He squeezed. “I’m messing with you right back, Auggie. Geez,” he said in a higher voice, poking fun at her.

She turned back and grinned. She caught his return smile and felt something inside her shift. Seeing Benji in a whole new light as a fellow gym enthusiast passed by and gave him a onceover startled her, and she coughed to cover her confusion.

“You know, you owe me.”

“I do?” He crossed his arms over his broad chest.

Huh. Benji has muscles and a broad chest. How have I never seen this before?

“Yeah, you owe me. I helped you with that video game demo. You’re slacking on the intel, buddy.”

Benji frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“You haven’t given me much on Justine. The pretty lady my brother’s boning.”

He flushed, as she’d known he would. Man, he was cute when he was flustered. How about that? “How would I know about her? I’ve talked to her maybe twice.”

“And? What do you think? Is she pretty? Nice? Smart?”

He flushed even redder. “She’s okay, I guess.”

“You guess?” She tightened her ponytail.

“She’s not prettier than you.”

“Aw, Benji. Just for that, I’m not going to make you do burpees. Goblin squats instead.”

He groaned.

“Then we’ll go to breakfast for our first official date.”

He tripped over a barbell sitting nearby but righted himself quickly. “Date?”

Man, who knew his voice could pitch that high and still sound masculine? She winked. “Grab that kettlebell and let’s get to it.”

His shy grin had her pulse racing, doing a workout all its own.

CHAPTER 26

Sunday night, Xavier did his best not to laugh at Justine’s nerves. Just as she’d been at her own parents, she turned on the anxiety while waiting outside the door to his mother’s home.

“I swear. She’ll love you. Now, remember how much you like me, my lovely girlfriend.”

She blushed. “Not love?”

“Well, not yet. That kind of feeling takes time.”

He felt all kinds of weird about the L word with Justine. Mostly because he was scared he felt that raw, untamable emotion for her despite doing his best not to feel anything but mutual admiration and a healthy dose of like.

But hell, after their weekend of marathon sex and spending time together, he couldn’t help himself. He’d done his best to leave her alone yesterday but had caved by eight last night and asked her over to watch a movie.

Except they spent their time on the couch doing anything but watching the TV for entertainment. Several orgasms later, she slept in his arms, and he didn’t have the strength to wake her to see if she’d rather go home. Instead, he’d carried her into his bedroom and curled up next to her.

He’d never slept so well. As if he’d finally found home.

Which freaked him the hell out. As a therapist, he knew he should delve deeper to find out why he’d panicked. But the cowardly side of him wanted to enjoy his time with Justine without thinking too hard about it.