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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

EASTON

I felt it when Gary went deadweight, snoring lightly.

I might’ve pushed him a little too hard for his first time working out.

I’d need to contact Coach about a routine more suited to Gary’s level.

In my defense, I had never trained anyone before.

And Gary managed to pull through. He only really did my warm up routine, but it was too much for him.

For our next session, we’d stick to cardio. Give his muscles a break.

I was debating how to get into the dorms with Gary asleep, since I couldn’t put him down to get his key, when a familiar face came around the corner.

“Hey, man. Uh… Is he alright?” the roommate, Carter, asked, cocking his head at the snoring figure on my back.

“Mm. First workout today. I might’ve pushed too hard.”

He snorted, eyeing his roommate with obvious humor.

He didn’t show any signs of being interested, which was good.

I still wasn’t ready for Gary to see my apartment.

I liked how things were now. He freaked out just riding in my car.

If he knew I had money, he might be too awkward to be around me, and I wasn’t willing to give him up.

“Looks like you did. Hold on, let me get the door.”

I wasn’t worried, it wasn’t like Gary was heavy, but appreciated his help to get Gary inside.

He’d need to get up eventually. It wasn’t even dinner time yet, and I knew he’d want to study, but there was nothing wrong with a nap.

I couldn’t take one, my mind never settled enough to let me rest more than once a day, but Gary seemed to like them.

“What kind of routine did you set him up with?” Carter asked conversationally as we waited for the elevator.

“I had him do my warmup routine. I didn’t think it’d be that hard for him.”

Carter looked me over with a grimace. “Yeah, I probably could’ve told you that would be too much for him.

You’re ripped. Gary gets out of breath going up the hill by the cafeteria.

” He held the door to the elevator, allowing a few more to scurry in and join us before letting it slide shut.

“I’m working on becoming a physical therapist. I can write up a routine for beginners that would be more his level, if you’re interested. ”

I eyed him suspiciously. I didn’t fully trust people who offered shit with no equal exchange. In my experience, they’d come back later and demand repayment.

Carter seemed oblivious to the accusation in my eyes, bouncing a little as he watched the numbers rise.

“Actually, that would really help me out. I have to create workouts for different scenarios for one of my classes. If I did one for a complete newbie and kept track of his progress, it’d be one less thing to do for that class.

I mean, you obviously work out way more than I do,”–he gestured to the muscles of my arms, which were bigger than his by a lot– “so feel free to tell me if I’m wrong.

But if you need ideas, then I’m your man. ”

I grumbled out something vague about thinking about it, but him being in classes that specifically had to do with training people wasn’t something I could just ignore. Gary needed the help. And he liked his roommate. I might need to give the guy a chance.

We got out on Gary’s floor, and Carter led the way to their room. There was a woman by the door waiting for him, playing with her phone, and he smiled at her when he approached.

“Hey, London. How’d you beat me here?”

She shrugged, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “I skipped my last class. The professor is boring, and it's not like attendance matters.”

Ugh. That was something to be jealous about. All my classes had attendance as one of the things graded. I had to sign in for each class. She must’ve heard my discontented sound because she looked over Carter’s shoulder at me, sucking in a sharp breath when she realized I was behind him.

“Oh. Hi…”

Carter grimaced. “Shit, I’m being an asshole. Hold on, London. I need to get the door open. Gary’s out cold after his workout. We’ll have to hang out somewhere else. I don’t think it’d be safe to try and get him into his bed. He can crash on the couch for now.”

She was staring at me again. I didn't recognize her at first because I didn't really pay attention last time, but she was the same chick Gary got jealous about the other night.

How Carter managed to miss the looks she gave me was a mystery.

The guy was nice enough but a little stupid. Or blind. Or maybe both.

He opened the door with his key, holding it wide so I could get in. I sat on the futon with Gary still on my back while Carter snagged Gary’s pillow from his bed. It took some maneuvering, but I eventually got Gary lying down on the couch. Out cold was right. He didn’t even stir. I grimaced.

“Maybe a new routine is for the best. I didn’t mean to push him that far.”

Carter snickered. “Maybe not. But he likes you enough to go through with it, at least. I’ve asked him a few times if he wanted to join me in the gym. He always tells me no.”

I fought back a grin. The possessive part of me liked that. Gary never argued with me when I told him to do something. He trusted me to do right by him.

“Come on, babe. Let’s get out of here,” he said to his girlfriend before looking back at me. “I’ll write up that workout and have it ready by this weekend, yeah? I think he may need a few days to recover after going that hard on day one.”

Probably. And he’d probably whine about it, too. I’d have to bring him to The Hideout again so he could whine to the rest of the group instead of just me. Maybe I could convince him to smoke a little to take the edge off.

“We don’t have to leave,” London argued. “We can just sit on your bed. He hasn’t woken up by now. I doubt he’d wake up if we hung around.”

I didn’t care either way, but I got the feeling she wasn’t trying to hang around because of the location.

She hadn’t stopped staring since I got here.

I bet myself five bucks that she’d change her mind once she realized I wasn’t staying.

I fished Gary’s key out of his pocket, covering him with a blanket because he was somehow always cold.

“I’m heading out for a bit. I don’t want him sleeping forever, so I’ll stop by in an hour to wake up, but I’ve got shit to do.

” Namely, finding the asshole who screwed with Gary’s stuff in the library.

I had a guess, but I wanted to see if I could find the guy and catch him admitting to it.

People said the stupidest shit when they thought no one else was listening.

I saw London pout out of the corner of my eye, and she was quick to change her tune about staying.

“Oh. You know what, leaving your roommate to rest is probably a good idea. We can just hang out in my room.”

Carter shrugged, like he didn't care either way, but I obviously won the bet against myself. She only wanted to stay for me. I wasn’t interested, so Gary didn't have any reason to be jealous, but I wasn’t going to hang around if he wasn’t awake.

It’d only lead to him arguing later on, and I didn’t want to deal with that.

We all headed out together, and Carter locked up behind him.

Gary would probably be too exhausted to go out, even if he woke up before I got back.

I wasn’t worried about stealing his key.

It wasn’t the first time I did it while he was napping.

I spun the keyring on my finger, my eyes on my phone as we took the elevator down.

I didn’t notice London edging closer until her hand brushed my arm.

Jerking away, I frowned at her. She was close enough to Carter that he hadn’t noticed, but from the look on her face, it wasn’t an accident.

She batted her eyelashes at me, biting her lip like she was trying to turn me on. Gary pulled it off better.

“Don’t touch me.”

I didn’t bother whispering. I didn't care enough about her to spare her the embarrassment of trying to explain things to Carter. He frowned at us both, and I almost wanted to stick around for the chaos that was about to ensue, but I just happened to see that asshole who insulted Gary walking past the building when the doors opened, and I didn’t want to have to find him again later.

I ducked out of the elevator, smirking as London backpedaled and tried to claim it was an accident.

Hopefully, Carter would pull his head out of his ass long enough to figure out his girlfriend was a cheater and dump her.

Even I wasn’t that messed up and the only relationship I ever had was fake.