I brushed my lips across her cheek, tempted to wake her up and spew all the feelings threatening to burst from my chest. Now was definitely not the time. She wasn’t ready. I had seven months to convince Nadia she was it for me, and I never failed to reach my goals.

Outside, my wet truck shone in the early morning sunshine. The cold front must have pushed a storm through last night because the humidity was already at stupid levels. Thank goodness we only had a light workout today. I opened the truck door and stared down at my gym bag in the passenger seat.

The scent of her damn body wash lingered on my shirt, and I considered not changing for my workout. Soren would never know. My duffel taunted me, and I sighed as I ripped the shirt over my head. I didn’t want to show up wearing the same outfit that I’d left in yesterday. The last thing I needed was my best friend scaring off the woman of my dreams before I could lock her down.

12

DERRICK

Soren smirked when I walked into the weight room. No surprise, since he’d known I wasn’t planning to come home last night, but I wasn’t in the mood for his form of support. I nodded at him and started stacking plates. We worked in silent tandem, and I thought Soren might let me off easy this time.

I was wrong.

We’d just finished putting the strength equipment away and moved to the treadmills for light cardio when Soren slanted an amused look my way. “Did you find Nay?”

My jaw twitched at the nickname. Soren had been calling her that since Mac suggested it, and while I loved my best friend, I hated the way he said her name in that mocking tone.

“I did.”

He reached past me to lower my speed. A move he’d done a million times since we disagreed on the definition of ‘light’ cardio. “How’d it go?”

I controlled my breathing and reminded myself that Soren cared. He had a strange way of showing it, but this was how he checked up on me. “We ate tacos, we talked, and I left her asleep in her bed to come work out with your nosy ass.”

He snorted. “Those must have been some great tacos.”

“You have no idea,” I muttered.

Soren ran quietly for a moment, but I didn’t mistake his silence for the end of the conversation. He was simply choosing his next salvo.

“Are you sure hooking up with her is a good idea? I mean, she’s hot. I’m not going to argue that part, but do you really want the distraction right now?”