by Hazel Kelly
"Haven't you known her since you were in diapers or some shit?"
"No." I held the bar with straight arms and took a deep breath. "We were both sufficiently potty trained by the time we met."
"But you never hooked up before?"
"No."
"What took you so long to make a move then? That's not like you."
I lowered the bar, trying to buy myself some time. "You know how sometimes you can’t focus on something or even recognize it when it’s too close.”
"Sure."
I forced the bar up. "That's all I got."
"Couple more, buddy."
"One," I said, my arms burning.
"Oh gosh," Kevin looked across the room. "Speak of the devil."
"Don't fuck with me."
He laughed. "No really. She's here. I was going to fuck with you anyway- don't get me wrong- but she's genuinely here."
"Damnit," I muttered under my breath.
"Make it three for good luck," he said.
I squeezed my eyes shut and lowered the bar. One for the way Andi looks in boots. I took a breath. Two for the way her ass feels in my hands.
"One more," Kevin urged.
I exhaled sharply and brought the bar down. Three for the look in her eyes right before she took me in her mouth. God that was fucking priceless.
I lifted the bar, dropped it into the rack, and sat up to catch my breath.
"Nice set," Kevin said.
I shook my head. "She better be here after that stunt you just pulled."
"Rowing machines, two o'clock," he said, smacking my sweaty back. "You can thank me later."
I lifted my eyes across the brightly lit room. Sure enough, she was there.
"You guys done here or what?" Tyler asked, stepping right in front of me.
I stood up and stared down my nose at him. "Not really. But I suppose you need it more than we do."
He stepped around me, and as soon as he’d unblocked my view, I found Andi again.
I watched the muscles in her legs flex with every stroke, watched the rhythm of her movements as she moved through the imaginary river beneath her.
God what I wouldn't do to be beneath her.
"Oh man," Kevin said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "You're in deeper shit than I thought."
I ran a hand through my sweaty hair and turned to him. "And yet she's the only cure."
He furrowed his brow. "What does Izzy think of you guys getting together?"
"She doesn't know."
He raised his eyebrows. "Oh fuck. Am I, like, obligated to tell her? She gives me a goddamn speech every time she's in town about how I need to let her know what you're up to."
I tilted my head. "And have you ever once told her what I'm up to?"
"Of course not," he said. "But mostly to protect her."
"In that case, do us all a favor and don't start tattling on me now."
He folded his arms. "You think she'd freak?"
"I don't know," I said. "But it's confusing enough without getting her unsolicited two cents."
"Got it."
"You heading back to the house now?" I asked.
"I'm going to hit the showers first, but I won't wait for you," he said, glancing across the gym at Andi. "I know better than to think my company can compete with that."
Chapter 33: Andi
The sweat was really pouring off me after thirty minutes.
I had a few more songs to push through, though, to make it through the album I was listening to. Then I'd call it a day. Or a season. Whatever.
I still believed that one of these days- if I just kept at it- I was bound to fall in love with exercise enough to make it a real priority.
Today could be the day. It was possible. Maybe I would consider it over a big dirty brunch.
Suddenly, I saw a man out of the corner of my eye sit down at the rowing machine beside me.
Normally, I tried to keep my eyes on my monitor and not get distracted by what other people at the gym were doing.
That was one of the reasons I liked the rowing machines in the first place. They faced the windows and were off to the side, unlike the treadmills- which were always full of swinging ponytails and girls wearing just sports bras.
As if I would ever subject strangers to that kind of jiggling. If I wanted to show the whole world my bouncing ass, I wouldn’t do it at the gym. And I sure as hell wouldn’t do it sober.
Anyway, despite my attempt at disciplined focus, I knew it was a man who sat down beside me because I could see the toned muscles in his lower legs as he rowed. They were so strong I think my mouth might have watered a little.
But after a few strokes, he leaned forward as I pushed back, and I realized he was staring right at me, smiling.
Damn.
I paused the music on my Nano and pulled one of my earbuds out.
"Hey there," Shane said, his arms flexing as rowed along with me. "Come here often?"
I could see his abs rippling on each stroke through his tank top’s oversized armholes, and for the first time since I arrived at the gym, my panties felt wet with something other than sweat.
"Hi," I said, wondering what I did to deserve him seeing me like this.
"Your face is a little red."
"And your face is a little-" Hot? Smoldering? "Unexpected."
"I didn't know you used this gym?"
"I didn't know you were into stalking other people while they worked out."
"I'm not," he said. "Just you."
"Aren't I special?" I faced my monitor again and tried to get back down to my goal pace.
"My thoughts exactly," he said.
"Are you just going to keep watching me?"
"Every goddamn stroke," he said. "Until I can't take it anymore."
"Don't be juvenile."
"Don't stroke so hard."
I wanted to be annoyed, but a smile broke through my face. "You're a real pest, you know that?"
"I've heard you haven't made it until you have critics," he said.
I shook my head.
"Not that I'd consider you a critic."
"So what does that make me?" I asked. "A fan, I presume?"
"As if you could deny it."
"What do you want, Shane?"
"I want to know how much longer you need."
I furrowed my brow and struggled to speak normally. "How much longer I need to what?"
"Finish your workout."
"Why?"
"Cause I want to take you for a big dirty-"
I shot a look at him.
"Brunch."
I narrowed my eyes. "You want to take me for brunch?"
"Yeah. At Mama Cita's cause I know it's your favorite."
I pursed my lips.
"And because it's half price cheesy hash day."
“Fuck."
"You know you want it."
I hung my head. "I do want it."
"That's supposed to urge you on. Not give you an excuse to slack off."
"What the hell?" I said, picking up my pace again. "You're the one that interfered with my workout in the first place."
"You looked like you needed some encouragement. I was worried you were fading and that you might crash your boat."
I rolled my eyes. "I don't believe that. I think you just wanted to come see how disgusting I am up close."
"You don't look disgusting," he said. "If anything, you have a borderline sexual glow."
"Oh please."
"Seriously. It's going to be awkward for me to stand up and walk away."
I dropped my eyes to see if he was really-
"You totally looked," he said. "You’re insatiable."
"Walk away right now, and I'll go to brunch with you."
"How long do you need?"
"Why?" I panted. "You got something better to do than wait for me?"
He stopped rowing and sat sideways on his machine. "Andi."
"What?"
"Look at me."
I
dropped my hands, stopped moving, and cocked my head at him.
He fixed his eyes on me. "Waiting for you is the best thing I've ever done."
I groaned. "Fuck off, and give me ten minutes."
"Take fifteen," he said, standing up. "I'm hitting the showers."
I swallowed.
"I'll meet you out front, shorty." Then he squatted down next to me and lowered his voice. "And don't worry about showering. I like you dirty."
"And I like you farther away," I said. "And I am so showering."
It took everything I had not to turn and watch him walk away, especially knowing full well how his ass looked in gym shorts.
Instead, I exhaled and picked up the pace again, which was easy to do. Between the thought of him sudsing himself up in the shower and the promise of cheesy hash, I really had no excuse to slack off.
I popped my earbud back in and pressed play, letting the beat of my workout mix drive the rhythm of my legs.
And just when I was ready to let my mind wander back to Shane in the shower, Izzy popped into my head.
I could imagine the expression on her face as she encouraged me to sleep with someone asap.
And there's no way it ever would’ve occurred to her that Shane occurred to me.
We'd kept our hands to ourselves for so long, and I’d mastered pretending I was resistant to his charms.
But everything was different now- the way he looked at me, the way he made me feel, the way he made me crave.
It was all too real too ignore.
Besides, Izzy was right. I did need to get laid. Hell, I wanted to get laid.
And there was nothing that frightened and exhilarated me more than the prospect of sleeping with Shane.
Which meant I had to consider it.
After all, despite my dearest friendships being at risk, my fear of losing him had morphed into something else: the fear of never having him in the first place.
And I knew there was only one thing strong enough to kill fear.
Action.
Chapter 34: Shane
She was glowing when she walked out of the gym swinging her little drawstring bag.
"Well if it isn't Sporty Spice," I said, checking out her toned legs before she got too close.
"And if it isn't that one boyband member who can't dance."
I laughed. "I can dance."
"My bad," she said. "Did I confuse you with the one who can't sing?"
"Does it matter if I can make you sing?"
She narrowed her eyes at me. "I'd like to see you try."
"I know you would," I said, stepping off the sidewalk to cross the street. "But let's eat first."
We took the shortcut across the quad to Mama Cita's like we had a hundred times, but this time was different. This time there was a distracting mutual attraction that made our fleeting moments of eye contact nerve wracking.
We were about to walk through the doors when she stopped so abruptly in front of me, I nearly ran her over in my urgent quest to follow the cooked bacon smell.
"What?" I asked, staring down at her twisted face.
"I forgot my wallet," she said. "I deliberately didn't bring it to the gym so I wouldn't be compelled to do this exact thing so-"
"I can spot you."
"I know, but I don't want you to think I'm that girl who pretends to reach for her wallet at the end of the meal but who really has no intention of paying her way."
"I don't think you're that girl."
She exhaled, her chest falling an inch.
"And I can think of lots of ways you can pay me back so don't even worry about it."
She poked a finger into my right pec. "No."
"No, what?"
"Just no," she said, a mock glare in her eyes.
I followed her to the corner table she always went for.
"What is it about this table that you like so much?" I asked.
She shrugged. "It's my table," she said, sitting down. "It's a good distance from the bathroom. I can face everyone or face no one if I want. Plus, it's close to the pie display so I can feast my eyes."
"But you never get the pie."
"Sure I do."
I furrowed my brow. "Which is your favorite?"
"Would top seven be sufficient?"
"Okay," I said. "I believe you."
She opened her menu and leaned back in her chair as the chorus of cutlery on plates and weekend joviality swirled around us.
I watched her focused concentration. It was the same every time. She read each item as carefully as if she might be quizzed on it later and then- without fail- ordered the exact same thing she always did.
I found it amusing that she believed she had an open mind every time when her mind was obviously made up before she ever even walked through the doors.
"So what are you thinking?" I asked, playing along.
"Mmm." Her eyes bounced around the menu. "I'm torn between the Supreme Omelette and the Chocolate Chip Pancakes."
"Two good choices."
"Either way, we'll get a large cheesy hash to share."
"Of course," I said, watching her scrunch her face in deliberation. "And for what it’s worth, I think you should go for the omelette."
She raised her eyes at me. "Yeah?"
"The protein will be good for you after your workout."
"That's what I was thinking," she said, nodding for a moment before closing her menu. "The Supreme it is."
It took everything I had not to laugh.
"What?" She fixed her brown eyes on me.
"Nothing."
"Why are you making that face at me?"
I craned my neck back. "What face? I wasn't making any face."
"Yes you were," she said. "Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like I'm adorable or something." She poured some water into her glass and then mine, the half melted ice cubes causing her to splash all over the table. "It's freaking me out."
"I'm sorry. How should I look at you?"
"Normally."
I shook my head. "I don't know what that means."
"Please don't make this weird, Shane. It's already hard enough making eye contact with you after-"
I raised my eyebrows. "After what?"
"After what happened."
One corner of my mouth curled up. "Is that because you'd rather be eyeing something else or-"
"What can I get you folks?" A middle aged woman with an apron cutting her stomach in two appeared at the table.
"One Supreme Omelette, a large order of cheesy hash to share, and I'll take the Meat Lover's Omelette," I said.
"And to drink?" the woman's eyes flitted up for half a second while she scribbled on her notepad.
"Two glasses of orange juice, please," I said, smiling as she turned on her heels.
Andi cocked her head. "You're ordering for me now?"
I groaned. "I order for you all the time. It's not like I didn't get what you wanted."
"I know, but-"
"Just stop," I said. “Seriously."
"Stop what?"
"Looking for things to freak out about. Everything is fine. Nothing has changed-"
"Everything has changed."
“No it hasn't. It's in your head."
She crossed her arms. "How have things not changed?"
I sighed. "Because you're still my favorite person in the world- besides Izzy, obviously."
She pursed her lips.
"So don't be weird just because last night was the best night of your life and you don't know how to handle it."
"You don't know that."