“Fuck this.” Matt stomps his way to the door but turns at the last second. “You comin’?”
Has it been a few months yet?
“Where’s your boyfriend?” Matt barks at Maddox when we find him in the bar area.
“Headache. He’s napping.”
“Why was Stacy yelling at you earlier?” I ask.
A redheaded guy I’ve never seen before comes to Maddox’s side.
“Holy shit, you’re Matt Jackson,” he blurts out.
Just what we need—random people approaching Matt. I’m about to tell him to fuck off, but in a nice way, when Maddox says, “Aaand this is my very uncool friend, Jared. He’s the reason Stacy was naked and yelling at us earlier. She didn’t know he’d be here.”
Matt hesitantly holds out his hand for Jared to shake. “Just Matt is fine. You don’t need to use my last name. Especially so loud.” He glances around the small bar.
“I’m Noah,” I say and lift my chin in greeting.
“When will Damon finish napping?” Matt asks. “He’s supposed to talk to us about what exactly we’re doing here.”
“We’re about to leave port,” Maddox says, “so why don’t you go up to the main deck and wave at all the paparazzi back on land. Maybe give one of them the finger while you’re at it.”
“Yeah, Damon would have my balls if I do that,” Matt says.
“I don’t think you have a future in PR,” I add.
Maddox shrugs. “Fine. Do what you want. I’m going to drink.”
Jared points at Maddox. “That is a great idea. I’m in.”
“I read they have an onboard gym, so guess I’ll be there if you need me.” Matt stalks off, and his strides are long and fast as if he can’t get away fast enough.
“Great. You guys set me up with a gym rat,” I say.
“He plays for the NFL. That’s a given,” Maddox points out.
“Guess I’m going to the gym then,” I say. “Damon told me not to leave Matt’s side this whole week, but he’s not giving me much to work with. Is he always this standoffish?”
“He’s been through a lot,” Maddox says. “Cut him some slack.”
“Fine,” I say. “But I’m playing nice, and he keeps rebuffing me. He knows I’m doing him a favor by going along with this, right?”
“It’s not like you have anything better to do. You just can’t handle that Matt doesn’t want you,” Maddox says. “Does your poor ego need stroking?”
“You going to do it?”
“Pass.”
“What did they teach you guys at Olmstead University? You both obviously can’t see quality when you find it.” It’s no secret I hit on Maddox when I first met him. Damon needed some healthy competition to get him to admit he had a thing for Maddox.
I give Maddox and his friend a wave and chase after Matt. He’s not in the room, and I assume he went straight to the gym seeing as he was already wearing sweatpants. I change out of my jeans and into my gym shorts, put on my sneakers, and then make my way to the onboard gym.
I find Matt on a machine in the corner. His long, powerful legs carry him on a treadmill. His tight ass, strong body … It’s a shame he’s an asshole because we so could’ve turned this game into a few months of sweaty fun.
My cock likes that idea.
No, I say to him. We’re not allowed to like that guy, so down, boy.
When I jump on the machine next to him, he leaves and goes to the weights section.
Okay, I guess that’s how it’s going to be.
Half an hour goes by and then an hour. I think he’s done when he goes to fill up his water bottle, but nope. He chugs it back and then heads to another machine.
By hour two of nonstop working out, I’m fairly certain I’m dying. I wobble my way on shaky legs over to Matt who’s now on a rowing machine. “Are you done yet?”
He shakes his head and breathes hard. “Another hour.”
“Well, I’m heading back to the room. If I can make it that far.” I can’t be sure, but as I slip away, I swear he chuckles. But Matt laughing? So far that seems impossible, so I assure myself I’m hearing things.
After a long and hot shower to loosen my muscles, I check my phone, which I purposefully left in the room while working out. As expected, there are voicemails from my mom and dad. We’re too far out at sea now, so I can’t call my service to see what they say, but I’m certain I already know.
“What are you doing in the tabloids with that football player? Do you know how this looks? Break it off. Immediately.” And Mom’s would be “Why do you have to upset your father?”
When I see there’s five text messages from Aron, my stomach rolls. I don’t know if I can deal with him yet, although I thought this reaction might’ve been coming. Maybe I should’ve warned him, but I haven’t spoken to him for a month, so I thought it’d be too weird to message him and be all “Heads-up, I’m dating Matt Jackson now, so I’m going to be everywhere for a while.”