by JJ Knight
“It’s Hudson’s time to shine,” Colt says. “But because it’s all in the family, from my dad right on down through me, Jo, and Hudson, they never leave us alone.”
“And here we brought them back to your door,” I say.
“It’s all right.” Colt leans in. “But I wouldn’t mind a bit of a scandal to put them off our scent.”
I laugh. If only he knew.
Hudson gestures to the weight set. “I’m about to throw down some reps, you want to come?”
Franklin jumps at it. “I do. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
I plunk down on a bench to pull on my weightlifting gloves. “It’s quite a setup you’ve got back here.”
Colt sits beside me. “Didn’t used to be. Was a big empty hole. My dad made Buster add this on when he expected me to start killing it on the circuit. I was a sore disappointment for a long time.”
This is news to me. “Really? Why so?”
Colt laughs. “Big, fat loser. He brought me back here to get back to my roots. Or rather, his roots. Buster’s good, though. He’s got a solid head on his shoulders. If you need advice, he’s a good man to talk to.”
I fiddle with the gloves. Advice might be exactly what I need.
“So, did I hear you own a restaurant or something?” Colt asks.
I nod. “Family business. I’m expected to do a lot with it, so this bodybuilding thing is getting in the way.”
“But they support you, right?”
Might as well confess. “They don’t know about it.” I glance back at the accordion door. “But after tonight, that’s going to change.”
Colt rears back on the bench. “Oh, hell. Nobody told us you were keeping this on the down low. We could have called off the press hounds.”
I shrug. “That was for my buddy Franklin. I can’t hide the whole thing much longer. I’m getting out of the obscure levels and into the part where people start paying attention. It was bound to get out.”
Colt nods. “It can be a bit of a bumpy ride. So, you gonna call them up before they hear from somebody else?”
“You think I should?”
“Definitely. If your old man is anything like mine, the last thing you want is him roaring like a wildebeest over the telephone.”
“I think you’ve got that one pegged exactly right. Maybe I’ll go do that before they wire their stories in.”
“We’ll be here.”
I head out the back door, giving Franklin a thumbs up as he spots Hudson. “Making a quick call,” I say.
Time to fess up to my family.
My two careers are about to clash.
26
Camryn
I don’t expect the text from Max that night after his workout with my brother.
Bone tired but want to see you.
My late night is catching up with me, too, but the idea of him coming over sparks a rush of exhilaration.
We can take it light and easy.
Despite what he said, when I open my door, Max isn’t the weary man I expect. His eyes are bright, and he’s in workout gear.
“I didn’t want to take the time to stop at home.”
“That’s fine.”
I close the door and lean against it. “Has something happened?”
He rubs his head, dropping his bag to the floor. “Franklin ambushed me at Buster’s Gym with a whole press junket. The L.A. Times is doing a feature on Buster’s Gym and all the champions who have come out of it.”
I push away from the door. “But isn’t that great?”
“It would be, except I haven’t told anyone about the bodybuilding.”
I lead him over to the pillows in the corner. I straighten the tiny pink shorts I wore this morning and arrange my tank as we settle in. Obviously, we’re here to do some talking.
“So, no one at work? Your brothers?”
He shakes his head, leaning over to unlace his cross-trainers. “It’s a hobby.”
“Big hobby.”
He grins. “The first competition I signed up for was basically a dare by your brother.”
“He’s like that.” When Max pulls off his shoes, I hook them together and set them aside. “So, are you going to tell them?”
“I called one of my brothers and sent a quick message to my dad. Our PR department 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 h
e 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 most about winning.
Max doesn’t have a cruel bone in his body.
I slip my hand into the waistband of the fitted shorts. I slide them down an inch, revealing the charcoal gray of fitted boxers. I decide to speed up the process and bring both down at the same time.
Standing barefoot in front of him, I barely reach his chest. “Ready to get wet?” I ask.
“I’m hoping you already are.”
He has that right.
I shift the shower curtain aside and step into the tub. The room is dim and blue, and the spray cascades down my body like a waterfall in a hidden lagoon.
Max steps in behind me and immediately envelops me in an embrace. His hands go everywhere, following the contours of my body, cupping my breasts.
“I thought I was exhausted,” he says. “But right now, I am painfully awake.”
He dips his head in the water, then shakes, droplets flying. I laugh and cover my face. “You’re like a dog!”
“Exactly.” He grabs my hips and pulls me back against his hard cock.
I suck in a breath. I am so ready for him.
He turns me around to face him. “The height differential isn’t doing us any favors.”
I laugh. “It’s true.”
He kneels in front of me, pressing his head against my ribs.
I sink my fingers into his wet hair, curling in the spray. His kisses move down my belly, and he lifts one of my thighs to his shoulder.
Fingers slip inside me.
I suck in a breath and clutch his shoulders, water streaming across my shoulders and down my body to where his hands work me, his mouth drifting lower.
I clutch his head, holding on for dear life, but my standing leg wants to give out.
I lean down. “Take me.”
He sits on the bottom of the tub. He guides my knees around his waist and settles me down on his cock.
The water flows over both of us, my hair slick. His hands grasp my thighs, and he lifts me until I’m at the tip, then brings me down again.
I think it’s going to be hot and heavy and fast, but it somehow isn’t.
He looks up at me, his wet lashes framing those beautiful eyes. “You’re a goddess,” he whispers.
He makes me feel like one. The blue light dances in the shadows. My hair cascades between us. Ripples of pleasure pulse through my body as we move together.
The bathroom fills with steam, and it’s a grotto, the water, the man, and me floating over him.
That first aching tendril of emotion slips through me. I knew it was there, waiting to be nurtured.
But there’s no denying it. I’m falling for this man. Our affair may be secret, illicit, known only to us. But in this space, we melt together in the semi-dark, his hands caressing my body. His expressive face tells me everything about what he’s feeling, and I know it is so much more.
I hold onto his strong arms and move my own body over his. I’m swamped with emotion and pleasure and passion for him.
His hands tighten on my back, and I move faster, up and down, our eyes locked together.
The tension mounts, winding like a clock.
Before I’ve prepared for it, before I know it’s there, the orgasm springs, rippling out like a stone dropped in a pond. I gasp out loud, and Max holds me tight.
He pulses inside me, warm, gentle, like life itself. I can see it all. Mornings and days and nights. Good times. Hard times. Stretching out beyond this moment into our future.
My tears mix with the water raining down. How did this happen? How did I find this man? How did he become mine?
There’s nothing like this feeling. It obliterates anything I felt with Malachi. Anything that came before. It’s pure, untouchable, as bright as starlight.
We exhale together, and he keeps me close. His face is buried in my breasts and he clutches me like there is nothing left in the world but us.
27
Max
I know exactly when my employees find out about the bodybuilding article.
I’m in the kitchen with my manager Andre, discussing all the extra work required for the fiftieth anniversary and who to give extra shifts to cover it.
Andre is quiet and listens carefully. He’s mid-fifties, soft-spoken, and dependable. His tall, lanky figure is a fixture at my deli, and has been for years.
But I glance through the door to the restaurant and spot Tiana and Karen whispering over their phones behind the register.
I pause in talking to Andre as they wave Angelo over.
The restaurant is quiet, only a few customers sitting at tables. Ordinarily, I would assume that someone found a funny meme and wants to share.
But the way they keep looking through the open door to the kitchen, and how their eyes skitter away from me when they catch me observing them, tells me they have discovered my secret.
Time for a staff meeting.
But I guess I better break it to Andre first. “Let’s head to my office,” I say.
Andre checks his watch. “Don’t you need to be heading out? You said you’d only be here till mid-afternoon today.”
“I think my plans may have just changed.”
Andre closes the door behind him. “What’s up, Max?”
I drop into my rolling chair. “I was interviewed by the newspaper last night.”
“That’s great,” Andre says. “Is it about the fiftieth anniversary?”
“Not exactly. I suppose most everybody’s noticed I’ve taken on a fitness hobby in the last year and a half.”
“Hard to miss.”
I’m sure. “I was convinced by my training partner to do a bodybuilding competition, and I won.”
Andre stands straighter. “You won? That’s awesome!”
I nod. “Yeah, it was fun. But then I advanced to the next level and I placed there. So, I’m headed to a competition this weekend that’s a biggish deal.”
“Are you going to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger?” Andre asks.
I force my smile. Everyone always thinks of Arnold. “No. I’m not going for that level. In fact, I’m quite sure I’ll be knocked out at this round. I was already outclassed last time. It was a miracle that I placed in the top three.”
“Should we all show up for your big event? We could make a team outing of it.”
“No, no.” I imagine all my employees gawking at me in tiny bodybuilding trunks and cringe. Thankfully I was able to stay in normal workout clothes for the photos they took last night.
“Really?” Andre frowns. “I think it would be fun.”
“I wanted to mention it to everyone, since I’m going to be in the newspaper. I didn’t want everyone to feel like they’d been left out of something that’s fairly public knowledge.”
Andre nods. “Got it. I still think we should all show up.”
I shake my head. “I’m quite certain it isn’t necessary. We don’t—well, the outfits are a little…”
Andre nods vigorously. “Got it.”
I do have to put him off. Andre is the type of manager who will rally the staff to support me. But it’s more than tiny trunks at stake. Several staff members have seen me with Camryn, and I can’t risk them talking about her in front of Franklin.
My phone buzzes. My brother’s ugly mug fills the screen.
Andre steps back. “Would you like me to go tell eve
rybody? Or did you want to make a big deal about it yourself?”
“Actually, you tell them. Downplay it. I’m going to deal with this call from my brother. We have a ton to do for Grammy’s celebration.”
Andre heads out, and I pick up the phone. “What’s up, bro.”
Jason’s face is ridiculously close to the camera. “It’s bruh now. You’re stuck in the 90s.”
“I was in kindergarten in the 90s.”
Jason scrunches his face. “You’re still old.”
“I could squish you like a bug.” I press my thumb to the screen.
“You’re about to get your chance.”
“At the fiftieth?”
“Nope. We got an all-points bulletin this morning about the bodybuilding empire involving our own dear brother. We know all about your big competition in three days, so Nova and I thought we’d come down and hang with the family and go watch you get your butt kicked on stage.”
“Wait? When are you arriving?”
He waves his phone around and now I can see he’s at LAX.
“You’re here?”
“You catch on slow.” Jason laughs again.
“You want me to pick you up?”
“Nope. Already rented a car. A big one. We’re waiting on Dad and Anthony to arrive.”
Oh, man. “The whole crew is coming?”
“Not Grammy. Or the cousins. They said they didn’t want to see you in your underwear on stage.”
“Thank God.”
“Hey, look who I found!”
The phone blurs for a second, then the face of my brother Anthony appears. “We made signs.” He unrolls a long sign that says Nobody beats a Pickle like Max.
Oh. My. God.
“Please tell me there are only one of those,” I say.
“Good point, bruh,” Jason says. “We’ll see if we can get more made by Saturday. “Thanks for the tip.”
“Tip of the pickle,” Anthony says with a laugh.
Jason turns the phone to his face. “Our baby brother made a sexual innuendo. He’s all growed up.”
Anthony punches Jason’s arm, and the phone blurs again.
