CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | BRADY
“Hey baby,” a slick voice cooed into my ear. A pair of hands wrapped around my hips and hugged me from behind, and a pointed chin dug into my shoulder: “Are you thinking about me?”
I was startled out of my thoughts. My mind had been replaying every last scorching hot detail of my date under the fire escape with Cassidy: the way her thighs had wrapped around my neck while my tongue filled her hot void… the way she had begged to feel all of me… the way she had gasped my name when I drove my cock inside of her...
But the sound of my coworker’s voice hissing into my ear slammed me straight back into reality.
I wasn’t in that secret back alleyway… I was in the Firehouse 56 weight room. And I wasn’t with Cass… I was surrounded by my colleagues.
I jerked out of Duke’s embrace, jabbing my elbow into his chest.
“Ohhhh baby!” he recoiled with a high-pitched squeal. “I love it when you’re rough with me!”
“Keep dreaming,” I grunted, rolling my eyes.
I felt a burning pain shoot through my biceps, and I remembered the pair of 100 lb barbells that I was clutching in each fist. I slammed the weights back into the metal rack, and the warmth of immediate relief flooded my swollen muscles.
“The only person dreaming here is you, my friend,” Duke cracked back. “You’ve been in la-la land all morning.”
“I’m just trying to concentrate on my sets,” I muttered, flicking the sweat rag off of my shoulder and using it to wipe away the perspiration that had beaded up on my brow.
“Oh really?” Logan smirked up at me as he slammed his own set of barbells into the weight rack. “Is that why you’re staring off into space, grinning like a schoolgirl who just got her first kiss?”
Duke smooched his lips at me as he sank down onto a weight bench, then he uncapped a bottle of Gatorade and took a long swig.
“Am I distracting you, January?” Troy teased from the opposite side of the room. He dropped the barbell he had been deadlifting, and the weight sent a tremor through the padded floor. Then he stood up and stretched his arms over his head, flexing his ten-pack abs.
“I can put my shirt back on…” he winked at me as turned his arms downward, flaunting the dense bulge of muscles in his shoulders.
I rolled my eyes. When it came to muscle mass, Troy could have easily given Dwayne Johnson a run for his money. But despite his ridiculous physique, I was convinced that there wasn’t a single muscle on his body that was stronger or denser than his own damn ego.
“Well, I would ask you to put your shirt back on...” I quipped back at Troy, “But I don’t think Duke would ever forgive me.”
Duke flung his empty Gatorade bottle in my direction. The plastic bottle missed by a long shot, striking into the brick wall over my shoulder and clanking down to the padded weight room floor.
“Stop deflecting, January,” Logan said, turning back to me. “You must have had one hell of a hot date with the ‘ol ball and chain last night. I haven’t seen anyone with that many hearts and stars in their eyes, since the time Duke was invited to play a private game of search-and-rescue at a sorority house…”
“Hey, that night was the pinnacle of my career,” Duke said.
“I’m sure it was the pinnacle of your sex life, too,” Troy teased as he squatted down and positioned himself over the barbell again.
Logan rolled his eyes: “Come on, Brady. Give us the play-by-play.”
“Yeah,” Troy echoed, slamming the barbell into the ground after completing another deadlift. “Give us all the dirty details.”
“No can do,” I shook my head and grinned. “That’s classified information.”
“I guess we’ll just have to use our imaginations,” Duke smirked darkly.
Speaking of imagination… I needed a distraction to prevent my mind from slipping back to that dark alleyway, and the visions of Cassidy’s bare curves in the silvery moonlight… so I grabbed an empty barbell and propped it up next to the weight rack.
“Well boys,” Logan let out a dejected sigh and shook his head. “I thought we still had some time left with him, but I’d say it’s official: the Brady Hudson we used to know and love is gone. We’ve lost him to the dark side.”
“RIP, January,” Troy said solemnly, imitating a single tear trailing down his cheek with his fingertip.
The door to the weight room opened. I glanced up from the rack and immediately locked onto the cold, steely grey stare of my brother’s eyes.
Josh flicked his gaze away quickly as he stepped into the room.
“Perfect timing,” Duke said, greeting Josh with a nod. “We were just mourning your brother’s untimely demise.”
“Huh?” Josh sounded confused.
I rolled my eyes, turning back to the rack and shoving another cast iron weight plate onto my barbell.
“Your brother is a changed man, Joshua,” Logan said grimly. “He has been ruined by love.”
“He used to be a pussy master,” Troy chimed in, “Now he’s just a… lovesick little pussy.”
Josh snorted incredulously, and I could feel his eyes burning a hole into the back of my neck. I ignored him, reaching for a heavier weight plate and adding it to the stack on my barbell.
“This must be a real mind-fuck for you, Josh,” Duke said. “One day everything is normal… the next day, BAM!” -- he clapped his hands together, sending a loud echo through the brick walls -- “Your big brother tells you that he’s marrying the girl you grew up playing hopscotch with.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Josh shrug. I clenched my teeth together and slammed another weight onto my barbell.
“Were you shocked?” Duke asked eagerly. He wanted dirt… he wanted to stir the pot. “Did you feel hurt? Betrayed? Angry?”
Self-control was one of the greatest gifts the Army had given me… and I needed every ounce of it at that moment, as I remained hunched over the weight rack and forced myself to keep breathing. I could control my actions and my breathing… but I couldn’t stop my heart from hammering through my chest as I waited to hear how Josh would answer Duke’s question.
“It was definitely unexpected,” Josh said slowly, dragging out his words. I knew he was doing it on purpose to make me sweat. “Everything seemed to happen so fast…”
“Do you think it’s happening too fast?” Duke probed. “Do you think your brother is making a mistake?”
“What are you, Barbara Walters or something?!” I groaned, glaring over my shoulder at Duke.
“Only Brady knows the answer to that,” Josh ignored my retort. I imagined the smug smirk snaking across his face. I knew he was getting a kick out of torturing me… and I also knew that I couldn’t stand listening to this conversation for much longer.
“Can I get a spotter?” I barked, standing up from the weight rack. I gripped onto the barbell I had loaded with weights and I hoisted it up. It was heavier than I had intended… I must have been so distracted that I lost track of the plates I was slipping on.
I ignored the strain of resistance in my muscles, and I huffed in a deep breath as I carried the weight over to the bench and slammed it down onto the metal spotter rack. Then I dropped onto the bench and reclined backwards, so my back hit the vinyl pad and I was staring up at the ceiling.
“I can spot you,” Troy offered, but when I blinked up, I saw that my brother had already assumed the position behind the bench.
“I got this,” Josh said, then he glanced down at me and narrowed his eyes. I narrowed mine back as I reached up and gripped the barbell.
“Think on the bright side, Josh,” Duke said, reviving the conversation. “You grew up with the groom and the bride… that means you have plenty of material for your best man speech.”
“That’s true,” Josh smiled, keeping his eyes locked down at me. “I’d have plenty of great material for a speech…”
I gulped, tightening my grip on the barbell until my knuckles went white.
“But,” Josh said with a sigh, “Brady hasn’t asked me to be his best man.”
“What? Seriously?” Duke asked in disbelief. I scowled. This conversation was making me like Duke less and less… and I hadn’t liked the guy much, to begin with.
“He hasn’t asked me,” Josh shook his head.
“What the fuck, dude?!” Duke popped into view, craning his head over the bench to blink down at me. “You have to ask your brother to be your best man!”
“I thought we were all going to be the best man?” Troy asked.
“No,” Duke glared across the room at him, “There’s only one best man. That’s why they call him the ‘best man.’”
“Wait… are you serious?” Logan asked. “I thought we were all going to be the best man, too…”
“For fucks sake, you guys,” Duke rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Have any of you idiots actually been to a wedding before?! There’s only one best man. The rest of us would be groomsmen.”
“When did you learn so much about weddings?”
“What are you talking about?” Duke glared. “This is common knowledge! Everyone knows that there is one best man, and a handful of groomsmen…”
“I didn’t know any of that stuff,” Troy shrugged.
“Yeah,” Logan said, “This is all new information to me...”
“Well it’s not my fault you guys were raised by wolves,” Duke shook his head in disgust.
“Wait a second…” Logan said, his face lighting up with realization as he stared up at Duke. “Are you the one who set up the DVR on the break room TV to record ‘My Fair Wedding’?”
“What?!” Duke recoiled. “Of course not! What are you talking about?!” He was still glaring, but his face was about as red as a fire engine.
“Don’t deny it!” a smile spread across Troy’s face. “I totally walked in on you watching some wedding show on TV a few weeks ago! You had popcorn and everything!”
“Ok, that was one time!” Duke grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I was just watching it because the bride was a total babe!”
“Uh-huh, sure,” Troy rolled his eyes.
“It’s cool, bro,” Logan said, wrapping an arm around Duke’s shoulder, “Everyone has their kinks. If yours is weddings--”
“I don’t like weddings!” Duke shirked Logan’s arm away and his scowl deepened.
“Maybe Duke should be your best man,” Troy grinned down at me. “It’d probably be a dream come true!”
I pinched my eyes shut and blocked out the chatter as I pressed the barbell up out of the rack. My muscles screamed as pain shot through my entire body. I fought through it, guiding the barbell over my chest and letting it sink down.
Then I took a deep gulp of air, and in one solid motion I pressed up… up… up… until my arms were straight. I released the breath that I had been holding, and then…
I felt a quiver shake through my muscles. Suddenly my elbows felt like jelly, and I felt the weight start to slip out of my grip as I lost control…
It all happened so fast; I braced myself, wincing my eyes shut and expecting to feel the full force of the barbell slam straight down onto my chest. But then, just as quickly as it had started slipping down, the bar stopped.
I blinked open my eyes, and I saw Josh’s hands gripping onto the barbell, holding it steady, just inches above my chest.
I was speechless. All I could do was pant for breath. His face was blank as he blinked back down at me, and I realized that he was just as shocked as I was…
“You ok?” he asked finally.
I nodded and swallowed heavily, then I tightened my grip on the steel bar as Josh guided the weight back into the rack.