She’s not your girl, I remind my stubborn ass self.
Drying my hair, I try to hide my smile when I notice her checking out my abs. Me being me, I can’t keep my mouth shut. “Like what you see?” I rub a hand over the muscles I work out hard for and eat right to keep. She turns a bright shade of red and fumbles with her sports watch. “And yes,” I say, letting her off easy, “that’s all I want to do.”
We head to the separate locker rooms to shower off the chlorine and change into our street clothes. I finish first and wait near the women’s room on a bench.
“Hi.” I look up from my phone at the sound of the voice.
“Hello?” I reply hesitantly, eyeing the gorgeous blonde in front of me skeptically. I used to would’ve been all over it when a girl this hot approached me—big boobs, golden tan skin, blue eyes, and a body she clearly works hard for but now she’s not doing it for me. Why? Because I had to go and catch feelings.
She smiles, pointing over her shoulder. “My friends dared me to come over and talk to you.”
Right about now old Teddy would’ve plastered on his signature cocky smile and said how I was flattered, new Teddy just says, “Oh?”
“I think you’re hot and you seem cool—” I seem cool? She doesn’t even know me. “—so if you ever want to meet up here’s my number.” She holds out a ripped piece of paper.
I don’t move to take it from her, and her smile falters a bit. “I have a girlfriend,” I explain. I don’t want to be rude; it takes balls for a chick to approach a guy, but I’m not about to take that from her.
Her smile falters. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She turns to walk away, but quickly swings back around. “Take it anyway, you know, in case you and the girlfriend don’t work out.”
I stare at her in shock. What the fuck? Who says that shit?
“Nah.” Again, I don’t take it from her, and it hangs limply from her fingers. “I know I have a good thing, and I won’t let her get away from me that easy. When you meet someone that’s your heart—not steals it, but it’s like your heart beats beside theirs—you don’t throw it away for someone random. Good things are hard to come by. You cherish them and nurture them. You grow from them, and you definitely don’t take numbers from girls you don’t even know the name of.”
There’s a gasp behind me and I turn, finding Vanessa standing there with tears shining in her eyes. For a second, I think I’ve done or said something wrong or that she’s just shown up and hasn’t heard a word I’ve said and actually thinks I’d take this girl’s number, but then she dives down, tackling me into a hug on the bench.
A second later her hands are on my cheeks and she’s kissing me.
Shock freezes me to the spot, and I don’t move. I don’t think she’s ever initiated a kiss with me before, I’ve always been the one to make the first move. But right now, she kisses me like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I thaw from my frozen position, my right hand gliding up her cheek to the back of her neck, holding her possessively against me. Her lips taste slightly like strawberry, and I bet she put on Chapstick before coming out here since she’s been complaining about the chlorine drying her skin.
Someone in the gym whistles, and I curse them because the second Vanessa hears it, she pulls away from me. I move both hands to her cheeks, keeping her from pulling too far away.
Both of us are slightly out of breath. My eyes drop to her lips, pinker than normal and slightly swollen.
“That was some kiss, Van.” Her cheeks turn the prettiest shade of pink, and she tries to duck her head, hiding those pretty blue eyes from me, but I won’t let her. “Don’t be embarrassed, my wish came true.”
“W-What wish?” Her tongue swipes out to moisten her lips.
Leaning in, I brush my mouth against her ears. “The one I made when I blew out my birthday candles on Sunday. I wished for a kiss from you on my actual birthday.”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to tell people your wish.”
I chuckle, smiling at her in a way I’ve rarely smiled at others. “That’s so it’ll come true, mine already did, so I think I’m safe. I won’t say no to more kisses, though.”
She clears her throat, and I let my hands drop. “I think we should go now.” Her eyes dart to the gym where I’m sure some people still watch. No idea where the blonde scattered off to, and I don’t give a shit.
“Sounds like a plan.”
After the kiss, I fully expected Vanessa to weasel out of spending more time with me this evening, but she surprises me by insisting on buying dinner—she refuses to let me pay—and we go back to my room.
Jude isn’t in, and we settle in my room putting on the show I’ve quickly gotten sucked into. Sure, it’s over the top and ridiculous and the acting isn’t the best, but I can’t seem to stop watching it. I won’t admit it to her, but it’s kind of addicting.
Since I have to be careful with what I eat, I opted for grilled chicken and a double serving of broccoli. Would I love to have the steak and cheese sub Vanessa ordered? Ab-so-fucking-lutely. But I know I’ll regret it tomorrow morning on my run with Mascen. Dude’s fucking obsessed with his cardio, and I still hate it with a burning passion.
Vanessa spreads the food out on my bed while I get the TV on and the show brought up where we left off. I hate to admit it, but I’m going to be sad when we finish.
We eat in silence, focusing on the show. At least she’s focused on it, but my brain can’t stop going back to that spontaneous kiss at the gym. I want to taste her lips again, but I know I have to stop pushing and let her come to me, if that’s what she wants.
“I can’t believe he died,” she muses, breaking me from my thoughts.
“What the fuck, Van? No spoilers.”
She tosses her head back and laughs. I find myself studying the smooth column of her throat. I never knew someone’s throat could be sexy but hers is.
“It’s not a spoiler.” She shakes her head in mock-shame at me. “Luke Perry died of a stroke a few years ago.”
“The one you think I look like?” I hope I sound as horrified as I feel.
“Yeah.” She frowns so deeply that a wrinkle forms in her brow. “It’s so sad. I mean, he was pretty young to have a stroke like that. Tragic.” She shakes her head sadly, eyes glued to the television.
“A-Are you crying?”
She glares at me, but there’s definitely a tear leaking from the corner of her eye. I swipe it away with a brush of my thumb.
“I’m extra emotional today, leave me alone.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Why are you so emotional?”
The glare she levels me with makes me feel like I must be the biggest idiot on Earth. “I’m on my period, Teddy!”
I toss my hands up innocently. “Sorry I asked.”
“You should be.” She tosses a piece of lettuce at me that fell from her sandwich.
I chuckle, lying back on my bed and crossing my arms behind my head. After a while, Vanessa lies down beside me, putting her head on my chest. She does it without hesitation, and I feel like a pathetic bastard that such a simple thing fills me with so much happiness.