Insider (Exodus End #1)(61)
Author: Olivia Cunning

“Caaaake,” Logan copied her.

“Do you guys always exercise and eat well?” she asked as she found a pair of yoga pants in her bag and slid them on over her sleep shorts. She figured she could dress comfortably while following the guys around in the gym and no one would notice. She changed into a clean shirt as well.

“Only when we’re under Sam’s thumb,” Logan said. “You’ll get to watch me lounge around and binge on junk food tomorrow.”

His day off. She smiled, looking forward to having his undivided attention and no social engagements. She couldn’t really complain anyway. He’d done a remarkable job of spending time with her, even though he was so incredibly busy with the tour. Well, except for leaving her alone while he’d stayed at the party. She wondered if he’d had fun while she was sleeping like a rock.

“Assuming I can lift my hands as high as my mouth after Kirk is finished with me,” Logan added.

With a sigh, he stood and made a pit stop in the bathroom—taking a lengthy pee with the door wide open. The man had no boundaries. He then swallowed a few painkillers with a sports drink he grabbed out of the fridge—still deliciously in the buff—before putting on a pair of tight briefs.

“Gotta keep the boys from flopping about,” he told her with a wink. He covered his black underwear with a pair of shorts, and they sat side by side on the sofa to put on their socks and trainers.

“Pink and blue zigzags today,” Logan said as he waited for her to grab her camera and other equipment.

“What?”

“Your socks.”

She hadn’t paid attention to what she’d put on.

“Do you approve?” she asked, snuggling into his side when he wrapped an arm around her and directed her toward the door.

“Seeing what socks you’re wearing is like getting an extra little surprise every time I get you naked.”

“You don’t have to get me naked to see my socks,” she reminded him as she stepped in front of him so she could take the narrow stairs to the ground.

“But I prefer it that way.”

Logan shivered when he stepped off the bus. He hadn’t put on a shirt. And Toni couldn’t resist running a hand over his gooseflesh and the taut nipples that were now begging for her attention.

“Why is it so damned cold?” Logan rubbed his hands briskly over his upper arms.

“Probably because the sun isn’t even up yet.”

“Yeah, well, most of the gyms will only accommodate us taking over their facility if we do it in their off hours. So we get to work out at oh dark thirty.”

Toni wrote a note on her hand about asking Butch how they coordinated gym time. Sounded like a huge hassle just to exercise.

“Can’t you work out at the hotel or something?” she asked.

“We do. But every three days, Kirk insists on free weights.”

“Of course he does,” Toni muttered under her breath. The man could probably deadlift a tank.

The gym was a surprising flurry of activity. She’d anticipated seeing the band members of Exodus End, but most of the crew—including Butch—and two members of Sinners—lead singer Sed Lionheart and the short guy with spikey blond hair, whose name and instrument escaped Toni at the moment—were already working up a sweat. There were a couple of women she didn’t recognize on the elliptical machines. Toni was pretty sure the one who looked like a supermodel was Sed Lionheart’s wife. Reagan wasn’t with the other women. She was curling a set of large dumbbells and making faces at herself in the mirror that spanned one large wall. Her hunk of a tall, dark, and handsome bodyguard was keeping a close eye on her while he performed squats.

Toni turned on her video camera and waited for some magic to happen. She didn’t have to wait long.

“Behold!” Logan said raising both arms in the air and flicking his wrists to wave his hands down at himself. “Lo.”

“I think you mean lo and behold,” Dare said as he slid a black disk labeled 25kg on the end of a weight bar.

“Prepare to be shocked and amazed,” Logan continued. He spun in a slow circle as he scoped out the room.

Toni couldn’t help but giggle at his attention-seeking theatrics.

“We’re all amazed that you’re here,” Max said as he pulled his chin over a bar. “What time did you get to bed?”

“Three a.m. Five. I don’t know.”

“Did Kirk have to carry you off the bus again?”

“Shut up,” Logan said in Max’s direction. “He’s only done that once.”

“For being late, you can drop and give me twenty,” Kirk shouted as he handed an upside-down Steve a weight to hold against his chest as he did inverted crunches. That would explain Steve’s eight-pack, Toni mused as she snapped several pictures of said eight-pack.

“Twenty?” Logan said. “Is that all?”

“For your cockiness, make it thirty,” Kirk said.

“You’re boring me, Kirk.” Logan rolled his eyes and examined each person in the room. “I challenge you,” he said, pointing at the bleach-blond man from Sinners, “to a push-up duel.”

“Me?” the guy said, looking flabbergasted.

Dare grumbled, “Here we go again,” before he used his teeth to tear the tape he was wrapping around one hand and wrist.

Sed burst out laughing and pounded his bandmate on the back. “Go kick his ass, Jace.”

Jace Seymour. Sinners’ bassist, Toni recalled suddenly. Apparently her body was out of bed while her brain was still asleep. Jace was the smallest guy in the place. Toni wondered why Logan had singled him out.

Logan rotated his arms in wide circles and then stretched them over his head, jogging in place next to a mat as he waited for Jace to join him.

“What’s a push-up duel?” Jace asked as he stepped next to Logan.

“A game I never lose,” Logan said.

“A game that everyone he usually trains with refuses to play,” Dare corrected as he lay back on a weight bench and carefully wrapped his hands around the silver bar above his face.

“That’s because you all know I can’t be beat.”

“I’m pretty sure Jace will make you eat those words.” Sed crossed his arms over his broad chest and beamed at his bandmate with something that bordered on fatherly pride. Toni made sure she caught the look with her camera.

“How does this work?” Jace asked. He didn’t have Logan’s swagger, but the determination in his stance was unmistakable. He didn’t look the least bit intimidated.