Page 33 of Hello Darling
He’s probably just trying to mend his wounded ego after being dumped by that beautiful actress. I just happen to be the girl who’s here at the moment. Like, literally the only single girl who’s been here at the gym since he’s been around.
Fuck it—I can’t not look. I slowly turn to face him, and he has not looked away.
His expression is one hundred percent focused on me and filled with sexy sexiness, but still somehow appropriate for a gym setting. How can anyone look so clean while conveying such dirty thoughts?
He takes a breath and opens his pretty mouth, and just when I’m certain that he is about to whisper something so filthy it might just make my knees give out, I hear a voice that is designed to keep my knees glued together: my dad’s.
“Hey honey! Ahhh good to be back. Feels like I’ve been gone forever.”
I clear my throat, and Evan’s body language suddenly shifts from wordless dirty talk to proper English gentleman in the blink of an eye.
“Daddy what are you doing here?”
“I feel great. Your magical soup cured me. Call Ted and tell him I’ll lead my class today.”
“Absolutely not, young man.”
Evan turns to face my father, and I know that my dad recognized him even before he turned around.
“You must be the famous Richard Diver I keep hearing about. I’m Joe Starkey, we’re happy to have you here.”
“Oh Mr. Starkey, what a pleasure.”
My dad’s hand reaches out towards Evan Hunter as Evan’s reaches out for his, and everything slows down as I launch myself between them, yelling: “Don’t touch him—he’s contagious!”
Of course, I’m facing Evan, so as he lifts his hand away, it grazes the side of my boob. That is less mortifying to me than the realization that it was so important to me to protect this man from getting a cold—like the world would end if he got sick and couldn’t train as hard as he needs to for his movie. He is not a world leader, and I am not his wife. What the hell?
Evan clears his throat and my dad says “whoa!” and I can hear Billy laughing somewhere, of course.
I straighten up, step aside and say: “He has a cold. Dad, our guest is preparing for a film, he doesn’t need to get sick now.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you, honey.”
“Yes, thank you. That’s very considerate of you.”
Silence.
“Okay. Let’s all just acknowledge the fact that you accidentally touched my boob and get on with our lives, okay?”
“Good plan,” says my dad.
“Obviously my life has been changed forever.”
“Alright alright.”
“So has her boob’s.”
“Dad!”
Evan gives my dad a little salute and says, “Good to meet you, sir.”
“The pleasure was all hers.”
“Okay, just stop.”
My dad and Evan are both grinning and my brother is dying laughing over by the free weights like an ass. I go back behind the desk. I will never be a part of any boy’s club or bromance and it pisses me off more than it should, but I’m happy I was able to break the ice for them and now they’ll have an inside joke that they can refer to forever.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep standing here, frantically willing my nipples to stand down.
