Free Weightless by Kandi Steiner Page B

quirked a brow. “Guess I won’t be seeing you naked tonight, then.” I thought he was joking, but couldn’t be sure because he left it at that without so much as another smile before turning and disappearing down the hall.
    I quickly guzzled down the glass of water he’d given me and refilled it. I needed to cool down. Way down. It was the first time I’d seen Rhodes smile, the first time I’d heard him laugh. I thought it would be weird to see him like that, but it was the exact opposite. He seemed more comfortable with a grin on his face, no matter how fleeting it was.
    Rhodes emerged from the back room ten minutes later fully dressed in large gray sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. His hair was wet and unruly and his skin still shone a little from the water. He walked straight into the kitchen and started pulling dishes out. “Towels are above the toilet and you don’t have long with the hot water so be quick. You can use my soap and whatever else you need.” He didn’t turn around when he said the words and I swallowed, the thought of standing in the place where he’d just been naked rattling me more than I cared to admit.
    But my legs eventually started moving and I walked down the hall with my gym bag. When I pushed through the door, I was surprised to find myself in Rhodes’ bedroom. The bathroom was straight ahead, but his room filled out the right side of the room. It was just as clean and simple as the living room. Queen bed, dark blue comforter, no headboard, white walls and an old box TV sitting on top of a dark brown dresser. There was one framed photo on a small bedside table that matched the dresser. Curiosity getting the best of me, I walked over and picked up the silver frame to examine the photo inside.
    It was of a young girl standing against a row of dark green lockers. If I’d had to guess, I’d have said she was sixteen or so when the photo was taken. She had long brown hair and dark olive skin. At first I thought she might have been Rhodes’ girlfriend, but when I studied her closer and noticed familiar green eyes, I realized it was his twin sister, Lana.
    I didn’t really know much about Lana, other than she was Rhodes’ twin. She was sort of quiet when they were seniors and we were freshmen. Honestly, in a kind of sad way, she was overshadowed by Rhodes — all the girls wanted him and all the boys were terrified of him. Lana was an afterthought… that is, until she was front page news.
    A loud clamor in the kitchen startled me and I quickly placed the photo back and hurried into the bathroom with my bag, shutting the door behind me and leaning against it to view the space. It was small, but again — clean. The shower was just that, there was no bath tub. I undressed quickly, pulled a towel out and hung it beside the one Rhodes had just used, and stepped inside.
    The hot water felt incredible on my freshly rolled muscles. Although it hurt when Rhodes was rolling the ball across my legs and back, that pain had almost completely vanished and the soreness melted away. Though, I was sure it would be back the next day. Rhodes would be sure of it.
    I lathered up my body and hair with Rhodes’ body wash and couldn’t stop smelling myself even after I had tied my hair up into a messy bun, dressed, and rejoined Rhodes in the kitchen, tossing my bag on the floor by his bike. I had caught so many teasing whiffs of the earthy, evergreen scent when he’d been near me at the gym, but now it was amplified, with nothing else to drown it out. I hoped it wouldn’t wash off.
    “Would you prefer chicken or salmon?” Rhodes asked, sautéing some sort of concoction in a skillet. His arms flexed with each stir and I couldn’t help but be mesmerized. The kitchen already smelled tantalizing and my stomach growled.
    “Chicken. I hate fish.”
    He paused, turned to face me, and deadpanned. “You live in a beach town and you don’t like fish?”
    I shrugged. He shook his