Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
The woman gives a thoughtful nod, like that’s exactly the advice she needed. “Thank you,” she says as she kneels, then rises.
Briar stretches up, standing gracefully as she says goodbye. She moves like water, and it’s too alluring.
She checks the time on her phone on the table, then must notice me out of the corner of her eye. Whirling around, she says, “Oh. Hi.”
She sounds breathy. Can’t be from the pose though. She does that one all the time.
I swallow roughly, hunting for words. Why didn’t I plan better what to say? “Hey,” I reply.
Get it together, man.
I clear my throat, try again. “Uh, I wanted to see what…games you like.”
“You did?” She sounds intrigued.
I scratch my jaw, trying to seem nonchalant. “Hollis mentioned game night. So I figured I’d ask. Settlers of Catan? Go Fish? Charades? Cards Against Humanity?”
She taps her chin, going all thoughtful, teasing me a little. Then she tilts her head, holds my gaze, and says, “Surprise me.”
My chest is a furnace. My skin is too tight. I can’t breathe.
All I want is to surprise her.
But it’s a bad idea to get involved. Not just with her. She’s in some sort of situation with my teammates who are also my two best friends. The three of us rely on each other every goddamn day, nearly every play. It’s already risky enough that they’re adding fuel to the fire.
I won’t take the chance of fanning it. I can’t mess things up. The team comes first.
I find the will to break her captivating gaze and give a tight nod. “I’ll get Twister then,” I say, all deadpan, since I guess I can’t resist the implication of that game.
Maybe she can’t either.
Her eyes glitter with excitement, and I guess I’ve surprised her. Maybe I’ve surprised myself too.
35
MIND-BLOWING PLANKS
Briar
It’s hard to focus on the update my brother is showing me when I know the three guys are coming back to the cottage in an hour.
I really should give Griffin all my attention. He popped by today since he was driving through on his way into the city. But even as he shows me the new content he’s added to my app, my mind drifts. What do I wear tonight? Is it even a date? And the big question is—what’s going on with Gavin?
Griffin points to the drop-down menu for classes on the prototype. “This is where I grouped together the new videos you uploaded. For the fourteen-day core-work class,” Griffin says, then shudders.
That snaps my attention fully back to my brother. Donut’s sitting with us, and she tilts her head his way too, ears perked.
“What’s that for?” I point at him, indicating his reaction.
“Core work. AKA the devil’s work.”
“Core work feels so good,” I insist.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“But it does,” I say.
“You know what feels good? Resting at the end of a long day,” he says, then kicks his feet up on the coffee table, like he’s making his point.
I slump deeper onto the couch and turn to Donut. “There’s no hope if I can’t get my brother to do yoga.”
“Well, what’s in it for me if I don’t want better core muscles?” Griffin challenges as he adjusts his black glasses.
I marinate on that for a second, flipping back to my conversation with Rhys this morning. We didn’t want to use boyfriend tips as a way to lure men to get more sex. But yoga tips? That’s a different kettle of fish. “Yoga can improve your sex life.”
Griffin sits up like a jack-in-the-box. “What is this voodoo of which you speak?”
Ha! I’ve caught the fish. Time to reel him in. “A strong core means you can last longer in certain positions. Think about it. Missionary is like one long plank.”
He stares at me with the biggest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. Mouth agape. “Mind. Blown.”
“Now, go blow your next girlfriend’s mind with that.”
He makes a show of looking at his watch. “And I’m outta here to do some planks.”
But he’s one of the hardest workers I know so he stays thirty more minutes, till we’ve hammered out the details of the app menu. “This is going to be a beautiful, battle-tested app when you finally launch it,” he says, understandably proud of his work.
“It is and you’re awesome,” I say, patting his shoulder affectionately.
“Now all you have to do is keep making a ton of videos. Oh, and you know, market it,” he says, so dryly I have to laugh.
None of that’s easy. Nothing worth having is. But if I win the contest on Steven’s website, I’ll have a head start on the marketing for Flow and Flex Fitness—a nice cash infusion. Right away, my mind swirls with all the things I need to do. The new video series I need to shoot. The coursework I want to develop for Nova and the Sea Dogs. The classes at Peak Performance in the city. The apartment I need to find. Then Rhys and Hollis and all they have going on. Good thing we set a time limit for this tryst, so I won’t be their distraction.