Page 77 of Almost Ours
His shirt was just barely clinging to his back, riding up enough to reveal that godforsaken dip at the base of his spine–the one I’d triedvery hardnot to notice the other night when he bent over to fix the pillow fort.
He glanced up mid-set and spotted us.
And just like that, I forgot how to breathe.
His eyes landed on mine and his whole face lit up. A smile tugged at his lips–lazy, knowing, like he’d caught me staring and wasabsolutelyenjoying it.
I turned quickly to Nina.
Nina, not missing a beat, grinned like a devil. “Looking good, Ryan,” she called out.
I wanted to melt into the rubber flooring.
Shane turned first, tossing the medicine ball down with a dramatic huff. “Hey, what about me?”
Nina rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. No one’s looking at you when Coach over here is strutting around like a GQ model.”
“Rude.” Shane said, raising both arms in mock offence.
Ryan walked over, grabbing a towel to swipe at his face, then slinging it over his shoulder. “Didn’t expect to see you two here this early.”
His voice was low and rough, the kind that made it feel like I was the only one in the room.
I gave a weak wave. “Nina dragged me. I was promised coffee after.”
“She’s lying,” Nina said cheerfully. “She’s theonewho suggested it.”
Ryan raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. “You? Suggested the gym?”
I shrugged, pretending my knees weren’t currently jelly. “I have layers.”
“Mm,” he said, lips twitching. “Dangerous ones.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Mostly because my brain was short-circuiting from the way his voice wrapped around the worddangerous.
Shane leaned against a bench and looked at Nina. “You staying for cardio or just here to collect compliments from the weight room?”
She grinned. “Oh, I already did that when I walked in.”
As they launched into some ridiculous banter about protein shakes and squat form, Ryan stepped a little closer to me.
“How’s it going?” he asked, voice quieter now.
“Good,” I said, nodding. “You?”
He gave a half-shrug. “Better now.”
My stomach flipped.
Before I could say anything else, Shane’s voice cut through the moment like a barbell dropping. “So are you two going to do an actual workout at some point today, or what?”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he said, grinning like the smug menace he was. “Looked like you were doing some light stretching and some aimless wandering to me.”
Nina raised an eyebrow. “Careful, O’Connell. I could take you on.”
Shane’s grin widened. “In what? A race to the juice bar?”
