Page 13 of Between Commitment and Betrayal

“We’re at work.” She stared up at me, and I saw lust in her eyes, saw how she licked her lips.

“And contrary to what I said out there, I don’t fuck at work like some—”

“Piper does my PR. She was giving me an update. Not—”

“It doesn’t matter.” She looked away and one of her hands went to her neck full of necklaces to play with them. She dragged her teeth over her bottom lip and it glistened enough that I had to lower my head to taste it. To taste her.

I took her lips in my mouth, and she opened them immediately, ravaging me like I did her, taking what she wanted from my kiss like she needed it as much as I did.

When my hand brushed over her breast, though, and I felt that nipple pebble, she pushed me back, breathing fast. “We’re at work. My father’s gym. Your gym. I’m barely a part of this community. I don’t want to make waves by sleeping with the king of it. Especially when the king is friends with my father.”

With that, she pushed past me.

I called after her but she didn’t listen.

And she didn’t listen to my text from earlier about taking a car home either.

I didn’t text her about it. I couldn’t. Instead, I tried to let her go, because I knew everything Everly had said was right.

It was just a matter of time before I figured out if we could ignore the pull of being wrong.

5

EVERLY

“Carl,I’d rather not talk about it right now,” I blurted out and then patted his shoulder so he could calm down. I’d found it helped him in a weird way, like he was an overzealous puppy that needed a pat on the head every now and then.

“Well, you can’t date him.”

“That’s not really up to you,” I repeated in a matter-of-fact tone, trying not to cause a scene. “You can’t meddle in everything.”

He scoffed as if he was affronted, but we both knew how he was. “So sue me for caring! I held my tongue when you went for coffee and on a few dates, but this is another month in, Evie. He’s not a good man.”

That was a lie. He hadn’t held his tongue at all.

Juna walked by, pulling her arm across her chest in a stretch when she decided to stop and listen. She couldn’t steer away from the gossip magazines, and we were turning into a live one for her viewing pleasure. “How you doing, Mr. Milton?” she asked, knowing full well he was irritated since his cheeks were bright red.

He immediately looked to her for help. “Tell Everly how bad Wes is.”

Juna smiled wide, her purple pixie cut swinging back and forth as she opted to give him hell instead. “Mr. Milton, Wes is sort of hot.” The girl was a breath of fresh air in the stuffy gym. She had a foul mouth and loved to play devil’s advocate, but it’s not what Carl wanted. “I mean, I know he pulled that move last year on Dec—”

“We’re not talking about that. We don’t talk about that at HEAT.” Carl cut her off and then groaned. He waved her off, and she fluttered her fingers before skipping away. Carl turned back to me, “The media has painted the right picture of Wes, and I’m not having you associated with that.”

Media. That word. The press and publicity that came with working at HEAT made me cringe. I repressed a small shudder and went through the tablet’s schedule to make sure all our tasks were in order for the day.

“What did Wes do that could be so bad?” I didn’t really believe Wes was it for me, but it was my intention to get out there, to start dating again, to embrace love instead of bitterness.

And to forget about Declan. Mostly that, even though my body couldn’t seem to do so.

“He plays for the other team! That’s all you need to know.” Carl threw up his hands like this was the end all be all.

“The team doesn’t define him,” I pointed out. We were at the front desk bickering, and I knew a client would walk in any second. “We’ve talked about this. Just calm down, okay? We can discuss it more later when we aren’t at work.”

“You know I’m your father, right?” His gray eyebrows furrowed together above his glasses. He never trimmed them, but somehow, they suited his boisterous attitude.

“Of course,” I nodded, suddenly uncomfortable.

I’d moved out of his guesthouse as fast as I could and hadn’t accepted any help financially to get what he felt was a nice apartment. I didn’t want to owe Carl any more than I already did.