Page 45 of Manhattan Heart

India leaves us to go and do her yoga routine in our workout room.

Just as well, her shorts has sweat dotting on top of my lip and I gulp half of my drink just to dampen my zeal.

“Does she know who you’re married to?” Lincoln asks, looking over his shoulder to make sure India is out of earshot. My friends are a little afraid of her. I grin at the thought. “Getting excited is a little too late.”

I half smirk. He’s not wrong.

“Okay, enough about the patient. Let’s get back to putting attention on me,” announces Cal, climbing to his feet, disturbing Billy who jumps down from the sofa and follows India, his brother isn’t far behind. “We ready to try out my new song?”

Nothing proves how old I feel than when it takes an age to get to the room I had soundproofed for us to use for our rehearsals.

I’m determined to do as much as I can even though I feel tired as fuck just from the short walk. I show my weakness by sitting on the black couch with my guitar and go through the motions of checking it’s tuned properly.

“You okay, man?” Cal asks.

“I’m fine.”

“‘Cause we can just chill and not practice today, I’m cool with that.”

“Me too,” agrees Lincoln from behind his drums and I stare at them both.

“Seriously, fuck you both. Let’s get ready.”

“Fine, but if you keel over, I’m out of here before India finds out.”

Regardless of my tired state, I fall into the music we play.

We can’t do any gigs for a while withTrinity Zone.

Cal has actually written a good song and the lyrics he sings gruffly along with my guitar and Lincoln on the drums all soon come together in a melody that’s pretty fucking perfect. It’s not the first homegrown song he’s wrote, he’s been writing since he was a teenager, he has serious talent with words and putting emotions into them even if he’s surface level emotional with his own life, it’s crazy what angst and heartbreak he can put into a song.

Halfway through, India puts her head around the door, her hazel eyes seeking me out. “You okay?” She mouths and though I know she’s being thoughtful, so fucking sweet and I adore her for it, it unsettles me, so I just nod back.

She smiles and I instantly feel guilty. She’s just being nice.

What the fuck is wrong with me getting all up in my manly feelings?

“Take five guys,” I say a few minutes later and I go to find her.

I find the pups first and seeing as they’re dancing around for attention, I crouch down as best as I can and give them ear scratches. “You’ve been taking care of our girl, yeah? That’s my good boys. I knew you would. Giving her all the love while I wasn’t here.”

I’ve just climbed to my feet when I see India paused in the doorway.

Red in the face from exertion, sweat coating her forehead, darkening her hair that’s tied back in a ponytail.

My body instantly reacts.

“Fuck. You look beautiful.” Sexy. Hot. Fuckable.

I want to take her down to the ground and fuck where we are.

I want to push her face first over the laundry machines and do her nice and tight until she screams my name.

I’m not worried about physical exertion but I know India is.

She’s taken the directions from my doctor to the letter on what I can and can’t do. So, even if I got on my knees now and pulled down her skintight yoga shorts to lick her up, she’d tell me to get my ass up and into bed. Not to fuck, sadly.

“I look like a hot mess. But what did you just say to them?”

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