Page 29 of Going for Gold (Sweet Cravings 3)

He, of course, kissed the back of her hand.

Alina stifled a laugh and whispered, "Is he always like this? I think Kristen has a crush on him."

"Unfortunately, yes. He is."

"Is he gay?" she asked.

I laughed. "Officially? No. Unofficially..."

Alex cleared his throat. Alina and I quit whispering and looked up. He was standing awkwardly by himself while Tim taught Kristen how to do a proper curtsey and Alina and I whispered to each other. It was obvious that he held the unenviable position of being the fifth wheel. I would have tried to get Kristen and Alina to bring a third volleyball girl, but I wouldn't wish Alex on anyone.

"Sorry," I said.

"So where are we going?" asked Alina.

"Some steak place. Hopefully it'll be good. Tim said it had pretty good reviews on trip advisor."

"Perfect," said Alina. "I've been craving some meat."

"Yeah, Alina loves meat in her mouth," said Kristen.

Alina started to turn red. "Oh my God. I didn't mean it like that. I meant steak meat, not penis meat. Not that I don't like penises, it's just I'm really hungry for steak. And I should stop talking now."

Kristen cut in. "Sorry, Alina's having a little trouble thinking straight. Our coach has banned us from sex for the past four weeks. Did your coach give you guys a sex ban too?"

I tried not to show my excitement. I knew Alina had a boyfriend, but with things being "complicated" between them and Alina being horny as hell, things could get interesting later in the week.

Tim laughed. "Yeah. We aren't even allowed to masturbate. It's been kind of funny, actually. It's like boner-city in the showers after practice. A little hot water and boom, boner time." He turned to Alina. "You probably know all about that though after you wandered into the men's locker room the other day."

Alina caught my gaze and raised an eyebrow slightly. She didn't need to speak to communicate a very clear, "What the fuck is wrong with Tim?"

I shrugged. I had no explanation for the odd shit Tim said. Does he really check everyone out in the shower? I made a mental note to stay away from Tim in the locker room.

"Shouldn't we get going so we aren't late to dinner?" asked Alex.

"Good idea," I said.

As we walked through the gate, I glanced over at the guy that Tim had accused of being creepy. The dude stared at me for a second and then flicked his cigarette and ground it into the sidewalk with the heal of his scuffed Timberland boots. There was a pile of about three dozen other cigarette butts in the same spot. Does this guy do anything other than stand here and smoke? He pulled out his phone, typed out a text, and walked away.

"Alright, our Uber should be here any minute," said Tim.

Just as he finished his sentence, a black car with an Uber sticker in the window pulled up.

Chapter 13

Monday

Alina

"Wow, that was quick," I said.

"It really was," agreed Bryce. "He must have known you couldn't wait much longer to get some meat in your mouth."

Oh my God. Why did I ever say that? I couldn't think straight with him standing so close in that damn fitted suit. The way it hugged his arms... I hit his arm playfully. "Just get in the car."

Bryce opened up the door.

"Is there enough room?" I asked. There were five of us and only three seats in the back of the car, so the answer was no.

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