Twisted Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page A

one uses the brain and imagination, I don’t see what’s the difference.” I glanced down at the weights and added, “But I believe in using brain above brawn.”
    His eyebrows lifted at my comment. “Some people don’t have a choice.”
    “Aren’t you even going to ask me why I’m here?” I said, putting my hands on my hips.
    He glanced down at the smart phone, tucked just beneath the bench, and then bent to retrieve it. “I’m assuming you’re the girl from the Gazette. Dana phoned and told me you were on your way.”
    “Oh, right.” My cheeks heated. He’d flustered me. Of course they knew each other. The way these two looked, they were probably dating.
    “Just let me put the weights away,” he said, “and then we can go talk.”
    I looked at the selection of dumbbells around his feet, the lightest one probably forty pounds. Feeling stupid at my earlier retort, I didn’t want to stand around, watching him.
    “Let me give you a hand.”
    A laugh bubbled up from his throat, right up until the point I bent and picked up one of the weights, one handed. I lifted the dumbbell and stacked it back in the rack and turned to find him staring at me.
    I stared back. “What?”
    “You got some muscles hidden under there?”
    I realized what I’d done.
    “Yoga,” I told him in a rush. “Builds up some amazing strength. Nothing like using your whole body as a weight.”
    Flynn studied me again with that intense stare. His eyes had the sort of clarity I’d expect to find in a glacial pool or in the sea of somewhere tropical and untouched.
    He nodded, but his eyes were narrowed, as though he were agreeing with me but thinking something else. “Maybe I’ll have to give it a go then.”
    I laughed, a high-pitched titter, and cringed at the sound. “You should,” I said, hoping he wasn’t going to ask me for lessons. Other than a brief fad last year doing Bikram yoga—where I’d been stuck in a room with thirty other people to sweat out fat and toxins—I didn’t know anything about it.
    He tilted his chin toward me. “Look, give me five minutes to shower and change, and I’ll meet you outside. Then you can grill me.”
    “Sure.”
    I left the remainder of the weights where they were.
     
     
    I sat at a picnic table set in the small courtyard in front of the gym. My hands rested on the table, and I absently picked at the dry skin around my nails. Weirdly, I was looking forward to being in Flynn’s presence again. While the jock persona did nothing for me, something about him had sparked my interest. At least he hadn’t attempted to shake my hand or touch me in any way, and for that I was grateful. Normally, I avoided contact with other people, but today’s multiple introductions had left me open.
    I lifted my head to find Flynn striding across the courtyard toward me. His hair was still damp from the shower, making it a shade darker. With his hair being so short, I was sure it would have the texture of velvet if I ran my hand across his head. I shook the thought away; I’d just been relieved that he’d made no attempt to touch me, I certainly shouldn’t be thinking about touching him.
    “Hey,” he said as he slid onto the bench opposite me. “I just realized you never told me your name.”
    “Elizabeth.” I was certain the extended hand would come and I’d see something I didn’t want to. Miraculously, it didn’t.
    “Elizabeth …” He seemed to mull it over. “Pretty.”
    “Thanks.” I tilted my head. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
    “Only the ones who have pretty names.”
    I cocked my eyebrows. “Puh … lease. Anyway, everyone calls me Beth.”
    He grinned and folded his arms on the table. “Sorry, can’t help myself. So how come you’re here interviewing me, Beth? Shouldn’t you be hanging out with other freshers and getting settled in?”
    “I’m not really into the socializing thing. I prefer work.”
    “You know what they say about all work …?”
    “Are