Trish started to pout. “Can I at least get a picture?”
I didn’t want to take a picture with her, but if it meant that I got her out of my locker room, then I’d happily oblige. “Sure.”
She squealed and curled her body around me. She slipped her hand up into my hair, and I was shocked when she pulled her lips down onto hers. I heard the snap of the camera flash before I could even blink. “You sure you can’t find a little time for poor little me?” she asked as she batted her eyes up at me.
I untangled my limbs from hers. “No, but thanks, Trish.” I motioned for Marcus to get her out of there. His eyebrow rose, but that was the only indication he gave that he was surprised at my reaction.
Hell, I was surprised too. Trish was exactly the kind of girl that I’d take for a ride after a fight. Loose, willing, and sexy in a slightly trashy kind of way. But I didn’t want that tonight. Not by a long shot. Half an hour later, after a long, cold shower where I tried everything I could not to think about Lex’s long legs spread wide in front of me in my bed, I emerged from the locker room to find Kyle waiting for me.
“Marcus told me you kicked your usual after fight snack to the curb,” he said as he pushed off the wall.
“Let’s get a beer,” I said. “Celebrate my awesome victory.”
“You sure you don’t want to celebrate with someone else tonight?” He gave me a sly grin. “Maybe somebody named Alexa?”
“She’s my bookkeeper.” I didn’t want to talk about Alexa with Kyle. It was on the tip of my tongue to add that she was going to be my stepsister in a little more than three months, but I kept that one to myself. I told Lex that I didn’t care if anyone knew that small little detail, but there was something that was holding me back from feeling totally okay with it.
“Okay, your bookkeeper,” Kyle said with an eye roll. “You’re going soft on me, old man. You haven’t wanted to go out to the clubs lately, and now you’re turning down easy pussy. What is going on with you?”
“Maybe I’m maturing,” I said sarcastically.
Kyle started laughing. In fact, he laughed so hard that he had to stop walking and put his hands on his knees. I glared at him in annoyance. “I’m tired. I’ve been training hard for the last three weeks. I just want a beer and a bed. Okay? Stop busting my balls over something stupid.”
Putting up his hands, Kyle finally quieted. “Whatever you say, man. So if you aren’t going to screw the girls that throw themselves at you tonight, does that mean more for me?”
“Have at ‘em,” I said. I was only interested in one girl. And that thought was going to keep me up tonight for sure.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - ALEXA
“I’m sure it was nothing,” Stacey said. “Besides, even if it was, you don’t care, right? I mean, yeah, you screwed him twice, but it was just a one-night stand kind of thing. Well, a two-night stand kind of thing. It’s not like you guys are going out or have anything exclusive.”
“Of course, we aren’t going out,” I scoffed. “He’s going to be my stepbrother.”
“You are both adults and are not blood-related,” Stacey reminded me. “I don’t think people would care less about that.”
“People would care about that,” I said. I was pacing my hotel room as if there was something chasing me. Ever since seeing Marcus take the trashy brunette back toward Shayne’s locker room, I had felt like a wild person. “I don’t care. The reason I’m annoyed is that we just had sex last night. I mean, how much action does a guy need?”
Stacey gave a long, drawn out sigh. “A guy like Ice? I imagine he’s going to have it on a regular basis. I mean, he’s all hyped up and physical with his job. He’d need some way to unwind after getting all cranked up.”
I threw myself down on my bed with a huff. “It wouldn’t hurt him to keep his crank in his pants every now and then.”
“You like him,” Stacey said. I could hear the sly smile in her tone.
“He’s the modern day equivalent of a Neanderthal man. He literally beats people up and gets paid for it. There’s nothing remotely attractive about that.”
“Oh, you really like him,” Stacey squealed. “I haven’t seen a guy get under your skin like this in the last four years I’ve known you. This is perfect.”
“Nobody’s gotten under my skin. I just think it’s rude to sleep with a girl one night and then have sex with another girl the next night.” I was being stubborn about it. To say it out loud meant that it was real. These feelings that swirled inside of me were confusing, unsettling, and wholly unfamiliar. On that count, Stacey was right. I’d never felt like this about any guy before.
“You love him,” Stacey said in a sing-song voice. “Alexa and Ice sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
“Could you be any more juvenile about this? You know, this is all your fault to begin with.”