Page 30 of Austin
“Understandable.” And he couldn’t say he liked the idea of a naked guy wandering around her apartment.
“He was a nice guy,” Kristen offered. “Just…very comfortable with his body.”
“Wasn’t trying to get a three-way going?”
After a moment’s thought, Kristen said, “No. I really don’t think so.” She met his gaze. “Ice princess, remember?”
“Some guys like a challenge.”
He saw her throat move as she swallowed. “Like you?”
“Yeah. Like me.” He dropped his arms. “Any other rules other than bathroom hogging and nudity?”
“I can’t think of any. You?”
He took a step forward as he spoke, peeling his watch off his arm and dropping it on the desk. Kristen held her ground, because there were still yards of carpet between them, but he had the feeling she wanted to step back. “Just one. Honesty.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that we talk honestly about what we want and don’t want so this doesn’t turn into the vacation from hell for you. Or me.”
“That’s a good rule,” she murmured.
“Can you do it? Be honest with me and not clam up?”
Her chin tilted up. “I can try.”
He nodded. “Good. Because I’m going to call you on it if you don’t.”
“What’s your schedule?”
“I’ll be working out. Seeing a trainer and doing my physical therapy. I have a sponsor’s event on Thursday. Prelims on Friday and finals on Saturday.”
“We go home on Sunday.”
“That we do.”
Kristen sank down on the edge of the bed closest to the window. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are you going home to?”
Reasonable question, since his family had literally lost the farm when he was a teen and after he’d graduated high school, his parents had moved to Arizona. He had no home in Marietta, but he had a brother living on the Forty-Six Ranch with his new bride.
“My brother has a trailer on the ranch that he lets me use.”
“So, no home.”
“Nope.”
“You have no home at all?”
The idea seemed to perplex her. “I’m a drifter.”
“What do you do during the off-season?”
“You mean October to December? Those three months? I find a place to train. Usually down south. Oklahoma or Texas.”
“No home.”
He gave a shrug. “What can I say? I don’t need one yet.”
