Page 138 of The Pucking Wrong Rookie

“Is that a real question, Rookie?” asked Ari, his lips curled up in disgust.

“Of course it doesn’t make us creeps,” Camden said indignantly.

“Yeah, it makes usdevoted,” Walker mused.

“Devoted. I like that,” I muttered.

The gym door opened, and a trainer walked in, pausing when he saw all of us clustered around the phones. “Uh, everything okay in here?”

“Fine,” Ari said quickly, grabbing a random dumbbell and pretending to curl it. “Just taking a breather.”

The trainer gave us a skeptical look but moved on.

Ari dropped the dumbbell as soon as the door closed behind him.

On the screen, Blake looked directly into the phone, mouthing something that looked suspiciously likeI see you, Ari.

“That’s my girl,” Ari said dreamily.

We listened as the women started to discuss some of the “devoted” things we’d done.

“At least they aren’t talking about everything,” Lincoln said.

Ari side-eyed him. “I will get it all out of you at some point, Golden Boy.”

Lincoln flashed his teeth. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The girls got up to leave, and Walker groaned, putting his phone down. “Well, there goes the entertainment.”

“Guess it’s back to lifting,” Camden said dramatically, grabbing a nearby barbell and pretending to struggle under the weight.

“Speak for yourself,” Ari muttered, already heading for the water cooler. “I’m done.”

“You know she’s totally going to ask you about cameras when you get home,” Lincoln said to me as we both downed some water.

I grinned.

“I know.”

“And what are you going to say?”

“That there are no cameras installed in the actual apartment,” I said carefully.

Lincoln snorted. “Atta boy.”

CHAPTER36

SLOANE

We were sitting on the couch the next night, the TV playing in the background, but his attention was entirely on me.

Like usual.

Logan’s hand brushed against mine, his thumb tracing circles on my skin.

“Have you ever thought about having kids?” His voice was casual, like it didn’t matter to him either way, but the question felt like a dagger to my heart.

I blinked, trying to find the right words for how I felt about this particular subject. This wasn’t something I wanted to talk about. Ever.

---