Page 17 of Double Dared
“It’s not so dense and technical,” Harrison said.
“No, I mean it literally,” I said, lying on my back and lifting the book above my face to demonstrate. “It would crush my skull. See?”
He laughed and took the book away. “I see what you mean.”
“So? Any updates?” I asked.
“I saw you fourteen hours ago,” he said.
It took me a moment before I understood. “I mean with Emma. Is she here yet?”
The casual confidence faded from his face, and his muscles tensed. He shook his head. “But her girlfriends are here, and there’s space for one more blanket.”
“You didn’t talk to them, did you?” I asked.
“No.”
“Good. We can stretch our legs a little if you want to hold my hand and let them see,” I offered.
Harrison hesitated for the shortest of moments, then waved the idea off. “We can leave that on the maybe pile for now.”
I glanced at Harrison, then let my gaze linger. His ears were pierced, his cheeks were covered in the shortest stubble, while his chin and upper lip sported a stylish goatee, and he had a long dragon tattoo down his right arm. I hadn’t realized he had a tattoo. It madehim look a lot more daring and dangerous, but I knew he wasn’t dangerous at all.
There was something very comfortable and safe about him. It had me wondering what Emma possibly could have been thinking. Was the other guy that much cooler or hotter or whatever? I wouldn’t pretend to be an authority on the subject, but I couldn’t imagine someone cooler or hotter than Harrison.
Now that he wore short sleeves, I could see the bulging biceps and the defined, triangular forearms, and the broad shoulders stretching the shirt so wide, and even a strip of flesh where the shirt lifted to reveal his belt and what were unmistakably his abs. Even his legs were athletic now that I thought about it. Contrary to Finn’s assessment, I didn’t think Harrison only worked his glutes at the gym. His quads and calves were big and defined just as well.
He leafed through the book while lying on his side, supporting his torso with one elbow planted onto the ground. “Jam?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said. “How often do you work out?”
His mustache twitched down as he thought. “Every other day. I do a full-body workout until I’m swaying on my feet, then take a day to recover.”
“Evenings? Mornings?”
“Evenings,” he said.
“Let’s go together,” I said. “You’re due one today, right? You weren’t swaying last night.”
Harrison lifted one corner of his lips in a lazy smile. “Why do you want to go together?”
“I want to see how you do it,” I said. “I’ve been working out since I was fourteen, but your proportions are something I can’t even dream about.”
“You can dream.” He cast his gaze back to the page, though the small smile remained on his lips.
We helped ourselves to some of the jam and bread from the basket, and later, Harrison poured coffee into cups. Small groups clustered all around the park, reading, chatting quietly, snacking, and enjoying the sunshine.
My hoodie absorbed the heat so much that I decided to take it off and let the sunlight kiss my skin. I folded it and tucked it under my head, then noticed Harrison had paused reading, his gaze moving over my torso to my face, concern furrowing his brow.
“Am I not supposed to…?”
“She’s here,” he said and looked away.
I followed his gaze to the girl passing between blankets. Her curls bounced around her head and shoulders as she hurried to the empty spot her friends left for her in the middle of the group. She stepped onto someone’s shoe, then apologized, but the guy laughed it off, and she looked around, one hand on the straps of her bag, the other moving to tuck the stray locks behind her ear. She took the park in, moving her gaze all over it in one sweeping glance that stopped at Harrison, flicked back to me, and turned to Harrison again.
Emma raised her hand and waved at Harrison, whowaved back, but his breathing was a sudden wheeze as he did so.
She turned away and set her things in the group, speaking to the girls now.
