by Leigh, Ember
He laughed, leaving his hands flat against the tabletop as she continued to trace invisible designs over his open palms. “Why do you say that?”
She leveled him with a stern look. “Come on. Women love feeling protected. Even better if it’s by an MMA champ.”
“Would you?”
She hesitated, avoiding his gaze. He hadn’t even meant to ask the question; it had sprung from his mouth, the inevitable by-product of his wild attraction to her and Amara lowering his defenses.
“What are you asking me?” She finally mustered a grin, meeting his gaze hesitantly. She might tease him nonstop at the gym, but could she carry the ball herself?
“If you’d feel protected. By someone like me.”
Her cheeks flushed, which made him feel dizzy. He might not make it out of the diner alive. “Of course. I thought you were asking something else.”
“Like what?”
“Like if you could get pussy from me.”
Silence passed, somewhere between excruciating and titillating. She continued her patterns over his hands, the blush receding. He grabbed her fingers and stilled them in his fists. She snapped her gaze up to his.
“Well?”
“You should know the answer to that question already.” Amara’s brow lifted, and the air in his lungs evaporated. He might have to bend her over the table in the middle of the restaurant and have his way with her after all.
“Are you trying to kill me?” He ran a thumb over her knuckles, cock twitching in his shorts.
“Just a little.” She laughed, low and throaty.
After a moment, a gum-popping waitress arrived to take their orders. After she removed the menus and scurried away, Travis cleared his throat, returning his hands to the middle of the table. Amara eyed him curiously.
They shared a long look. Then Travis flipped his hands, fighting a grin. Amara resumed tracing patterns that made his heart tighten and thrills race under his skin.
Once they’d steered the conversation away from pussy and back to more lighthearted things, the food arrived, steaming and juicy and buried in its own grease. With joyful eyes, Amara dug in.
Just as Travis was about to take his first bite, his phone rang. Eddie VZ. He answered the phone with an annoyed sigh.
“You better have a good reason for getting in the way of my first bite of this hamburger.”
Eddie laughed from the other end. “Sorry, bro. Where you at?”
“The Diner on Esplanade.” He popped a fry from Amara’s plate into his mouth.
“Are you with Amara?”
Travis stopped chewing, his stomach shrinking to a nut. “Yeah.” How had he found out?
“Huh.” There was a long pause. “You guys decide to go grab a bite after her workout tonight?”
“Basically.” He tried to sound casual; fuck, he hoped he sounded even a smidgen more casual than the terror inside his chest. “You salty you couldn’t join?”
“Nobody invited me. And I’d kill for a burger. I’ve been holed up at this publicity event for hours now.”
“Sorry to hear it.” He swallowed the fry.
“You two are getting close, huh?”
Travis looked at Amara, who watched him like a deer in headlights. Fuck. “What are you talking about? Don’t be jealous, bro. You know you’re my number-one Valenzuela.”
Eddie snickered. “Fuckin’ better be.”
“Always.”
They exchanged good-byes, and Travis pocketed his phone. This was worse than he thought. Just going out to eat with her raised eyebrows, and Eddie didn’t know the half of what Travis wanted to do with his sister.
“All good?”
Confusion roiled in his stomach. He nodded, taking a bite of his hamburger, allowing himself a few moments to think as he chewed.
“I told him I was here once we got here.” Amara swirled a fry in ketchup, looking sad. “I didn’t think he’d call you. I kinda didn’t want him to find out we came together.”
“Why?”
She hesitated. “You know why.”
He clenched his jaw, eyeing his burger, not trusting himself to look at her.
Which was all the sign he needed. Eddie’s suspicions were raised, and if they weren’t after that conversation, they would be soon. He’d be on them like flies on meat.
It would be one thing if Travis didn’t feel this way about Amara. Then she’d be easier to resist, to joke around with.
But treating her like a platonic friend was way out of the question now. Practically a scientific impossibility. He’d settle for nothing less than pinning her to the wall and devouring her with kisses, pressing himself deep inside her, bathing in her essence from the inside out.
Couldn’t they do it once and get it out of their system?
The thought plagued him through the rest of dinner and followed him as he got back into her SUV. As she pulled onto the highway, he’d done a pretty good job of rationalizing that having sex with her once, only once, would be fine. Nobody would find out. They’d never have to talk about it again. Eddie wouldn’t know.
“You never answered my question from earlier,” Amara said. Hip-hop music thrummed quietly from the speakers as she glanced over at him, eyes playful.
“Which one was that?”
“I asked you what else you do besides working out and running a business.”
“I answered you.”
“No, you told me what you have been doing. I was asking what you like to do.”
He smirked. “Is this the hobbies section of the personal ad?”
“Maybe.” She looked at him slyly. “Girls wanna know these things.”
His belly flopped. Those eyes of hers were dangerous. He felt the testosterone spike again. Definitely had to fuck once and get it out of his system.
“Well…” He sighed, making a display of thinking as he leaned against the middle console. He sought out her free hand from her lap, rubbing his thumbs over her smooth knuckles. She tensed beside him, like she was surprised and trying to keep from gasping. “I read palms.”
She laughed. “You do not. You just want to touch me.”
“Fine.” He sealed his hands around her right hand. His cock stirred in his shorts. Also a very dangerous sign. Holding hands with this girl qualified as erotic. “I like to go into the mountains.”
“Seriously?” She sounded a little incredulous.
“Yeah, why? You don’t think I know how to nature?” He pinched her side, and she giggled. “I gotta get out of the city every once in a while. Or else I go nuts.”
“Where do you go?”
“Anywhere.” He looked out the window, her hand still in his. “I like to go hiking and stuff. Take my truck, load it up, go get lost somewhere.”
“And I thought that big black truck you have was just for show.”
“Would be typical for LA.”
His apartment was approaching, which meant he’d have to make the leap soon. Invite her in. It’ll happen.
“What do you like to do?”
“I like to go to dancing.” Her devilish grin reappeared. “And I write. And I like nature too. Maybe I could come with you on one of your retreats.”
His eyes widened. He hadn’t expected that…but maybe he’d been surrounded by the wrong girls for too long. “Seriously? Most girls I know don’t want to get their shoes dirty.”
“I’m not big on bugs, but I could do it.” She shrugged, pulling into his apartment complex. “Besides, it seems like you know what you’re doing, so if a bear attacks, we’d be fine, right?”
“That’s where the MMA training helps.” He cracked a smile, his heart rate spiking. It was now or never.
She eased the car into the cul-de-sac in front of the entrance, bright light spilling from inside. He looked over at her, loving the flecks of green in her dark eyes. He reached out to stroke the back of her neck, admiring the flutter of her eyes as her head lolled to the side.
“Why are you always flirting with me when
you know I can’t do anything?” he murmured, searching her face for the answer.
She flushed and pulled away, but he held on tight to her hand, pressing closer.
“You flirt with me too, you know,” she said, her voice breathy. “Don’t act like it’s a one-way street. You’re the one who kissed me tonight.”
“You should come upstairs.”
Her breath stalled, and her expression changed into something unreadable. “Why?”
“To talk. You know, hang out.” For the first five minutes, at least. “Come up.”
Her gaze softened, drifting to the clock. “I don’t think I should. It’s already so late, and I have to get up so damn early for work.”
Disappointment flickered through him. “I won’t make you stay the night.”
“Like that’s even an option.” She scoffed. “Eddie would flip.” She shook her head, regret in her eyes. “I know if I come up there with you, I am not going to go to sleep on time. It’s my first week on the job.” She gnawed at her lip. “Can we this weekend?”
Like turning off a light switch, the plan blinked out of existence. His head cleared. “Shit. It’s cool, Amara. We’ll hang some other time. Have a good night.”
He squeezed her hand again and hopped out of the car, then grabbed his bag from the backseat. On his walk through the glistening foyer, shame stung him, left rippling trails all over his body as he realized the bargain he’d made with himself and how close he’d come to ruining his friendship with Eddie.
You’re lucky she said no. Maybe she had no idea what he was planning—a nighttime visit would have only led to him fucking her over the back of his couch, after forcing Lex to go up to the rooftop, of course. You got your free pass.
The more time spent with her, the more temptation there would be to push the envelope. Something about her begged for it. Already he’d siphoned a mini make-out session out of the mix. And that was while trying to control himself.
And if he couldn’t have more, he should have nothing. There was no middle ground. He’d known it from the beginning, and it was even clearer now.
He had to cut her out. Reduce it to professional training visits. Courteous texts.
Nothing more…effective immediately.
His friendship with Eddie depended on it.
Chapter 8
Amara awoke the next morning bleary and disoriented. She’d been too amped to fall asleep right away. In fact, she’d spent hours imagining the feel of Travis’s hands around hers, steadying her, the blaze in his eyes in the car as she dropped him off.
Against everything wise and sane in her body, she had sent him a picture before bed. A photo somewhere between innocent and risqué—her, in a Holt Body tank top, sitting cross-legged in bed. No bra on, smirking sexily for him. With a caption that read: I should have come upstairs.
She knew it had been dumb. Totally a bad idea. But off it went, to join every other dumb impulse leading her back to Travis when all she should do is stay away and avoid the shit storm.
He made it so hard. Every cell of her body begged to be near him. And maybe so did his.
And stumbling out of bed at the ripe hour of six a.m. showed her that Travis had never responded to her sexy picture. He’d seen it too. Almost immediately after she’d sent it, it had registered as Seen. Disappointment followed her to the shower. As she dressed for her workday in her dark, cramped bedroom, anxiety knotted her belly.
Confirming that Travis felt the same way about her was both a victory and a burden. So they were into each other, but now what? With Eddie in the way, this was a dead-end street. But that didn’t make the ache inside her any easier to bear…or any easier to ignore.
Once she slipped out of the apartment with coffee in hand, the drive to work was bright but slow. She’d gotten a little bit of a late start, which meant that the freeway was backed up by the time she got on. She sighed, flipping through radio stations, scrolling through her phone, anything to distract herself from the confusion.
What did she even want from Travis? Shivers ran through her. She wanted more than to just fuck him. She knew he could get that anywhere. And maybe he did, if her brother was right about him. Of course Eddie knows what Travis does. You should listen to your brother, not your dumb heart.
Eddie putting two and two together the night before still bothered her in a big way. Her only game plan prior to that had been to flirt with Travis as much as possible, totally under the radar. Eddie would never find out. But after their first ever meet-up, Eddie was already onto them. Why had he called Travis? They were too good of friends.
It had bothered Travis too. She’d seen the shift in him, the stoniness in his eyes as he talked to Eddie.
Only one way to find out, though. She pulled up her text messages, navigating to the thread with Travis. Morning! Hope ur day is great.
There. Innocent, platonic, totally fine.
Now if only she could get through the rest of the workday without checking her phone every ten minutes to see if he’d responded.
* * *
Travis had been dreading Eddie’s workout all day.
He knew his dinner with Amara would be first on the agenda. He’d been preparing his unaffected responses all day, tense and hopeful that Eddie would let it lie fast. As long as he never caught on that Travis had propositioned his sister, he’d be fine.
When one o’clock rolled around, Travis greeted him by the receptionist’s desk as usual. They high-fived.
“What’s poppin’?” He shoved his friend’s shoulder. “Ready to sweat?”
“For sure. Though I might get my evening run in a little earlier today if my car breaks down like I think it will.”
Travis laughed, trailing him into the weight room. “You finally got a beater?”
“Seemed like a good deal when I bought it. Just to get me around the city, you know.” He shook his head, heading for the far corner for warm-ups like always. “Of course Amara gets the nice car, and she ain’t even been home a month yet. I work my ass off for years and get the hoopty.”
“Sounds about right.” Travis’s mind flashed torturously to the picture Amara had sent him the night before. The side boob in that picture had plagued his dreams even. He cleared his throat. Please don’t talk about Amara now.
“But she works downtown and drives farther, so of course I should give it to her.” He shook his head as he did squats. “Pain in my ass.”
Travis peered behind him at some newcomers, then turned his attention back to Eddie. “Any news on that girl?”
Eddie grinned, oblivious to his intentional subject change. “We’re meeting up this weekend.”
“And?”
He shrugged, playing it cool. “And we’ve been texting. A lot.”
Travis grinned. “Look at you. Any sexting yet?”
Eddie scoffed. “Of course.”
That, at least, meant that Eddie might not be as attuned to Amara’s whereabouts as normal. Maybe the diner incident would slide.
“You’re about to get laid, and it’s about to be great.” Travis handed him some weights to continue his warm-ups. “The return of Eddie VZ.”
“You know it.” Eddie beamed as he lunged, holding the weights on each side. Finally Travis’s friend was looking like himself again. After months and months of bad eating and weight gain, he was getting trim and glowing. Like he used to.
While Eddie warmed up, Travis roamed the weight room, checking that everything was in its place. A small group of girls had eyes on him when he strutted past. A flare of giggles erupted once he’d passed.
Eddie nodded in that direction. “Why don’t you go ask one of them out?”
Travis lifted a brow. “I thought you already had a date with that girl.”
“I do, but I mean for you.” Eddie clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s time you found someone. Then we can double-date.”
Travis smirked. “Buddy, I’m not dating.”
“Yeah, yeah, I forgot. Holty don’t need t
o date. Not with this big, sexy gym.” Eddie winked at him.
Travis shoved him toward the benches. “It’s not like that either.”
Eddie’s eyes widened. “Are you calling a red alert? Do you need my help? How long has it been?”
He laughed. “Dude. I’m fine.”
“How long has it been?”
Travis pinched an eye shut as he thought. It had been an eternity, really. But he didn’t want to admit that to his friend. “A hot minute.”
Eddie shook his head as he lay back on the bench. “If it’s been longer than me, then we’ve got a problem. Don’t you use Tinder?”
“For a booty call?” Travis hovered his hands under the bar as Eddie lifted up and off the safety. “Fuck no.”
Eddie huffed with each of the first five reps. Then he latched the bar up. He took a deep breath. “I’m disappointed in you.”
“Why?”
“You have this gym and all of this at your fingertips.” Eddie gestured around incredulously, eyeing him from the bench. “Bro, you need to tap into it.”
The picture Amara sent him the night before burned through his mind. He winced; he knew exactly where he wanted to tap into. “I’ve been busy. This running-a-business shit takes a lot of work. You know how it is.”
“If it’s been longer than a year, I am taking you out tonight to fix this.”
Travis laughed, but it felt forced. It had been way over a year. But even the thought of hitting up his standby ladies didn’t sound appealing.
“It hasn’t been that long.” Travis hovered while Eddie did the next set of reps. “Besides, you focus on your girl. Don’t get distracted worrying if I’m getting pussy or not.”
Eddie finished the set and replaced the bar. He huffed and wiped at his brow. “Fine. But we’re going out this weekend.”
“I’m down.”
“Bring Lex and the guys. I want a full-blown outing.”
“Yes, sir.” Travis grinned. “Gonna bring your sister like last time?” He tried to make it a rib, but really he was desperate to find out.
Eddie glowered. “Fuck no. She needs to go do her own thing. I know she just moved back and all, but damn.” His face darkened. “And you need to quit hanging out with her!”
