Prepared to Fight

by E. J. Shortall

  Groaning in agony, I attempted to stretch out in my bed only to snap back into a curled up position. No amount of moving or stretching could ease the persistent ache of every limb and muscle in my body. Why had nobody bothered warning me that exercising would kill me? I’d thought it was supposed to be good for you.

  ‘No pain, no gain, Olivia.’

  I shivered at the memory of Nathan’s deep, gravelly voice barking instructions at me. And when he’d had his hands on me, manoeuvring me into positions he wanted me in, I hadn’t been able to keep myself from ogling him through the mirrors and thinking wicked and dirty thoughts. There was no harm in thinking, right? As long as it was only thinking and not acting.

  I groaned again, twisting around to check the time. The face of my alarm clock indicated it was just past seven, an ungodly hour for a Saturday morning. Weekends were my luxury, and being able to sleep in late for two days was my indulgence. So, ignoring my protesting muscles, I grabbed my pillow and covered my head, wanting to block out the world. I hoped the pillow might also shut up the voices in my head who were persistently reminding me of Nathan’s existence.

  But try as I might, I could not fall back asleep.

  At eight o’clock, I gave up and crawled out of bed. I could not believe how much pain I was in. Nathan truly had given me a good working over and in that moment I could not possibly see how this was benefiting me. My arms felt like lead weights dangling at my sides. My legs were tight and protested with every step I took. I could barely move.

  Yet I felt alive, full of something I couldn’t describe.

  Hot water began soothing away the aches and pains the moment I stepped under my showerhead. I stood there for a few minutes, allowing the heated water to work its magic on my body and the sounds of the droplets hitting the cast iron bath to soothe my senses.

  ‘Reward outweighs the effort’ I scoffed at that idea. I’d put in the effort and ended up in so much pain I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to walk properly again. Where was the reward in that?

  ‘Are you prepared to fight for it?’ I stood still remembering Nathan staring down at me so earnestly. The look of challenge mixed with compassion and sincerity in his eyes had left me feeling somewhat off balance. In the cold light of day, away from his provoking ways, I wasn’t so sure I could fight. Not when it hurt so much. It had been easy to get riled up by Nathan and accept his challenges when he was in front of me, goading me. But standing there in the shower, with my arms wrapped around my waist, feeling alone, I wasn’t so sure I was strong enough after all.

  ***

  “Damn it! Saturday afternoon TV is crap,” I grumbled as I channel surfed, looking for something remotely interesting to watch. Even the overly made-up people on QVC looked bored, and re-runs of everything I’d ever watched just didn’t seem appealing.

  I punched the standby button with my finger and threw the remote onto the coffee table. Why did I feel so restless? After my shower, I’d dried off and dressed in my comfy stonewashed jeans and a black hoodie. I’d had every intention of vegging on the couch all day, nursing my poor aching body, but the longer I sat there, the more restless I became.

  The cream and duck egg blue walls of my living room were closing in on me and I didn’t know why. I never felt restless at home. Ever. It was my haven. I grabbed the magazine from the coffee table and aimlessly flicked through the pages of the latest celebrity gossip. With each page I turned, my frustration increased. My knees began bouncing with the agitation crawling its way through me.

  “What is fucking wrong with you?” I flung the magazine across the room where it landed in a mess of crumpled pages next to my trainers. I stared at them for long minutes, feeling an inexplicable draw to them. Eventually, I pushed to my feet and ambled over to my music dock and hit shuffle. I needed something heavy blasting in my ear drums to drown out the niggling, indecipherable voice that was getting louder by the minute.

  “Radioactive” came pounding through the speakers but it wasn’t loud enough. I cranked the volume, not caring what my neighbours would think, and walked into the kitchen. Not caring what the time was, I grabbed a beer from the fridge. I flicked off the top and rested back against the counter. Through the archway, my gaze once again caught on my trainers, sitting there so innocently yet somehow mocking me.

  “Stop fucking looking at me.” I scowled at the inanimate objects and trudged into my bedroom, slamming the door closed behind me. Falling back onto my bed, I stared up at the ceiling. I debated calling my mum but knew that a conversation with her would most likely frustrate me further. Adam was out of the question because I couldn’t work out what was going on with him and needed a bit of distance to try to figure it out.

  The longer I lay there, the more my mind wandered. The more it wandered, the more it kept ending right back at the same place. Golden Oakes. Or rather, Mr. Oakes himself. In the short, unbelievably annoying, time we’d spent together he’d opened up something in me. Maybe it was a desire to beat back my own weaknesses and fight for a new me. Maybe it was just his incredibly hot body that I could not deny being attracted to. Whatever it was, it was calling me.

  Reaching over, I left my untouched beer on the nightstand. I knew what I needed to do and where I should be.

  ***

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I scolded myself quietly, pulling the bar down in front of my chin and wincing as my still-sore muscles protested. As soon as it had become glaringly obvious why I’d been so restless, I’d pulled on another pair of black, three quarter length running bottoms, a pale pink tank top and my trainers. Twenty minutes later, I’d been warming up on a treadmill before moving on to complete the exercises Nathan had given me to do. Despite the aches and pains, I soon began to feel rejuvenated, almost intoxicated, by the feeling of my muscles stretching and yielding to my movements.

  “You’re a glutton for punishment, eh?” The female voice sounded vaguely familiar. “He didn’t completely kick your butt and put you off coming back then?” I released the bar slowly until the rack of weights quietly lowered back into place and then turned to face whoever was talking to me.

  It took a moment to recognise Cassie without her black spa uniform, but her smiling almond eyes and dark, sharp bob soon gave her away. She was standing nearby with a huge dumbbell in each hand, performing bicep curls with enviable grace and ease.

  “Hi, Cassie. It’s nice to see you again. I didn’t recognise you there for a minute.” I gestured to the short black figure hugging shorts and white sports bra top she was wearing. She was petite, but certainly not weak. The swell on her biceps and her super flat tummy clearly demonstrated her commitment to taking care of her body. That thought had me feeling self-conscious and out of place. It was a feeling I’d not had since walking through the front doors.

  Cassie smiled knowingly but didn’t say anything. “I thought Nathan would have scared you off by now.” She completed her set and placed the weights on the ground.

  “Ha. I would not give him the satisfaction of knowing he could do that to me.” Something occurred to me. “How do you know? About Nathan training me, I mean.”

  “Nathan and I go way back. We talk to each other about everything.” Oh. For some reason I hated the thought of that. “I was also in here training last night and saw him putting you through your paces. It was good to see someone giving him shit for a change,” she laughed.

  “Is he around?” I asked, looking out across the room. I’d been looking for him since I’d arrived, but it appeared he wasn’t around on weekends.

  Shaking her head no, Cassie gulped down some water from her bottle. “Not yet. He trains with Wes during the day. He usually comes down later on.” She swiped at a dribble of water on her chin with the back of her hand.

  I nodded, feeling disappointed and then annoyed with myself for being so. “I guess I should…” I gestured out to the room, indicating I should return to my workout.

  “I’m sure you’re aching something chronic, especially as y
ou’re inflicting more pain today.” She winked playfully. “I’ll be back down in the spa shortly. Fancy another massage?”

  Yes! “No, you’re good. I’m sure you’ve got clients, plus I didn’t bring any money out with me. Thanks though.”

  “You don’t need money. Nate said you have full use of the facilities. That includes all spa treatments.”

  I gaped. “But, I…” Having Nathan allow me to use the gym facilities free of charge was more than I could have expected. In fact I had planned on trying to find a way of paying for the membership myself. But full use? How much would that even cost?

  “I’ll see you downstairs in a bit.” With a beaming smile and bright eyes, Cassie slung her towel over her shoulder and strolled across the room, leaving me standing alone staring after her.

  ***

  Having finished what I could remember of the workout plan Nathan had given me, I debated whether I should take Cassie up on her offer or not. It all seemed to be too good to be true, and in my experience that usually meant it was. In the end, my body fought with my brain… and won. I showered quickly and made my way down to Cassie’s treatment room, hoping she didn’t have a client.

  “Are you sure about this? It feels all kinds of wrong,” I asked, pulling myself onto the end of her padded treatment table.

  “There is nothing wrong with a bit of pampering, Liv. Do you mind me calling you Liv?” I shook my head. “Besides, Nate gave us all explicit instructions that we are to give you whatever you need when you’re here.” My cheeks flushed at the thought that he’d spoken about me with his staff.

  “What did he…” I couldn’t bring myself to continue the sentence as I settled face down on the massage table.

  “Don’t worry, he was very discreet. I don’t know what the deal is, he just said you have been given a special lifetime membership and you are free to use all the facilities as you please.” Cassie draped a towel over my back. “I’ll be back in a minute. I just need to get more oil.”

  The door clicked closed on the latch. Alone with my thoughts, my forehead crinkled in as I thought about why Nathan was doing this. I felt like some kind of elaborate science experiment for him. Or worse still, he was playing with me. Allow the poor, fat girl into your gym and see if you can break her, all while saying you are doing your bit for humanity.

  “You’re not fat,” a deep rumbling voice growled from behind me. “And you certainly are not some science experiment.” Shit, had I really said all that out loud? And what was he doing in here?

  “I’ve already told you why I’m doing this,” Nathan continued. With my head planted in the hole on the table and my muscles so tight I could barely move, I couldn’t see him but I could certainly feel him. The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end when he stepped closer and I was very aware that I was undressed. “I don’t like being second guessed, Olivia. This is the last time I’ll be explaining myself, so listen closely. There is something about you that I am drawn to, something different to all the others—”

  I wriggled, trying to move to sit up without embarrassing myself by exposing too much flesh. “By the others, you mean all the bimbos that like salivating all over you.”

  “Shut up, Olivia!”

  The brusqueness of his reply stopped me in my tracks.

  “You needed help and I offered it. You can sass and fight me all you like, but I committed to help you achieve your goals. I’m not a man to go back on my word.”

  “Nathan, I…” I finally managed to manoeuvre myself so I could look at him. Every inch of my skin heated when I found his eyes raking over my exposed flesh, my modesty barely protected by the small towel now wrapped around me. He looked delicious in a pair of grey sweatpants that fell in a sexy way from his hips and a plain, white t-shirt, emphasising the fine physique underneath. He was in workout attire, ready to put his own body through its paces. My stomach muscles clenched at the thought of his large muscles rippling and stretching with his exertions.

  His eyes met mine. “Stop overthinking and questioning this, Liv.” I swallowed hard, unsure what to say.

  “Oh my God, get out. Shoo!” Cassie flounced back into the room snapping a towel in Nathan’s direction. I couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up at seeing her petite frame pushing on his much taller, much stronger body. “You can’t come in here when we have clients. You know the rules. You made them.”

  Nathan’s heated gaze remained locked on mine until Cassie had him at the door. And then he was gone.

  I collapsed back onto my front wondering how my orderly world had suddenly become a circus.

  “I’m sorry about that. He hardly ever comes down here, and he’s never come in to an occupied room before.” I heard the confusion in her voice. “Anyway…” She warmed oil between her palms and began massaging life back into my dead muscles whilst telling me all the gossip of Golden Oakes and GO.

  ***

  After only an hour sprawled out on her table, Cassie had poked, prodded, rubbed and dug into my tired muscles reviving them to the point of being almost pain free and relaxed. She’d then proceeded to demand I go for the full works and slathered gunk on my face whilst waxing and buffing every inch of flesh from the armpit downward. Well, almost every inch. I’d refused point blank when she’d suggested a Brazilian.

  Despite the torture, I came away feeling like a princess and on top of the world.

  After a quick shower to remove the sticky wax remnants, I stood at my wardrobe wrapped in only a fluffy white towel and debated what to wear for the evening. I had no plans and didn’t fancy making any. I’d just pulled a tan-coloured jumper off its hanger when my doorbell rang through my living space. Wrapping the towel tighter around me, I went to the door, pulling it open only enough that I could hide behind it and peer around it to greet my visitor.

  In hindsight, it would have been wiser to have checked through the spyhole first because standing there, looking cool, calm and gorgeous, was Nathan.

  “Um, hi,” I greeted him sheepishly.

  His lips twitched and his eyes sparkled, a sign I was beginning to recognise as a smile, even when his mouth didn’t cooperate. “Hi.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Can I come in?”

  “Who’s answering questions with questions now?”

  “Do we have to go through that again?”

  I quirked a newly shaped eyebrow.

  He sighed. “May I?”

  Nathan gestured at the door, and before I realised what he was doing, Nathan was stepping over the threshold.

  “Nice view,” he smirked as he pushed the door closed.

  Realising I was still only in my skimpy towel, I desperately tried to cover myself further with my arms. “Let me ask you again, what are you doing here and how do you know where I live?” I kept my chin up in a vain act of confidence. In reality, I felt naked and abashed beneath his roving eyes.

  “Form,” was his reply, directed to the upper swell of my breasts.

  As much as I wanted to know why Nathan was there, I couldn’t continue talking to him while I was practically naked. It totally screwed with the sass and inner diva I seemed to need when dealing with Nathan Oakes.

  “Just give me a minute.” I ran off to the safety of my bedroom. Before fully closing the door, I took a minute to watch him through the crack. He looked edible in dark jeans that hung on his hips in the same sexy way that his sweatpants had. An untucked, long sleeved, white shirt covered the hard muscles of his chest and the tattoos I knew decorated his arms. The longer lengths of his hair were tousled and untamed. I sighed in appreciation of his fine form and shut the door. What on earth was he doing in my home?

  Having quickly thrown on some underwear, I took more care in revising my clothing choice. Being faced with the fact that I needed something nice, yet sexy, yet I-haven’t-made-an-effort-for-you—and I needed it to fit properly—it took me longer than it should have to decide. By the time I’d settled on a long, black and white
patterned maxi dress, there were clothes strewn everywhere.

  I yanked a brush through my hair and pulled it back, securing it with a large silver clip, and quickly applied some lip gloss and mascara to try to at least make me look semi presentable. With one final glance in my floor standing mirror, I nodded my approval and exited my room… into hell.

  ***

  “What the fuck do you think you are doing?” I yelled, rushing over to the kitchen.

  In the relatively short amount of time I’d been in my bedroom, Nathan had ransacked my kitchen. Every cupboard door was open; bottles, tins, cartons, packet mixes and boxes of this and that littered every work surface. And he was filling my bin.

  “Nathan, what the hell?” I screeched again, grabbing the six-pack of beers in his hands that were about to be discarded into the brushed chrome garbage bin. He wouldn’t let go.

  “A healthier lifestyle doesn’t just happen from a bit of training at the gym,” he replied, with a soft, yet commanding, voice. “If you’re committed to doing this, then you are going to have to make changes in every area of your life. That includes what you eat and drink.”

  “But…” I looked around at all the convenience foods scattered around the place.

  “These,” he said lifting up a packet of sweet, sugared waffles, “are of absolutely no use to you nutritionally.”

  “But…”

  He continued as if I wasn’t there. “They are pure sugar, salt and wasted calories. They have no nutritional value to them whatsoever.”

  “But…”

  I looked at him, blinking. Who was this man?

  “Your whole attitude to eating, exercising and resting needs to change if you are going to succeed in your goals.”

  I slumped back onto a stool, bewildered beyond all belief. In short order, I had gone from a happy, content, albeit unhealthy lifestyle, to one full of demanding trainers and food dictators.

  “Nathan, this is ridiculous. It’s too much too fast.” I understood changes needed to happen but I hadn’t signed up for a total take-over of my life.