I'm not giving anyone my secrets, least of all him.
The sound of the door to the gym makes me turn around and, of course, there he is.
"Hey, I just wanted to come and check on you. You seemed a little rattled." Bastard. I don't like him reading my mind. I don't like the feeling I have when he lifts me. I don't like the way my body reacts to him. I don't like any of it. I was going to try to keep my distance, but no chance of that happening now. Coach was busy with the other stunt groups, but I know that word will get back to her about how well Rhett and I work together. I'm never getting rid of him.
"Shut up," I say. Brilliant, Freya. Real top-notch comeback.
Rhett just puts his hands up.
"Hey, now, I didn't ask for us to be put together. That just happened. And if can say this without you getting pissed, I think we were pretty damn good." Too late. I'm already pissed, but that comment isn't going to make things any worse.
I glower at him and he just starts to laugh.
"Is everything a joke to you? A bet, a laugh, a good time? Do you take anything seriously?" That shuts him up. He snaps his jaw shut, and it clenches in a way that makes my stomach do backflips.
"Don't act like you have me pegged, Freya. You don't know me. I think you want to, but you won't let yourself, which is a shame, because I'm a fantastic person. Excellent dancer. Good with kids. Able to eat an entire pizza by myself. Handsome. Suave. May I say debonair?" Where the hell is he getting this crap? He's succeeded in moving me from pissed to confused. Who is this guy? He has a smirk on his face like he knows exactly what he's doing and knows that it's totally working.
"You're weird," I say. Guess I'm not as good with words as he is. At least not at the current moment.
"I take that as a compliment of the highest order," he says, grinning and then bowing to me. "But we should probably get back inside, yes? Everyone will be wondering what we're doing out here." He wiggles his eyebrows up and down, and I want to shove him into the nearby Dumpster.
But I walk with him back into the gym as he dramatically holds the door open for me, sweeping his arm into his waist in another bow.
"You are so weird."
He chuckles.
"Even better."
Rhett
Partner stunts always make me nervous. Mostly because I'm the one who gets blamed if the flyer falls or gets injured. Honestly, I was terrified to lift Freya. What if I fucked up and dropped her? I'd feel even worse than I did when I dropped any other flyer. And that definitely wouldn't endear her to me and might cement her dislike of me permanently.
Then I put my hands on her waist, marveling at how strong she is. I mean, shit. She's got curves and muscle and I really need to behave myself. Her hands tremble just a little as she puts them over mine and calls out the count. I have no idea how this is going to go, but I bend and toss hold onto her like my fucking life depends on it. I'm not dropping her. That's a little dramatic, but I'm seriously fucking terrified.
She's stable. I'm stable. Not even a little bit of a wobble. I ask her if she wants to extend and we do, one smooth motion. Lifting Freya feels . . . Perfect. I lower her back down, and she's a little shaky on her feet. We go a few more times and then I nearly drop her. I apologize, but she still seems pissed and heads off to get some water. I'm not sure what's going on with her, so I wait a few minutes and then follow her to apologize. She's still not happy with me.
I laugh at her and then tell her what I've been wanting to say since the first time I saw her in the bar. She tells me I'm weird, and I swear, it's the best compliment I've ever been paid by a gorgeous girl. I'll take it.
We go back into the gym and Coach is waiting for us. She's looking pretty excited. There's a gleam in her eye that's a little manic.
Tobi stands beside her with a smirk on her face. I can feel Freya's thunderous look beside me without even glancing at her.
"So? Show me what you've got." I finally turn and look at Freya, and I can see her grinding her teeth.
"Sure," she says and we get into position. Even though we've done this less than a dozen times, it almost feels as if this is the thousandth time. She counts and I toss as I lift her from shoulder height to fully extended and then back down to a basic cradle.
"Very nice," Coach says, making a note on her clipboard. "Very smooth. I want you two to keep working together all this week." Freya makes a little squeaking noise next to me, and I almost burst out laughing. Keep it cool, Rhett.
I look at Freya, who's wearing an odd expression. I raise my eyebrows and she shakes her head, like she's trying to clear it. Practice ends a few minutes later, and I head out to my truck. Freya hangs around with Tobi and I want to talk to her, but I don't want to irritate her any more than I already have, so I cut my losses and figure I've annoyed her enough for one day.