by Hazel Kelly
I blushed and dropped my eyes to the dwindling towel mountain.
“I think it’s a great idea.”
My eyes popped up. “You do?”
“Certainly worth a try,” he said. “Worst-case scenario, people don’t take advantage of the offer. Best case, some do, and it helps them feel settled here sooner.”
“Exactly! So you do get it.”
“Of course. Seems like a no-brainer.”
I groaned. “So why can’t Mary see that?”
“Perhaps you’re right about her heart not being in it,” he said. “What was the last thing you disagreed on? Didn’t you say there was a third?”
“Oh right.” I shook my head at the pile. “This is the worst. I’m actually ashamed to even tell you this.”
His expression grew stern. “What is it?”
“Remember the water aerobics incident we had last week?”
He stopped folding. “Of course.”
“Well, she couldn’t care less about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I told her about the girls’ complaints about Mr. Edwards being pervy during the class.”
He leaned against the counter and folded his arms.
“And she seemed more fixated on the lack of proof than the fact that an allegation that we mishandled sexual harassment could be disastrous for our reputation.”
“So what happened?”
“Nothing,” I said, unsure of whether I was more angry or sad. “She said it was a harmless misunderstanding and that we should let the class run as usual.”
He scoffed.
I pinched my lips together.
“Oh shit, you’re serious?”
“Isn’t that hideous?” I asked, shaking my head. “And in this day and age?”
He rubbed his jaw for a second, his eyes falling to the counter.
“I get that it would be severe to instantly bar him from the class, but it seems like we should at least do something to keep the situation from escalating.”
I waited for him to say something, but he just kept squeezing his jaw and staring into the distance. “Alex?”
He dropped his hand and turned towards me. “I’ll do it.”
I craned an ear towards him. “You’ll do what?”
“I’ll take the class,” he said. “Make sure Mr. Edwards keeps to himself.”
“What?”
“You got a better idea?” he asked. “Because I agree we absolutely have to contain this thing.”
I wracked my brain, but I knew the class was too big to ask the instructor to handle it, especially since she was only under temporary contract while the regular teacher was on maternity leave. Plus, the only other option would be to observe the class, and that was liable to make all the participants uncomfortable, which would only stoke the situation.
“Well?” he asked, glancing at the clock before turning back to me. “What’ll it be, boss?”
I sighed. “You got a suit?”
F I F T E E N
- Alex -
When I offered to chaperone the water aerobics class, I assumed someone would have some trunks I could borrow. I thought wrong. Things looked even worse when I began scouring the lost and found for some shorts that might do the trick.
“How about this?”
I looked over my shoulder to find Gemma holding up a black Speedo with the tags still on it.
“What is that?”
“It’s a Speedo,” she said, shaking it between her pinched fingers.
“I see that. I meant, why are you showing it to me?”
“Because I thought you were looking for a suit.”
“Where did that even come from?”
“It was in a box in the office labeled ‘junk from sales reps.’”
I blinked at it and questioned how committed I was to our newly hatched plan. “Don’t you think it’s a little inappropriate?”
“Only if you have a crush on one of the girls in the class.”
“Very funny.”
“Your call,” she said. “But the class starts in ten minutes, so it’s either this or plan B.”
“What’s plan B?”
“That’s for you to figure out if you’re too insecure to wear the suit.”
“I’m not insecure,” I said, grabbing it and cringing at how little fabric filled my fist. “I’m just not an exhibitionist.”
“Shame,” she said, her eyes flicking down my body. “Thought I might join you for a swim later.”
My ears perked up.
“But if you want to scrap the plan…”
I ground my teeth together. “I suppose I could try it on.”
“Thanks,” she said, patting my shoulder. “I really appreciate you doing this.”
I opened my mouth to object, but it was too late. She’d already assumed compliance and walked off.
Hurrying to the men’s room, I ripped the tag off with my teeth before stepping between two rows of lockers to slip the suit on. It was as obnoxiously tight as I feared.
Not that I looked bad in it, but still. The fact that I took care of myself didn’t mean I liked having every detail of my family jewels on display.
“Yo, Alex,” André called into the locker room. “How’s the suit?”
“Who’s asking?” I said as he came around the corner.
He brought a fist to his mouth and burst out laughing, his shoulders bouncing like a hyena’s.
“What’s so funny?”
“Man, that is messed up.”
I grabbed a fresh towel from a shelf at the end of the lockers and wrapped it around my waist.
“Not that you don’t wear it well.”
I rolled my eyes.
“What there is of it.”
“Very funny.”
“Should I tell Gemma you’re good to go?”
I squinted at him. “She send you in here to check?”
“She didn’t send me to help you tuck in your balls.”
I groaned. “Make sure you tell her she owes me for this.”
“Got it.” He turned around but then kept turning until he was facing me again.
“What?”
“You might want to get in the water before the blue rinse brigade shows up.”
I furrowed my brow.
“Unless you know how to reset a pacemaker.”
“You done?”
“Assuming you can keep everything where it’s supposed to be,” he said, waving his hands towards my lower half. “I swear I’ll never mention this again.”
“I look forward to that,” I said as he skipped out, unable to hide how thrilled he was to not be in my shoes. Or suit, rather.
I closed my stuff in a locker and looked over my shoulder when I heard someone clear their throat. When I saw it was Mr. Edwards, I felt a little better. Not because I was looking forward to treading water next to the guy but because at least I hadn’t wedged myself into this penis pocket in vain. “You here for water aerobics?” I asked, securing the cheap lock I’d borrowed from the front desk.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt.
“You like it that much? It’s my first time.”
“Oh yes,” he said, keeping his eyes on the inside of his open locker. “Can’t beat it.”
“Do you do it mostly for cardio benefits or—?”
“You could say that.”
“Excuse me?”
“It gets my heart rate up, if that’s what you’re asking,” he said, glancing at me.
I forced a smile and headed for the door to the pool.
“And my dick, if I’m not careful.”
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that,” I said, daring him to repeat it.
“Never mind.” He hung his shirt on a hook before loosening his belt. “See you on deck.”
I was already convinced the girls had been telling the truth. After all, only a fucking pervert mentions their dick to a complete stranger. Unfortunately, we couldn’t ban the
guy for locker room talk. I had to witness a more public offense in order to blacklist him.
The thick smell of warm chlorine flooded my nose as I strode onto the pool deck, and after greeting the instructor and explaining that I’d be participating at the back of the class, I walked down the half-submerged steps into the shallow end.
A few of the older women noticed me right away, but they kept talking amongst themselves, so I was confident no one was going to faint if I tried to lift a knee.
Sure enough, Mr. Edwards made his way over to me when he got in, which was fortunate because it meant I wouldn’t have to be obvious about my reason for auditing the class.
The instructor announced that we should begin with some gentle stretching while we waited for any stragglers, so the class members began spacing themselves out.
Mr. Edwards, however, seemed preoccupied with the door to the women’s locker room. “Now we’re talking,” he mumbled when the two younger women arrived.
They were both wearing sporty blue swimsuits, and the blonde one’s face dropped as soon as she saw the man she’d accused of harassment only a week ago.
I couldn’t tell from so far away, but it almost seemed like they physically hesitated to approach the pool as they whispered between one another.
“Let’s go!” a husky-voiced woman shouted from the front row. “Some of us are dying here!”
The girls slipped into the pool and found a space as far away from him as possible.
For the next twenty minutes, Mr. Edwards never took his eyes off them. On the plus side, my disgust with his leering made me forget the self-consciousness I felt over my snug suit and my lack of aerobics aptitude.
A few exaggerated side steps later, right when I began to worry that he wasn’t going to give me the evidence I needed, I caught him adjusting himself for the second time.
“Psst,” he hissed at me as he curled his arms underwater.
I raised my eyebrows in his direction.
“See that girl in the blue suit?”
“Which one?” I asked, as if I didn’t know.
“Over by the side there.”
I pretended to look for a second. “Yeah.”
“You think those are C cups or D’s that she’s got?”
I clenched my jaw. How dare he creep on people in my gym?
“I can’t quite tell, and I’m afraid to ask her.”
“Ask her?” Was he for real?
“Yeah.” He scrunched his face. “I asked her something last week, and she got all offended.”
I strained to keep the irritation from my voice. “What did you ask her?”
“I asked her if she would sit on my face,” he said, his mouth expanding into a big toothy grin. “Like she does in my dreams.”
“You said that to her?”
“Twice,” he said. “But I think she was lying when she said she didn’t hear me the first time.”
“Get out.”
“No, really, I did. You should’ve seen her face.”
“No, really,” I said. “Get out.”
“What?”
“Get out of the pool.”
S I X T E E N
- Gemma -
I didn’t know where to look when I saw them approaching the front desk, both of them dripping wet from head to toe.
A cursory glance told me it wasn’t Mr. Edwards’ idea to walk through the gym half naked with his clothes in his arms, but it was Alex I couldn’t keep my eyes off. He was so ripped I barely even noticed the fit of his Speedo…until I noticed it, of course. And by that point, I’m sure my eyes were bulging out of my head.
I opened my mouth to speak, but like the rest of the members, all I could do was watch as Alex escorted him towards the door looking more like some Marvel Comic god than a guy who spent his days folding towels and wiping down dumbbells.
“You can’t do this!” Mr. Edwards said, his feet scuffling along in his untied work shoes.
“It’s already done,” Alex said. “And if you ever set foot in a Pump Gym again, it will be law enforcement escorting you out. I can promise you that.”
“But I already paid for my annual membership!”
My eyes stayed trained on them as they passed the front desk.
“You’ll receive a full and prompt refund right away,” Alex said as he opened the door calmly, though the clench of his jaw told me he was feeling anything but.
Mr. Edwards stood dripping on the welcome mat inside the door and looked over his shoulder at countless pairs of wide eyes. When he finally saw me, hope filled his expression, and he opened his mouth to speak.
“Good day, Mr. Edwards,” Alex said behind him, his cut abs rippling with his breath.
I shrugged and his shoulders fell before he hung his head and walked out.
“Show’s over, folks,” Alex said, dismissing the nosy stares of the gawking members.
“Not as long as you’re dressed like that it’s not,” I muttered as he approached the front desk.
He smiled and caught the towel I threw him.
My mouth watered as I watched him tie it tight around his waist. “What happened?”
“The guy’s a scumbag,” he said. “Refund his payment for the year, and tell the rest of the staff to call the police if he ever steps foot in here again.”
“Since when are you the boss?”
He leaned his hands on the counter. “I said I’d handle it, and I handled it. If you don’t think I did a good job, I’m open to your constructive feedback.”
I furrowed my brow and tried not to let my eyes drip down his pecs, which featured the most perfect patch of dark chest hair I’d ever seen. “What did he say exactly?”
“Nothing that bears repeating to a lady like yourself.”
I swallowed.
“But I’m satisfied with my assessment that the guy is a potential predator, and that makes him a liability the gym can’t afford.”
I could tell he didn’t want to go into details, but I was desperate to understand what had upset him so much.
“He’s lucky I never heard him say shit about you or he would’ve had his teeth in his arms on his way out, too.”
I hoped he’d elaborate, but it was almost like he didn’t realize he’d said it out loud.
“I’ll file the incident report,” he said. “So your bases are covered with Mary.”
“What are you going to say about not following protocol?” I asked. “Technically, he should’ve gotten another warning.”
“It’s the 21st century,” he said. “Men shouldn’t need warnings. Not when it comes to treating women with respect.”
Damn. I’d heard of knights in shining armor, but knights in Speedos—
“When you’re done locking up, come join me for a swim.” He patted the counter definitively and took a step back.
“What?”
“I’m going to do some laps,” he said. “Blow off some steam.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“I didn’t know you cared so much.”
“About what?” he asked, his brows drawing together.
“About the gym,” I said. “About the people here.”
He scratched the back of his head for a moment.
I stared at him and awaited further comment, but all he did was shrug and walk away.
…
Usually, the end of the day dragged, every minute seeming to stretch aimlessly as people took too long getting the heck out at closing time, but ever since Alex invited me to go for a swim, my mind was preoccupied with more pleasant matters than the tedious checklist of closing tasks I could’ve done with my eyes shut.
Like the way his toned butt looked wrapped in that towel.
Not that I intended to join him for a swim.
I had neither a suit nor the desire to get wet, but it was still a sweet offer. And at the very least, I wasn’t going to miss a chance to admire the way he filled out his Speedo again, especially when I could h
ardly think of anything else.
I turned the sign in the window and was about to lock the door behind the last customer when I heard André call for me to hold on. When I turned around, I noticed he’d put on a collared shirt and pulled his short dreads back into a low ponytail. “What’s the occasion?” I asked. “Got a hot date or something?”
“Something like that?” he said, holding his arms out and giving me a spin. “How do I look?”
“Great,” I said. “I’ve never seen you look so—”
“Careful now,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “I don’t want Alex to think I’m moving in on his girl.”
“I’m not his girl.”
“No?” he asked.
“No.”
“Then you ought to stop leading him on.”
“I beg your pardon?” I asked, cocking a hip.
“He definitely thinks he has a chance.”
“Is that so?”
He nodded and adjusted the strap of his gym bag on his shoulder.
“Did he tell you that?”
“Naw, but after the way you ogled him in his Speedo earlier—”
“I didn’t ogle him.”
He raised his palms. “I’m not judging.”
“There was no ogling.”
“Really?” He squinted at me. “’Cause I saw the whole thing from treadmill eight, and you must’ve licked your lips six times while he was throwing your boy out.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
He started for the door with a shrug.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“For what it’s worth,” he said, pushing the door open. “I don’t think your little crush is one sided.”
“That’s enough, André.”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
“He doesn’t look at me like anything.”
“If you say so,” he said, saluting as his new Timbs hit the sidewalk.
I watched him walk away, concentrating so hard my head began to hurt. Should I have asked him not to mention it again, or would that have been an admission of guilt? I sighed and returned to the front desk, leaning my hips against it while I took a few deep breaths.
Crushing on Alex was one thing, but l couldn’t let it interfere with my job. Not now. Not when it was the only stable thing I had going for me. I turned my eyes towards the locker room, knowing I couldn’t close up until I got Alex out of the pool.