Austin
“So…we meet again.” I toss my towel over my shoulder and lean against the weight machine next to hers.

She’s staring at me, a shocked look on her face. “You belong to this gym?” She doesn’t sound happy about it.

“Yeah. I have for the past five years.”

“Great,” she mumbles to herself. She turns back to her machine. “Well, enjoy your workout.”

I go around the machine and face her. “You trying to get rid of me?”

She looks up at me, a scowl on her face that I find to be more cute than angry. “I don’t like players, so I’d appreciate it if you’d just go away.”

“Player? I’m not a player.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “Then what the hell was last night? Why did you lie to me? You introduce yourself, I ask you about the band, and you don’t even bother to tell me you’re in it?”

“That doesn’t make me a player. And I didn’t lie to you. I told you I like their music and that I went to all their concerts. All true.” I smile, trying to make a joke of it because that’s all it was supposed to be. I was just kidding around, but I guess she didn’t take it that way because she seems really mad.

“I don’t know what kind of game you were playing but it wasn’t funny. I felt like an idiot. I told my friends I met this guy named Austin and they said you were in the band and I kept insisting you weren’t. You know how stupid I felt not knowing?”

“You told your friends about me?” I’m trying to be serious like Kira is, but I have to smile at the fact she told her friends about me after meeting me for just a few minutes. I did the same thing, telling Dylan and Van about her. I never tell them about a girl I like until I’m actually dating her. Otherwise I have to deal with hearing their stupid comments or advice. But for some reason, I felt the need to tell them about Kira.

She huffs. “I only told them about you because they asked if I talked to anyone while I was waiting for them. I told them this nice guy got me a table, but that was before I knew you lied to me.” She goes to pull the pin out of the weights but it’s stuck so she tugs on it repeatedly.

“Hey.” I hold her wrist, stopping her. “I AM a nice guy. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was in the band. You’re right. I should’ve told you.”

She glances at my hand on her wrist and pulls it back, placing it at her side. “Then why didn’t you?”

“Because when you said you didn’t know who I was, I was surprised. And relieved. Every girl I meet knows I’m part of Vandyl and sometimes I wonder if that’s the only reason they talk to me, or want to go out with me.”

She rolls her eyes. “Seriously? You really think that’s the only reason?” Her eyes move down my body, then back up at my face. “Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“What? Because I have muscles? That doesn’t mean anything. A lot of guys work out.” I motion to the free weights where there are at least five guys as big as me lifting weights.

Her eyes go to them, then back to me. “Yeah, it’s uh, not quite the same.”

“And why is that?” I try to be serious, but knowing she thinks I’m hotter than those other guys makes me smile.

She rolls her eyes again. “I’m not going to stand here and give you compliments. The bottom line is that you lied to me last night and made me feel like an idiot in front of my friends.” She turns away and sits on the machine next to the one she was trying to use. It’s the lat press but when she goes to use it, she realizes she forgot to adjust the weight. It’s set with two hundred and forty pounds which is probably twice what she weighs.

I reach behind her and take the pin out of the weights. “What do you want it at?”

She sighs. “Sixty.”

I replace the pin, then come around in front of her. “I’m sorry, okay? I really am. The only reason I didn’t tell you is because I liked the fact that you didn’t know who I was. I wasn’t lying when I said that I’m never sure if a girl really likes me for me, or because I’m in a band. So when I realized you didn’t know, I wanted to keep it going and see if you’d go out with me because you like me, not because I’m in a band.” I smile. “I knew you weren’t interested in me just for my body because it was dark so you couldn’t see all this.” I motion to myself.

She finally smiles, but just barely. “I could see it.”

I lean back against the machine behind me and cross my arms over my chest. “So you’re saying you only talked to me because of how I look?”

“Yep.” She faces forward and does another rep, her arm and shoulder muscles flexing. I love this girl’s body. Strong and lean, yet soft and curvy in all the right places.

“That’s really shallow,” I say, moving in front of her. “I gotta say, I’m a little offended.”

She laughs. “Yeah, I’m sure you are. Now would you move please?”

I stay where I’m at, facing her, my feet planted right in front of hers. “You’ve got plenty of space. Full range of motion.”

She extends her arms again, breathing through the move. “Maybe I don’t want you standing there while I’m trying to lift weights.”

Her eyes are on mine as she does another rep. She has gorgeous eyes, a deep brown with flecks of gold. And her mouth. I love her lips. With each rep, my eyes go to those lips as she forces out a breath. I feel another twitch in my shorts. Damn, I need to stop looking at her or the twitch is going to be a lot more than that and I’ll embarrass myself.

“Go out with me,” I blurt out.

“What?” she asks, her arms fully extended in the move.

“Go out with me.” I say it again because it’s already out there and I know she heard me the first time. “Just once. Dinner. Coffee. Whatever you want.”

“No,” she says as she brings her arms back, completing the move.

She turned me down. Again.

What’s the deal with this girl? She admitted she’s attracted to me, so why won’t she go out with me?

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