Page 61 of Breaking the Ice
After the second aborted kiss, he really should’ve said something to Zach. Something other thanI’m sorryanyway. Because that implied . . .well, that he wanted to, but that he couldn’t.
And that’s true. You want to. But you can’t.
It would be better for both of them if he verbalized this line between them and emphasized that he wasn’t ever going to cross it, but Gavin didn’t know how even to start that conversation.
So he just kept . . .not.
“Yeah, I uh . . .thought I wanted to stay in Michigan forever,” Gavin said.
Zach grinned. “No, you didn’t.”
It was impossible not to join him in smiling, not when he looked like that. “Well, Idid, until you showed up.”
Until you offered me a job I couldn’t say no to.
Until we almost kissed and it turned me inside out.
“You’re welcome.” Zach was still smiling smugly. Maybe it shouldn’t be so attractive, but Gavin was having trouble convincing himself of that fact.
Gavin rolled his eyes, even as he was charmed.
“I’m gonna . . .” Zach gestured at the mat behind them.
“Alright,” Gavin said.
He wiped his face and then the machine, taking his time making his way over to the treadmill.
He always did his weights and then cardio, but today, he really regretted this well-established schedule because that meant he was facing the workout mat now and had a front row seat to Zach doing his ab work.
He’d pulled his shirt off, and his chest and his stomach were both rippling with muscle—muscle he’d put on the hard way. Muscle he was working on the hard way, now, sweat dotting his brow and making his skin shine, a siren’s song that Gavin didn’t know how to look away from.
Zach’s abs flexed as he lifted the medicine ball over and over again, and Gavin felt like his tongue must be hanging out. Imagining how they’d feel under his hands. How soft but firm his skin would be, that trail of hair bisecting his abs and arrowing lower, leading towards . . .
Gavin huffed out a frustrated breath.
It was hard to even put one foot in front of the other, nevermind to do it jogging on a treadmill, without killing himself accidentally.
“You good over there?” Zach called over. “You taking it easy today?”
Had he noticed that Gavin had been staring? God, he hoped not. But maybe it would be good, because then Zach might make a move, anobviousmove, and that would give Gavin an opportunity to shut this down once and for all.
“Oh yeah. I’m good.” Gavin pushed the speed up, praying he wouldn’t trip over his own goddamn feet.
He couldn’t keep going this way.Theycouldn’t keep going this way.
Zach chuckled, a little out of breath, and that sent a spike of sexual heat through Gavin again. It wasn’t fair. HelikedZach. He was so easy to hang out with—low-key and funny and smart. Great at hockey. Even better at coaching hockey. He’d not let Gavin down once since he’d started this job.
But he also had to be fucking hotter than the sun.
He wanted to just enjoy Zach without all this othernoise.
Maybe no matter how much he didn’t want to, or how awkward it was probably going to be, he should talk to Jon about this. Because the feelings he didn’t want to have kept intruding, kept bleeding into every single everyday interaction.
Someday Gavin was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to contain them. Wouldn’t even be interested in denying them any longer. And that was impossible. He couldn’t do anything about this. He didn’t evenwantto feel this way.
Had never wanted to feel this way again.
Gavin finished his run and forced himself to look away as Zach worked on his lats, the muscles on his back gleaming as he pulled the bar down.
