ETHAN
“You look like you need to hit something,” Jax Marshall tells me as I finish the first set of weights and move on to the next.
“You volunteering?” I ask dryly.
He snorts derisively while shaking his head. “So who is she?”
“Why does everything have to be about a girl?”
I move to the bench and lie down, ignoring him when he laughs under his breath. It’s Monday morning, and I’m still as pissed as I was when I went off on Bella. It’s not rational to be this angry over something as simple as our argument. It’s also not rational to be hung up on a girl I barely know.
“You’re getting sweat all over my shit. You’re supposed to be wearing a shirt,” Jax tells me without any real authority in his tone, so I know he’s fucking with me.
“Shirts don’t stop sweat.”
I lift the bar and start the set, and he stands behind me, ready to spot me, until Kode and Tria are suddenly calling his attention away. Thankfully.
After a few sets, I finally rise up, running a hand through my now-wet hair. Working Bella out of my system is going to be annoying.
I passed on going to Silk when Dane invited me, but now I wish I had gone, considering Bella was apparently there for a little while. I guess she parties as long as I’m not around to call her out on it.
I blow out a breath, refusing to think about her any longer. I’ll never leave the gym if I don’t stop thinking about her.
Just as I start moving toward the leg press, some chick steps into my path. My eyes move between her and another girl who has to be her identical twin.
“I have a king-sized bed that would look perfect with you on it,” the girl tells me.
I scan her face, but unfortunately it doesn’t match the one my fucking dick wants. So I walk away like she didn’t just offer to get naked, because I’m an ass like that. And she’s not what I want.
I’m never going to work Bella out of my system if I don’t stop thinking about her. Plugging in my earbuds, I crank up the music, and the rest of the world fades into nothing as I push myself to the limits.
Chapter 17
BELLA
By the time I arrive at the restaurant Monday afternoon, I’m already five minutes late and really exhausted from a hell day at work.
“You look… surly. What’s wrong?” Allie asks as I sit down, hating my day.
My eyes flick to Brin, Ruby, Rain, and Tria, and I shrug in response. “Just tired,” I lie, well, partially lie. I really am tired. I’m not willing to explain the root of my surly attitude in front of everyone else. “Where’s Raya?”
“Oh, she’s with Kade. They’re tasting wedding cakes,” Rain tells me.
They study me like they’re waiting on something to be revealed, but I say nothing.
“Thought you were going to New York today,” I say to Tria.
“Thought I was too, but Kode’s meeting was delayed until next week. At least they told us before we got on the plane.” She pauses for a beat. “So, heard you made a scene at the charity ball,” Tria pries, staring at me with innocent eyes that don’t fool me one bit.
“I heard about that too,” Brin says with a smirk.
“Just owed him one,” I say with a shrug, but Allie is too intent on studying me. I’m not telling her about Ethan. It’s too embarrassing to confess.
She went through hell, and yet has always had her shit together. Me? I’m a mess who creates problems for myself. Problems like Ethan.
“I heard you were celebrating something the other day. Are you and Kode getting married?” I blurt out, desperate to shift the subject off me.
Tria’s drink pauses at her lips as her eyebrows go up in surprise. She lowers her drink while slowly shaking her head.