worked like a charm, allowing him to travel on top of the snow so that he moved faster and gained more ground. He twisted around and threw one more meaningful look my way before heading back down the driveway.
When he was out of sight, I closed the door and turned to find Josie licking melted snow off the linoleum floor. “Guess it’s just you and me again.” I walked to the living room and it was as if the entire house seemed suddenly larger, emptier. It was an unsettling feeling that I didn’t want to think about, so I changed into some workout clothes, grabbed the package from the post office that contained my new weightlifting gloves, and went out to the shed to sweat my worries away.
Despite the lack of good insulation in the shed, I was overheating by the time I’d completed my self-designed Workout of the Day: fifty reps of lunges, double unders, kettlebell swings, pistol squats, push-ups, and box jumps.
Even though I was out of breath, with my heart ready to burst out of my chest, I still felt restless. I just pretended I didn’t know the reason why.
I jumped up and took hold of my horizontal hanging bar and performed as many pull-ups as I could manage, getting to nineteen before my arms gave out.
“Impressive.”
I spun around and found the stranger standing at the doorway, looking no worse for wear. My skin broke out in goosebumps, but I’d like to think that was because of the cold air that got in when the door opened and not because of the man who had just breezed back into my life.
He was so tall, so immense, that he blocked nearly the entire doorway. He held up one snowshoe; its crossbar was broken in half. “I’m sorry about this. I guess I was a little too heavy for it.”
“No big deal,” I said, turning around and slipping my sweatshirt back on, hoping he hadn’t seen too much of my bare torso. “How did it go? Did you find Sheriff Drew?”
“The town was empty.”
“As in completely?”
“As in its engulfed in snow and there are no tire tracks to be seen anywhere,” he said. “ So what now?”
“I don’t know.” I shivered as my damp body cooled down. “Let’s regroup inside the house.”
We went in and he took off the snow gear, hanging each piece on the back of the dining chairs to dry out. I noticed the back of his shirt was soaked with sweat, so I retrieved another shirt from my dad’s dresser and threw it at him.
“Thank you,” he said and turned around as he reached behind his head and pulled off his shirt. The socially acceptable behavior was to avert my eyes, but I couldn’t help but openly gawk, allowing my gaze to caress the muscles on his wide back. A black tattoo traveling down the length of his spine caught my attention, and I took a step closer to read the inscription.
He looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “What are you doing?”
“ You have a tattoo,” I said, tracing the simple serif lettering with my finger, surprised to find his skin so warm. “ Veni, Vidi, Vici .”
He twisted around, trying to see the tattoo with no success. “Hang on,” he said and ran to the bathroom, giving me an unsettling view of je ans hanging low on his hips, showing the top of his ass.
The view during his return was even better. To say he had a nice body was an understatement. He had wide, flat pecs with dime-sized nipples, abdominals that contracted with each step, and deep indentations at his hips. And then there was the dark hair that covered his chest and traveled lightly down his stomach until it grew darker below the bellybutton, carpeting the way to whatever it was he packing under there. And damn it if I didn’t want to find out.
The throbbing between my legs jolted me back to reality and I looked away with warm cheeks. He was a stranger and he wasn’t staying; why the hell was I checking him out this way?
“So you like the view?” he asked with a half-smile.
I shrugged, wanting nothing more than to wipe that cocksure smile off
When he was out of sight, I closed the door and turned to find Josie licking melted snow off the linoleum floor. “Guess it’s just you and me again.” I walked to the living room and it was as if the entire house seemed suddenly larger, emptier. It was an unsettling feeling that I didn’t want to think about, so I changed into some workout clothes, grabbed the package from the post office that contained my new weightlifting gloves, and went out to the shed to sweat my worries away.
Despite the lack of good insulation in the shed, I was overheating by the time I’d completed my self-designed Workout of the Day: fifty reps of lunges, double unders, kettlebell swings, pistol squats, push-ups, and box jumps.
Even though I was out of breath, with my heart ready to burst out of my chest, I still felt restless. I just pretended I didn’t know the reason why.
I jumped up and took hold of my horizontal hanging bar and performed as many pull-ups as I could manage, getting to nineteen before my arms gave out.
“Impressive.”
I spun around and found the stranger standing at the doorway, looking no worse for wear. My skin broke out in goosebumps, but I’d like to think that was because of the cold air that got in when the door opened and not because of the man who had just breezed back into my life.
He was so tall, so immense, that he blocked nearly the entire doorway. He held up one snowshoe; its crossbar was broken in half. “I’m sorry about this. I guess I was a little too heavy for it.”
“No big deal,” I said, turning around and slipping my sweatshirt back on, hoping he hadn’t seen too much of my bare torso. “How did it go? Did you find Sheriff Drew?”
“The town was empty.”
“As in completely?”
“As in its engulfed in snow and there are no tire tracks to be seen anywhere,” he said. “ So what now?”
“I don’t know.” I shivered as my damp body cooled down. “Let’s regroup inside the house.”
We went in and he took off the snow gear, hanging each piece on the back of the dining chairs to dry out. I noticed the back of his shirt was soaked with sweat, so I retrieved another shirt from my dad’s dresser and threw it at him.
“Thank you,” he said and turned around as he reached behind his head and pulled off his shirt. The socially acceptable behavior was to avert my eyes, but I couldn’t help but openly gawk, allowing my gaze to caress the muscles on his wide back. A black tattoo traveling down the length of his spine caught my attention, and I took a step closer to read the inscription.
He looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “What are you doing?”
“ You have a tattoo,” I said, tracing the simple serif lettering with my finger, surprised to find his skin so warm. “ Veni, Vidi, Vici .”
He twisted around, trying to see the tattoo with no success. “Hang on,” he said and ran to the bathroom, giving me an unsettling view of je ans hanging low on his hips, showing the top of his ass.
The view during his return was even better. To say he had a nice body was an understatement. He had wide, flat pecs with dime-sized nipples, abdominals that contracted with each step, and deep indentations at his hips. And then there was the dark hair that covered his chest and traveled lightly down his stomach until it grew darker below the bellybutton, carpeting the way to whatever it was he packing under there. And damn it if I didn’t want to find out.
The throbbing between my legs jolted me back to reality and I looked away with warm cheeks. He was a stranger and he wasn’t staying; why the hell was I checking him out this way?
“So you like the view?” he asked with a half-smile.
I shrugged, wanting nothing more than to wipe that cocksure smile off
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