Beast

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  Giggling, Allison responded to apologize with a sad face but was glad the focus was off what she’d initially asked about. They went back and forth a couple more times with Allison letting Drew know she might stop by the gym in a bit and Drew saying she’d look out for her.

  The second she finished sending her last text, Allison began wrapping things up.

  “I’m gonna make a break for it.” Allison glanced over the computer screen to see if Carson was still there. “Drew just confirmed Rodney is at the gym right now, so I’m going for it.”

  “Cool.” Jen glanced over her screen as well. “I think he left. I don’t see him, do you?”

  “No,” Allison said, relieved about not having to get too sneaky.

  Zipping up her backpack, she stood up and swung it over her shoulder. “I’ll call or text you and let you know what I got.”

  Jen held up a hand for Allison to high five. “Do work, partner. And remember to flutter those lashes if you have to.”

  “All over it,” Allison said, high-fiving her before walking away.

  She’d made it all the way out of the lab and into the main hallway of the building when she heard Carson. “Ali!”

  “Damn it,” she muttered under her breath as she slowed then turned to see him speed up toward her.

  “I’m glad I saw you,” he said as he approached her.

  “I still haven’t finished with the story. But it’s where I’m headed now. To interview—”

  “That’s fine, Ali.” He shook his head as he reached her. “It’s not what I was gonna ask about. Take your time with that. There’s no rush.”

  Allison nodded, relieved and a bit curious now. Aside from anything related to the class, they’d never really discussed anything else.

  “You look cute by the way.” He smiled awkwardly as he glanced up and down at her outfit. Before Allison could thank him about the uncharacteristic compliment, he went on. “The lecture tonight, Dr. Rosenbaum’s lecture on investigative journalism . . . You’re going to that, right?”

  “Oh yeah.” Allison glanced down at her watch. “I’ve been looking forward to it actually. And . . . thank you.” She felt weird about adding that when the moment had passed, but she touched her skirt so he’d know what she was talking about.

  “You’re welcome.” He smiled a bit awkwardly again, glancing away. “I’m going tonight too. A few of us are, and then we were planning on grabbing a bite to eat after and discussing the lecture. Nothing fancy, just a burger or something. Feel like joining us? I’m always up for a good debate.”

  He winked, smiling bigger this time, lessening the awkwardness. Allison smiled, despite still feeling stunned. At least he’d mentioned a few of them, meaning this was not his way of asking her out. Or was it? “I, uh . . . suppose,” she said because he caught her so off guard she didn’t have time to give it much thought. “I mean, do you know where yet? I could just meet you guys there.”

  “No, we usually just wing it. But if you meet up with us, we’ll watch the lecture together then just decide when it’s over where to head to.”

  “Okay.”

  “Great,” he said before she could say more. “I’ll text you when I get there tonight so we can meet up.”

  A few classes nearby let out, and Carson was quickly approached by two of the other students from their journalism class. Glad for the interruption, Allison said she had to get going and walked away.

  The whole way to her car, Allison couldn’t shake how befuddling Carson’s unexpected invitation, coupled with the compliment, felt. She wasn’t sure what she was more surprised about: the fact that Carson had gone out of his way to invite her to do something outside of school or that she wasn’t as thrilled as she would’ve imagined being just a few months ago.

  Once behind the wheel of her car, she turned it on, feeling her insides do a little summersault in the process. Only she knew it had nothing to do with Carson’s invitation. Turning her car on had just reminded her where she was headed and who’d she be seeing soon. She knew Rodney had nothing to do with her jittery insides either.

  Halfway to the gym, Allison was second-guessing her decision to not go home and change before heading to 5th Street. Ever since the makeover, she’d been trying to get up on the latest fashion. She’d never been one to care much about that stuff, but she figured it was a good time to make a little effort. Now that she lived in uber-trendy Los Feliz, she got to see a lot of the absolute latest in fashion just by walking around the shopping district with all the fancy boutiques.

  Though she refused to pay the astronomical prices those expensive boutiques charged. Jen’s very talented seamstress mom could recreate some of the trendy outfits they’d seen. The plaid tennis skirt she had on now was something she’d seen in the window of those boutiques and around school. She thought the look was cute, but at her request, the skirt was not as short as the ones she’d seen on some of the girls at school. Still, it was shorter than she was used to wearing. And while she’d seen other girls wearing the skirts with long-sleeved spandex crop tops, Allison hated how much attention it brought to her boobs. But both Jen and even Lila had assured her that the whole outfit along with the thigh-high socks and short boots was cute and the in thing for girls her age. She knew Lila wouldn’t hold back if she thought the look was slutty. But it still felt odd walking into the gym, wearing a skirt versus her usual workout outfit.

  Determined to get this over with and stop obsessing about why Leonardo had chosen to just ignore her, she walked into the gym, holding her chin up. The first thing she was accosted with when she turned the corner toward the area she knew they trained was Rodney’s wolfish grin as he took her in.

  She expected nothing less, no matter what she’d been wearing, but she couldn’t help feeling visually assaulted anyway. She responded with an equally big smile because she’d be doing exactly what Jen had suggested: using her womanly charm to get what she needed. Though of course she’d only go so far. She wasn’t about to give him a reason to disrespect her. But she didn’t see the harm in smiling sweetly.

  Leonardo saying something to him instantly distracted her. Allison felt her face heat when it was clear by the way the other guy with them turned to look at her that they were talking about her. Maybe Leonardo was just now telling Rodney about her text? What else could they possibly be saying?

  She knew it wouldn’t be unheard of for guys to be exchanging smartass or even lewd comments as they watched a girl on her way to interact with them. But unlike Rodney, who continued to smile widely at her when he turned to her again, Leo was doing anything but. In fact, much like the very first time she’d noticed him, she might even say he looked disgusted.

  Thank God she’d texted him about Rodney earlier. At least he should have a pretty good idea of why she was there. It wasn’t to see him in case that was the reason for the irritated expression.

  Taking a deep breath just before she reached them, she smiled big. “Hey, guys.”

  “Well hello, Allison,” Rodney said, his eyes taking a full sweep of her from top to bottom. “Don’t you look incredibly sweet today.”

  “Thank you.” Willing her cheeks not to turn bright red, she turned to Leo. “Did you get my text?”

  Allison had seen many of this broody man’s glares. But the one she was treated to now as he removed his lifting gloves was without question the worst she’d seen so far. Then she remembered his lack of response and that glare might be his way of saying, Which one? You’ve sent so many.

  “The one I sent earlier,” Allison clarified as he dropped the gloves in a tote and started toward her, “the one about—”

  “It’s lunch time,” Leo said, interrupting her. “How ’bout you and I grab something to eat.”

  He’d ignored her texts all this time, and now he wanted to do lunch and expected her to just drop everything? “No thanks,” she said, lifting her chin. “I’m not hungry.”

  His indifferent shrug was almost insulting until he added, “
We can finally finish that interview.”

  She peered at him for a moment, still confused by his sudden change of heart, then remembered. “Oh, that reminds me. I actually need to talk to—”

  His suddenly towering over her with such a lethal glare had the words catching in her throat. “You’re not talking to him, Jelly.” He turned to the other two guys, who seemed as surprised by this as Allison was. “It’s about that time, right? I’ll see you guys back here in an hour.”

  When he turned his attention back to her, she did her best to match the glare; though her jittery insides didn’t make it easy.

  “Just walk outside. I’ll explain out there.”

  It felt more like an order than a request, but her curiosity had piqued too much to argue. “Fine.” She huffed, trudging alongside him, beyond curious now and a little excited about finding out what the heck this was about.

  Ten

  BEAST

  Thankfully, all it took was a couple of other girls in tight spandex outfits to walk by for Lenny and Squiggy to start gnawing at their fists. It was a big enough distraction to give Leo enough time to walk Allison away from them without them asking questions.

  “Explain what?” Allison asked as soon as they stepped outside the gym.

  “Trust me. You do not want that guy to have your number.”

  Just like that, the animated little brows and those eyes were at it again. “What do you mean? I just wanted to ask a few more questions for my story.”

  “It really is my lunchtime.” He glanced around the parking lot. “I’d offer to drive you somewhere, but I’m on my bike and only have the one helmet. We can walk across the street and get some tacos. I can explain about Rodney while we eat.”

  Allison nodded, understandably still looking a little perplexed. Taking a deep breath as they silently walked through the parking lot, Leo decided he’d just have to suck it up and do this. He’d begun to consider doing this the moment he walked into the gym today and overheard Rodney—once again—talking about how much he needed to get laid. For a moment today, despite Leo’s irrational annoyance over reading Allison’s text, he thought maybe this would get rid of her for good. As much as the very thought nearly sickened him, he knew he could pawn her off on Rodney, who’d be more than happy to oblige. But the more the horny bastard went on so obnoxiously about what he’d do to every girl who walked by, the longer Leo put off mentioning Allison’s text to him.

  Rodney’s comments about what seeing Allison did to his cock the moment she walked into sight today had sealed it. No fucking way was Leo giving him her number, not without giving her fair warning first. If she still wanted the douche calling after she’d been warned, then that was on her. Though she’d have to give him her number herself because Leo sure as fuck wouldn’t be doing it, regardless.

  “Is he dangerous?” Allison asked as they reached the stop light. “Because Gio said they do an extensive background check on all the workers.”

  “Not in the sense that I think he’d be out to hurt you.” Leo stepped off the curb when the light turned green. “He’s just a perverted prick with only one thing on his mind at all times. It’s all he thinks and talks about, so I thought I’d warn you first. If you heard half the shit that comes out of that guy’s mouth, I’m pretty sure you’d rethink giving him your number.”

  “About me?” she asked wide-eyed as they reached the taco place.

  “About every girl he’s ever around.” Leo held the door open for her.

  She walked into the small but busy restaurant, and Leo walked in behind her. What I’d give to bend her over in that school-girl outfit and fuck her with it on. Rodney’s exact comment as she’d walked toward them today had Leo grinding his teeth again. As much as Leo hated to admit it, the outfit did have that look exactly. She wasn’t the only girl he’d seen wearing something similar lately, so he knew it was a trend. The thought that there was a miniscule chance that she’d worn the outfit for Rodney, had Leo grinding his teeth even harder.

  They ordered their food at the counter. Leo motioned for her to go first. Clearing her throat, she glanced up at the menu then began ordering. “I’ll have one asada taco, one buche taco, and a diet soda.”

  “They’re the little ones,” Leo informed her, knowing two of these little tacos would be an appetizer for him.

  “I know.” She smiled. “That’s all I want.”

  Leo stared at her for a moment until she glanced away. Then he turned to the girl behind the counter. “I’ll take three al Pastor, asada, and carnitas tacos. Three of each.”

  Allison tried handing him a ten-dollar bill, to which Leo shook his head, handing the girl his debit card. “You already paid for my energy drink last time.”

  Leo squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah, please don’t remind me about that.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she said with a chuckle.

  “It was.”

  It really was. If he hadn’t been so busy trying to listen in on Allison and the trainer’s conversation, he might’ve heard Paulina’s warning.

  “No, it wasn’t.” Allison insisted as they took their drinks and walked to a booth together. “It was mine for gulping that drink down the way I did. Something I never do with energy drinks.”

  That piqued his curiosity. “So, why’d you do it that day?”

  They slid into a booth across from each other, and he took in her sweet timid smile. “I was nervous. It was why I kept clearing my throat so much. Remember you called me on it just before I had to make a mad dash to the trash can?”

  Just like all the times it’d happened before, Leo didn’t even realize he was smiling. Before he could hastily wipe it off his face, because he remembered her calling him on that, he toned it down instead.

  “What were you nervous about?”

  He was a grown-ass man. Despite establishing that she was far more womanly than he’d first pegged her out to be, she was still young. He knew what a young impressionable girl like Allison might still be nervous about. The tinge in her cheeks confirmed what he already knew—he shouldn’t be asking her things of this nature. It shouldn’t matter. But it did, and though he was fairly certain of the answer, and what a risk this was to even go there, he wanted to hear her say it.

  She lifted and dropped a delicate shoulder, but as she always had, regardless of how timid she seemed sometimes, she looked him straight in the eyes. “Talking to you makes me nervous.”

  Leo gulped as he was easily caught in the beautiful eyes once again. He’d expected her to be vague, maybe blame this interviewing stuff being a bit new to her and that was the reason for her rattled nerves. Not be this honest about it.

  He could only hope now she meant he made her nervous for the right reasons. “Because I’m a felon? That’s understandable—”

  “No.” She shook her head adamantly. “That’s not it at all. Gio assured me you’re all good guys who can be trusted. He said you guys may’ve made some mistakes in the past but are looking to rectify them, and I believe him.”

  There was so much conviction not just in her words but her eyes as well. Any trace of a smile he might’ve still worn really did go flat, and he swallowed hard.

  “Why do you do that?”

  The question pulled him out of the trance he’d begun to fall into. Trying not to be too obvious about what those eyes had the power to do to him, he glanced away.

  “Do what?”

  “The first day I saw you,” she said, and the moment he glanced back at her, her eyes seemed to search his. “The day I was eating that jelly donut you seemed utterly disgusted. Can’t say I blame you really. I’m aware I need to lose some weight. Still—”

  “What?” Leo asked, feeling almost pissed.

  “Yeah, I get it.” She smiled at the guy who dropped off the tray of food at their table. “Fat-shaming people isn’t cool, but I could see how me being in a gym, inhaling a donut, when most there are trying to lose weight or stay in shape, would be a little off putting—” r />
  “I didn’t have a problem with you eating a donut,” he said, floored that she’d even think that.

  Of course, he wouldn’t be admitting he’d enjoyed it and that the visual was still clear as day in his head. Even worse, disgust was the furthest emotion he felt whenever he revisited the visual. He couldn’t believe this was what she’d been thinking all this time.

  She rolled her eyes, lifting a taco from her plate. “Okay, whatever,” she said, taking a bite.

  Leo was momentarily distracted by the orgasmic flutter of her lashes as she chewed then licked her lips and wiped them with a napkin. Like a kitten following a bouncing light against a wall, his eyes followed her every move as she finished chewing, licked her finger clean, then took a swig of her soda. She finished by wiping her mouth before addressing him again.

  “I saw how you looked at me that day. Disgust doesn’t even begin to cover it, and like I said, I guess I get it, but today . . .” She wiped her mouth again and Leo refrained from retorting to her unfounded accusation the way he wanted to because he was caught on that last comment. “You did it again today when I walked into the gym. Rodney smiled at me, but you . . . you had that same look of utter disgust—”

  “Of course Rodney would smile at you,” Leo said, motioning to her. “Look at you. You’re fucking adorable. And Rodney’s a pig who can’t even appreciate that. All he thinks of is perverted shit. Hearing his comments was what had me looking so disgusted. But that first day had nothing to do with that donut. It was the furthest thing from my mind.”

  Allison closed her mouth since it’d fallen slightly open as he’d spoken. Just like the last time he’d been around her, the words had unleashed without permission. He’d admitted he thought her adorable and there was no taking it back, but he was adamant she not think he was disgusted with her in any way—for any reason—especially the one she was so sure of.

  After a few silent moments with her taking in what he’d just laid on her and him trying to recover by taking a few bites of his tacos, she finally spoke again. “So why did you look at me that way? Then again that same day when I almost ran into you as I was leaving? You certainly didn’t look like you were appreciating anything.”