I push through the door and my gaze immediately zeroes onto Seth’s form. He’s face down on the floor, holding himself up on his elbows and the tips of his feet—boarding? Fencing? No…planking! Yes, that’s what it’s called. Planking. I tried it once and barely made eight seconds.

I stroll over to Darryl, who’s sitting comfortably in a chair next to Seth. He glances up at me and smiles, exposing his white teeth.

“What’s his time?” I ask.

“Eleven minutes so far, four more to go.”

Darryl crosses his legs and places the stopwatch on his grey, sweatpant-clad thigh. I step closer to Seth, watching his muscles tremble as he fights to keep himself up. I hear his breathing come out in controlled breaths and he keeps his head down, ignoring my presence. Normally, I’m okay with Seth focusing more on the training session than me, but after seeing Blade, I want to touch Seth. I want to talk to him and laugh with him—I want to do anything to rid the memory of my ex-boyfriend.

“Switch to high plank,” Darryl commands, and with a small exhale, Seth pushes himself off of his elbows and onto the palms of his hands, holding himself higher off the ground. Seth keeps his head straight, not looking at anything but the far wall. I circle him until I stand in front of him, blocking his eye contact with the wall. He glances up at my face and his lips curl into a heart-stopping smile. The urge to be close to him overwhelms me and I sit down before sliding myself directly underneath his large body

“Here we go,” I hear Darryl sigh under his breath, but I ignore him, focused only on the brown irises that glow lovingly at me.

Seth watches my face as I trail the tips of my fingertips over the rock hard muscles in his arms. The hard masses coated in a thin, arousing layer of sweat tremble and my eyes flick from his arms to his face.

“You know, when I pictured you underneath me for the first time in weeks, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” he says, his voice strained.

I hear Darryl’s chair scratch a few times on the floor as he moves away from us, giving us the privacy we desperately need. I laugh, turning my head to look away from him. He lowers himself and plants a kiss on my cheek, sending warm butterflies through my stomach. I bite my bottom lip against more giggles as his lips playfully travel my jaw and onto my neck.

“Seth, high planks,” Darryl commands and Seth exhales, straightening his arms.

I turn my head to look at him. Even during training sessions he looks amazing. His skin doesn’t turn pink like mine does when I’m overworked, his shines and the golden rivers in his eyes turn a beautiful sun gold. He’s so perfect I want kick him or squeeze him until he pops. Not out of hate, but out of love—pure, endless, exciting love.

“Three more minutes and we’ll go to my place to help Jackson.”

“Will Selena be there, too?” It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. She’s been taking introduction classes in everything because it turns out being a police officer wasn’t for her. On her first day in class, she got to watch them fire guns and she discovered she doesn’t like loud noises. I mentally roll my eyes every time I think about it. On the plus side, since she’s been with Jackson, her drinking and smoking habits have been cut in half. Nothing makes you feel like more of an alcoholic than when Selena declines a drink from you. I don’t know how he did it. I’ve tried to get Selena to cut down on drinking since high school, but she’s very stubborn. After a while, I gave up. She’s her own person and although I wouldn’t want her doing anything to hurt herself, I’m not her mother. She can do whatever she wants and all I can do is offer some sound advice from the sideline.

“I don’t know…” Seth answers. “If Jackson finds her and they make up, then probably.”

“Wait. Finds her? What happened and why hasn’t she called me?”

“She’s probably too pissed off to talk to anyone.”

No, that can’t be it. Selena has always called me when something in her life hasn’t gone her way. She’s called me crying because she kicked her toe. She’s called me crying because her Nan died and she’s called me crying because her driver’s license photo makes her ‘look like a man.’ My point is she always calls me. I pull my phone from my pocket and dial Selena’s number, bringing it to my ear. After four rings, she answers.

“Hey.”

I frown, she seems fine. I keep my eyes on Seth’s chest, but I’m oblivious to the rock hard body hovering above me.

“Sel, are you okay?”

She sighs. “I am now…I’ve had a very long morning.”

“Vent to me, it’ll make you feel better.”

“Jackson met Dad.”

My brows furrow. “And what happened?”

“You know how Dad is and how much he expects from me. Jackson couldn’t handle it, accusing my Dad of being a controlling asshole.” Selena laughs once. “Which is hilarious coming from him.”

Now I’m confused. Jackson is controlling? There’s so much Selena has obviously neglected to tell me…and it kind of hurts. As for her dad, he’s a strict man, but I’ve never really seen him try and control Selena. Then again, she refuses to say much about her dad and he’s hardly home. I’ve seen him easily only twenty times since I’ve known Selena. He can’t be too bad if she still lives there and refuses to move out. I don’t know, I can’t give her advice about a problem she’s never shared with me.

“Will you be at Seth’s today? Jackson is moving and we were hoping to have a barbeque?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Good, we can talk then. I miss you…”

Selena chuckles. “We saw each other two weeks ago, but if it makes you feel better, I miss you, too.”

I roll my eyes. “See you later, dick.”

“Love you!”

I hang up and slip my phone back into my pocket.

“Is she coming?” Seth asks.

“Apparently.”

His full lips curl. “Did she tell you Jackson almost punched her dad?”

I feel my eyebrows rise into my hair line. “No.”

He nods. “Yeah, he did.”

“Why?”

“According to Jackson, her dad is an asshole. Jackson isn’t one to lose control easily, so her dad must’ve said something really messed up to have pissed him off.”

My eyebrows drag together. I’ve never seen Jackson as the aggressive type—at least, not like Seth. Seth can switch his moods at the drop of a hat and the gleam of hate he gets in his eyes whenever someone’s gaze lingers too long in my direction is unnerving…as well as thrilling.

“I never expected Jackson to do something like that.”

“He’s unpredictable, that’s for sure.”

“Time!” Darryl calls from a distance.

I hear his chair creak and then the glass door open and close, leaving Seth and I alone. Seth’s eyes flick between my eyes and my mouth in a way that makes my heart flutter and my stomach clench. He lowers himself, bending his arms at the elbows.

“I have food in the car,” I mutter as his lips graze mine, knowing if I let him kiss me I wouldn’t—couldn’t—stop there.

I smile as he moves across my face and kisses the top of my head. “Then we should go.”

***

Houses whip past me as I glance over my forearm and out the window. I don’t pay attention to any of them, or at least I don’t until the familiar houses on Seth’s streets whirls into view. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Seth’s house and the thought of being so close to him with a bed nearby is exciting. Seth demanded we take his car and leave mine at the gym. Regardless of my protesting, I did what he wanted. You know, the usual.

As we pull into Seth’s driveway, I spot a huge moving truck at the front.

“He’s here already?” I’m pouting. I thought Seth and I could have some alone time before anyone else showed up. Do you know how frustrating it is to have someone like Seth around you all the time but you can’t touch them? All I want to do is to touch him—hell, I even want to lick him, but I can’t—not yesterday, not today, and probably not tomorrow, either.

“Looks like it.” Seth glances sideways at me and chuckles under his breath. “It’s okay, we have forever to do other things.”

I feel my eyes widen a fraction as an unflinching Seth scans the driveway in front of us. Does he even know what he said?

Forever.

He wants to be with me forever… I love Seth and I can’t really picture my life without him, and he loves me too, God knows he says it enough, but I didn’t know he’s actually thinking about forever…is he even capable of forever?

Seth shuts the engine off and slips from the car. He’s at my side before I get my door open and flashes me a confident, yet slightly tired smile. That’s what I like most about Seth. He’s a gentleman—well, almost. He’s the kind of gentleman that opens doors for you and then slaps you firmly on the ass as you pass by, all with an unapologetic smile plastered on his face.

I slide from the car and he closes the door behind me. Seth’s fingers entwine with mine and he pulls me alongside him all the way to the front door. He turns the handle and we enter the house. Boxes litter the hallway and fill the living room. I stop walking when I hear a giggle come from behind a tall tower of cardboard.

“I got here early, bro.” Jackson’s voice calls out. “I moved all of the boxes by myself…and, uh, you might want to give us a few minutes.”

I angle my head to peer around a box, but I can’t locate their exact position. When I hear a quiet moan, I snap upright. Oh. They need a few minutes because they’re doing that.

“That’s cool. I’m going to have a shower, anyway.” With a shrug of his shoulders, Seth pulls me into the kitchen, up the stairs, and into his room. I feel better once inside. The last thing I want is to see Selena’s or Jackson’s junk. Don’t they have any shame? First my couch and now this…my God. I would never have sex anywhere there’d be a chance I’d get caught. No way in hell.

“So you have that to look forward to now,” I tell him.

Seth strolls into the bathroom and I follow. I lean against the wooden beam of the door when I get to it.

“It’s nothing new. Jackson and I have lived together before…the shit I’ve seen.” Seth shakes his head before he pulls his white tank top over it. My gaze flicks over his hard chest, following the sharp flow of muscles down to his ‘V’ shape. I wait for his hands to curl around his shorts and pull them down, but when they don’t, I glance back to his face.

“What have you seen?” I ask, pretending I wasn’t just ogling the hell out of him.

“Selena hasn’t said anything?”

I’m really starting to wonder who her best friend is here. Why does Seth know everything and I’m learning things second hand through him? I shake my head.

“Jackson is a very…difficult person to please.” I frown and Seth continues. “Sexually.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, he’s into certain things. Public sex, being in control, toys—”

“Toys?”

“He calls them toys, I call them weapons of torture.”

I feel my face scrunch up. “And Selena…she likes that sort of thing?”

I watch as Seth opens the shower door and flicks on the water. When he steps back, his fingers curl around his shorts and he pushes them down his legs. My eyes flick over him, taking in every line, every shape and every shade. To be so perfect should be illegal and the punishment? Fifty tongue lashings to every perfect mound of muscle…what the hell is wrong with me? Reluctantly, I drag my eyes back to his face.

“I don’t know, I haven’t asked—personally, I don’t really care about their sex life. I am, however, extremely interested in ours.” His lips twitch. “Are you joining me or are you just going to keep pretending you’re not eye-fucking the shit out of me?”

My mouth drops and an offended gust of air falls out. “I’m not eye-fucking you, I’m admiring your physique. You’re welcome.”

He rolls his eyes and steps closer. I unintentionally hold my breath as his index finger hooks onto the collar of my tank top and he pulls me into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me. I swallow hard as his rough hands slide under my shirt and up the contour of my body. I lift my hands to help him get the shirt off as the room quickly fills with steam.

His rough hands skim across the skin along my waist and hook onto my bra. “The look but don’t touch rule doesn’t apply to us anymore.” He smiles.

“So it seems.”

I feel my bra loosen and my chest become heavier as my breasts support themselves. I pull my bra down my arms and drop it onto the floor as Seth’s fingers snake into my hair to release my locks from their tie. When he’s done, I slide my shorts down the length of my legs and step out of them. I look at Seth and his eyes darken. A hot flush rolls through me, igniting a fire underneath my skin. It pulsates and flares, burning relentlessly and refusing to settle. I don’t want it to stop and there’s only one thing that can stop the fire tearing through me and it’s right in front of me.

Seth opens the shower door for me and I slip inside, immediately immersing myself in the hot stream. I step out of the way when Seth enters so he can have some water. I watch as he angles his head down, letting the streams crash into his head and shoulders and flowing down the length of his glorious body.