. He pats my shoulders and then takes a step away, staring up at Gideon.

“Giddy.”

Gideon pauses a moment, his eyes widening. “Emmy?”

“Yes! Hi! Oh my god. I was wondering what happened to you. And look, here you are with my bitch!”

I sigh when Gideon grins over at me.

“I think you’re mistaken, Emmy. Mitch ismybitch.”

“Oh, will we have to fight over him?” he asks with a giggle. “Oh, never mind. You can have him. I’m married now, anyway.” He waggles his hand and when both of us stare down at it, he swears. “Damn. I think I lost my ring again. I could have sworn I put it on this morning.”

“Some things never change,” Gideon says and then he turns toward me. “Emmy and I were in the same group home toward the end. This was before all those tattoos. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Well, I had some, but you just didn’t see them. My firsts were on my back. Hm, that sounds dirty…”

“And now look at you. All grown up and covered in art.”

“I’m a chaotic mess,” he replies with a grin and then throws his arms around Gideon, hugging him tightly. “But oh my god, I’m so glad I got up and came here today. Can we skip working out and catch up?”

Gideon looks at me, and I shrug. He can do whatever the fuck he wants. I’m not his boyfriend.

“You don’t want to work out first?” Gideon asks, and Emery rolls his eyes.

“Not really. I’d honestly rather die.”

My lips twitch at that and then Emery links his arm with Gideon’s, “So, breakfast? I’m thinking a large cinnamon roll with extra frosting.”

“Thought you were worried about your moobs,” I interject, and Emery gasps.

“I am, which is why I’m going to only get one extra frosting. Not ten.”

Gideon laughs and ruffles his hair. “Well, we need to shower and then we’ll meet you out front?”

“Sure!” Emery says, bouncing on his feet.

We turn to walk into the locker room, and Emery trails after us. Guess he’ll be watching us lather ourselves up.

“Think he missed the waiting out front bit,” I murmur as we grab our towels and walk to the open shower.

“Typical Emmy,” Gideon says as we strip down.

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