“Nice.” The relish had been replaced by a husky note of approval.
“Your version of playing dress up sucks,” I muttered, tugging on the hem of the shorts.
He barked out a laugh. “I disagree. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll be stripping down, too.”
“It doesn’t.” I’d probably mumble incoherently and drool.
His wanton grin suggested he knew exactly what I’d been thinking. “Come on, let’s get you started.” He led me to the treadmills.
Though Mackenzie never glanced in my direction, she stiffened, even stumbled. I checked out her time. She’d been running for an hour and a half. I also checked out her speed and her incline, and set mine to something faster and higher, though I waited to press Start. I wanted Cole gone first.
Of course, he lingered. “Ignore each other,” he commanded sternly.
She snickered. “Yes, Daddy.”
His eyes narrowed, but his focus remained on me. “Be careful. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but Mackenzie beat me to it. “This is truly pathetic. Both of you should be embarrassed.”
“Do I need to talk with you outside, Kenz?”
He had a nickname for her. How wonderful.
“No,” she snapped.
“Good.”
She added, “If I have to listen to another one of your lectures about making friends with the new girl I’ll feed myself to the zombies.”
“You won’t need to. I’ll ring the dinner bell and hand you over.” With that, he strode away, finally leaving us alone.
Get it together, Bell.
For the first ten minutes of my own run, Mackenzie and I both obeyed him. I don’t know why she did, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Cole. He’d removed the wife-beater and exchanged his jeans for black mesh shorts that hung low on his waist, revealing a trail of dark hair from his navel to the shorts, before joining Lucas at the weights.
His muscles strained as he lifted the bar. Lowered. Lifted. Sweat began to pop up on his skin, dripping down…down…
“I hope you’re enjoying his attention,” Mackenzie said, good behavior time plainly over. Her curling ponytail swung with her every pounding step. “It won’t last.”
I wasn’t even sure I had his attention, not in the way she meant. “Just because you couldn’t keep him doesn’t mean other girls will have a problem doing so.” Brave words from a girl who’d never been on a real date with him.
“Is this our little chat?” She wiped her brow with the back of her hand. “I’m disappointed. I expected you to throw a punch at the very least, but I should have known you’d prove to be a coward.”
“We’ll get to the punching, I promise you.” Already my thighs burned from the strain, my own sweat dripping down my chest and back. Did I allow myself to slow? Heck, no. “So why did you spread those rumors?”
“I didn’t.”
“Oh, please. Unlike your boys, I’m not stupid when it comes to a pretty face.”
“You think I’m pretty, huh? You’ve probably even had dreams about me.”
Kat’s ego I adored. Hers I felt a blinding need to smack away. “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be lucky to still have all your teeth.”
“How original. Why don’t you think before you speak? I’ve made no secret of my dislike for you. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want you gone. Like now. But resorting to rumors about your sex life? Are you kidding me? I’m not twelve.”
Not one time during her speech had she wheezed, the hooker. I was already struggling. “There’s no one else.”
“I kinda love to break this to you, baby doll, but there are plenty of someone elses. A lot of girls at Asher think they’re brave enough to vacation on the wild side and hook up with one of my boys, and a lot of girls are denied. You weren’t denied, and I’m sure envy has taken hold.”
“There’s a little flaw to your logic. No one talks about Kat, and she dated Frosty.”
“Actually, she fell in love with me,” Frosty called from his spot at the side of the boxing ring, unashamed of the fact that he’d been eavesdropping. “And I thought I told you her own friends dropped her for a while. Plus, all the rumors said that I was awesome.”
My hands curled into fists. “What’s the constant here?” I said to Mackenzie, making sure to lower my voice. “A girl dates one of your boys, and rumors are spread.”
“First, don’t listen to Frost. Her friends might have dropped her, but no one ever spread rumors about her sex life. No one cared. Second, I. Didn’t. Do. It.”