Read Too Consumed for Free Online Page A

I do, however, know she likes to dress pretty and drink hard.
    “Anyway, bro, you still prepared for me to move in today?”
    “Uh—” Shit. I forgot I asked Jackson to move in three weeks ago. I’ve been so busy it slipped my mind.
    “Yeah,” I lie, pretending I didn’t forget. “All set.”
    “Cool. I’m gonna go find Selena. She’s run off and isn’t answering her phone. I’ll talk to you later.”
    He hangs up and I slip my phone back into my pocket. I have no idea how Jackson and Selena are going to work if he already wants to smash her father. On second thought, I can’t believe Jackson even agreed to meet her father. Maybe he’s becoming just as whipped as I apparently am. My thoughts fall to Rick, Olivia’s dad. He liked me, but it wasn’t like that in the beginning. Although he played all happy in front of Olivia, when she left he’d turn his sights on me, demanding I keep my eyes on her face and not…everywhere else. Once I told Rick I wasn’t going to hurt her and he grew to believe me, things were fine. He was the only one I talked to about marrying Olivia…I’d never been so scared or anxious in my life, but I got his blessing and that’s all that matters.
    I push through the doors and into the gym. The strange smell I usually notice first is masked by frangipani—or lavender—some kind of girly scent. Olivia has been trying to ‘freshen’ the gym for weeks now and this smell is definitely not working for me. I scan the room. In the far corner by the boxing ring, Darryl is taking a phone call—one he doesn’t seem too pleased with, and my sparring partners are stretching on the mat beside him. They have it easy today. I don’t think I have it in me to knock anyone out. I glance around the rest of the gym—two chubby men stroll lazily on the treadmills and a woman is going hard out on the elliptical. I frown, confused why Olivia isn’t here. I want to see her before I train…I feel stupid just thinking that, we aren’t inseparable…I just…I don’t know. I guess that’s what it’s like being in love. You need to see that person everyday—every second. If you don’t, you feel kind of empty…kind of incomplete.
    Jesus-fucking- christ. Listen to me! I sound like a pussy…but it’s true. I feel incomplete…or at least I do until my gaze settles on a pair of bare thighs flowing endlessly out of tiny, black shorts as she bends over a rowing machine. It’s her and I’m willing to bet my entire pro season earnings on it. I’ve seen her from this glorious angle too many times to not be certain.
    Suddenly pleased with how my morning is turning out, I draw nearer, my eyes zeroing in on the small ga p between her thighs. Over and over I have to remind myself that we’re in public. My fingers twitch, desperate to act of their own accord and slip between her legs. Instead, I rest my hand on the small of her back. Her skin is soft and warm under my palm and I feel her body go rigid as she slowly turns her head. When she makes eye contact with me, her green orbs brighten and she straightens herself before throwing her arms around my neck.
    “You scared me!” She says, squeezing me against her.
    I wrap my arms around her waist and she pulls away, but I don’t let her go. “Did you see the billboard?”
    I feel my face pull together. “I did…they don’t have any smaller ones?”
    She half frowns, half smiles. “I’m sure they do, but I ordered the biggest.”
    “Of course you did.”
    Her lips curl into a mocking smirk. “Are you embarrassed, Mr. Marc?”
    “Do I look embarrassed? Sorry, I was going for humble.”
    “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.” She shrugs. “I think it's sexy.”
    “Well, I think your shorts are sexy and I deem them inappropriate for the workplace.” She rolls her eyes and the palms of my hands find their way down her back, stopping on her firm ass. “Your ass is a hazard.”
    She giggles at my lame line, catching her plump bottom