Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
It would have been easier to ignore his crush if Shawn had been a twat again. But since his outburst the weekend before, Shawn had been trying really hard to be nice. He was making the effort to hang out with the rest of them more, maybe because he was lonely now he didn’t have Beth to visit or Skype with.
On Sunday morning, Jude was up and drinking a banana smoothie before heading out to the university gym.
Shawn came in, also dressed in workout clothes. He looked good. His legs still had a light tan from the summer, and Jude liked the way the blond hairs glinted when they caught the light. They looked soft, and he wondered how they’d feel under his hands. He dragged his gaze up, past Shawn’s broad chest—showcased by a short-sleeved compression shirt—to his face.
“Morning.” Jude leaned back against the kitchen counter.
“Hi,” Shawn said gruffly.
He looked a little pink; had he already been out running? He wasn’t sweating, so probably not. Shawn ducked away from Jude’s gaze and went to the fridge to get some orange juice.
“You heading to the gym?” Jude asked.
“Nah. I’m not a member any more. Not a student, remember.”
“But it’s open to the public too.”
“Yeah?” Shawn scratched the back of his neck. His bicep bulged distractingly. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah. I think it might cost a bit more than the student rate, but you can definitely join—or pay as you go.”
“Huh.” Shawn glanced out of the window. The sky was dark grey and rain splattered against the glass, caught on a gust of wind. “That’s appealing on a day like today.”
“Yeah, it is. Why don’t you come with me? You can pay for a one-off session and see if you reckon it’s worth forking out for membership.”
Jude usually worked out alone. It might be nice to have company, and Shawn would definitely improve the view—not that there was a shortage of fit blokes in the uni gym. It kinda went with the territory.
Shawn frowned and the flush was back. Maybe, after the accidental free show he’d got the other day, he felt as weird around Jude as Jude did around him. But that was all the more reason to get past this.
Perhaps Shawn reached the same conclusion, because he finally said, “Yeah, okay, seems like a good idea. Running any distance in this weather isn’t appealing, and there’s a limit to what I can do with dumbbells in my room. You know what they say, use it or lose it.” He flexed his arms and gave Jude his first genuine grin of the morning.
Jude smiled back. “Cool.”
The sports centre was only a short jog away, so they ran there as a warm-up. Even that short distance had Jude’s shirt wet and clinging to him by the time they arrived; he wished he’d worn something tighter. He showed his membership card at the desk and waited for Shawn while he paid the one-off fee.
“More cardio first? Or weights?” Jude asked after they put their keys and Shawn’s wallet in a locker.
“I always do weights first. You get better results that way.”
“Yeah? Okay, cool.”
They hit the free weights, and Jude was happy to let Shawn take the lead. He seemed to know what he was doing, and Jude was no expert. He’d always kept fit but had never taken weight training quite as seriously as Shawn obviously did. They ended up doing a circuit that targeted more muscles than Jude usually hit in one session, and he was soon feeling it.
“This is gonna hurt tomorrow, man,” he complained after a particularly brutal set of lateral raises with a heavier weight than he normally used.
“But it’s so good for your delts.” Shawn took the weights Jude offered. “Come on, one more set each.”
Shawn moved to face the mirror, but Jude could still see his face in the reflection.
“Sadist. It’s a good thing you’re pretty.”
Shawn’s gaze flickered to him and a nervous expression crossed his features before he schooled them into impassivity again. He grunted as he raised the weights out to the side, muscles straining, teeth gritted.
“Oh, relax.” Jude folded his arms and kept his eyes up, although the temptation to admire Shawn’s arse was strong. “You’re straight. I get it. Does that mean you can’t take a compliment from a gay guy?”
“I s’pose not,” Shawn panted out between reps.
“Well, good. Because you’re easy on the eye. But I’m pretty sure you know that anyway.” Jude winked at him and turned away to stretch his hamstrings, which were stiffening up after some dead lifts they’d done earlier.
When they were finally done, they jogged back to the house. Well, Shawn jogged; Jude felt like he was limping.
“I think you broke me, dude,” he panted as he tried to keep pace with Shawn.
“Take it easy for the rest of the day. It’ll hurt even more tomorrow, but you’ll live.”