Fat Mate (The Alpha Shifter Collection Book 8)

by Sam Crescent

  This was what he liked about Sarah, she didn’t judge anyone. At some of the gyms he’d visited there was a horrible feel to the place where people trying to lose weight were made to feel like shit. Bruce, he had a motto, you came to his gym for a reason. He’d leave you alone until you asked for help.

  “You know, she looked close to your age. Maybe you know her?”

  “Doubt it. I go across town to avoid the chicks in my area. You know that.”

  “How could I forget the whole screaming girl incident, where one of your conquests tried to hit you with a weight?” Sarah asked, chuckling.

  “Look, it’s not all my fault.”

  “Yeah, yeah, being young and hot is a curse.”

  “You should know. You’re hot.”

  “Shut it, and I noticed you didn’t quote young.”

  “I can’t lie.”

  She threw a towel at him, laughing. “Go, before your body starts to go into withdrawal because you’re not working it.”

  He gave her a wave and made his way toward the changing rooms. There he changed into his workout clothes before heading out. He did some light stretches on his way into lifting some weights. The definition on his arms helped him to catch the girls, but it also gave him the strength he needed while playing. Noah didn’t know what he’d do with his life if he didn’t have the option of playing ball. It gave him focus.

  Several of the guys nodded at him as they made their way to different apparatus. This was what he liked about training here, he got left alone. The last thing he wanted was a scene. He’d been there, done that, and he wasn’t interested in the experience again.

  After he was sufficiently warmed up, he started light on his arm reps, building up, alternating between each arm. When he was happy there, he started to do some squats, lifting the weights out either side of his body, and drawing them back in.

  For the next hour, he worked the whole of his body, building up a sweat. He was warmed up, pumped, and ready to hit the treadmill. With a towel around his neck, he walked into the running room, and saw several people he recognized. Looking to his left, he froze when he caught sight of a chick he did recognize.

  What the fuck was Elsa Quinn doing in a gym?

  He paused, glancing around the room, and then back at the girl from his own high school. She didn’t look back at him, nor did she appear to care who was in the room. She wore one of the largest, ugliest shirts he’d ever seen. He saw the signs of perspiration under her armpits. Her thighs were also swallowed up.

  She had interrupted his place of peace.

  Was this the girl who Sarah was talking about? No, she was going to have to go. This was his place, his gym.

  Moving toward the running machine closest to her, he started at a steady walk. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.

  She tripped, and caught herself by holding onto either side of the machine, turning to look at him.

  Her eyes were so dark as she stared at him. Noah forced himself to look right back at her. There was always something … inviting about her eyes. During high school, he’d noticed how dark they were, and how they stared at something, trying to figure it out. They were beautiful eyes.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I’ve been coming to this gym for the past year. What is your reason?”

  “You don’t own the gym. You can’t stop people from coming here.”

  “Are you here with a gang of girls? Did they put you up to this?” Noah looked around, wondering if at any moment one of his ex-conquests was suddenly going to pop out and make an appearance.

  “I can’t believe your ego. I don’t have to take this. There are other rooms.” She pressed several buttons, and left the room.

  His peace had been ruined because he didn’t trust her. Turning off his machine, he followed her, finding her standing in the weight room. She looked like a fish out of water, exactly as Sarah had described her.

  “Do you have a clue what you’re doing?”

  “God, do you own this room as well?” She walked back into the main hall, and there were several people walking toward them. Grabbing her hand, he pushed her into one of the private sauna rooms. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “You don’t have a clue what you’re doing here, so tell me who put you up to this.”

  “No one?”

  “You just happened to be at Bruce’s gym out of pure coincidence.”

  “No, and I don’t have to tell you.”

  “I’ll make your life hell at school!”

  She glared. “I dare you, and I’ll make sure every single girl knows you’re here on a Saturday.”

  They both stared at each other, neither of them showing signs of winning. “I’m here because it’s the only place I get peace and quiet. You must have heard what Jessica did?”

  “I heard about the scene. Who hasn’t?”

  “Exactly. I come here so I can work out and be left alone. Now, I’ve told you why, you tell me?”

  She sighed. “I just want to point out that you interrupted my training time, not the other way around. You could have run anywhere else, and I wouldn’t care.”

  “Fine, just tell me.”

  “I’m doing it as a surprise to my mom.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Look at me. I know you all call me fat, cow, whale, chubby. I embarrass my mom, so here I am, trying to make her proud.”

  He’d heard all the names she’d been called, and he’d laughed at a couple of them. But really he didn’t see a problem with her weight. So she was a couple of pounds heavier than people would like, so what? He happened to like her tits. There were many times during gym at school where he’d stared as her tits bounced. Out of all of the girls in high school, she had the biggest rack.

  Damn.

  Now his gaze landed on her breasts.

  “Seriously? My eyes are up here, you creep.”

  “You don’t have a clue what you’re doing.”

  “So? I’ll figure it out, and come college there will be a dazzling new me, and there will be no sobbing in sight.”

  “What you’re trying to do is lose weight. Where is your trainer? What are your starting points? What about your diet? There’s a lot more to losing weight than just getting on a treadmill, and hoping for the best. You want to be the best that you can be, then you need some help.”

  “I don’t want to make this complicated, okay? This was just about doing something in private with no one knowing, and now you know.”

  “Believe it or not, I won’t blab.”

  “Sure you won’t.”

  Her sarcasm was grating on his nerves.

  End of sample chapter

  Fat by Sam Crescent is available at most online retailers.

  www.evernightpublishing.com/fat-by-sam-crescent