Page 25 of Rough Ride

I gave myself a shake. Stop it, Sophie. You shouldn’t let his stupid “I’m not into you” act work.

Although right now, it didn’t seem like an act. I was wearing tight booty shorts that flattered me in all the best ways, yet he didn’t even glance in our direction when I squatted the barbell.

And the longer we worked out together, the more I caught his musky scent. Just a hint of it, masculine and strong, giving me images of all the other ways I could make that hard body sweat…

“I think I’m done,” I told Liz. “I’m going to hit the treadmill to cool down.”

I walked away, feeling annoyed. For a guy who claimed he didn’t like to play games, it sure seemed like he was playing one with me now.

As I started jogging on the treadmill, my phone vibrated with a text message. It was Liz.

Liz: He was staring at your ass the whole time you walked away!

I grinned to myself as I turned up the treadmill speed.

I fucking knew it.

11

Johnny

Pain.

My world was pain.

I woke up in the middle of the night, turned to the side of my bed, and immediately vomited. Miraculously, there was a small trashcan on the floor right where I intended to spew.

Turns out, it wasn’t so miraculous. When I stumbled out of bed the next morning, wincing at the light streaming through the trailer window that made it feel like I had a screwdriver being jammed into my temple, I found a note on my trailer window in marker.

Kept you alive last night. You owe me.

-Elijah

I scratched at the writing. It wasn’t coming off. There was a permanent marker sitting on the counter beneath the window. Motherfucker.

Ugh. The last thing I wanted was to owe that man a favor.

No, scratch that. The last thing I wanted was to leave my trailer.

I chugged water, took a shower in the trailer, then went back to bed. A few hours later I repeated the process, forgetting that I had already taken a shower and running out of hot water halfway through. The water heater attached to the trailer wasn’t exactly robust.

Still dripping water, I sat on the chair in the trailer’s kitchenette. My dog, Dusty, came over and licked the water off my legs. I was too sluggish to move, so I just scratched him behind the ear. It felt like my brain had been replaced with a big wad of cotton. Even the smallest tasks, like getting dressed and putting on my boots, felt impossible.

And that’s how I ended up at a coffee shop downtown, next to a YMCA. I didn’t drink coffee, but I was desperate for any elixir that might cure my pounding headache. After three sips of my latte, I’d gotten so nauseous that I had to put my head down on the table.

I was such an idiot.

Sophie was wrapped around my brain like a python. It had been a while since I’d crushed on a woman this badly. So when she gave me an opening at the bar last night, I’d seized on it without thinking.

And now I was paying the price.

The worst part about it all? It hadn’t changed anything. When I rested my head on the table and closed my eyes, it was Sophie’s heart-shaped face that appeared. It was her melodic voice that filled my ears. Hell, I could almost smell her perfume or deodorant or whatever, herscent, just beneath the smell of my coffee.

“How are we feeling this morning, cowboy?” she suddenly asked.

I slowly raised my head and found the woman in question standing in front of my table. My gaze drifted upward, taking in her long, smooth legs, then her black compression shorts that were molded to her hips, and the neon green sports bra hugging her chest in a way that made my heart race. Instead of hanging long, her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail that somehow made her even sexier than before.

I guess I hadn’t imagined her scent after all.

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