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  "You don't need to. I already told her."

  "You did?" I feel a pang of jealousy. Why didn't he tell me he has a girlfriend? "Who is it?"

  He laughs. "I'll just leave it at that."

  Wait—does he mean ME? I'm not his next girlfriend. I already told him several times tonight that I only wanted to be friends. But then I waited in his truck for him to kiss me. Talk about mixed signals. What is wrong with me?

  "So you don't have a girlfriend?" I ask.

  "Not yet."

  "You have girls falling all over you. How could you not have a girlfriend?"

  "I haven't met the right person. Until the other night at the bar."

  I smile. "So tell me about this girl."

  "She's super hot. Has these beautiful brown eyes. Long silky hair. A nice voice. Great smile. She's funny. A bit mysterious, but I'm working on that. She's a talented athlete. And we have a lot in common. She's pretty much perfect."

  "Nobody's perfect."

  "Guess I'll have to wait and find out, because right now she seems pretty damn perfect."

  I'm far from perfect. A disaster is more like it, or a hot mess, as Amber would say. I'm completely clueless about my future. I have no idea what I'm going to do if I can't do gymnastics. I feel like I should have my life figured out by now, but I don't. Instead, I'm just taking each day as it comes, with no plans other than to compete again. I haven't even declared a major for college. I'm just taking general classes.

  "You want to watch TV?" I grab my remote from the table.

  "Trying to change the subject?"

  "Yeah."

  "Next time just tell me. I like it when people are direct, because that's how I am. I tell people what I want and what I like. My brothers are the same way. It's kind of a Wheeler trait. So next time, don't worry about being subtle. Just tell me what you want."

  I want you to come over here and kiss me and put your hands...

  "Kira?"

  "Yeah," I say, trying to regain my focus. "Got it. I'll try to be more direct."

  I need to stop thinking of him in a sexual way. It makes it too hard to be around him.

  "So back to the TV," he says. "What do you want to watch?"

  We find a movie and watch it together. I've never done that. Watched a movie with someone over the phone. We didn't just watch. We also talked. Austin kept making these funny comments. He has a great sense of humor.

  I really like Austin. I like talking to him and being around him. He already feels like a friend, even though my body wants more than that.

  The next morning, I sneak out of the apartment to catch the bus. Luckily Amber didn't hear me. If she asks where I went, I'll just tell her I went for an early morning walk. I need to get her class schedule so I can fit my workouts in when she's gone. The good thing is that she's in like a million extracurricular activities that'll keep her so busy she won't notice what I'm up to.

  "Ready to get your ass kicked?" Austin smiles as he walks up to me. He's already worked out and showered. His hair is damp and as he gets closer to me, I get a whiff of whatever soap he uses. It's a clean, fresh scent. He's wearing navy track pants and a white t-shirt that highlights his tan skin. He said he worked outside a lot this summer and it shows with that dark tan.

  I think he got even better looking overnight. How is that possible?

  "Ready," I say, trying to sound cool, even though my heart's beating like crazy. How am I going to work out with my heart going this fast? Maybe it'll calm down after a few minutes.

  "Go warm up on the treadmill." He points to it.

  "You're really bossy," I say, smiling. "And you didn't even say hello." I walk past him but he catches me around the waist.

  He leans down to my ear and says, "Good morning, Kira."

  He lets me go and walks off to the water cooler. Now my heart's beating even faster. Does he have any idea what he does to me? Is that why he does it? Why he constantly flirts?

  After ten minutes on the treadmill, in which he made me do intervals at different speeds, we go over to the free weights.

  "Let's start on the bench press." He moves the bench over, away from some guy who's lifting a barbell over his head. The gym isn't very busy because the before-work crowd has already come and gone. Austin said it was a lot busier when he got here at six to lift weights. If he wasn't training me, he wouldn't have had to work out so early. Now I feel bad for making him do this.

  "Keep your back flat," he says as I do a rep.

  I'm lying on the bench, pressing twenty-pound dumbbells over my head. I know the correct way to lift but I'm too distracted by Austin to do it right.

  "You lifted your back again," he says. "I'm gonna put my hand here to remind you." He places his palm over the lower part of my stomach and I immediately tense up. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing." I try to relax but it's nearly impossible when his hand is mere inches from...places I'd like him to touch. I even had a dream about it last night. About Austin touching me. He was giving me a massage, which led to doing other things. Things I can't stop thinking about with his hand on my lower abs.

  "Maybe we should try something else," I say, sitting up and putting the weights down. "My form seems to be off today."

  "You were done with that one anyway. Let's do bicep curls next."

  I stand up and position myself, then lift the weights, slow and steady. Austin is behind me, and as I do another rep, I feel his hands around my waist. I try not to tense up this time and instead take a breath, trying to slow my racing heart.

  "Did you see what you were doing?" he asks, looking at me in the mirror that's in front of us.

  "No. What was I doing?"

  "Moving your hips forward with every rep. When you do that, you put pressure on your lower back. Try to remember to keep your core steady and let the movement be limited to your arms."

  "Got it." I try again, his hands still firmly around my waist. I love his hands. Big, strong, forceful. My mind drifts back to the dream I had last night.

  "Why'd you stop?" he asks.

  "Oh." I shake the dirty thoughts from my head and see the weights held down at my sides. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

  "It's okay. Just keep going."

  We finish the set and move on to the next. The remainder of my session is a mix of bad form and paused movements, all caused by me being distracted by Austin. He's probably starting to doubt the fact that I'm an athlete. No athlete would be this clueless when it comes to working out. But I'm not clueless. I'm just distracted. So how is this going to work? I'm not going to achieve my fitness goals if I can't even do a proper bicep curl.

  "How do you feel?" he asks when we're done.

  I shrug. "Pretty good."

  "I went easy on you today. I started with lighter weights to see what you could do. We'll up the weights, but before we do, we need to get your form right."

  "I know. I was really off today. I think I'm just tired."

  "And why is that?" He smiles. "Were you up watching movies with some guy last night?"

  I smile back. "Yeah. I'll never do THAT again."

  "How about actually going out to a movie?"

  "Like tonight?"

  "Yeah. I'll pick you up at seven."

  "I don't know. I should probably..." I don't have an excuse to give him.

  "Probably what?" He leans against the machine next to him. "You trying to come up with a reason why you can't go?"

  I don't answer, but I feel my face heating up.

  "I told you to be direct so if you don't want to go just tell me."

  "I DO want to go, but...just as friends. Does that work?"

  "Yeah." He grins. "Although I was kind of questioning the friend thing last night when I dropped you off."

  My face heats up even more. "I don't know what you mean. I have to go." I attempt to go past him but he stops me, his arm wrapping around my waist and pulling me toward him.

  He looks me in the eye. "Are you saying you didn't want me to kiss you las
t night?"

  I look away. "I don't know what you're talking about." I sound breathless and I'm sure he noticed. Dammit.

  His mouth moves down to my ear and he whispers, "I think you wanted me to. But I guess we'll find out tonight." He stands up straight. "I'll see you at seven." And then he walks off.

  Not only does he look hot. He acts hot. No wonder girls are dying to go out with him.

  The rest of the day I spend getting ready for class. Amber and I go to the campus bookstore and buy all our books, which cost a small fortune. Since when does a textbook cost $200? I had no idea they cost that much. Even buying all used books, the bill was still almost $800. My parents gave me a credit card to use but I texted my mom to warn her about the bill they'd soon be getting.

  "We should go to a movie tonight," Amber says as we're eating dinner. We didn't feel like making something so we stopped at a sandwich shop near our apartment.

  "I'm already going," I say, shaking the last of my potato chips from the bag. They came with my sandwich but I really shouldn't eat them. I'm supposed to be in training, which means I need to clean up my diet, but the chips were right there and looked really good.

  "Already going where?" Amber asks, wiping the mayo off her sandwich. She asked for no mayo but they gave it to her anyway.

  "To the movies. I'm going with Austin."

  "Kira!" She drops her plastic, mayo-covered knife on her plate. "I told you to stop seeing him."

  I smile. "Which made me want to see him all the more."

  She sighs. "You're impossible."

  "You're telling me you wouldn't go out with Austin if he asked?"

  She catches my eye across the table. "So you're going out with him? Like really going out?"

  "No. We're just friends."

  "Have you kissed him?"

  "I said we're just friends. Friends don't kiss."

  "They do if they're attracted to each other. And he's obviously attracted to you or he wouldn't keep asking you out."

  "I've made it clear to him that I don't want a boyfriend."

  "Doesn't mean you can't kiss." She pops a chip in her mouth. "Or do other things." She smiles.

  I lean forward and whisper, "Are you crazy? I am NOT having sex with him. I just met him. And I told you, I'm not dating him."

  "You don't have to date him. Just be friends with benefits." She picks up her sandwich. "You're in college now. It's time to try new things. Be bold. Experiment with things you never thought you'd do."

  "Like a one-night stand?"

  "Exactly." She bites into her sandwich, then wipes her mouth with a napkin. She glances around to make sure no one's listening, then says, "I thought for sure I'd regret it, but it turned out to be one of the best things I've ever done."

  "No offense, but that's kind of sad. I know for a fact you've done better things than that."

  "You don't understand how great that night was." She sets her sandwich down. "Anyway, this isn't about me. What I was trying to say is that if you want to hook up with Austin, then do it. You don't have to be his girlfriend."

  "You just told me to stay away from him, and now you want me to do it with him?"

  She shrugs. "You refuse to listen to me when I tell you to stay away from him, so as long as you're going to hang out with him, you might as well get some benefit out of it."

  "I'm already getting benefit out of it. I like hanging out with him. As a friend. Just a friend."

  She laughs a little. "Yeah, we'll see. So what time is he picking you up?"

  "At seven. I'll tell him to come upstairs so he can meet you."

  "No." She grabs my arm just as I was about to take a bite of my sandwich. "Wait for him downstairs. I can't meet him."

  "Why not?"

  She lets go of my arm. "Because I can't have him telling Dylan about me."

  "Why would he tell Dylan about you?"

  She thinks for a moment. "You're right. He probably wouldn't. And even if he did, Dylan wouldn't put it together and know it's me. He probably doesn't even remember me. In my head, I keep thinking he thought that night was as great as I did, but I'm sure it meant nothing to him. He's probably had sex with ten other girls since then." She checks her phone. "It's six. We should hurry so you have time to get ready for your date. What are you wearing?"

  "It's not a date. And I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt, like I always do."

  "Kira." She takes a sip of her soda, then pushes it aside. "You're going out with Austin Wheeler. Girls are dying to go out with him, and when they see you with him, they'll be talking about you, wondering who you are and commenting on what you're wearing. You have to look your best."

  "I don't dress for other people. You know this about me."

  "Yeah, I know, but I'm just saying, you might want to wear something nicer, like maybe a skirt."

  "We're going to the movies. People don't dress up for the movies. And besides, Austin likes it when I dress casual. He told me that last night."

  "All guys say that, but then they see a girl all dressed up and can't think straight."

  "You keep forgetting, I'm not dating him. We're just friends."

  And yet now she's got me wondering if I should change my mind about that, because I really want to kiss him. Or maybe do more than that.

  Chapter Nine

  Austin

  When I get to Kira's apartment, she's waiting by the door, wearing a faded denim mini skirt and a white button-up shirt with a tank top underneath. She has white sneakers on, so still has that sporty look I love, but the short skirt has upped her hotness level to the point that I'm feeling that twitch in my shorts again.

  As I park, she sees my truck and runs over to it.

  "Hey." She smiles as she gets in.

  "You need to let me come upstairs to get you," I say as I back out of the parking space. "I feel like a loser picking you up in the parking lot."

  "Don't worry about it. I don't mind. Besides, my roommate is up there with her boyfriend, and believe me, you don't want to see that."

  "They don't go in her room to do that?"

  "Sometimes, but not always."

  "My brothers are the same way with their girlfriends. I'm always telling them to get a room." I turn onto the street. "Did you pick a movie?"

  "I thought you were picking it."

  "I don't care what we see. Whatever you want is fine with me."

  "I don't even know what's playing. We'll have to see when they get there."

  We come to a red light and I stop and look over at her. "You look really nice."

  "Thanks." She looks down at her skirt.

  "Actually, you look better than nice. You look hot." I reach over and take the hand she had resting in her lap. I know she said this isn't a date but maybe it could turn into one.

  She turns toward me a little, keeping hold of my hand. "So what'd you do today?"

  She's changing the subject. Maybe it makes her uncomfortable when I tell her how she looks. Or maybe she's reminding me this isn't a date. But date or not, she looks hot and I thought she should know.

  "I worked on an old house that the city is turning into a museum. Our company started doing these historic renovations last year and now we keep getting asked to do more. I'm going to be restoring the wood floors back to their original condition."

  "Do you like doing that type of work?"

  "I do, but I also like music, so I'm kind of torn as to what I want to do with my life."

  "So you could really support yourself being in a band?" She bites her lip. "Sorry, that sounded bad. I didn't mean you weren't a good enough musician. I just assumed the music industry is a tough business. It's gotta be hard to make a living."

  "It is. That's why I haven't given up construction. Plus, like I said, I like construction, and if I had to do it for the rest of my life, I wouldn't complain. But if I could do music instead, I would. My dad would be pissed, but you can't always please your parents, you know?"

  "Yeah." She bites her lip again and loo
ks out the side window.

  I give her hand a squeeze. "Hey, what's wrong? Have another fight with your mom?"

  "No." She turns back to me. "I talked to her this morning. Everything's fine."

  I'm not convinced. She tensed up when I made that comment about pleasing your parents. She either doesn't get along with hers or she's fighting with them about something.

  We arrive at the movie theater and stare up at the board to see what's playing.

  "I haven't heard of half of these," she says.

  "You don't go to the movies much, do you?" I'm standing behind her, my hands on her shoulders.

  "Not really. I usually wait until they come out on blu-ray."

  "Here." I put my hands over her eyes. "Put your hand out and point."

  "What are you doing?"

  "Just point to the screen. Whatever you point at we'll go to."

  She laughs. "That's crazy."

  "Who cares? Now point."

  People are going past us, giving us strange looks but I just ignore them.

  "What'd I pick?" she asks.

  I follow her finger to the screen and see she picked a cartoon. I don't want to see a cartoon so I pick the movie listed under it. I drop my hands from her eyes and put my arm around her waist. "Come on." I walk up to the ticket counter.

  "What'd I pick?"

  "Two for Shark Bite," I tell the ticket girl as I get out my wallet.

  "Shark Bite?" Kira looks up at the movie times. "Are you sure I picked that one?"

  The girl gives me the tickets and I take Kira's hand and walk over to the concession stand. "You want anything?"

  "No. I just ate." She turns to me. "I don't want to see this. I hate sharks."

  "Then it's gonna be a long ninety-five minutes." I smile. "Of course, if you get bored, I'm sure we could find other things to do. We'll sit in the back just in case." I lead her past the concession stand to the guy who takes the tickets.

  "To your left," he says. "Fourth one down."

  We go in the theater, which is nearly empty because this movie's been out for three weeks. I walk to the back row and take a seat right in the middle.

  "We're really sitting in the last row?" she asks, still standing.

  "Yeah. Why?"