Page 67 of Man Advantage

Jesus. I was going to be here until I was seventy, wasn’t I?

The coach’s pep talk wrapped up, and the players focused on eating, hydrating, and talking to each other. I checked in on the boys, making sure they had enough water and they both had some orange slices. They were far more interested in hanging out with their friends than talking to me, so I left them to it.

Still keeping an eye on them, I texted their dad again.

It’s only halftime. I just sat through eternity, and now I have to sit through it AGAIN?

I heard they’re thinking of making it like hockey. Three periods instead of two.

You won’t be able to afford me if that happens.

(violin emoji)

(middle finger emoji)

As much as I hated soccer, I did enjoy this part—the snarky texts with Trev. It was something we’d started doing as soon as we’d gotten our first phones, and I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it until we’d picked it up again.

I knew I wouldn’t be Zach and Zane’s nanny forever. This job definitely had a shelf life. And that was fine.

But God help me, even after I found another job, I was never letting this friendship slip through my fingers again.

CHAPTER 21

TREV

I hada rare day off from all things hockey, and the boys were with Bryan, so I spent it being as lazy as humanly possible. I slept in. I spent a solid hour scrolling my phone in bed. I indulged in a late breakfast delivered from a nearby café. There wasn’t a lot of downtime like this during the regular season, so I made sure to take full advantage. I wished I could’ve spent it with my kids, but I tried not to dwell on that. They’d be back soon.

Even while I had a lazy day, I did still like to keep up on my workouts, so I spent some time in my home gym. Nothing too strenuous, of course. A good run on the treadmill, some low-intensity weightlifting, and maybe another twenty minutes on the bike. Then I could figure out what to do with the evening.

I was maybe fifteen minutes into my twenty-minute run when the stairs creaked. I bit back a curse; Cam was coming in, wasn’t he? And I doubted he was just here to ask me a question or something.

I was right—he was wearing shorts and sneakers and carrying a towel, which meant he was here to work out.

Oh God. Do you have any idea how distracting you are like this?

I didn’t say a word, though. We exchanged smiles as he got on the elliptical beside the treadmill I was on, but neither of us spoke. As he got started, I stared straight ahead, focusing on the yard, the windows, a spiderweb in a tree—anything but the gorgeous man beside me.

I both loved and hated seeing him work out, especially when he wasn’t wearing a shirt. I didn’t want to stare at him and make things weird. At the same time, I didn’t want to take my eyes off him. He was just so…

My God, Cameron. Do you have any idea how sexy you are?

Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but I sure did. And it was killing my concentration.

At least I was almost done on the treadmill, and when the timer went off, I whispered a prayer of thanks as I shut off the machine. Then I moved to the lat pulldown.

Which… only made things worse.

Because I had arranged this gym without giving any thought to the possibility that my incredibly hot best friend would be using it with me, and the lat pulldown was facing the elliptical.

Which was currently occupied by Cam.

Shirtless Cam with his powerful back and shoulders on full display, not to mention his legs. And those gym shorts weren’t doing a whole lot to make his ass look any less appealing.

As he moved, sweat rolled down his back, sliding along the grooves between his sculpted muscles. It traced the edges of some of his tattoos. Made others glow as if they were freshly inked.

And of course, I knew from experience that if he were facing me, I’d see sweat gleaming on his chest, too, and the barbells in his nipples would catch the light, and?—

I had to tear my gaze away from him. Jesus, I was going to embarrass myself one of these days, wasn’t I? Drop a weight. Trip over my own feet. Something.

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