Page 30 of Trade Deadline

Blaine chuckles, the tips of his fingers rubbing over his stubbled chin.

“Good.” He nods and looks back at me. “Let me take you out, Alex. I promise to keep my hands to myself.” He wiggles his fingers.

I scoff in disbelief. “I don’t believe that for a second.”

“Okay, how about I promise to keep my hands to myselfduringdinner?” he counters.

I let out a sigh. What’s the worst that can happen? Like Nate said earlier, I could be in control.

“Just dinner,” I state.

Blaine nods fervently, as he moves closer to me. “Just dinner.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, thank fuck for that,” Elliot wails, suddenly appearing behind Blaine and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Do you know what you’ve made us deal with for two days?” He steps around Blaine, shoving him out of the way to stand in front of me, hitching his thumb over his shoulder at his brother. “This guy has been crying into his cornflakes for fuckingdaysabout the cute guy who turned him down. Do you know how annoying it is to listen to him cry?” He looks exasperated.

“I was not fucking crying, El,” Blaine glowers.

“You might as well have been!” Elliot spins on his heels to face Blaine. “Wah, poor me, this guy rejected me, and I thought he was really hot.” He mocks with a roll of his eyes, then taps his temple with his index finger. “You forget that we’re twins. We have that weird ass telepathic jedi juju thing. Everything you think, I hear! I feel what you feel! And fuck me, I thought I was gonna need to go and listen to some Lewis Capaldi while I sit in the shower to contemplate my life choices or something.”

A bubble of laughter escapes my chest as the two brothers begin to bicker over whether or not Blaine was being annoying, completely unabashed by the fact that we’re standing outside of the locker room with several people still milling around, including the media.

Looking at them, you wouldn’t know they were twins—Blaine is bulkier, whereas Elliot is taller and leaner. Blaine’s hair is a darker auburn, and Elliot’s is strawberry blond, and his eyes are a pale green compared to Blaine’s silver.

I try to contain my amusement, completely entertained by the two as they continue to argue.

Maybe this is the real side of Blaine Olsen. The guy with a great sense of humor who gets ribbed by his brother and gets nervous about asking guys on a date.

And shit, that scares me because that guy has the potential to hurt me.

My heart may be in a world of trouble.

Nine

Alex

“Just three more,Alex; you’ve got this.”

I internally curse at Nate a thousand times over as I shakily push up the weighted bar on the chest press. I’m about to cry at how sore my body is already. In college, I used to hit the gym regularly with Nate, but since graduation, working out has been the last thing on my mind.

A few years ago, Jacob’s baking business grew overnight. What started off as a small venture in our grandparents’ kitchen soon turned into a full-fledged business. I put my business degree to use, and we started Jacob’s Delicious Desserts together, taking on loans and investing everything into making it amazing.

But little did we know that luck wouldn’t always be on our side and that we would make mistakes that cost us a lot of money.

Between the two of us, we’re still trying to get rid of the debt, meaning it’s going to be all work and no play for us for a long time to come.

Thankfully, or thanklessly, depending on which way you want to look at it, Nate’s persistence has kept me in shape, even if I only manage to get in a couple of workouts every week.

It’s a good distraction from money woes and it keeps me healthy, and the fact he allows me to use the gym free of charge, despite his long waiting list of clients, is a major bonus.

With a final grunt, I hit the last rep, groaning with relief when he takes the bar from me. My arms dangle off of the bench like cooked spaghetti, and I lay there panting. Blood pounds in my temples, and sweat is literally dripping everywhere.

Nate hands me a towel and my water bottle from the floor. I take several greedy gulps before wiping my face.

“I feel so out of shape.” I stand with a groan. My entire body feels like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck. “I wanna curl up in a ball on the floor right now. Why does wanting to be healthy have to be so painful?”

Nate chuckles. “You’re doing really well. You’ll get back to being fit, it just takes time.”

---