Page 70 of X's and O's
“Whatever you prefer.”
“If your friends call you Whip, then maybe I’ll call you that too.” I rolled the word around on my tongue. “Is it because you have an Indiana Jones obsession?”
Whip snorted. “No, sweetheart.”
“Were you a cowboy in a past life?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
“Current life?”
He glanced down at his clothes. “I’m more of a suit guy than a chaps guy.”
“Is it short for whiplash?”
He watched me carefully. “You’re asking a lot of really random questions instead of the one that makes the most sense.”
Because the one that made the most sense vaguely terrified me, considering what we were supposed to be doing later tonight.
“Do they call you Whip because you like to use whips on…in…”
“On the women in my bed?”
I nodded, practically breathless, waiting for him to confirm it.
He winked at me. “Maybe.” He sat back. “Or maybe I just like my morning coffee with whipped cream on top. Either way, guess you’ll know by sunrise.”
18
LEVI
Sweat dripped onto the scuffed wooden floorboards of my bedroom floor. I didn’t stop to mop it up, there was no point when my workout was far from over. I pushed the weight of my body up and down, losing count of how many push-ups I’d done, only knowing that if I could do more, I hadn’t done enough.
My arms shook. My muscles screamed. But I kept going, sitting with the pain, knowing I deserved every bit of it.
“You had me.”
Violet’s hurt-filled accusation played on a loop in my head, over and over, an endless agony that no amount of muscle fatigue seemed to be able to erase.
I ignored the knock on my bedroom door, letting my grunts of exertion do the talking for me.
The knob twisted anyway, the door opening a crack.
My arms gave out, and I flipped onto my back for sit-ups. “Piss off.”
A towel landed on my face. “Fuck you. Come into town with me.”
“Not interested.” I dragged the threadbare gym towel away from my eyes, though I didn’t need them to recognize Fang’s voice. He was the only one brave enough to come in here anyway.
“Didn’t ask if you were. War needs us to pick up dinner from Hayden’s restaurant.”
“Get one of the prospects to do it.”
“You gonna argue with the prez when he gives you a direct order?”
“Not exactly a direct order if it’s coming through you, is it?”
Fang just stared at me in that silent way he was so damn good at.
