“I don’t want you dragging in other dudes.”
Wait, what? That was so far from what she’d expected that she went blank.
He gave a soft growl, kissed her hard and fast and finally freed her to run a hand over his dark hair. “Are you planning to see other guys?”
Other guys meaning men besides him? “I’m not seeing anyone.”
His blue eyes went flinty. “We’ll be living together, so you’ll be seeing me.”
Not the way he implied. “Sharing the same house is not—”
“Sharing the same bed? We’ll see.”
Her mouth opened, but no protest emerged.
“Still.” He chewed the corner of his mouth while forming his reply. “It could be uncomfortable for both of us, don’t you think?”
With no idea what he meant, she shook her head in confusion.
“You with someone else, me with someone else. Not cool, right?”
Shoot, it wasn’t as if she wanted to see him with another woman! “It could be uncomfortable, yes.” His insistence started to wear on her. “But what about Mary?”
“Forget her.”
“There will be other women—”
“Forget them, too.” He drew a slow breath. “I’ve made it as plain as I can, honey. I don’t mind giving you some time, but you need to understand the facts. The only woman I’m interested in right now is you.”
That was so blatant, so bold, she fell back a step. Elation tried to burst free, but she stomped it into submission and took a stance instead. “Since when?”
“The truth?” He leaned in close, angling his body down to hers, nose to nose, aggressive and annoyed. “Since you walked out on me three f**king years ago.”
* * *
ARMIE WATCHED AS Cannon and his lady walked into the rec center. Trouble in paradise, he thought, noting the difference in how they both held themselves today.
Funny.
Yesterday Cannon had been so territorial that he’d half expected him to start shoving the other guys out the door. Course, that just made Stack and Denver and Miles more interested.
Grabbing up a towel to mop the sweat from his face, Armie winced. His cheek hurt like a son of a bitch and his swollen lip still smarted. He prodded the cut inside his mouth with his tongue before saying to Denver, “Finish up and then have them spar. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Denver followed the direction of his gaze and grinned. With his long brown hair half out of the tie, he looked more like a barbarian than a good instructor for kids. “Cannon looks a little out of sorts, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah.” Armie slung the towel around his neck. “Think I’ll see what I can do to tweak his bad mood.”
“You have a death wish,” Denver said on a laugh before turning back to the youths he instructed, showing them the proper way to kick a heavy bag.
Stepping off the mats, dressed only in athletic shorts, Armie walked up front to meet his friend.
Yvette—such a doll—looked at him and grimaced. “Ouch. Are you okay?”
“Fine.” He glanced at Cannon. “’Bout damn time, man. You’re only four hours late.”
Rather than reply to the jibe, Cannon looked him over, taking in every bruise. He lifted a brow in query.
“I’m so sorry.” Yvette raised a dainty hand. “It’s my fault.”
Ignoring Cannon’s curiosity, Armie turned his attention to her. “What is?”
“Cannon being late.”
Trying not to grin, Armie asked, “Yeah, how so?”
Cannon gave him a shove. “Not what you’re thinking.”
With his whole body bludgeoned, Armie almost groaned. But never in front of a lady. He sucked it up and laughed at Cannon. “What was I thinking?”
Cannon glanced at Yvette, and, damn, he looked hungry.
Okay, so maybe he hadn’t tapped that yet. Poor bastard.
Either unaware of the undercurrent or adequately pretending, Yvette explained. “I went jogging this morning without realizing that Cannon wanted to talk with me. He waited for me to return and it put us behind.”
Huh. Armie eyed his friend. “Why didn’t you just jog with her?”
“She didn’t tell me she was leaving.”
Yvette flushed, more over being ratted out than from embarrassment. “I didn’t, at that time, realize that we’d be checking in with each other.”
Oh, man. This was hilarious. “So let me get this straight.”
Shifting, Cannon said low, “Fuck you, Armie.”
Unfazed, Armie said, “You and Cannon are...what?”
Appearing unsure of how to answer, Yvette deferred to Cannon.
Tight-lipped, Cannon shared with him the brunt of his disgruntlement. “You don’t have enough bruises? Looking to get a few more?”
“Nope. Idle curiosity, that’s all.”
Cannon appeared ill at ease, but only for a second. He was not a man who suffered insecurities of any kind. He turned to Yvette. “You want to look around, check out the place? Break room is through that back door. Johns are back there, too. Looks as though Denver is teaching a class. You can watch that for a few minutes if you want. I’ll join you soon.”
Armie smirked. “Yeah, take in all the sights while Cannon vents his bad mood.”
She tilted her head, studied each of them and, given her serene smile, must have decided they were joking. “Take your time.”