Page 63 of Rush
Ash swatted his hand toward her and scowled. “Ah! Damn woman,” he muttered. “How many times do I have to tell her to use her inside voice?” To us, he said, “Keep going. I’ll be back.”
Cole spotted me as I curled my hands around the bar and lifted the barbell off the stand. Letting it rest just above my chest, I concentrated my breathing and lifted. My muscles contracted, and I relished the pressure as I pushed upward.One. More weight felt good.
“Margaret hasn’t been back for a few days,” Cole said, fishing for gossip like an old woman.
“Didn’t rate a mention.” I grunted, lifting the barbell again.Two.
“She was coming on to you pretty hard,” he went on, his hands rising and falling with every press I did.
“She was barking up the wrong tree,” I said with a scowl.
“Really? I thought you would’ve tapped that after—”
“Shut it, Cole.”
“Bloody hell,” he cursed. “Just asking. No need to get your man tits in a twist.”
“Fucked if I could do that to Jade.”
“Even after she used you?” He let out a slow whistle. “You’re a bigger man than I am.”
Sucking in a breath and holding the barbell steady, I said, “I thought we determined that years ago.”
He rolled his eyes and gestured for me to lift again. “You’re attracting more drama than a fourteen-year-old girl lately.”
I considered telling him about Margaret’s home visit the other night and decided against it for a second before I spat it out. Cole and I had been best mates for something like twelve years, and even though he could be an immature ass, he still had my back if I asked. Vice versa, too.
“Margaret turned up at my place the other night,” I said through gritted teeth as I lifted that barbell again. “Uninvited.”
“No shit!”
“Pushed her way inside and stripped down to her knickers.”
His eyes widened. “No shit!” he exclaimed again.
“She was fake as,” I said. “Told me I could do whatever I wanted. I reckon the moment it came down to anal versus fisting, she would’ve run.”
“Dude,” he said, screwing up his face. “You’re into fisting?”
“No,” I said, making a similar face. “Point is, her showing up and rubbing her tits in my face had manipulation written all over it. You know what she was like back in school. Hasn’t changed and now she’s got some scheme cooking.”
“A scheme where you get to fuck Margaret Anastas?” Cole raised an eyebrow. Clearly, he didn’t see the problem. All he was worried about was the fact I’d turned down a free fuck.
“She was like a bit of plastic grinding her rubbery pussy on my lap. Didn’t even get me hard. Her tits were like two rocks scraping against my face.”
Cole snorted. “You can get rubber pussies online. Full on lips and everything. No bitch needed.”
Rolling my eyes, I lifted the barbell back onto the rack while Cole guided it. He was such a crass bastard. I was gunning for the day he had his cock in a twist over some woman. Chaos. Utter chaos.
“I’m pretty sure she’s going after Jade,” I said, sitting up. “There’s no other reason she’d want to slum it on my dick.”
“So? You kicked Jade out, bro. Why get all protective over a bird who used your feelings against you? She should’ve been clear about what she wanted before going that far. Even I know there’s a fine line between fuck and feelings.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” I grunted, the conversation doing nothing to beat the longing out of me.
Picking up my towel, I dabbed my forehead, anything not to look at him right then. Otherwise, he would see I was lying through my teeth. I’d pretty much declared to Margaret I was in love with Jade regardless of what had happened between us. I’d hit her where it hurt, fueled her fires of hatred and given her ammunition to boot. There was no way Margaret wasnotgoing after Jade.
Maybe Cole was right. Maybe I was reading too much into things, and I should stay the course of moving on. But what if—
