Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 133886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
His kind, considerate, giving trainer hadn’t called. Dallas had willingly left him waiting alone. Greer’s first time being stood-up, and it fucking sucked.
His heart required—no, demanded—he go and drive the route from the gym to Dallas’s apartment to ensure Dallas hadn’t been stranded or hurt somehow. His sweet, assertive gentleman didn’t have it in him to leave Greer waiting without a single word.
His head knew better and won this round.
Greer went to the workout room, turned on his BikeBro, and signed in. On some sort of morbid kick, he activated the mirror. Standing fully dressed in the casual wear he’d painstakingly chosen tonight, Greer split the screen, knowing Dallas could see him if he was there. If Ducky, Skye, and Donny were on, they’d see him too.
No one else but Dallas mattered. Greer tried to mask his feelings, hide the emotion from his face when Dallas’s image filled the other half of the mirror. He watched the slightest turn of Dallas’s mesmerizing eyes as they met his gaze. Their usual warmth gave the most subtle shift, turning icy cold and resolved. Dallas’s jaw firmed, his brow furrowed, and his trainer looked away, concentrating on the class.
Greer glanced over at the list of cyclists signed on. Dallas had a large following. How did he attract so many riders at ten o’clock at night? From a business perspective, Dallas should be teaching in a group setting during prime-time hours.
He forced himself to turn the BikeBro off, because seriously, how pathetic was it that he stood there staring. The screen darkened and he still stayed planted in his spot.
What happened next?
After a long, slow exhale, he closed his eyes, absorbing the shocking hurt. In his heart, he knew that he and Dallas were more than a one and done. They just were. They connected and fit together like pieces of a complex puzzle. He had to do something, so he lifted the cell phone still in his hand and tried to form the right words to dial them back in time to this morning.
“Babe, what happened?” Greer typed then immediately deleted those words.
Dallas had felt their solid connection. Greer knew he had. Images of them barely staying above water while swimming together because neither wanted to let the other go… Dallas curling around Greer, sleeping right on top of him with his hand stroking his hair and Dallas’s sweet breath dancing over his face… Dallas sitting on the sofa, free of his burdens, laughing at whatever story Greer told… They were in sync and meant to be.
“We can figure this out,” he tried again then abruptly deleted those words too. They weren’t right either. Greer couldn’t solve what he didn’t understand. Dallas didn’t need more guilt or shame in his life. He also didn’t want to fall into any category that involved those two emotions. He absolutely refused to be another burden to Dallas. But he had to say something. Communication was his life, and this desperation racing through him sought an outlet.
Leave him alone.
Let him be.
They could talk tomorrow.
Decision made. Greer left the room with long, purposeful strides. He made it as far as the entry to the living room before he stopped again. Dallas needed to know how badly Greer wanted him, and that they would, in fact, figure this out. He typed another message after twisting the lock to his front door.
“I miss you.” Greer attached the picture he’d taken of his living room. The loneliness radiating from the photo said everything Greer wanted to say. He hit send and went for the garage door, heading for his sports car. He tossed the phone in the backseat and shut the door tight.
Knowing him, if he didn’t keep the phone away, he would certainly break and send a zillion pathetic messages, begging Dallas to stay in his life. Next, Greer went for his key fob. He clicked the car’s locking system button and listened for the faint honk, guaranteeing it had locked. He never broke stride as he went to the backyard and tossed the key fob into the flowerbed. He wouldn’t be able to easily find it under the darkness of night.
The hysteria overriding every other emotion set his clamped jaw ticcing. He must find a way to win Dallas over. And he would. His heart would allow nothing less.
Chapter 25
Apparently, Dallas had started his own form of pacing to keep from crawling out of his skin. He had purposely ignored the text from Greer last night, but it was gnawing at him again. He wasn’t ready to deal with any kind of fallout. He went from one side of the classroom to the other, making a square, easily getting his ten thousand steps for the day. Dallas listened as the students read aloud.
Even he rolled his eyes at that lie. He wasn’t listening, not to one single word. His entire focus remained fixed on trying to stay awake from a night of fitful sleep and this irritability that had settled on him since yesterday afternoon. Both were contenders for the first-place prize of darkening his already sour mood.