I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, grabbed my phone off my desk and shut off the alarm. I forgot to turn off my automatic alarm last night before I fell asleep. I looked at my phone for a moment before registering that I had a text message from Declan. He asked if I wanted to workout at 9am this morning. I looked at the time.

8:02

I texted him back that I would meet him at the gym but he texted me back quickly saying to meet him at his house with his address.

He must have a gym in his house. Of course he does. He's rich and a professional boxer. Why wouldn't he have an in home gym?

I quickly threw my hair up in a pony tail and put my pink work out shorts and tank top on before taking off, being careful not to wake Isabel. When I got into my vehicle I heard my phone ring, I pulled it out and saw that my sister was calling.

"Hey, Nicky, what's going on?" I asked.

"Hey, Tally, have you talked to mom lately?" Nicky's voice sounded worried.

"Not really, why?"

"I just talked to her and she doesn't sound good. I think she's having problems again." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What did she say?"

"Nothing specific. Her voice just...it sounds like she used to back when dad left." I clenched my teeth when she said dad.

"Don't call him that." I ground out. I heard her sigh.

"What am I supposed to call him?"

"Nothing, he doesn't deserve to be called anything." I snapped. I didn't have to see her to know she was rolling her eyes at me and twirling her brown locks in her hand.

"Tally, just call her?" She pleaded. It was my turn to sigh.

"Fine. I gotta go. Love you."

"Love you, too."

I clicked the end call button and took a deep breath. I decided to call my mom later, I needed to get to Declan's. I started my car and started driving.

As I pulled up to Declan's house, I began to realize this was the first time I would be completely alone with him and my stomach started to turn in nervousness. I felt my heart start to beat faster as I pulled into his driveway. His house was fairly small considering how loaded I'm sure he was. It was a dark grey with navy blue trim. I shut my vehicle off and walked up the pathway to his front door. I shook my hands as if I were shaking away my nerves. I then took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell. After a moment, the solid oak door opened to reveal a half naked Declan. I couldn't help but look him over, from his incredible six pack to the baggy white and blue shorts he was wearing to his matching tennis shoes. I then made my way back up his body to meet his mismatched eyes that seemed to have been looking me over as well. I blushed at this realization and suddenly felt self conscious. I have never worried about what my body looks like, especially since I knew I was in good shape. But this guy had me so self aware, I was worrying what he thought of me. Why did I care? He's a man. I hate men.

"Come on in." He finally said, moving to the side so I could walk past him. I made my way into his house, seeing that we were in a hallway with two openings on the right, three on the left and one at the end that I could see was a living room.

"Did you get here ok?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty easy to find. Though, I have to say, I'm surprised you don't live in a mansion." I teased. He smirked at me as he closed the door and took a couple steps towards me.

"I don't really see the point in having a mansion. What would I do with all of that space? I'd probably get lost." He joked as he led me down the hallway to the second door on the left. We walked into a large room, probably five times the size of my dorm room. It was filled with gym equipment, from a treadmill to a dumbbell rack to a speed bag to a heavy bag. I felt my jaw drop slightly in awe. I couldn't help but be impressed even though I knew it was probably going to be similar to this. I heard a chuckle beside me.

"I know, it's a little much, but my dad insisted that I have every single piece of equipment in order for me to stay rounded." He explained as he walked up to the treadmill. I then noticed that the entire left wall was a mirror, probably so he could make sure he was using correct form.

"This is amazing. It's better than the dorm gym, that's for sure." I told him as I made my way to the elliptical that was next to the treadmill. He pressed a couple buttons before he got into a comfortable jog and then grabbed a remote that was sitting in front of him. He pressed a button and all of a sudden, music was blaring all around us.

Centuries by Fall Out Boy.

"Sorry!" He yelled over the music as he panicked and turned the volume down. I laughed lightly at him.

"It's ok, I do the same thing, except I use headphones, not speakers." I assured him. He smiled at me as I got on the elliptical and found my usual pace.

"So do you workout everyday?" He asked.

"Most days, when I have time. I've been really busy lately, though and it's only going to get worse." I said as I focused on my breathing.

"Why is that?" He asked, seeming genuinely interested. I sighed, thinking about my upcoming schedule.

"Well, two more girls quit at the restaurant I work at so I have to pick up more hours. And it's the middle of the semester so I am loaded with homework." I explained, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

"How old are you?" He asked and I suddenly realized I didn't know his age either.

"23, you?" I returned. I looked over to see him smirk and I couldn't help but look into his different colored eyes, making me wonder about them.

"26." He said.

"Can I ask a weird question?" I asked, feeling embarrassed about what I was thinking.

"Sure." He responded, keeping his pace.

"What's with your eyes?" I asked, feeling a blush cross my cheeks from being so blunt. He chuckled lightly, making my heart feel light.

"It's called heterochromia. It can be caused by several things but mine is genetic. Obviously, you must have known that part since you've met my dad." He said.

"Heterochromia." I pronounced it slowly, engraving it into my brain. I wanted to learn more about it. I had to remember it so I could research it later.

"Now, can I ask you a weird question?" He asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess." I responded and waited for his question.

"Why did you start taking self defense?"

Shit. I really didn't want to talk about this but it wouldn't really be fair of me to not answer it.

"I just wanted to be able to protect myself, my mom and my sister." I explained shortly. I knew what his next question would be and I felt my nerves rise. I picked up the pace on the elliptical, straining myself a bit.

"What about your dad?" I felt my heart skip a beat at the word 'dad'.

"He's not around." Was all I said, hoping he would drop it.

"Is that why you hate men?" His question caught me off guard. I expected him to keep pushing the dad issue. I looked over at him to see his stoic expression.

"Yeah." I said quietly, feeling my heart race. I could tell I was pushing my limit so I slowed down until I was stopped and then got off the elliptical. I watched him as he slowed down as well until he got off the treadmill. He grabbed two hand towels off of a small table in the corner of the room and came up to me and handed me one. I took it and wiped the sweat off my face and then put it around my neck as he did the same.

"Grant said something yesterday that I wanted to ask you about, by the way." I said, remembering the weird comment. Declan furrowed his eyebrows.

"What's that?" He asked. I bit my bottom lip, worried about what his reaction would be.

"He said that I'm only the second girl you've ever introduced to them and...things with the first girl didn't end well..." I said quietly, his face contorted into an expression I wasn't sure of.

"Yeah...she, uh, she didn't actually like me." He said, averting my gaze. I stared at him for a moment, trying to decide whether to push the issue or not. Just a little more, I just wanted a little more.

"Did she break up with you?" I asked softly. He shook his head, closing his eyes. It made me sad to see him like this.

"No...I caught her cheating so I broke it off." I felt my heart sink at his words. That's horrible. What kind of disgusting human being cheats? I never understood that.

"I'm sorry." I offered, putting my hand on his shoulder, trying to ignore the amazing feel of his strong muscles that were sending butterflies into my stomach.

"It's ok...it just wasn't meant to be." He said as he opened his eyes and stared into mine. I couldn't help but notice the electricity that was between us whenever we looked in each other's eyes.

"So can you come over tomorrow to work out with me again?" He asked, putting his smirk back on.

"I think so, but can I come over around 8? I have a class at 10 tomorrow and I need time to get home and shower after we work out." I explained.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm usually up at 6 every morning anyways." I widened my eyes at him and he chuckled at my reaction.

"Why in the hell would you wake up that early?" I asked.

"I've always been a morning person." He responded, shrugging his shoulders. I rose an eyebrow at him.

"You're crazy." I commented.

"Crazy for you, Goldi." He remarked, his eyes glazing over as he reached out and brushed my cheek with the back of his fingers. I felt a blush cover my cheeks as I froze to the spot.

"Don't do that." I said as I pushed his hand away, coming back to my senses.

"Why not?" He asked as his eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm not interested in relationships. They're just distractions that I don't need." I replied as I walked past him, heading towards the door. I felt his presence follow behind me.

"I'll just have to change your mind then." He said, making me stop in my tracks. I whipped around to see his vacant expression.

"You agreed that we would be friends." I clarified.

"I agreed that we would be friends FOR NOW." He emphasized. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You know I hate men so why are you being so stubborn?" I asked. He rose an eyebrow.

"I'm being stubborn? Excuse me, but if anyone is stubborn around here, it's you." He bit back. I felt my anger rise at his words.

"I have a reason to be!" I yelled.

"Then tell me your reason!" He yelled back, taking a step closer to me.

"It's none of your business!" I snapped, clenching and un-clenching my fists as horrible memories flooded my mind. I blinked them away and then turned on my heel, walking out of the room and towards the front door. I put my hand on the doorknob when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Wait. Please." His voice was pleading and it took all of me to not give in.

"No. And don't count on me coming over tomorrow." I ground out, feeling the disappointment from my own words. I felt his hand drop from my shoulder in defeat as I opened the door and walked out.