To make matters worse, what I thought would be a good idea to get my curiosity out of the way backfired in a big way. Ten minutes ago, I thought it was brilliant to just peek. Just a little peek to make sure there wasn’t anything crazy going on. But that peek will forever be branded in my memory as one of the hottest things I’ve ever witnessed.

Dani coming unhinged and all but fucking the air between her and one black, metal chair.

I’ve been fighting a raging boner ever since one of the facility’s staff members came and shut the door, giving me a warning about dis-enrollment if I am caught again.

Ever since then, her body and the way it looked, moved . . . Fuck me. I’ve been picturing every way I would take her when I finally hear Chance’s voice break through my fantasy.

“Don’t look now, Iron Man, but the girls have emerged, and now, they’re all hot, flushed, and sweaty,” he whispers down at me from where he’s spotting my lifting.

I slam the bar home and leap off the bench, pausing to punch him in the gut again before I stomp through the gym.

“Oh my God,” my sister, Lila, laughs.

“Uh oh,” I hear Maddi giggle.

I don’t even look at them.

“This is going to be so freaking good,” Lyn chuckles right as my hand snags Dani around her tiny elbow and forces her to turn until her startled eyes are looking up into my own.

“Shit,” she mumbles.

“What. The fuck. Was that?” I seethe.

“What was what?” she hedges.

“Do not fucking play games with me. You went into there to do what? Knit a sweater?”

She narrows her eyes but doesn’t speak. I can hear my sisters laughing and look over to give them a hard stab of my eyes. I would never talk down to my girls, but right now, they’re pushing the limits of my patience.

“I know what goes on in there, Dani-girl,” I say and point behind her in the direction of the pole dancing room. Every man in this building knows what goes on in that room. We’ve been watching fine-as-hell chicks go in and out of there for years. The instructors alone are enough to keep some of these douchebags going for years in jack-off fantasies. “What I want to know is what in the fuck you think you’re going to do with what you learned in there, Dani? Hm? Who in the hell is he?”

I can’t stop the shit coming out of my mouth now. Ever since that night in her bed when I watched her sick with a fever dream all night with my name escaping her lips, all I’ve been able to think about is Dani. The only thing I’ve wanted is to throw her over my shoulder and take what my body keeps screaming is mine.

But it isn’t mine.

Not yet. If I weren’t about to ship off for a future unknown, I would throw her down and take her right fucking now. The only problem is, as much as I want her, I won’t take something when I can’t give her anything in return. And unfortunately, right now, I can’t give her anything but the next two weeks. For a woman like Dani, that would never be enough. However, that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit on my thumbs and let her show that sweet body off, work herself in preparation for someone else.

I do not think so.

“That isn’t any of your business,” she huffs and pulls her arm out of my hold.

“You don’t think?” I ask, narrowing my eyes to slits.

“I don’t think. I know.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, baby.” I step into her space and wait for her to make the next move.

“I’m not wrong, Cohen. Realistic. I’m not the one who’s afraid. I haven’t been afraid to admit how I feel for a long time. You, on the other hand, well . . . I’m sick of waiting for you to come to terms with it. Time to move on.” She crosses her arms, and I want to groan when it brings attention to her tits. I’ve always been a breast man, but even though she isn’t huge, there is more than enough to fit perfectly in my palms and I’ve been thinking about it for way too long.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I scoff.

“You’re terrified,” she challenges.

“You’re delusional.”

“Ha! As if. Have a good workout, Cohen.” She reaches up and pats my cheek, still trying to play off this indifference. If her palm didn’t linger a little too long on my stubble, then I would possibly believe her.

What happened to my sweet Dani-girl?

I watch with a slack jaw as she turns, her long ponytail slapping me in the face, and struts out of the gym. My sisters, Maddi, and Stella all trail behind her, laughing.