Ryan Hunter

she didn’t trust me enough to drink what I served her, she’d never come upstairs with me sober. I just had to work a little harder to make her trust me. And tomorrow I’d get the first real chance during our personal training.
    I gave her my shades which I had left on the shelf next to the coat rack yesterday when I’d come in after training, and Liza put them on before she left my house without saying goodbye.
    “Matthews,” I called after her. She didn’t really think she’d get away that easily, did she? “We’ll start your training tomorrow morning. Be up and ready at five. I’ll pick you up.”
    And just so she didn’t get a chance to change her mind or talk herself out of our date, I cast her a last smile then closed the door on her stunned face.
    Hell no, I wouldn’t let her get off and go back on her word.
    With a silly smile on my lips, I walked back into the hall, where I made Chris help me clean up what my mom hadn’t already done this morning. We moved the furniture back into place and rolled out the carpets. As we carried the boxes of empty beer bottles into the garage, he seemed to finally have woken up fully.
    “So that was it?” he said with the edge of surprise in his voice. “You already had the chick in your bed?”
    “What? Now you doubt me? Yesterday you sounded way different, dude.” Stacking the boxes in the far corner, I let loose a brilliant smirk. “But it’s not really what it looks like. I didn’t touch her at all.” I reconsidered. “Or if I did, I don’t remember.”
    “Ah, I never thought I would say that, but it’s those girls that make you wait who are totally worth their salt.”
    Wait, whine, beg on my knees—Liza could have all of that from me. She only had to snap her fingers. Of course, I would never let her know that. She’d only get introduced to the art of subtle seduction. And then I liked how one thing had led to another these past few days.
    Later that day, Alex sent me a text message saying that a few guys from the team were meeting at the beach. It was mid-August, the perfect season to go surfing. I met up with them at three in the afternoon, and when I saw Mitchell pulling up in his parents’ car, a brief flicker of hope that he might have brought Liza struck me motionless. Unfortunately, it was a blonde and not a brunette climbing out with him.
    Alex and I took a few rides on cool waves, seeing who was the better surfer today, and when the girls tip-toed into the sea, I made an exit, shook out my wet hair, and slumped down next to Mitchell, who pretended to be sunbathing, when in fact he watched Cloey in the water through his opaque sunglasses.
    “Things are cool between you and Summers?” I asked.
    “Absolutely.”
    “I’m a surprised you didn’t bring Liza. The girls could be playing in the water together,” I mocked him and put my cap on over the wet hair. “Does she know that we’re hanging out here?”
    “She knows,” he replied and looked at me for the first time, taking off his glasses.
    Wow, he didn’t look happy all of a sudden. That made me abandon my taunting grin. “What’s up?”
    “I asked her to come, but she can’t. Her mom grounded her for the rest of the week. And then Liz was pissed because one, she thinks I forgot her at your place, and two, because Cloey is here with us, and she’s not.”
    “Ouch.”
    “Yeah, it sucks major .” Tony put the glasses on again to watch some more of a nearly naked Cloey, and it brightened his mood in an instant. “Liz also said you weren’t your usual self this morning.”
    “ What ?”
    A shit-eating grin appeared on his lips again. “She said you behaved like a perfect gentleman. I didn’t think you’d be able to keep it together if a girl sleeps in your bed and you’re drunk to boot.”
    I laughed about that. “So my usual self is a horny dickhead who’d grab any chance he gets at making out with a girl?”
    “Sounds about right.”
    I mirrored Mitchell’s smirk. “Guilty.” Even if that self of me was left in the past. But it was nice to know Liza thought of me as a gentleman. Meant I did something right last night. “What are you going to do about her being pissed at you?”
    Tony shrugged. “Dunno. Make it up to her somehow. Maybe drop in and watch some movies with her since she can’t go out.”
    “Are you going to tell her about Cloey?”
    “Eventually. I won’t have a choice.” He grabbed a handful of sand and let it run through his