Page 55 of Adoring Fletcher
God, how was he so damn gorgeous? I wanted so badly to reach out to him, to run my fingers through his damp hair. To kiss him and pin him against the pool wall and tell him how beautiful he was to me.
But I couldn’t. Not here, not now.
As if sensing my moment of weakness, Fletcher hoisted himself up out of the pool with only his upper-body strength. He stood, water dripping in rivulets down his toned, muscular back and legs.
Somehow, that was worse. I forced my gaze away and swam over to the steps to get out as well. By the time I made it overto where our towels were waiting on us, Fletcher already had his wrapped around his shoulders.
He offered me a small but lopsided smile. “Ready to head out?”
I nodded and scrubbed the towel over my damp hair before drying my body best I could. Fletcher took off towards the men’s lockers. I fell into step beside him. I’d just opened my mouth to ask him if he wanted to grab lunch after this, when suddenly, a familiar woodsy scent made my wolf’s hackles rise.
“Adam! Hey!”
Shit! I quickly threw my towel around my neck, to hide any hickies I might’ve had from last night’s lovemaking, and turned in time to see my friend Gale jogging over to us.
I pointed at the sign directly above that clearly said, “No running.”
Gale rolled his eyes, like he couldn’t quite believe me. “Always a stickler for the rules.” He jabbed a finger in Fletcher’s direction. “Is this your new roomie? Alpha said that you were shacking up with an Omega, but I didn’t quite believe it. Wow.”
Fletcher froze, a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. He knew the danger we were in. I needed to cover our tracks, fast.
I huffed, keeping my expression carefully guarded. “So what if he is? Contrary to popular believe, Alphas and Omegascanlive together peacefully. It doesn’t have to be all about mates and marking.”
“Right.” Gale didn’t sound convinced. “So you brought your ‘roommate’ to the gym.”
“Sure. I thought we’d come for a swim. He’s fairly new to town and I had a couple of guest passes left over.” I didn’t miss the way my friend eyed me though, suspicion clear as day. Judging me while trying to decipher exactly why we werespending time together, and deep in my soul, I knew my father had sent him to snoop. Bastard.
Fletcher offered a meek smile. “Adam’s a nice guy. He even said he’d be willing to help me out in the weight room.”
Gale cocked his head, then gave Fletcher a slow once-over. “You look pretty good to me.”
I clenched my teeth to bite back a growl.
Fletcher sort of laughed. “Um. Thanks? It’s all the outdoors work I’ve been doing. Adam hired me as his groundskeeper, so I’ve been working my tail off.”
“What happens when winter comes?” Gale asked, glancing between us.
“Snow shoveling, I guess? I could go around to other people in the neighborhood and offer to scrape their drives. I’ll figure it out.”
“Mmm.” Gale let out a low hum, then turned to me, a glint in his eye. “Speaking of figuring it out, congrats on the engagement, Adam. Miss Aria is quite the catch.”
I forced a smile. “She is.”
“She’s really everything you could want in an Omega—and in a wife.” The other wolf’s lips curved in a smirk as he lowered his voice. “Rumor has it, she’s still a virgin too.”
I snorted. “I don’t want to talk about that. We hardly know each other.”
“Yeah, but virgin pussy is the best pu?—”
“That’s enough, alright? Gale, god!” I growled at him, my hackles up now.
Gale responded by huffing out a low laugh and shaking his head. “You’re such a fucking pansy these days. Why are we friends again?”
We’re not.“You tell me,” I muttered.
He shrugged. “Well, whatever. Do what you want. I’m going to go bake in the sauna. You two have fun in the locker room.”He made a jerk-off motion with one hand, laughed, and kept walking.
My stomach was in knots. I looked at Fletcher, who seemed a little more pale than usual. Neither of us said a thing as we got changed and left the gym. We didn’t even bother to grab lunch after. We were both too unsettled by Gale’s crude remarks.
