Page 27 of Battered Moves

“If you ever see me jogging, call the police because someone is forcing me for sure,” Gunner says with a grunt.

“Not a fan of cardio?” I ask, chuckling. He lies back down on his towel and turns his head to me.

“Do I look like I’m doing any cardio besides dancing?” he asks.

I smile and lie down as well, turning my head to him but squinting against the sun and using my hand to shield my eyes.

“You would love all the new workout machines at Tanner Fitness. You should come work out there with me sometime,” I say.

“As if I’d ever lay a foot in that fancy ass studio,” he responds with a huff.

“Why not?” I ask.

“Because you don’t need all that expensive shit and membership to work out. That’s some fancy people stuff,” he says.

“But I work out there too, you know,” I protest, furrowing my brow in confusion.

“Yeah, and you’re the fanciest person I know,” he says, laughing.

“Hey, I’m not!” I say defensively, feeling a bit insulted.

“Sorry, what? I can’t hear you over your finger food board,” Gunner says, a hand on his ear.

“It’s called a charcuterie board,” I correct, narrowing my gaze at him.

“You’ve proved my point,” he replies dryly, raising his finger in the air and turning his head back up to the sky, but I notice the corner of his mouth lifting up in a smirk.

“Why does it sound like an insult when you say I’m fancy?” I mutter.

“It’s not, Livy,” Gunner replies, turning to look at me intently. “It’s just that you come from a different world than I do,” he says with a shrug.

“How would you know that?” I ask, frowning at him.

“I can just tell,” he responds simply, then adds, “You should come work out with me sometime in my old-school gym with old-school weights. Those machines are not the way to build up muscle.”

I can’t resist teasing him a bit since he called me fancy.

“Funny, Jaxon uses them, and his muscles are just fine,” I point out.

“Nah, his muscles are just for show. They look good but aren’t worth anything in a fight,” Gunner says, and I choke on my own spit, I have to laugh so badly.

“You do know he’s an ex-MMA fighter, right?” I remind him.

“Emphasis on ex. He was good once, but he’s slacking now,” he says with a shrug.

“So you think you could take him in a fight?” I ask, and he sits up, frowning at me.

“You think I couldn’t?” he asks.

“He was an MMA fighter, Gunner.” I laugh.

“And I’m a fucking bodyguard that protects fancy ass people like you every day with my life!” he snaps, getting agitated, so I can’t stop now.

“Mostly with your gun,” I say with a shrug.

He stands up and hoists me over his shoulder once again before walking towards the water.

“Gun!” I giggle and punch his back. “Let me go!” I cry out as he stands in the ocean, the water up to his knees, and turns me over on his shoulder so thatmy head is hanging over the water. Some of my hair is already wet.He puts his arm around my waist to free his other hand while still holding me steady, which I find impressive, until he pulls out his phone from his back pocket and starts recording a video.

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