Page 29 of I Could Never
My imagination ran wild about what Josh might need those ten minutes alone in the shower for. Brad always used to jerk off in the shower. Given this living situation and the lack of privacy, I assumed the shower had to be where Josh pleasured himself. I felt an unwanted tingle between my legs at the thought, once again a reminder that I needed to cool off. For some reason, I found that visual so freaking hot—foundhimso freaking hot—which was quite disturbing. It was grossly inappropriate to think sexual thoughts about Brad’s best friend. But I’d found myself more and more aware lately of just how long it’d been since I’d been touched by a man. If Josh were anyone else, I might’ve taken advantage of our living situation. But since that wouldneverhappen, I had to control these sexual thoughts.
***
After dinner that night, Josh helped me with the dishes before he sat with Scottie while I took a shower.
“Bathroom’s free,” I announced as I emerged, fully dressed, with the ends of my hair dripping down my shirt.
“Any idea why he listens to Elton John songs played backwards?” Josh asked.
I ran a hand through my wet strands. “He has this app that records songs and plays them in reverse. It’s crazy all the shit he knows how to do, even if he won’t talk to us.” I sighed. “But he definitely loves Elton John.”
“It took me a bit to figure out that he was listening to ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight?’” Josh stood. “Anyway, I’m actually gonna work out before I shower him, if you don’t mind.”
“I didn’t realize we had a home gym,” I teased.
“I’m just gonna do what I can in the space we have. I need to do something. I belong to a gym back home. I’m starting to feel disgusting.”
That was comical, considering helookedfar from disgusting. The man was physical perfection, and his body was rock solid. But I supposed when you were used to working out and had to stop, you felt out of commission.
“Why don’t you join a gym in Woodsboro?” I suggested.
“The closest one is like thirty minutes away, but I might have to, depending on how long we’re here. For now, I’ll just improvise.”
He was right. Neither of us knew how long we’d be stuck in Woodsboro, so we needed to set up routines here. I made a mental note to follow up on the process for getting Scottie on a waiting list this week. Josh had made some calls, but thus far no one had gotten back to him. We’d been so busy adjusting to life here, we hadn’t had a chance to be very proactive with that yet.
Scottie retreated to his room, and I busied myself in the kitchen while Josh began his workout. He started with crunches, then moved to push-ups. Since the kitchen opened to the living area, I had a front-row seat to his exercise routine. So did Bubba, who had situated himself in the corner of the living room. Could’ve sworn the dog was drooling.I can’t blame you, Bubba.
When Josh eventually began lifting the end table up and down, using it as a weight, I really became transfixed. The shape of his muscles changed, depending on the movement. The ripples of his stomach became even more defined when he strained. A thin line of hair led down to the V at the bottom of his abdomen. And then there was the glistening sheen of sweat over his flawless skin… His tanned body was like a work of art behind hypothetical velvet ropes I’d never have the right to cross. And we won’t talk about the subtle grunting noises that made it very easy to imagine what he might sound like having sex.
When he’d finished, Josh grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off his body. My tongue buzzed as my mouth fell slightly open, the muscles between my legs awakening even more. I might’ve appreciated that sight a little too much.
“Can I help you?”
His question snapped me out of my trance, but it took a few seconds to register why he’d asked me that. He’dcaught me staring. My stomach dropped.
“Nope,” I said as I shook my head and pretended to be busy in the kitchen.
Motherfucker.
After that, I disappeared into my bedroom and didn’t speak to him for the rest of the night.
CHAPTER 8
CARLY
A FEW DAYSlater, I still hadn’t gotten over that terribly awkward staring moment the other night. As embarrassing as it was, I decided to tell Christina during our catch-up call while driving home from my first official makeup gig at the salon.
She was grasping at straws, trying to make me feel better about it. “When he said ‘Can I help you?’ maybe he was just asking if you needed anything?”
That was laughable. “I wish.” I shook my head. “No. It was definitely his way of chastising me for staring. Josh is a cocky fucking bastard.”
“So what if he was teasing you?”
“So what? It’s mortifying, that’s what.”
“I still think you could be misinterpreting why he said that.”
“No. I think the dick side of him that I’d thought had gone into hibernation came back out. He’s full of himself. He knows he’s good-looking. He caught me staring, and he decided to call me out on it. Just when I was starting to think he was nice.”