Page 59 of The Baller

“You’re gonna need to start finishing your sentences.”

“No wonder your muscles are…” she trailed off again, and I let out a little chuckle.

I should help her out.

I reached behind and pulled off my sweater, watching as her big golden eyes followed the way my triceps flexed as my arm folded back. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen her staring at my body – I’d caught her staring since the day I’d run into her – and I fucking loved it. I would never get enough. It made my heart pound like I was mid-workout.

Easing my head free while showing off maximum bicep tension, I tossed it to the floor by the door, pulled my t-shirt back down, and looked at her.

Fuck me.

I had a healthy sized ego, but if she kept looking at me like that, it would rival Ace’s.

I watched as her gaze stay trained on my chest before she finally looked up at me, and my smile now stretched from ear to ear. Busted. The shade of pink she turned was impressive – not only from the speed at which her skin changed color, but the way it left no patch un-pinked.

Even the tips of her ears.

Her eyes narrowed enough that I could tell she knewI knewwhat I’d been doing, so I bent close and whispered, “Hey, I get paid a lot of money to look like this, but if you like it, I’d say it was totally worth every second I spend in here.”

A little puff of exasperated air parted her lips, but it only made my grin widen.

“Shut up,” she grumbled finally, refusing to meet my eyes. Instead, she looked around. “Where do you normally start?”

“I warm up with a quick mile on the treadmill followed by stretches, followed by weights, but you can start wherever you’d like. The gym is yours; free of anyone looking at you… except me,” I winked, only for her to blush even deeper.

I wanted to watch that blush cover her entire body.

“How long do we have?”

“As long as you want, Goldilocks. It’s your workout, I’ll be here until you’re done.”

She flashed me a smile so blinding that anything I was about to say died on my lips. Beautiful didn’t do her justice.

“Running machine it is. Let’s go, muscle man.”

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wait a beat just so she’d step ahead and I could watch her ass move in her leggings, because I’m only human, and that ass looked like it had been sculpted by the Gods, but also because that smile had rendered me more than speechless.

It had woken my dick up.

It’s hard to work out when fifty percent of your attention is focused on watching someone else. Another twenty-five percent goes on hoping they’re watching you, and the rest is remembering what you were doing in the first place. I’d never been so acutely aware of my body, of the flex in my muscles, and the depth of my squat, or of the sweat dripping down by back.

One thing I knew, I lifted heavier today than I’d done in a long time, even when I was fucking around with the boys and we’d pile on the weights before anyone noticed.

I’d pay for it later.

Every time I looked at Radley, she’d been looking at me. I’d hold her wide, open eyes before a smile would curve up the left side of her full, perfect lips, and she’d glance away with a slow blink. So far, I was up to four seconds.

Four seconds of her gaze locked onto mine.

It was charging the air with an electric force, a static that pushed me to exert myself. Since I’d met her, my blood had been fueled with a level of energy I’d never experienced before, and I had yet to find evidence it had an off switch. Today, however, it was supercharged.

My body knew it, my mind knew it. My heart knew it.

I liked this girl… like,a lot.

I dropped the hundreds on the floor. My sister’s face flashed up on my cell, and I swiped it before it went to voicemail.

“Hey, Snotbag, how’s it going?” I puffed out, dragging a sweat towel down my face. In the mirror, Radley was kicking her left leg back on the glutes machine, and I lowered my gaze before I got an inappropriate boner.

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