Chapter 2 #2
Jacob walks around the front of my treadmill and rests his forearms on the dash. His brown brow lifts, and the weight of both of his and Dustin’s stares has me cracking under pressure.
Jacob is built more like me than he is like Dustin in the body department, but he has a head of blond messy hair that most women find attractive…well, according to him. According to him, it’s the reason he gets laid so much.
Both Dustin and I met Jacob at the gym. One minute, Dustin and I were waiting for our turn on the bench press, and the next, we were talking and getting along with the guy holding us up: Jacob. The rest is history.
Dustin and I aren’t as close to Jacob as we are to each other, but he’s managed to become a big part of our life anyway.
“I left the party,” is all I give them.
“Why?” Jacob asks.
“Did someone piss you off?” Dustin chimes in.
I shake my head, although it’s happened before. I don’t stick around when someone is bothering me, and a portion of the party tends to follow me anyway. “No, nothing like that.”
“Then what?” Jacob presses. “I thought we were having a good time, and then-” Something clicks in his head and his eyes widen. “You left with a girl, didn’t you.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a complete accusation.
I must take too long to respond because a big grin spreads across his face. “It’s about damn time.”
“Wait, you got laid too?” Dustin inquires skeptically.
Frowning, I look at him. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“Dude—” Jacob interjects. “You could have anyone you want. You should use your looks more often to have your way with the women. What my friend Dustin here is saying is that he’s a little shocked.”
I rake a hand down my face, gathering the sweat that’s starting to bead there. I forgot to get a towel in my mad dash to get to Dustin. I answer, “It’s not what you think.”
Dustin slows his treadmill to a walk. “Then, please, explain because you have guilt written all over your face right now.”
Dustin knows that I don’t sleep around. He knows my past with women. Jacob, on the other hand, only knows a little about it.
“I met someone last night.” There. I said it.
Jacob slaps the dash. “And then you banged.”
I roll my eyes. “Yes. Okay? Satisfied?”
His grin broadens. “The man, the myth, the legend!”
My eyes widen at how loud his voice got, and I glance around our immediate space to see who heard. The only one around is a girl who has headphones on a few treadmills down. Thankfully, she didn’t hear his outburst.
“Jesus, Jacob. Can you say that any louder?” I hiss.
His grin only broadens. “I can if you want me to. Hey, I could even get shirts made for you. I know a crafty girl.”
“You mean you’ve fucked a crafty girl,” Dustin interjects.
He shrugs. “To-mate-o, toe-mat-o.” He turns his attention back to me. “Was it good? Did you meet her at the party? Which hottie was it?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, I met her there. We went back to her place.”
Dustin scowls at me. “You guys drove? You know how I feel about that.”
I wave him off. “She lives in the same building.” Over my dead body will I tell him that she’s roommates with his girlfriend.
His scowl turns into a frown. “Jessica?” I shake my head. “Dianna?” I shake my head again, and he blows out a breath. “That’s literally the only two single women I know in my building.”
“Her name is Sarah,” I give him.
I can see the wheels turning in his head as he stops his treadmill and wipes his face with a towel that’s draped over his shoulder. At least, someone remembered theirs. “I don’t know a Sarah.”
“Yeah, I get the feeling she was new,” I say, becoming out of breath from my short warm-up. I slow it to a walk, knowing that, if I’m going to spot Dustin, who usually goes first, then I have to wrap this up. “I’ve never seen her at your parties.”
Jacob’s lips twist to the side as he thinks. “I didn’t meet a Sarah last night. I wonder how she wandered into the party without knowing us.”
I shrug, knowing it was probably Ivy who invited her. “No idea.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter.” Jacob leans his chest into the dash. “Was she a good lay?”
My brows pinch together. I growl defensively, “Is that all that matters to you?”
“Oh shit,” Dustin whispers. I glance at him in time for him to add, “You like this girl, don’t you?”
I wet my bottom lip as I think it over. There was something about Sarah that caught my attention.
Yeah, she’s beautiful, but there was something about our brief interaction before the kissing…
something that was there. Some sort of connection.
There’s no way I imagined it. There’s no way it was solely because I was drunk.
“Yeah,” I answer with a shrug. “I do.”
“Holy—” Dustin hops off the belt and mock punches my shoulder. “This is great, man! When do I get to meet her?”
I know he’s happy because my last relationship was a shipwreck. I haven’t dated anyone since.
Jacob chuffs. “You mean we. Because I sure as shit want to see the woman who grabbed his attention.”
Internally, I shrug. “I didn’t get her number, so I’ll probably never see her again.”
“Bull crap,” Dustin counters. “She lives in my building. You’ll see her again.”
“You’re a stud, dude,” Jacob says with conviction. “She’ll be back to another one of Dustin’s parties for more of your goods.”
I roll my eyes, and then I think on it. Shit. What if he’s right? What if she comes back to Dustin’s party and tries to hook up with me again? I mean, I won’t turn her down because, honestly, last night was the best sex I’ve had in a long time, but I don’t want to be used.
As I get off the treadmill and head to the bench press with the guys, my stomach sinks. Because that very well could be the case.