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I hauled up all the clean laundry back to our room a few hours later to find everyone settling down for bed, finally. It was almost three in the morning. “Hey, guys,” I said with a yawn, leaving their laundry in a pile on top of the TV while taking my own laundry back to my suitcase.

“Aw, Chace, you didn’t have to do that,” Garrett said with a sympathetic whine, hugging me from behind. He was still slightly damp, but from his shower, not his pool time. “Thanks, man,” he said as he grabbed his clothes, slapping my ass on his way to his suitcase.

I tried not to yelp when he did that. It was probably normal for guys to do that, right? “Welcome,” I choked out, feeling violated even though it was just Garrett.

“Do I get to do that, too?” John asked quietly when he stood beside me, gathering up his clothes from me.

“Shut up,” I huffed, shoving his clothes into his arms. Once everyone had their clean clothes, we all piled into our respective beds. “Pat,” I murmured when we were both in bed. “Hey. Hey, Pat?” I tried not to be so loud, but everyone was already sleeping, telling from the deep breathing and some of the light snoring.

“Hmm?” he asked sleepily.

“Pat…” I rolled over and grabbed my wallet before handing him a crisp fifty dollar bill.

That certainly woke up Pat. “John knows?”

“No. I just… I don’t want to lie to him anymore,” I mumbled, still holding the money out to Pat.

“So, he doesn’t know? But, you want to tell him?” I nodded to both questions. Pat could see me in the dark. “Then that means you haven’t lost the bet,” Pat concluded, pushing my hand away.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose between my fingers. “Pat, I’m going to tell him myself. Tomorrow.”

Pat still didn’t take my money. “Then…we can call the bet off. The fifty dollar bit, anyways. You know, Tay made a bet with me, too.”

I felt a little bit mad at that. “What bet?”

“She bet twenty bucks that John would come to her asking her for advice on… you. I lost.”

I arched an eyebrow. “You’re joking…” That must’ve been why John was talking to Tay.

“No, I’m not. He likes you a lot, Chace.”

“I know… he thinks he’s gay…” Pat had to cover his face with his pillow because he was laughing to hard we was snorting. “Pat, come on. This isn’t a laughing matter.”

“I’m sorry, but John is as straight as can be. You must be too girly for your own good.”

I sighed and fluffed up my pillows a bit more, returning my money to my wallet. “So…how should I go about telling him, Pat?”

“We’ll work that out tomorrow. It’s an off day, after all,” Pat yawned, rolling back over so his back was facing me again.

“No, Pat, you’ve got to help me! Pat!” I hissed his name, but he was already ignoring me.

Needless to say, I had trouble sleeping that night.

I made sure to wake up before everyone else and I decided to hit the hotel’s gym the second they opened it at, like, 7 or so in the morning, even before eating breakfast. I was in some basketball shorts and a shirt that I didn’t mind sweating in. Thank god I remembered to bring sneakers and socks. I needed to run on the treadmill. Running always helped me clear my head.

No one else was in the gym, so I decided to sing along to my iPod for a bit in my real voice. I realized I didn’t deepen my voice on purpose or anything. I just kept quiet and spoke softly when I did have to speak. My voice got higher pitched when I got louder, and it was distinctly feminine when I sang… which was unfortunate, because guess who had to hear my pathetic attempts at singing?

Zack Merrick stood in the door of the gym for a while staring at me. I was in the middle of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” when I finally felt his eyes on me. I choked on nothing for a few seconds, somewhat stumbling on the treadmill. It was going at five miles an hour. I had to grab the railings to steady myself and continue running at my normal pace.

“That was probably the best imitation of Axl Rose I’ve ever seen,” Zack chuckled, striding over to the treadmill beside mine. “Please, don’t stop on my account,” he chuckled, leaning down to tie his shoes. I tried not to scream at the sight of his ridiculously muscled back. And I was successful. I didn’t scream… out loud, at least. I didn’t trust my voice anymore, so I didn’t start up the singing again. “I didn’t know you ran. Usually I’m the only one up this early on an off day…”

“I’m not much of a runner. Swimming is more my thing. But, I don’t mind running,” I rambled, staring at the display on the treadmill.

“Didn’t see you at the pool party last night, though,” Zack said aloud, stretching a bit before he got on the treadmill. That was a good idea. I never stretched before I ran…

“I was doing laundry,” I said with a shrug, trying not to look at him anymore, especially when he started to run, too.

We ran in silence for a while. I couldn’t help but admire his stride. Zack ran like a well conditioned athlete. I ran like someone trying to escape a dog with rabies. Zack was also running at a faster pace than me, so he finished running a longer distance in less time. After half an hour, which was three miles for me, I took a break. Zack ran for a little more than half an hour, too, but he somehow fit in four miles. “What do you run, an eight minute mile?” I asked breathlessly, holding out my water bottle to him.

Zack took it with a grateful smile, making sure to fountain water from it instead of drinking directly. “More or less. You run a pretty decent mile, too, for a swimmer, I guess. Is that why your legs are shaved?” I swallowed hard and self consciously tugged my shorts down a bit, even though it really didn’t help much. I just nodded, wiping the sweat on my face onto the sleeve of my shirt. “Wow. No one’s gonna be up for a good… three hours,” Zack sighed when he glanced at his watch. “Wanna grab some breakfast?” he asked as he slipped on a thin hoodie.

…And who could say no to Zack Merrick? That’s right, no one.