Page 13 of Bound By Secrets

Once double Criminology was over, we headed to the fitness centre. Now, this is where the day takes a turn. As we walk towards the centre, I'm happy to see Kat and Connor among the group waiting outside the entrance.

As we get closer to them, I see Brad standing off to the side, chatting with a few guys that he must know, though his attention is on Nate and me as we sidle up to our little group.

He ends whatever conversation he is having and walks over to us, sending me a wink on his way; the sort of wink that melts your insides and turns you into a useless bitch because your brain then doesn't function properly. I break the intense eye contact that we have going on to focus on the guys around me, and that's when I see a blonde bouncing over to us, her screeching voice calling out Nate's name.

I glance at Nate to see his head bowed down as he pushes Kat in front of him in an attempt to hide. My brothers laugh at him - well, Callum does. Connor's is more of an amused scoff, lips tipping up at the sides as his gaze ping-pongs back and forth between Nate and his ex.

"I don't know how you put up with that annoying voice for so long, man. It does my head in," Brad says as he comes to stand at my side.

"Shut up, I'm not here," Nate whispers. At that, we all completely lose it and fall into fits of laughter because the guy seriously cannot hide. He's over 6 feet tall and trying to cower behind his sister, who's barely over 5 feet. I don't know how he thought that would work out for him.

Unfortunately, our laughter is interrupted by his ex pushing her way between us and standing directly in front of Kat, glaring at her. Kat glares back, hands on hips, not backing down whilst her brother is still crouching down, partially hidden behind her. You can see the top of his head and his wide shoulders, but I don't think he cares. He's convinced that if he can't see her, then she can't see him.

"Move out of the way so I can speak to my boyfriend."

Kat scoffs, muttering something under her breath as she takes a step to the side, revealing Nate, whose cheeks are tinged pink from embarrassment.

"Nate, we need to talk. You know we can sort this out. I miss you, baby," she whines, running her fingernails up and down his arm. He flicks her hand away from him and takes a step back.

"Not gonna happen Steph. We spoke already. I'm done. We’re done. Have been for months, leave it be and move on," he spits out. Her jaw drops in shock and she stands in silence, staring at Nate in disbelief before turning and aiming her daggered stare at me.

"Is it because of this bitch?" She points her finger in my face as she steps closer, her eyes swivelling from his to lock onto mine. The twins take a step closer behind me, which makes her falter for a second. Then she crosses her arms over her chest, stomps a foot, and walks off.

"Well, that was dramatic," I say, looking around at all the guys and Kat. Kat rolls her eyes then links arms with me and pulls me towards the entrance of the athletic centre. I wince a little because she's linked her arm right over the bruised handprint on my bicep, but thankfully, she doesn't notice.

We follow the two trainers who are pointing out locker rooms to everyone, telling us to go in and change and then meet them at the track outside. The mention of changing rooms has me pulling to a stop, and I turn to face the twins, who are staring back at me with wide eyes and catching on to the same thing.

I have to get changed.

I have athletic shorts and a tank top but that won't cover up my bruised arm. I'm used to having to hide bruises whilst changing, so the ones on my stomach aren't a problem, but the angry blackish-blue-looking handprint and fingerprints on my arm from Fraser's tight grip would be on show. I glance at Kat before looking back at my brothers. Callum looks around the hallway, his gaze stopping on Nate and Brad, who are both looking at us questionably. His eyes move back to me, then to Kat next to me and he curses under his breath.

Connor steps forward and pulls me off to the side, away from the others' wandering eyes. He unzips his bag and hands me a jumper. I lean up and kiss him on the cheek, whispering thanks and then rushing off into the locker room to get changed and hopefully avoid any questions.

Thankfully, there are three locker rooms for the girls and three for the boys, so there are only a couple of other girls in here getting dressed. I go to the far back corner and place my bagdown on the wooden bench that runs along the wall. Grabbing the jumper that Connor gave me, I quickly shove it over my head.

As I start taking my arms out of the sleeves of my top, under the cover of Connor's jumper, Kat comes strolling in and places her stuff next to mine. She looks at me with a raised eyebrow and chuckles.

"Okay, I thought that was weird out there but now I get it. You're uncomfortable changing in front of people so you need his jumper to get changed under."

"Uh, yeah, pretty much," I agree, trying to come off as blasé as possible. I manage to get both arms out of the top and then slide it over my head and out of Connor's jumper. I purposefully don't look at her as I push my arms into the sleeves of Connor's jumper and sit on the bench to slide my jeans down my legs.

Angling my body to face the corner of the room so that the bruises and all the scars on the top of my legs, given to me by Fraser, aren't easy to see, I quickly snatch my shorts out of my bag, sliding them on.

When I bend down to grab my trainers from the floor, Kat's hand lands on my leg. She squeezes it gently and then pulls on the leg of the shorts that have bunched up, hiding the lower faded scars.

"Remember the promise you made me?" she asks softly. I nod, still staring at her hand on my leg. "I know we haven't known each other for long, but you're a friend to me already, and if you need anything, you can let me know, okay?" She pulls me in for a gentle hug, squeezes my shoulder, and then stands to finish getting herself ready.

I pile my hair on top of my head in a messy bun, and then we walk out of the locker room together to the track where all the boys are waiting for us.

Nate turns to us and I swear, I might be drooling. His tanned, muscular arms are the first thing to catch my eye, along with his dazzling smile and the dimples in his cheeks that add cuteness to his face. His pale green eyes are practically shining in the sunlight, and his hair is tousled on top of his head but still perfectly styled.

"Might wanna wipe your mouth and stop drooling over my boy, Callie? I'm bound to get jealous." I release a surprised squeal as Brad whispers in my ear from behind and I turn around to lightly smack his arm.

"You scared me, you idiot!" He chuckles and apologises with his deep, grumbly voice and I feel the stir of arousal in my stomach at the sound.

His voice, matched with his dark, brooding eyes and cheeky smile, is doing things to me that I haven't experienced in a long while. My eyes trail down his body, admiring the tight clothing that shows off every contour of his toned body. I bite down on my lower lip as I imagine what it would feel like to have them wrapped around me, holding me tight against him whilst his lips skim over my neck and he whispers dirty nothings into my ear.

My body shivers in delight at my dirty thoughts, and Brad must notice because he winks at me, and his smile grows.

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