He ran his hands through his spiky brown hair. “The big deal is you broke one of the rules I gave you. It’s not a place for a meet and greet. You go in, work your ass off, and you get out. It’s that simple.”
“And again, I didn’t go searching for Luke, he came up to me. What I’m failing to see here though is it’s not like anybody was making out or jumping each other’s bones, Camden. He was a nice guy, he asked me out, and then we went on our merry way. But exactly what part of that concerns you?”
Now he was really moving toward me. I turned and picked up my speed toward the stairs. I came to an abrupt halt when his voice boomed, “Stop,” through the apartment, and he was less than a foot away. I could hear his breathing. It was ragged and sounded edgy. We stood that way for several moments; the only sound in the apartment was our breathing. When he finally spoke I tensed. He had stepped in, lightly brushing me from behind. My nostrils flared, and I could smell that soapy clean scent of him.
“When I give you rules to follow, you follow them. If my rules are ever broken, there are consequences. There are always consequences. I said don’t pick anybody up, and yet you somehow did.” I wanted to bristle at his choice of wording ‘somehow’, but chose better of it and kept my mouth shut. “I’m going to let this go for now, but here’s how it’s going to play out. You ever come back in my gym, and he’s there, you ignore him.” His breath blew across the outside of my ear, and I nearly moaned in pleasure. “If pretty boy so much as winks in your direction, I’ll terminate his membership and kick both of you out.” I felt his presence step away from me, and I glanced over my shoulder. He was walking backwards toward the door. It felt like his eyes were burning into me. “Rules, Keegan. Break them again, there’ll be consequences.”
I wanted to turn around and lash out, then beg him to fuck me. He nearly had me in a puddle of mush on the floor. His hand was on the door leading outside when he called over his shoulder. “And feel free to share what I said to Luke,” Camden sneered with an emphasis on his name, then slammed the door behind him.
My body gave out, and I flopped down on the bottom step. I felt more exhausted now than I had when I got back from the gym. Camden was being such a hard ass, and he somehow seemed to take great pleasure in fighting with me. How was it possible that a man who showed his clear distaste for me was completely adverse to me exchanging numbers with someone? It shouldn’t even matter to him. And what was worse? None of that was what was truly bothering me at the moment. It was even more disturbing than his stupid rules. It was that with one look, one snap of his fingers, one menacing step in my direction, my body became needy for him. Camden made me feel desire unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. I was angry with myself for every single ounce of it. I’d come to realize that I wanted him to touch me, and I wanted more than just his eyes to penetrate me. It was unacceptable.
Sitting here in the quiet apartment, the only sounds were of the AC units outside humming. My long wavy blond hair was draped around me, covering me like a blanket. It felt cold and bereft without Camden’s presence. I gritted my teeth and tried to pull myself together. Standing up I marched up the steps and climbed into an icy shower. While the water beat down on my sore muscles, I decided that I was going to go back to the gym. I would face seeing Camden on a daily basis. I’d deal with the fact that I was physically attracted to him, but I would ignore it. I hoped that I would run into Luke, and we could work something out and possibly go do something. I hadn’t been on a date in a long time, and I was long overdue for one. My bossy roommate was going to have to deal with me and my non-compliance to his stupid rules. I smiled to myself, almost giddy at my determination of defiance. Take your rules and shove them up your perfectly carved ass, Camden. I had other things in mind.
THREE WEEKS HAVE PASSED since Camden’s threat. I have pretty much continued my daily routine. I went to school, work, came home, and went to the gym. Yes, the gym. Despite my concern of body parts falling off, I liked how I felt after a good workout. I saw Camden almost every time I went. The first few days I showed he had a smug little smirk across his face. I seriously wanted to beat his face in with a dumbbell. I refrained, because it didn’t seem very nice, and frankly I wasn’t sure if I could get blood out of my clothes. It aggravated me to no end. It was as if he got his way, and he somehow was the person to convince me to get in shape. There was a time after my second trip to The Dugout that I had thought about adding a laxative to his protein powder. It would have given me great satisfaction to see him running to the bathroom. He was lucky I wasn’t a vindictive person. Around my fourth time coming in, he stopped with his shit eating grin and went about his business like I was any other paying customer. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. For starters, I wasn’t paying a thing to be a member there. It made me feel a twinge of guilt, because I was already paying so little for the apartment, and now I was taking advantage of his facilities. This was his livelihood. But then his words ‘the chubby one’ replayed through my head, and I shrugged it off. He owed me.
Sarah has been over at least a dozen times. She seemed to be adjusting well to the change, and she loved coming here. As long as she was happy, I was happy. There was one particular day when Dodger was around that he asked her if she had a boyfriend. She blushed and said, “Yes.” My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. But what entertained me was Dodger’s response. At some point since meeting her, he’d taken on a protector role with her. He gave her a level stare after grilling her about this boy’s name, age, how tall he was, if he had any prior felonies…? To which she replied in a very Sarah like fashion, “He’s eight. What’s he gonna get arrested for, stealing Spiderman underwear?” He explained that with boys you never know, and then he proceeded to tell her that she was not allowed to kiss anybody until she was married. Dodge said, “You’re the best kind of girl out there, Sarah. You make sure you find a boyfriend that cherishes every single one of your smiles and laughs, treats you like a princess, and gives you everything you could ever want.” Then he followed it up with, “Things like diamonds, a castle, and a Ferrari, so I can drive it and make sure it’s safe.” I laughed at him. Sarah smacked him on the arm and said kissing was gross then returned to playing with her dolls. Dodger was sweet to take her under his wing. She lacked a male role model in her life. He was good to her, and I approved of the time they spent together.
Luke and I have gone out a couple of times since he asked me for my number. I remembered walking through campus while eating some Whoppers when my cell phone rang, and I saw Luke’s name flashing on my screen. I inhaled my chocolate ball whole and started choking. Thank God for passersby who knew the Heimlich maneuver. What a sad, and yet wonderful, way to die…death by candy. Anyway, after my near death experience, I got the courage to call him back. He asked if I wanted to go grab a bite to eat and see a movie. I said yes, and now here we are.
He’s been very nice, and I was certainly attracted to him. Luke has this carefree look about him. He had longer blond hair that was tasseled like he’d just gotten out of the ocean and let it air dry. His arms were very tan, and I could only assume that the rest of him was just as dark. Luke’s body was long and lean. Not like Camden’s bulky muscled look, but one that showed clear lines and ridges of abs and arms without it being too much. My favorite part of Luke, though, was his smile. It was so easy and warm. His perfectly straight and white teeth stood out each time his face lit up at something I’d say. I found myself on numerous occasions leaning into him when he directed his grin at me. Yeah, I was definitely attracted.