Page 28 of Dueling Flames

She crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want?”

I rubbed my chin with my fingers. “I’ll have to think about it.”

Lissa shook her head, then moved on to the next machine.

Lissa

We walked back from my next game of basketball. Thorne stood on the side and coached me, demonstrating a better way to shoot the ball. Evan tried to do some fancy footwork to get around me until I checked him, and he landed on his ass.

Mateo immediately started planning the next game. He wanted to see me block more players.

Thorne came to all my climbing trainings. He helped when he could and was a source of encouragement I didn’t know I was missing.

And the sex? Phenomenal with a side of super cuddling. Apparently, I loved a man who liked to snuggle in bed.

At work, he managed to prevent me from quitting. Thorne used any opportunity to pit me against Trevor where he couldn’t win. From packing the truck, to playing pool, Thorne used his love of games and competition to shut down Trevor’s mouth as much as possible.

I thought back to all the times I refused to let Thorne turn work into a game. I never played and always turned him down, not wanting to create any animosity between the two of us. I might change my mind later. But for now, these games with Trevor might be the only time I approved of competing on the job.

During my third shift with Trevor, Thorne and I worked on sit-ups with ball passes. We figured out a way for him to complete the sit-ups without putting pressure on his leg.

Trevor came down and putzed around the room, silently watching us work. I frowned at Thorne. He mouthed, ‘Ignore him,’ and kept moving. Finally, Trevor started doing some exercise. Pull-ups.

“You know,” he said while he worked. “Pull-ups are my favorite. Nothing shows your strength like a pull-up.”

Thorne’s eyes lit up and a mischievous grin appeared on his face. “You’re right. Lissa was telling me that just the other day.”

I scowled at him. What was he thinking? I never said that. I sat up and passed him the ball a little too hard and narrowed eyes at him.

“Oh yeah?” Trevor asked.

“Yeah. She’s a monster at pull-ups.” Trevor continued to grin at me, and I caught on.

Trevor dropped to the ground. “Is that right? I’ve never seen you do pull-ups, Lissa.”

I took a deep breath. “It’s a favorite pastime of mine. Saint and I like to compete when we work the same shift.”

Trevor rubbed his chin. “How many can you do?”

Thorne stared at me with wide eyes and mouthed ‘One-hundred.’

“Oh you know, seventy-five. But if I push it, I can get to over a hundred.”

Thorne didn’t pass the ball off the next time he sat up. He held it in his arms and said, “You two should see who can reach a hundred first.”

“No,” I said. “I don’t want Trevor to feel bad if he loses.”

Thorne practically vibrated with excitement. I played right into Thorne’s setup, and Trevor would no doubt take the bait.

“Lose? No way I’ll lose,” Trevor straightened his back. “You’re on. First to a hundred wins.”

“Sounds good,” Thorne said. “Meet here in the morning when the shift’s over. You both will have ten minutes to reach one-hundred pull-ups. Deal?”

Trevor looked me in the eye. “Deal.”

I raised my hand for him to shake. “Deal.”

Trevor shook my hand and walked out of the room.