A Very Merry Bromance (Bromance Book Club #5) (3)

For a global music star, true friendships were hard to come by. The more famous he got over the years, the lonelier life became. It was hard to trust who really wanted to be in his life and who just wanted the bragging rights of being associated with a superstar.

But these guys, they were the real deal. The best friends he’d ever had. And they’d met in the unlikeliest of ways—through romance novels. They called themselves the Bromance Book Club, a group of men who read romance novels to learn how to see the world through a less toxic lens than the ones that all cisgender heterosexual men are taught to look through. Braden Mack was the one who had started it all and pulled Colton into it. He’d been skeptical, as most of the guys were when they first joined the book club. But Colton quickly learned it was about a lot more than books. It was about camaraderie and brotherhood. The lessons of romance novels had taught them all how to be better men, better partners, and better friends to one another.

“It’s okay,” Colton finally sighed. “I’ll talk to—”

“Mr. Wheeler, what is the meaning of this?”

—her.

Shit. Colton steeled himself as he turned around and looked straight into the eyes of one of the most intimidating people he’d ever met. Peggy Porth. Retired elementary school principal. Certified ballbuster.

Silver Sneakers instructor.

“Hey, Mrs. Porth.” Colton’s voice squeaked like the time in fifth grade when he’d been caught selling Pokémon cards during recess for twice their market value. In his defense, he’d needed the money for Christmas presents for his siblings.

Mrs. Porth stood just five foot three but somehow managed to look down at him when she spoke. “Need I remind you, Mr. Wheeler, that when you asked if you and a couple of friends could attend our classes, I agreed to just a small group. This class is supposed to be for people over fifty exclusively, but you talked me into it. But now I see three others standing by the door waiting to come in.”

The others in question were huddled in a nervous circle a few feet away, occasionally casting furtive glances as if to gauge whether they were about to be tossed out by a bouncer. Colton knew them, of course, but not well, and only because they were Gavin’s and Del’s teammates on the Nashville Legends professional baseball team. His circle of friends included several athletes. Besides Gavin and Del, there was Yan Feliciano, another Legends player. And Vlad Konnikov, a player for the Nashville NHL team, and Malcolm James, who played for the city’s NFL franchise. Which was why Colton had invited them in on this secret in the first place. Silver Sneakers was the most effective workout he’d ever had. He’d never been as strong, fit, or flexible, and it had all started by accident. He’d thought he was taking a Six-Pack Abs class but had gotten the room wrong and instead found himself sweating his balls off as he tried to keep up with the sixty-something-year-old women who made step aerobics look like a mere jaunt through the park. He’d been sore for days but kept coming back because, damn, but also because no one in the room gave a single flying fuck who he was.

Turns out, he was sort of into not being fawned over because he was Colton Wheeler.

It was one of the things that had attracted him to . . . Fuck. The Number of Days Since I Thought About Gretchen Winthrop board in his mind went back to zero.

“It’s our f-fault, Mrs. Porth,” Gavin said, his lifelong stutter emerging in fear of the woman. “We just wanted to share it because our teammates are getting jealous of how flexible we’ve become.”

To prove it, he dropped his yoga mat and sprang into a deep lunge that would’ve sent Colton straight to the emergency room.

“See,” Gavin grunted, voice strained. “I could practically play first base now if I wanted.”

Mrs. Porth pursed her lips. “Stand up, Mr. Scott. You’re making a fool of yourself.”

Del grabbed Gavin’s elbow and helped him up. Mrs. Porth sighed and looked again at the men waiting nervously by the door. “Fine,” she said. “They can join. But let me remind you that if you disturb anyone—”

“They won’t,” Gavin said quickly. “I mean, we won’t. Thank you, Mrs. Porth.” Gavin raced to the door and gave the guys the good news.

A moment later, Gavin returned with his teammates in tow, all wearing variations on the standard professional athlete uniform—basketball shorts, moisture-wicking shirt, and kinesiology tape on whatever body part hurt today. After depositing their yoga mats and duffel bags, they shuffled over to Colton.

One of them extended his hand. “Hey, man. Thanks for letting us join. Jake Tamborn. We met at Gavin’s birthday party last year.”

“I remember,” Colton said, accepting the handshake because it was the polite thing to do. He still wasn’t thrilled about them being here, but he repeated the gesture with the other two men—Brad Eisenberg and Felix Pinas. Both men were in their midtwenties and had the confident posture of two dudes who had no idea what they were in for.

“Did you warn them?” Colton whispered to Del as the three men walked away.

“That they’re about to get their asses kicked? Yeah.”

“Did they believe you?”

“Nope.”

Colton grinned for the first time since arriving at the gym. “This is going to be fun.”

The door to the fitness room opened, and Vlad ran in, flustered. He dumped his yoga mat next to Colton’s and shoved a Santa hat on his head. “How does this look?”