“Right here, my forehead,” he reminded me. “Even if it wasn’t a prop, it’s not loaded. You just saw that for yourself. Thanks for that, by the way,” he said with a small smile. “That was kinda sweet if you want to know the truth.”
I didn’t even register his comment because my brain had started to completely shut down. There was a roaring in my head and a dark fog at the edges of my vision. Saint seemed to still be joking with me, most likely sensing my nerves and trying to put me at ease, but I couldn’t hear him.
When he grabbed my hand and swung the gun around to press against his forehead, everything went dark.
Chapter 22
Saint
I had stupidly misread the signs of Augie’s stress as simple nerves from being unfamiliar with firearms. But when I’d tried to help him out by pointing the gun at my head to get in position for the maneuver, I’d seen his eyes roll back and was able to catch him before he crumpled to the ground.
“Shit,” I muttered. What the hell had come over him? It wasn’t even a real gun.
I guided him gently to the mat and was preparing to check his vitals when I sensed him coming around. Thank god—he must have just passed out. While I waited for him to become fully alert, I straightened his glasses and brushed his hair off his forehead.
“Augie,” I murmured. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” I continued to stroke the side of his face, running a thumb across the flat of his cheekbone and noticing how smooth his skin looked up close.
“Oh god,” he moaned when he opened his eyes and saw me. He immediately closed them and tried rolling away from me, but I reached out to stop him. I used both hands to cup his face.
“Stop. It’s okay. Just breathe for a minute.”
He brought his own hands up to pull off his glasses, flinging them to the mat before covering his face with his own hands and groaning again.
“Oh my god. How embarrassing.”
“What happened?” I asked. “Was it the gun or is something else going on? Have you eaten today?”
He tried to sit up, but I gently held him down.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing. Let me up,” he said.
“Augie, you’re not fine. You just fainted. Talk to me.”
“Yeah, maybe I didn’t eat enough today,” he said. “Do you have any crackers or anything? Oh, maybe one of those chocolate milks would do the trick.”
I stared at him. The guy was lying his ass off. His quick answer tipped me off right away. Why would he lie about that? I narrowed my eyes at him but decided to play along. I got up to find him something to eat. By the time I returned with a selection of juices and snacks, Augie seemed to be in a better mood.
“Listen, I’m sorry about all that. I should have stopped us after the first hour and not pushed it. I came straight here from work and didn’t eat.”
“Get something in your stomach and I’ll drive you home,” I said. “You still have the rental?”
Augie nodded.
“Okay, we’ll leave it and the keys here for one of the Landen guys to turn in tomorrow since I’m sure your SUV will be ready back home.”
He pulled the bottle of orange juice away from his mouth. “No need. I’ll be fine.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like an option,” I said. Yes, I was a jackass, but I’d rather that than have him at risk.
He didn’t say a word, but I noticed his face flush and his jaw tighten. If he was pissed at me for trying to make sure he got home safely, that was too bad. I wasn’t about to let him drive home after fainting.
After he’d had a little bit to eat and drink, I helped him up. We made our way to the locker room, and I had to admit, he seemed to be perking up just fine.
“I’m going to take a shower really quickly,” Augie said, walking past me to the shower area. “I don’t want to stink up the car for the next two hours.”
I didn’t hear the rest of what he said as he disappeared around the corner. All I could think about was him alone in a slippery shower room right after he’d fainted earlier. Maybe I should go in there and keep an eye on him…
Okay, fine. It wasn’t about safety. All I could think about was his body—warm, wet, and naked—right there in the shower room. Every cell in my own body begged to follow him in there, but I knew better.
Didn’t I?
Fuck it.
Before the angel could beat the shit out of the devil on my shoulder, I was striding into the shower room, pulling off clothes as I went. To be fair, I didn’t do what I really wanted to do, which was jump the guy and hump him to death. Instead, I just made my way to my own showerhead opposite his and turned on the spray.