Page 26 of Between the Blue
In fact, he looks like he might be thrilled if I were to actually decapitate myself like he joked about. Which just makes me all the more confused. But I let his angry gaze just push me harder, forcing myself to finish the rest of the set strong.
The moment I set the bar on the rack, James is already walking back to his bench without a word.
I sit up, spinning on the bench to face him. “What are you even doing over here?” The question bursts out of my mouth before I can stop it.
James stiffens in the middle of running a hand through his hair.
“Excuse me?” he says, his voice low.
“Are you screwing with me?” I ask.
He turns to face me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Why are you at a bench?” I question him.
He raises his dark brows. “Because I’m using it. That allowed?” He takes a step in my direction as he shoves his hand towards the bench.
Not liking him towering over me, I stand. “No,” I say, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
His tongue pushes into the center of his lower lip. “No?”
“No,” I repeat. “You do legs on Tuesday.”
His head pulls back. “What?”
“You always do legs on Tuesday.”
James rubs the heel of his hand against his jaw, his brown eyes tracing my face coldly as he takes a step closer to me. “Been watching me, Cherry?”
I let my arms fall to my sides, not giving in to his challenge. “You haven’t really given me much of a choice,” I say. He tilts his head at me, his scowl faltering momentarily. “But you’re watching me too,” I continue. “Clearly. Since you switched up your usual routine to follow me around all morning.”
James’s brows pull together, and I think for a moment that I might have him, but then he bursts out laughing.
My lips part as he shakes his head, his husky chuckles fading out. “I’m going to keep working out now,” he states. “If you’d like to keep rambling bullshit, you can do it with yourself.”
And then he steps back from me, settling down on his bench again.
I put my hands on my hips, opening my mouth to tell James what I’d like him to do with himself, when a new set of voices walking by us distracts me.
I look to the side, seeing three huge and heavily muscled young men all talking together as they make their way into the weight room, all three of them wearing t-shirts that readAustin Police Department.
I return my gaze to James and realize the men have caught his attention as well. When he looks back at me I walk right up to where he sits, taking my turn towering over him.
“Well, you have fun working out,” I tell him sweetly. “I think I’ll just go ramble my bullshit to those nice policemen instead. I’m sure they’d be interested to know that a big scary man named James has been trailing me and fantasizing about my head being sliced off.”
I give him a smile, patting his shoulder before turning to walk in the direction of the men.
I don’t make it far though.
Because James’s hand clamps around my own before I can remove it, and before I know what’s happening, he’s yanking me towards him as he stands to his full height. I practically crash into his chest, letting out a scoff as I glare up at him.
“Well, you won’t get far with that,” he tells me.
“Why not?” I question him, trying to pry my hand away that he’s still holding as prisoner.
“Because, for starters, my name is Ben. Which you may as well know if you insist on shouting it at me first thing every morning.”
My mouth falls open, confusion twisting my face.
