Breck laughed. “Yeah. You’re welcome.”
Charlie snorted and headed for the showers, his naked ass rocking for all to see. “You wait. This junkyard dog’s gonna school both y’all next time.”
Breck grinned, in nothing but his birthday suit, too, and sauntered after the shooting guard toward all the steam.
Jegs fell in step, that teasing glint still flashing in his eyes. “Shit, dog. No need to wait ‘til next practice to redeem yourself.”
Charlie cut him a look over his shoulder. “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”
Jegs beamed. “Taekwondo’s tonight. If we get paired up again, you can—”
“If?” Charlie chuckled sardonically. “Don’t you mean when?” He glanced at Breck as they entered the large communal washroom. “Grandmaster always spars with B.”
“He does, doesn’t he.” Jegs snickered at Breck. “That man definitely enjoys putting you on your ass.”
Breck stiffened with a glare. “He doesn’t put me on my ass.”
“Like hell he doesn’t,” Charlie laughed. He pulled to a stop in front of a nozzle. “You’ve literally kissed the mats like every class.”
Breck opened his mouth, but then shut it and scowled. He couldn’t exactly argue. They—not to mention every other student that’d been present—had witnessed each of his ass-plants first hand. Which rankled, even now. Sure, Kai was several years older, and okay, yeah, was a grand fucking master of Taekwondo, but that didn’t change the fact that Breck didn’t appreciate always being shown up. Especially by the man he found so irresistible. It messed with his head to be so pissed off and yet so aroused. Wanting to tell the guy to kiss his ass—while fighting the urge to turn around and grab his ankles.
Seriously. Something was wrong with his brain.
“Aw, don’t sweat it, B.” Jegs grinned and cranked the water. “So he’s claimed you as his bitch. Just means he likes you.”
“What he likes,” Breck grated, stepping under the spray beside him, “is embarrassing me in front of others. I’m fucking over it.”
“Nah. Not embarrassing you,” Charlie countered, sudsing his head. “Just pulling you off of your throne.”
Breck frowned. “My throne?”
“Yeah, your highness. Your throne. The way you strut around that dojang? That’s his kingdom, not yours. He’s probably just trying to get that through your thick skull.”
Jegs nodded, lathering up. “Yup. Like I said, claiming his bitch.”
Charlie laughed.
Breck bristled. He was nobody’s bitch. “He’s just riding me harder than the rest of you for some fucked up reason.”
“Maybe the reason’s ’cause you suck,” Jegs razzed. “And Grandmaster Kai’s just giving you intensive training.”
Breck furrowed his brows. “I don’t suck.”
Charlie made a face. “Maybe a little.”
Breck shot him a glower.
“What?” Charlie laughed. “I’m just callin’ it like I see it. When you walk into that dojang, it’s like you’re instantly distracted. On edge or some weird shit. It’s totally obvious.”
Breck tensed.
Motherfucker.
Was he really that transparent?
Jegs nodded, soaping his armpits. “Kai’s just keeping you in check. Helping you to focus. You know, tough love, grandmaster-style.” A grin split his face. “He’s so gonna put you on your ass again tonight.”
Breck ground his molars. “No, he won’t.”
“Oh, yeah?” Charlie waggled his brows. “You willing to back that up? I’ve got a twenty back in my locker that says he will.”
Jegs loosed a chuckle. “I want in on that, too.”
Breck scowled. “You guys are dicks.”
His friends cracked up laughing, but soon got back to showering and talking more basketball. Breck turned into the spray and tuned them out. He didn’t feel like shooting the shit. Needed to contemplate other things. Like what he was going to do when he saw Kai at martial arts. A better strategy was obviously in order, and not just in terms of sparring, but to make his show of indifference a bit more convincing. This coming across as ‘distracted’ or ‘on edge’ was a problem. He had a reputation to uphold. Kai disrupting his cool in front of others could destabilize his image.
Exhaling, he closed his eyes as water sluiced down his torso.
He needed to shut it down and end this twisted infatuation. Beside the fact that it robbed him of his ‘calm, cool, and collected,’ it wasn’t healthy to lust after a guy he wanted to throttle. Kai made him mental, but also horny as hell. Out-and-out crazy with aggravation, but also need.
Without warning, an unbidden image filled his mind. Kai’s face. Those knowing eyes, all dark and smoldering beneath sleek black brows. Those lips, just barely curved, yet somehow playful. That jaw of trimmed stubble. That tantalizing ponytail. Fuck, how he’d love to grip that thing and give it a tug.
The image panned back. Now Kai’s body was visible. Breck’s heart picked up speed. He swallowed and moved to sudsing his pecs, his soapy fingers grazing his nipples and making them pebble.
The man was ripped, filling his dobok like an Olympian god. His physique so masculine and flawless, it couldn’t possibly be fair. Because while it was true that Breck hadn’t actually seen Kai’s muscles, he could still picture them perfectly, because he’d definitely felt them.