Page 29 of Hidden Plays
“Not necessarily. Myles was blond.” He cocked his head, peering at a slice of bruschetta he held at mouth level. “Myles was different. He had gentle strength. I don’t think he knew how hot he was.” His attention drew to me. “You know it though, don’t you?”
“What, know that I’m hot?” I straightened my spine. So, he thought I was attractive. “I do my best to stay fit and look good. Women seem to notice me.” And gay men at the gym. I tensed the edge of my mouth. “But I don’t use my looks to take advantage of situations.” Did that come out right?
“Me neither.” He drank more wine. “But then, you probably don’t think of me as attractive because I’m a guy and you’re not queer.” He tutted a laugh.
“No, I think you’re hot.” My eyes popped open. Why the hell had a blurted that out?
“You do, huh?” His gaze swept over me. “All I know is, your dick seems to like me.”
“I could say the same about yours.” Touché. I smirked. He’d gotten hard on the physical therapy table.
“Maybe our dicks could date.” He choked out a snicker. “But I’m sure you’d be uncomfortable with it.”
“And you wouldn’t?” I bit into a slice of the apple and brie bruschetta. He hated me, didn’t he? Where were we headed with this conversation?
“Yeah, you’re right. I need a connection with a guy if I’mhaving sex, and we clearly do not have a connection.” He grabbed an extra slice of food.
My chest pinched. Why did he keep saying that? “I beg to differ with you. We do have a connection. We’re sort of becoming friends, aren’t we?”
“Friends?” He lifted his brows. “I’d say we’re more like two people forced into a situation.” Dipping his head, he said, “Okay, I guess I don’t hate you as much as I did when I first found out you replaced Stacey.”
“You don’t hate meas much?” I narrowed my eyes. “Does that mean you still hate me? Hate is a strong word.” And I sure as hell didn’t enjoy hearing it. We’d bonded at least a little over the last few weeks. I knew we had.
“No, I don’t hate you.” With a scoff, he shifted in his seat. “Let’s pretend to date for a few more days and then I’ll tell my friends we broke up.” His gaze met mine. “Deal?”
“Yeah, okay.” I took another bite of food. “But you’ll continue to follow my direction for your training routine, right?” He wouldn’t start dissing me again, would he?
“I’ll follow it. As long as I’m seeing progress.” He gave me a sly grin. “If it stops, I’ll ask Coach for a new trainer.”
My heart about stopped. That could look bad for me. “No, don’t do that. We’ll figure something out.”
A muscled man with dark hair and eyes stepped to our table. “JJ? Hey, how are you?” He gave JJ a broad grin.
JJ did a double take of the man and smiled. “Miguel, nice to see you. It’s been a long time.” He shifted to the side. “Here, have a seat with us.”
“Oh, I don’t want to interrupt your date.” Miguel glanced at me.
“No, it’s not a date. This is my trainer, Holden.” JJ patted the bench seat next to him. “Sit.”
“Sure.” Miguel dropped in next to JJ, his gaze crawling every inch of JJ’s body. “Damn, boy, you’ve filled out. You look great.”
“Thanks. Damn, we were just talking about you. What acoincidence.” JJ’s cheeks flushed pink. “Holden, this is the ex-boyfriend I was talking about.”
“Oh? Why were you talking about me?” Miguel bumped his shoulder on JJ’s and raked his teeth over his lower lip. “You’re still thinking about me, huh?”
I wrinkled my nose. This guy was JJ’s type? He was okay-looking, but nothing special. If they’d dated for nine months, surely they’d been in love. A low ache vibrated through my body. “You never told me why the two of you broke up.” I swirled the wine in my glass and drank it.
“JJ broke it off with me.” Miguel’s grin fell. “But it was for the best. We weren’t in the right headspace for a relationship.” He rolled his lips.
“Yeah, but my life is more stable now.” JJ gave him a flirtatious smile. “And you’re looking better than ever.”
“Yeah? Thank you.” With a glance at me, Miguel edged in closer to JJ’s side. “How’s football going?”
“Great. I’ve been playing first string for the last two years.” JJ’s gaze held Miguel’s. “Are you still playing soccer?”
Jesus, it was like I’d disappeared. I drank the rest of my wine as my gut knotted. Their flirting was so obvious.
“I am. I’m settling on an agent this year, and I’m looking at my prospects for the MLS.” He wound an arm over the back of the booth, behind JJ’s shoulders.
