Page 36 of Becoming Us

He was wearing those short athletic shorts again—the kind I’d seen him in more times than I could count. It was always some variation of a T-shirt and those shorts, or sometimes sweats. Atty always had that look about him, like he was either coming from the gym or heading there, and damn, it worked for him.

In those shorts, every ridge of muscle along his thick thighs was visible—a living sculpture in motion.

The hair on his body was a light blond, somehow perfectly placed, like it had been groomed by nature itself. His armpitslooked like the kind of place you’d want to bury your face in. And that happy trail? I could practically drool just thinking about it. I imagined my hand gliding down his sculpted abs, lower and lower, until I reached?—

“Do you want me to stay over?” Atty whispered in my ear, snapping me out of my very not-so-innocent thoughts about his groin.

My hand froze mid-pattern on his leg. The answer was an obvious yes. But that wasn’t what we were doing. We had crossed a line, but it didn’t mean we had to send it all to hell.

And judging by where my brain had gone a few seconds ago, maybe not the smartest idea if we were still attempting to keep some distance. Notif. We were doing this. I was doing things right this time.

“Remember the rules?” I whispered back, placing a kiss along his jaw to soften the blow.

His arm tightened around my neck as he pulled me closer. His nose brushed the edge of my ear, and every hair on my body stood at attention. Whatwasit about this guy? It was like he could manipulate my body’s responses at will.

“I wasn’t implying anything,” he said. “But now that you mention it…”

“Nope. Not mentioning anything. Plus, you’ve got work tomorrow. And I have a run. Then drums?—”

“What?”

“I practice a couple times a week.”

“No, no.” His thumb tilted my face toward his. Those pale eyes locked on mine. “A run?”

I nodded. “I run in the mornings.”

Atty just stared, and something unspoken passed between us.

Yes, I’m taking care of myself. And yes, this made me feel closer to you.

I didn’t say it out loud, but I didn’t need to. The look he gave me was pure understanding. His forehead rested against mine, his eyes closing. A soft smile curved those perfect lips, melting me all over again. I traced it with my fingertip, then kissed him.

“We could go together sometime,” I whispered.

His nod was immediate. “I’d love that.”

Our eyes met again, and I almost caved. Almost saidScrew it,just stay over. All I wanted was to kiss him and never stop.

A throat cleared beside us.

Right. Forgot about that.

“So, are we calling it a night?” Ezra drawled. “Because things are getting awfully cozy, and Col and I haven’t discussed where we stand on foursomes.”

“Honey, please. Not in front of the kids,” Colin replied, unfazed.

Atty chuckled and pulled away from me. “We should take off.”

They both gave us a look.

“We’re leaving?” Colin asked.

“Yeah,” Atty said, voice uncertain as he turned to me. I gave him a small nod. He shrugged. “Yup. Let’s go.”

They pushed up from the couch, and I followed them to the elevator, Atty holding my hand the whole way.

“See you at nine?” he asked Ezra, who answered with a lazy salute.