His to Win (Carmel Springs Book 5)

Chapter 3

Maxwell~

If looks could kill, Clayton would be preparing my eulogy right now.

Rogue Santana looked livid.

Livid, but still sexy as fuck.

"Did you just call me baby?" she squawked.

I let go of her arm as I shrugged. "You said that I wasn't allowed to call you by your name."

Her brows rose. "And you took that to mean that you could call me baby? Ms. Santana hadn't crossed your mind?"

Realizing that this train was quickly going off the rails and that it was my fault for letting myself get blindsided by her beauty, I decided to rein it in. "Look, how about we start ove-"

"I think it's a little too late for that, Mr. Colter-"

"Maxwell or Max will do."

"-You've already shown your ass and it's kind of too late to unsee it," she went on.

"People make the wrong first impressions all the time," I mentioned pointedly.

"There's a wrong first impression, and then there's a horrible first impression," she retorted. "Would you like to guess which one you made, Mr. Colter?"

"Quit calling me that," I demanded. "There are seven of us living in this town. You're going to confuse yourself by calling us Mr. Colter. Mr. Colter is my father."

Smiling up at me sweetly, she suggested, "How about I never talk to you again, so that there's no more danger of getting confused?"

"How about you tell me more about this personalization therapy, instead?" I countered.

"How about you wait until Tommy gets back?" she shot back. "That way, you'll have a male trainer to help you with all your needs."

While I couldn't care less about people's sexual preferences, I still felt the need to make my preferences very clear. "I don't need a male trainer to help me with any of my needs," I clarified.

Rogue crossed her arms over her chest as she smirked at me. "Hit a sore spot, did I?"

"Not at all," I lied. "However, I know Tommy, and I know that he's a good trainer. I know nothing about you."

"Because Lee's word can't be trusted?" she fired back.

"Don't twist my words."

That smirk was still on her lips as she said, "Wow, you really don't like being challenged, do you?"

I arched a brow. "Does anyone?"

She dropped her arms to her sides. "I bet you're one of those alpha males with fragile egos-"

"A man can't be an alpha if he's got a fragile anything, baby. Remember that."

"Quit calling me that," she hissed.

"As soon as you give me permission to call you by your name, then I'll think about it. Until then, I'll stick with calling you baby."

"You act like I can't get you thrown out of here for harassment, Mr. Colter," she threatened, and I could feel my dick getting hard.

"If you really want to be the newbie known for banning a Colter from this gym, then be my guest."

"And what's so special about being a Colter?" she huffed.

"Oh, baby, you have no idea," I replied wolfishly.

Just then, my phone rang, and when I pulled it out of my pocket, I saw that it was Winter. Now, while she was considered family and could call me whenever she wanted to, Winter wasn't the needy type. If she was calling me, it was for something important.