Chapter 4
Chapter four
Wyatt
That was the most intense workout I’d participated in for a long damn while.
And not because the cardio and lifts were a challenge.
No, Rory’s presence was the most distracting thing I’d dealt with in ages, yet I hadn’t had this much fun at the gym in just as long.
He flirted, constantly. And that should’ve been a thing I rolled my eyes over or ignored because I was straight.
However, I couldn’t deny the way my adrenaline picked up each time.
The way I zeroed in on every detail about him fell more in line with my typical reaction to someone I was interested in.
Which of course gave me plenty to chew on.
Maybe I was thirsty for attention. Or sex. Fuck, I’d been with Susie for so long, and the last five years we hadn’t even bothered with sex, both of us realizing we were just friends who’d had a kid early.
“You ready to hit the showers?” Rory asked, a sparkle in his eyes that I now recognized as more flirting.
An undeniable thrill raced through me. Should his attention feel uncomfortable?
Because it didn’t, and that threw me on my head.
Frankly, I shouldn’t be entertaining any of it because he was so fucking young. Closer to Harper’s age than mine.
I lifted my tank to sniff. Ugh, it reeked. “Yeah, I need one before I get to my next job.”
“Besides, I’ve got to check the status quo on your piercing, right?” Rory said, all mock innocence that I didn’t believe for a second.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” I said, my cheeks heating for the thousandth time since Rory showed up.
Why I’d texted him that in the first place baffled me.
Truth be told, I just wanted him to show up.
Most of my friends had drifted, my family and I weren’t close, and my daughter was grown up, doing things on her own now.
The time I’d spent with Rory after the piercing had been one of the brightest rays of sunshine I’d experienced in a while.
“I can do a quick check in there,” he said, taking the lead toward the back, where the lockers and showers were. “Don’t worry, I’ll be hands-off.”
My heart thumped a little faster at the thought of his hands on me.
I was blaming how parched I was for human contact for why this affected me so much.
Rory slipped through the door, and I followed behind him.
The locker room was empty, which wasn’t surprising as only a handful of folks were on the equipment right now, and the showers were equally unoccupied.
I placed my bag of spare clothes on the wooden gym bench and then stripped off the shirt first. Rory hadn’t brought a bag, which was curious, but he also hadn’t gotten as sweaty as me.
I liked to push myself at the gym, to experience the endorphin rush of hitting my limits.
“I meant to bring a change of clothes,” he said, his line of sight on my bag. “But I forgot them on my kitchen table on the way out. Though I’ll need to swing home to change before work anyway.”
“I think I’ve got a spare shirt if that would help?
” I offered as I shed my sweats next. My skin prickled, and when I looked up Rory was staring at me, a hunger in his gaze that made my heart speed up.
I wouldn’t even know what to do with a guy, so I didn’t know why my body reacted this way to his attention.
“I’m not going to turn down a fresh shirt,” he said, tugging his own off.
He was slender but defined from clearly getting enough exercise, and a thin trail of dark hair traveled down to disappear into his waistband.
Two barbells glinted in his nipples, drawing my attention, and tattoos traveled up his arms, across his back, all attractive colors and firm lines.
My cock woke to life at the sight, and I licked my lips, my mouth far too dry.
Rory’s gaze caught mine, and he flashed me a wicked grin. Then he dragged his waistband down and yanked his pants off—to reveal a red jockstrap. His ass was on full display, his package cupped by the front, and I was officially staring.
His ass was plush and firm, two cheeks that my teeth ached to bite.
Fuck, where had that come from? My cock stirred, the blood humming to it making my dick ache all over again from the piercing.
“Better get this off too,” Rory said, a flirty note to his voice.
He grabbed the straps of the waistband and bent over as he dragged them down nice and slow, placing his luscious ass on full display in front of me.
It was like being at a buffet and unable to eat.
My mouth watered, but what would I even do?
Hell, I shouldn’t even be entertaining any of these thoughts. He was so off limits it wasn’t funny.
Rory tossed the jockstrap onto his pile on top of the bench and placed his hands on his hips.
He was utterly nude, his cock thick and protruding out.
He shouldn’t be drawing my attention this way, but damn, his whole body was a work of art.
Beyond the tattoos, he was all hard lines and smooth skin, and when I reached his face, his eyes danced with knowing. Damn, busted.
“I’ll check your piercing after you’ve cleaned it off,” he said, which surprised me, as I’d been expecting something flirty again.
“Better to gauge that way.” With that, he flung open the shower curtain and stepped right on in.
He closed it clumsily, leaving a clear view of his body, and the hiss of the showerhead sounded a second later.
I reached for my pants and tugged them off, then took time with my briefs, careful not to jostle my piercing more than necessary. When I looked back up, Rory’s head was under the spray, the view through the curtains showcasing the water sluicing off his toned body.
Shame flushed through me. I was being such a perv right now.
I dropped my clothes onto the bench and quickly made my way over to the adjacent shower.
The second I yanked the handle, cold water poured over me, which I sorely needed right now given the filthy thoughts parading through my head.
The spray quickly turned warm, and I squirted some of the bodywash they kept stocked, then worked it into a lather on my skin.
“You know,” Rory said, his voice cutting through the rush of water. “If you want to hang out, you can just ask. No excuses needed.”
Wow, damn, apparently my communication skills weren’t just rusty but nonexistent.
I let out a laugh, the water rushing over my hair, my body. I basked in the feel of the heat on my aching muscles. “Noted. You don’t mind?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Rory responded, and something in me quieted at his simple response.
“Trust me, I wasn’t coming to the gym on a professional courtesy.
You’re funny, you’re easy to talk to, and not to mention you’re hot.
Though if my flirting gets to be too much, call me on it.
I’m plenty capable of being friends with unavailable hotties. ”
Normally, shower conversations weren’t part of my normal gym protocol, but Rory seemed to break the rules wherever he went.
I reached down and began to soap up my cock, careful around the piercing.
It had already plumped from the visual of the guy in the stall next to me, which seemed to be imprinted on my brain.
“I’m available,” I blurted out before the words caught up with my brain.
A laugh echoed off the tiles. “Straight is unavailable in my book too.”
Right. Straight. That thing I was. Apparently.
“Ever feel out of sync with everyone?” I asked as I scrubbed the suds out of my hair.
“Well, yeah,” Rory responded. “My whole damn life.”
My heart thudded a bit harder. Maybe that was why he was so easy to connect to.
Up until we’d had Harper, I’d floated through life.
My brothers had never known what to do with me, but at least in school I’d fit in, no problem.
And my hobbies were pretty normal, but once I’d had Harper…
shit, everything had changed. My friends were heading off to college, not interested in kids.
And then as she got older, Harper’s friends all had parents a good decade old than me, and most weren’t interested in friendship.
I craved companionship more than my next breath. The other dream, the secret one of finding love…well, I’d long since buried it.
“Sorry, perennial mood killer here,” Rory said, and the hiss of the shower shut off.
“Nah, not in the slightest,” I said, washing the rest of the suds off me. “It gave me food for thought is all.” I turned the handle, shutting off the spray, and stepped out of the shower. “Though shower talks are definitely new territory.”
“Look, if the girlies get to have bathroom chats, then we deserve shower talks,” Rory said, drawing my attention his way.
Fuck.
He was completely naked, and he toweled himself off by the bench. His dark hair plastered to his forehead in that sexy, wet way, and when he glanced in my direction, his gaze heated. The droplets of water on his smooth skin looked utterly lickable, which was a problem.
I snagged a towel from the rack by the showers and scrubbed my hair with it, trying to ignore the way blood flowed south just from a glimpse of him. Occupying myself with patting down my body didn’t help, not when I could feel his gaze on me. And hell, I liked it a little too much.
“All right, let’s see how the piercing is healing up.” Rory’s voice sounded far too close.
I looked up. He stood in front of me, his hair dripping, but he’d popped his jock and pants back on. Disappointment thudded through me, which was insane.
“You can either hold it up for me to see or give me permission to check,” he said, his hand on his hip and a mischievous gleam in his eyes. I was fast becoming addicted to that look, as it got my pulse racing on sight alone.
Permission to check, meaning…
My throat dried, and I tried to swallow. No one was in the locker room with us, and he was offering.
“You can check,” I said, squeezing my nape tight. My cock was so hard it could punch through tile, and the headiness swirled through my veins at the idea of more contact from him.
Rory’s lips curved up in a grin, and he didn’t hesitate in circling the base of my cock to stabilize it.
I bit back a gasp from the shock of sensation that his fingers there caused.
I apparently needed to do a hell of a lot of self-reflection, because I didn’t think I could keep deluding myself that this was anything but attraction.
His brows drew together, and he tilted my cock upward to examine the piercing.
His movements weren’t sexual in any way, purely clinical as he examined, but my gaze zeroed in on his long fingers around my length, and the clean scent of him, like crisp bodywash.
His skin was so lickable, his body tight and sexy as fuck. And damn, I hadn’t realized quite how lonely I’d become until I met him.
I needed to get on an app, go on some dates, something—because indulging in him wouldn’t be a good move.
“It’s healing up well,” he said. “You’ll be DTF in no time.”
“DTF?” I asked.
“Down to fuck,” he said, waggling his brows.
His hand was still wrapped around my base, and I became far too aware of how close we were.
That we stood in the middle of a locker room with his hand on my cock.
Heat rushed through me in a fierce torrent, and a little bead of pre-cum welled at my tip.
Rory’s nostrils flared, and his tongue peeked out as he licked his lower lip.
I should move away. This was going beyond a quick check of my piercing. Except I couldn’t bring myself to pull back. Instead, the impulse to lean in rose in a fierce way. Rory’s tongue traced his lips, highlighting how plush they were, and his hot breath puffed against my chest.
The door creaked.
Oh, fuck. I stepped back right as he let go, the moment shattering.
Right, we stood in a public place. I snagged my gym bag, making quick work of tossing on another pair of briefs and sweats, and then tugging on an Anderson Carpentry shirt. Didn’t need a hoodie with the way my blood ran hot right now.
“What else is on your list?” Rory asked, somehow fully dressed and looking chill despite what had just happened between us. My whole body hummed with an awareness I couldn’t escape.
“Hmm?” I asked as I stuffed my dirty clothes in the gym bag.
“Your Get Wild list,” he teased.
“That what we’re calling it now?” I arched a brow, and his grin widened. “Well, piercing’s done. Going to a club is next on the list.”
“I’d offer to help, but you know the types I go to.” He grabbed his towel and mine and tossed them into the bin.
“I’d go.” The words leapt to my lips before I could help myself.
Going to a gay bar was so out of my depth, but hell, none of the guys my age were still hitting up nightclubs.
This impulsivity was so unlike me, but the divorce seemed to be bringing it out of me as I explored things I’d never gotten to all those years ago.
Apparently more things than I realized too.
Rory blinked at me and then chewed on his lower lip. “Deal—as long as I get to dance with you.”
Holy hell. Heat rushed through me in a fierce sweep, and my cock, which had been flagging, started to rise to attention again. I’d seen that lush ass mere moments ago, and the idea of Rory grinding on me? Damn.
“Fine,” I said, a slow grin rising to my lips. “You can fend off all these apparent guys who’d flock to me.”
His nostrils flared, and he shook his head. “Damn, Wyatt. You’re one surprise after another.”
My phone alarm blared, meaning I needed to get on the road to my next job. “Shit, time to roll.”
“I’ve got to go too,” Rory said.
I slung the gym bag over my shoulder and headed in the direction of the door. I quick-walked to the front, and after I stepped outside, I paused for a moment. Rory stood beside me and cast me a quick glance. His car was on the opposite side of the parking lot, so clearly, this was it.
Tension hummed through me. What did I even do? My brain blanked on how I treated the other contractors I grabbed a drink with on occasion. Usually we’d offer a nod before booking it. However, the usual guys I hung out with hadn’t just been holding my dick either.
“Uh, so, see you soon?” I asked, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
“You can bet on it. Though you may regret giving me permission to text you whenever.” Rory’s eyes sparkled.
“I doubt that,” I said, forcing myself to move my hand away and take a step toward my car. “In fact, I’m looking forward to it.”
Spending more time with Rory Brannon wasn’t a good decision, for multiple reasons, but with the way my heart sped and my chest lightened for the first time in a long while, it wasn’t one I could regret.