will pick up on it tomorrow when it hits the paper anyway. It’s out.”
“Is that such a bad thing?”
His thumb rubs against the symbol imprinted near the hem of his black shorts. “They’ll rib me about it incessantly, but it’s fine. It’s just a lot. Coming clean on my second vocation. And then there’s you.”
He pulls me onto his lap. “We’ll have to tell your brother eventually.”
I might as well fess up, too. “Franklin drilled me about it today during his tan. I had to straight-up lie.”
Max sighs. “I don’t want to disrupt anything before this next competition. But maybe when Franklin and I get knocked out of the running, it will be time to bring it up.”
I lay my head against his chest and nod. “I think that’s a good idea. Otherwise he will blame us for messing with his mojo.”
“Sounds about right.” He runs his thumb up and down the inside of my elbow, and the sparks begin to stir in my body.
“So, you think I could borrow your shower?”
I shift in his lap to face him. Now that I’m close, I do see the tiredness in the corners of his eyes. But they are bright with eagerness. And we’re young. Resilient. “On one condition.”
He squeezes my waist. “What’s that?”
“That you share it with me.”
“That’s a condition I was hoping for.” His grin is slow and lazy and promises all sorts of devilish things.
I roll out of his lap. “I’ll get the water started.”
I pull two towels from the closet and set them on the counter by the sink. My bathroom is nothing fancy, your typical apartment-style with a narrow counter, plus a toilet and ceramic tub against the wall.
But I do have a cool wall socket lamp. It’s an oversized nightlight that emits a vivid blue, and when it warms up, a set of butterflies on filigree wires dance and shift with the heat of the light.
It creates the effect of a meadow at twilight, so I snap off the overhead and flip it on.
“That’s a cool light.” Max’s voice rumbles through the small space. I can feel the vibrations in my toes.
He leaves his bag outside the door. “I think someone needs to get naked.”
I turn to him in the wavering blue light. So far, he’s always undressed me.
He leans against the frame of the door, arms crossed as he waits.
I guess I’m going to do this thing. I’m not wearing much, a tank top and pajama shorts.
I grab the hem of the shirt and slowly pull it up. The fabric catches on my breasts, then tugs free.
My hair is long and loose and falls everywhere as I pull the shirt over my head.
When I can see again, Max’s watching with a half-smile. “Perfection.”
I drop the shirt to the floor. I take my time inching the bottoms over my hips. I watch his shorts begin to tent out. With every jump of his cock, I slide my shorts down a little more. Only when he seems to be fully erect, do I let them fall to my ankles.
“Nice.” He rubs a palm across his cheek. “I don’t have near the reveal you do.”
“I think I’ve already gotten to know you pretty well.” I step forward. “I can do the honors.”
I grasp the bottom of his shirt and pull it over his head. And it’s true. I know every plane of his body, every indention and muscle. I can tell when he’s hydrated. When he hasn’t had carbs for a few days.
I run my hands over his chest, up that thick, corded neck, and down both bulging shoulders to the muscles of his upper arms.
If we want to get technical, I once loved someone who’s gone far past Max’s level of body development. Another bodybuilder on his way up. Malachi didn’t rise fast, but he did rise through all the levels Max is at now and kept going.
Without me.
He banged every woman, and, as I later found out, every man, he needed to get every advantage, every opportunity. Free supplements. Invitations to meets. One of the last images I was sent by a jealous female bodybuilder was of Malachi with his mouth in the crotch of another man.
I have to shake this off. I know as my feelings grow for Max, I’ll have to fight my fear more and more.
But it is different this time.
Max’s gentlemanly manners, open kindness, and devastating physique is a combination Malachi could never have boasted. He had a cruel streak and cared