I nod. This is good. If the focus stays on the article, maybe Anton won’t realize I’ve seen his tattoo.
14
I Work Out
Anton
“What do you usually do when you guys get together?” Rose wiggles her eyebrows at my teammates. She looks completely at ease with them.
Watching her with my friends is opening up a pit of longing in my core. For her. For us. For the way we could fit together. Does she feel it too?
“We keep things pretty low-key.” Del shrugs. “We don’t have a ton of free time during the season anyway.”
“Makes sense.” Rose nods.
“Now, don’t sell us short. We know how to have fun.” TJ crosses his arms.
“If by fun you mean talking us into getting tattoos.” Poe rolls his eyes.
“Fun. Adventurous. Meaningful. I’m full of adjectives, big guy.” TJ grins. “Don’t tell me you aren’t happy about that. I’ve seen you eyeing your ink in the mirror, flexing your bicep to make the poetry on the inside of your arm pop.”
“It’s a great poem.” Poe peels his sleeve up, showing off his tattoo for Rose, who leans in to read it.
“‘The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility. Humility is endless.’” She cocks her head to the side. “That’s deep.”
“It’s from T.S. Eliot’sFour Quartets.” Poe drops his sleeve back down. “My words to live by.”
“So you all got tattoos together?” Rose shifts and shoots me an unreadable glance.
I hold her gaze, even as my heart rate jacks up. The skin on my back feels otherworldly hot.
She saw it.Of courseshe saw it.
“Not me,” Del says. “That was before my time.”
“We’ll do it again sometime.” TJ flips his gaze to Rose. “I’m pretty tatted up already and wanted an excuse to get another one, so I made it a whole thing.”
Rose isn’t breaking eye contact, and I can’t look away from her. The conversation the guys are having swirls around us, but it’s muted somehow. All I can hear is the blood rushing in my ears.
Poe shakes his head at TJ. “I can’t believe you got Anton to go along with that one.”
“One of my prouder moments.” TJ puffs up his chest. “Anton’s tattoo is pretty cool.”
I let out a strangled sound, finally tearing my gaze off of Rose.
TJ narrows his eyes at me. “What? It’s—” He breaks off, his jaw coming slightly unhinged as he darts a glance at Rose. “Oh.” He has the wherewithal to look sheepish. “Never mind.”
Rose clears her throat. “We should get started here, right, Anton?”
“Right.” I’m not sure how I’m going to work out, since my body feels like it’s just run a marathon—and not on the treadmill.
The guys say goodbye to Rose and shoot wide eyes at me over her head.
As they walk out, I hear Poe ask Del, “What gives with her and Bates?”
“Not sure.” Del shrugs. “But she’s the reason he plowed his bike into that snow bank.”
The door snaps shut behind him, and I’ve never heard silence as loud as the deafening quiet in the weight room.
