“Fuck, Blue,” he says breathlessly, “I just about steamrolled your ass.”
“I have to pee.” It comes out as a squeak as my cheek is pressed against his dampened white t-shirt.
It’s evident he’s in the middle of a grueling workout as his heart throttles against his chest and I can feel the blood pumping through his veins at a rapid rate, but I still don’t move. Moments go by as he holds me to his chest, but then icy reality sets in and he lets go, stepping back with caution and making sure I’m okay. He bends over and picks up my water bottle, and when he does, I see Noah watching the whole exchange.
“Here.” He hands me the green Gatorade bottle. I make sure my fingers brush against Tuck’s as I grab it. He then hands me my bag and I do the same thing, grasping for as much contact as possible.
“Watch where you’re going next time, Blue,” he growls and walks around me.
I’m shameless and watch him go, enjoying the view of his long gym shorts riding on his hips and the sweat soaked long sleeve white t-shirt outlining each one of his hard muscles. I force myself into the bathroom, then find a locker for my stuff, and have to talk myself into actually going to work out.
Working on my mental toughness, I open the door with my ear buds already in and playlist ready to go. The gal at the check-in desk stops me, so I pull out one ear bud.
“Some of the starters are here for the team. It may be crowded.”
“Thanks.” I try to be polite, but really want to respond with, “No shit, Sherlock.”
Only focusing on my phone and the lifting workout displayed on the screen, I get right to work. I asked Trainer Jay to set up something for me to keep me nice and toned. I had to beg, plead, and kiss his ass for it. He’s always worried about me pushing myself too hard. Thank the lord he doesn’t know I run at night as well. He’d die and then kick my ass for being out after dark.
It’s an arm day, and I cringe when I see that’s the part of the gym Tuck and his teammates are occupying, so I decide to skip arm day and go for the leg machines. I’m here dressed and ready to go, so there’s no way I’m about to leave now. I catch a glimpse of Tuck spotting Noah out of the corner of my eye, but see his attention is more on me than Noah. I smile at him and shake my head. My knees buckle when he actually grins back at me.
Noah has become one of my best friends. Sad, but true, I know. The gorgeous quarterback, and he’s just a friend. We study together when we have time and have made a few more trips to the beach. Not one romantic exchange, and I am fine with that, and Noah seems okay with it as well.
I begin a quick warm-up jog on the treadmill and groan when I see Captain Asshat walk into the gym. I have no idea who the guy is, but he’s a dick and I’ve always distanced myself from him. I think he’s a soccer player, but he’s a puke, and of course he heads my way to start his workout, probably avoiding the mass of football players.
I’m not sure what it is about him that intimidates me. Maybe it’s the glares he sends other females training in the gym, or that one time he bitched out another person for not placing the weights back where they belong. He gives me tingles, and they’re not the right type of tingles. More like stranger danger tingles.
I’ve got this. Avoid staring at Tuck and ignore asshat, do your forty-five minute workout, and then head back to the dorm. I turn up my Kid Rock and go about killing it. Finishing my warm-up, I make my way to each leg machine, doing my sets and pushing the limits on the weights I add. When I stand from the leg press bench, sweat rolls off me, I get light-heated for popping up so quickly, and my legs feel like rubber.
It’s pure satisfaction knowing I’m pushing my body to be better. Before I have the chance to grab the towel and spray bottle to wipe down the machine, I’m shoved from the back, sailing me into a stand of free weights. My face slams down into them and I feel the sting of the unforgiving iron.
“Watch where the fuck you’re going.” I hear a voice, but my head is still adjusting to what the hell just happened. “You think you can just pop your pretty blonde ass up anywhere?”
A warm liquid runs down the side of my chin and I immediately taste blood in my mouth. When I’m finally able to stand up and turn around, the last thing I see is a blur of Tuck and flash of Noah chasing behind him. Chaos breaks out in the gym as Tuck has the man pinned to the ground and hammers him in the face while growling every single foul word as he lets his fist fly.
Noah and a couple other teammates try pulling Tuck off the man, but their attempt is useless. The back of my heels hit the rack behind me while my palms spread across the same iron weights my face smacked into earlier as I stare.
“Tuck,” I scream. “Tuck, stop.”
My voice finally catches his attention and he looks up in my direction.
“Stop,” I plead again, and it knocks Tuck off guard and gives Noah and another man the opportunity they need to pull Tuck off of the man, and to no surprise it’s asshat. Campus security rushes in along with some football coaches, and shortly followed by Jay. They surround the man on the ground and listen to the manager of the gym, and it all still seems hazy to me. My body has remained frozen on the weights trying to process everything that just happened.
Was I in his way? Did he push me? Did I pass out again?
“Blue.”
I look up into midnight black eyes as Tuck rests his forehead on mine and places a hand on the small of back and tugs me into him. I feel the pad of his thumb try to brush away the blood, then he just holds it there to stop the bleeding. His touch and his voice cause me to cry, and it shocks me, but I can’t help it, and then my body begins to tremble.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Do you know him?”
“I’ve been working out here and I’ve seen him, but avoid him.”
“He came up right behind you and shoved you.”
“Why?”
Tuck places his lips on my forehead, leaving a light and sweet kiss on my skin.
“I don’t know.” He shakes his head and I relish the feel of his lips.
“Blue.” Jay breaks between us with no apologies. “God damn, child, you’re always pushing the limits and your damn body.” He guides me to a bench to sit down. “We’re going to the hospital.”
“No.” I sit up and look at my face in the mirror. “It’s a split lip and a bruised cheek. I’m fine.”
“Hospital,” Tuck barks out behind Jay.
“Tuck, over here now.” I look in the direction of the voice to see a mean-ass guy who seems to be extremely pissed off.
“At least your coach is nicer than his. That boy’s gonna get his ass ripped.” Jay examines my face further; I can feel his breath on my cheeks as he talks.
“Who?” I ask.
“That guy friend of yours who was all up in your business when I got here.”
“Tuck?”
“Yeah, Tuck.”
“But why?”
“He has bloody knuckles and that guy on the ground has a bloody face.”
“But that guy pushed me and he’s a dick.” My voice is shaky but comes out louder than I intended, and it catches the attention of Tuck’s coach.
I bolt upright and feel the pain in my cheek tingle and the side of my lip swell. Jay tries to hold me back, but can’t.
“Excuse me, Tuck helped me. He shouldn’t be in trouble.”
The man tugs down on his visor and stares me down, but he has no idea that mean coach face does nothing to me or my courage.
“What happened to your face, young lady?” he asks with his intimidating stare.
“That man pushed me to the ground for no reason, and my face caught the iron rack.” Then I find a little courage and place my hands on my hips. “And my name is not young lady, for your information. It’s Blue Williams, head cheerleader for squad C. Tuck saved me and shouldn’t be in trouble.”