Page 37 of Cruel Debts
"Do you still need me to hold you?"
I twitched one of my toes, pleased when he let it go. "I don't need help balancing, but I will need help back down, so I don't pull anything."
"Seems like maybe you should go back to yoga class," he huffed with a raised brow. "I feel like mounting and dismounting are two basic parts of the skill you learn early on."
I heard the lilt of his words now, and saw them for what they were.A challenge.
"Oh, I can mount and dismount just fine, Liam, don't you worry about me." I shot him a wink, and then intentionally unbalanced myself so I could start to topple. As I suspected, he rushed back over and saved me last minute, even though he'd just refused to help me down.
He's such a sucker. I like it, though.
"You should be careful, Trinity," he growled, letting go of me once I'd righted my pose. "You could get hurt."
"There's no gain without a little pain." I stretched my legs back out, keeping eye contact with him the whole time. "You should try it sometime."
"Pain?" He glanced up at my form, his eyes lingering on me a second more than he might have liked. "Or yoga?"
"Me," I said, kicking one leg up and over my head to glide effortlessly to a floor split. "I meant me."
"Not happening." He turned around and stared off into space to avoid looking at me at all. "Trin?—"
"You're such a spoilsport, Liam," I said, grumbling to myself as I straightened up and moved to the leg press. This, I could use. I'd been on one before. And hell, maybe I could impress him or something.
"I'm your brother's best friend," he mumbled, probably more to remind himself than to tell me. I wasn't stupid, and he knew it.
"I'm more than'Trinity, sister of Keehn McCoy,'you know." Leg press forgotten, I stalked over to where he lay on a bench press, the weights back in his hands, bar across his chest, rising and falling as he tried to focus on anything else. Unfortunately for him, I could see him still. And the impressive tent forming in his sweatpants was very telling.
So what the fuck was the obsession with acting all noble all of a sudden? It was starting to get annoying.
I leaned over his chest as he heaved that bar up, letting my tits come eye to eye with his gaze. "Liam, when are you going to stop acting like I'm a child?"
"When you—"up,"—stop acting like one."
I was starting to get pissed. It wasn't like I was asking for much. "You won't take me to work."
His brow furrowed in concentration. "No."
"And you won't help me look for Keehn."
He frowned deeper, his lips pursed. "No."
"And you won't letmelook for him because I can't go out alone."
If that frown got any sterner, he'd need it surgically removed from his face. "No."
"And you won'tfuckme."
Thatgot his attention. He dropped the bar on himself, sputtering as he struggled to regain control of the weight, while failing miserably. I did my best to help him lift it until he couldput it on the bar rest, and when he got it secured, my payoff for the assistance was a death glare.
"Jesus,Trin, what thefuck?"
I shrugged and crossed my arms, staring off into the distance. "You're a shit human being, Liam, you know that?"
"What thefuck,Trinity?" He sat up on the bench, rage and frustration evident in his eyes. "Where the hell do you get off?—"
"Apparently, not with you,Sentry,"I sassed him, eyes narrowed as I prepared to leave him here by himself. "Don't worry, though." I pretended to examine the bed of my fingernail as he stood. "I'll be fine. I didn't expect much out of the men who let their friend disappear and pretended nothing happened. Who are adamant he's so important to them that they're unwilling to evenlookat his sister sideways, but not important enough to investigate his disappearance."
I hit a nerve, and I fuckingknewbetter, but I was done with it. All the fake posturing, all the bullshit about being good friends, not touching a friend's sister because they were allso loyal,it was too much.
