by E. Davies
Cas laughed and then covered his mouth. “Sorry.”
Matt groaned. “It’s not funny. Now they really hate me. I thought it was a reasonable compromise, like you said. But they’re still not happy!”
It was a bit funny, but Matt wasn’t going to see that until much later. Cas schooled his face into a sympathetic smile instead. “They already hated you before.”
Matt snorted. “Thanks, dude. That helps.”
“You’re welcome.” Cas punched his shoulder. “But nothing will make them happy when they’ve got a bone and they want to shake it.”
Rory called out across the gym floor. “Matt? Pastor Robinson just pulled up outside.”
This sounded like big news. Cas followed Matt to the doors and outside to the drama unfolding. It looked like there were four protestors, so the others must have just arrived or else they were taking shifts. All dressed in their Sunday best, none of them familiar faces, and conferring in furious whispers near the corner of the building.
Pastor Robinson strolled closer, his hands folded behind his back. “Afternoon, folks. Welcome to Hidden Creek.” Their grateful smiles and greetings died away as soon as he added, “I’m from Hidden Creek’s church, just up the road there. The one which had its signature most unfortunately forged and added to a certain letter by some folks from out of town not too long ago. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
Dead silence. The guilty expressions were almost comical, though. Cas fought not to laugh.
“That’s what I thought,” Pastor Robinson continued. “Now, I’ve been to talk to the owner and have walked through the facility. I was willing to consider your perspective. We should all do more listening and less prejudgment. The world would be a better place. Particularly if the commandment about lying were obeyed a little more often.”
Cas loved him a little. He took Matt’s hand and squeezed, and he felt Matt relaxing next to him.
“Those stalls seem very private to me. I’m satisfied enough to recommend the gym to any of my parishioners.”
The woman Cas had been speaking to looked most indignant at all. “But—but it’s only a matter of time before there’s trouble.”
“Can’t see any trouble that isn’t standing in front of me,” Pastor Robinson said with a mild smile. “Here in Hidden Creek, we know each other pretty well. So when Matt tells me he hasn’t had any problems with folks breaking the law, and if he did, he’d report them… well, I don’t know why I wouldn’t believe him.”
She huffed and folded her arms as she glared at Matt and Cas. “It’s just not right.”
“Have you remodeled your bathroom lately?” She blinked at him, and Pastor Robinson continued, “Unless you have all daughters and a lovely wife, you’re already sharing space with men, and they are with you. We can all learn from your example.”
Cas choked back a laugh.
“If you’re fine with kids getting the wrong idea, then we’ll just leave town and leave you to the Devil!” the woman responded, her temper rising.
“The idea that they can peacefully commingle in not just a spiritual community, but the rest of life?”
“Men will take any excuse to… oh, you know.” She shuddered. “With each other, in stalls like that. Just look at them!”
All eyes turned to Cas and he turned red, but he held onto Matt’s hand tighter. Matt’s grip loosened, but he wouldn’t let go. They had nothing to be ashamed of.
“Why, I see a young couple in love. We could certainly all follow their example, too. Being in love doesn’t mean you’re going to be inappropriate in public. At least, if you’re not a teenager parking on the edge of Moore Wood at night.” Pastor Robinson chuckled.
“But they’re…”
“If you’re going to be homophobic, I’d suggest you don’t finish that sentence,” he said with another of those mild smiles. “Hidden Creek doesn’t take kindly to people coming in here and running our business. We support anyone who’s in love and happy to live here and share their talents with us. Go on.” He waved a hand. “God be with you.”
They stormed to their van, shaking their heads and talking under their breath.
“That was epic.” Caspian beamed until he realized he was crushing Matt’s hand. “Oh, shit, sorry. Oh, Pastor—sorry. Sh—Shoot.”
Pastor Robinson just smiled at him as he approached. “Caspian. Matt. How do you do?”
“Better now that you’re here,” Matt said with a smile. “Thank you so much for that. I don’t think they would have listened to me say the same things.”
“My pleasure,” the pastor answered. “Kelly thought I might like to talk to these ignorant people myself, and I’m glad she fetched me. I’ve got some business to attend to, but let me know if they come by again. I’d be happy to relocate my sermon to the parking lot one day.” He winked.
Matt reached out to shake hands, so Cas let go so that he could clasp the pastor’s hand. “Thank you.”
Once he’d driven off, Cas led Matt back inside. “Well, that changes things.”
“Yes and no.” Matt’s spirits were sinking again.
“No?”
“The damage is done. Attendance has been super-low these last couple of days.” Matt looked glum. “I mean, not everyone in Hidden Creek agrees with the pastor, surely. What if some people did get scared?”
“Then you make sure everyone in town knows about those classes. Get more of our people in here—the ones who appreciate what you’re doing and who don’t have anywhere else they can go to feel safe.” Cas squeezed his shoulder.
Matt sighed. “And discriminate against the people who just want a place to work out?” Speaking of which, someone was waiting around awkwardly by a machine, glancing at him every so often.
“Matt? I think he wants a word with you about something you said. Pull-downs?” Rory shrugged.
Cas sighed. “I’d better let you get back to work, then.” He wasn’t exactly in the mood to join in the workout now.
He took a minute to kiss Matt, his heart aching for more time together. But as much as he wanted it, they both had other things in life they had to focus on. Pulling away from him was surprisingly hard. Hard enough that his eyes stung for just a moment.
Fucking life.
He turned on his heel to hurry out to his car, his chest tight with emotion.
On the way out, he waved to Kelly in acknowledgement and thanks for what she’d done. “I’ll see you next time?”
“Be ready for a press-up-off,” she warned him and waved back.
Sure, the immediate danger had passed, but how much of a mark had these guys left? Had they been going around town to spread the word? God only knew.
Well, God and the attendance sheet.
23
Matt
“Five people. That’s it. Five people in here by noon.” Matt smushed his face against the desk, trying to blot out the world for a minute.
“I’m sure there’ll be more this afternoon.” Rory sounded a lot more confident than he felt.
Matt sighed. “And if there aren’t?”
“Stop prophesying doom before it happens,” Rory told him. He could practically hear her rolling her eyes. “It’ll be months before people’s memberships run out.”
“What if—”
“Oh, my God. Matt.” Rory’s tone shifted to annoyed, which was rare indeed. Rare enough that he sat up and looked at her.
She was sitting on the desk, arms folded, waiting for eye contact. “Right,” she told him when he finally looked up. “I called in backup and it’s on the way.”
“Backup?” Matt couldn’t imagine what she meant.
“Someone who knows how to build a small business.”
“Oh. God. Yes, please.” Matt was ready to suck up his pride and listen as long as someone could help him get out of this slump.
“Plus, she wants to sign up herself and all her friends for the gym. So you’ll get a bunch of eager new members,” Rory told him.
>
Matt gave her a smile. “Okay. I’m willing to be optimistic, then.”
It wasn’t fun to go into work every day and wonder if they were going to hit a new attendance low. Sure, they’d keep coasting for now on membership fees, but when people’s contracts came up? The gym looked empty, and that was the start of a gym death spiral. It drove away new members, both because they’d wonder what was wrong, and because fewer people meant they were more self-conscious. Just like a club with an empty dance floor, nobody wanted to be the first on it.
Even Cas hadn’t been back in a few days, ever since the pastor shooed off the protestors.
He didn’t even want to think about what his plan B was. Wasting a couple years and thousands, maybe tens of thousands, on all of this…
That would be failure, and it was not acceptable.
It didn’t take long before the gym door swung open. But instead of the super-fit tech entrepreneur he’d envisioned marching inside with a crowd of friends in yoga pants, he saw…
“Cora?”
“You could use an automatic door, young man,” she said, waggling her cane at him. “Make a lady struggle with it, why don’t you.”
“Buh.” Matt didn’t even have the heart to protest, But I didn’t expect people with canes to use it. If he was trying to be inclusive, that was a dumb mistake. “Ah.”
She read his mind, though, because she grinned. “And setting aside my cane, what do you expect people to do after arm day?”
She had him there. “I’ll look at entrance vestibules,” he promised. “Maybe combine that with my plans for a pincode-locked door.” He stood up and rolled his chair out from behind the desk to give her a place to sit.
Cora settled in it and laid her cane across her knees. “Ah, now we’re talking. So, Rory told me you need business advice, and I thought to myself, I need to get back to the gym. My friends all felt the same way.”
“You don’t have to join,” Matt said with a frown. He strongly suspected that the church ladies were rallying around him. Next up would be anonymous casserole deliveries. “I’ll manage fine—”
“Nonsense! Unless you don’t want new members?” She eyed him suspiciously. “Is this a drug-smuggling front?”
“Cora!” Matt exclaimed, covering his mouth. “Oh, my…”
She snickered. “Oh, you should have seen your face. Of course you want new members. I’m signing up today. We want to learn.”
Rory leaned in. “I know. A seniors’ class. So you can slow down the pace and make more adjustments as needed. And it’s a bit more laid back and social.”
“I like the way this girl thinks. You should hire her,” Cora joked.
“Funny story, that is,” Matt said, smirking. “I was thinking of it, weirdly enough!”
“So, are you ready to stop feeling sorry for yourself and be the man you can be?” Cora folded her arms and stared up at Matt.
Matt blinked several times, trying to process that. “Um.”
“Well?”
“I… I guess I am.” Matt’s cheeks slowly flushed with heat. For the last week or two he’d been sitting around, just waiting for something to change. Sure, he’d realized he was stuck in a rut, but he hadn’t figured out what he could change.
And until Cora said that, he’d figured that he’d keep his head in the sand and wait for the storm to blow over. But she was right: he was holding himself back.
“Turn your brain on,” Cora advised him. “If you’re going to make this business grow, you’re going to have to grow.”
Shit. Another moment of self-realization. This was getting painful. He shuffled his feet and then leaned against the desk, trying to look casual.
“So, you need more money, yes? Every new business needs more cashflow.”
Matt drew a breath and let it out. Time to let go of his pride. He’d been just scraping by for goddamn long enough. It was time to try to reach his full potential—even if that meant uncomfortable truths for him to face.
“So, I need more money,” Matt agreed.
“What do you sell?” Cora looked around as if about to browse for clothes or a new computer.
Matt blinked. “Um. A gym?” Before he’d even finished those few syllables, though, he realized what she meant. Many gyms he’d been to sold t-shirts, snack bars, water… “Ah. Yeah. I don’t have a POS system that can handle that yet.”
“Well, why not? Can you reinvest in that?” She clicked her tongue. “You don’t want people walking out the door to go buy a Gatorade. And Bottom’s Up has tried and returned a few systems. Talk to Kris about buying something off the suppliers. They’ll want to get the returned units off their hands. Or you can order one of those doodads from the internet for your phone.”
She was right. It was even more embarrassing to hear it out of the mouth of an old lady who hadn’t been to the gym in many years—if, indeed, ever. But that gave her a fresh eye on the place.
“Yeah. I’ll get a retail space set up,” he promised.
“Good. Now, these classes. I understand you’re doing women’s classes, gay classes…”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Cora nodded approvingly. “Are you advertising them?”
“Um.” He didn’t even want to admit that he’d been hoping word of mouth would suffice. “I… might have been?” She eyed him until he blushed and added, “Not really.”
Cora snorted. “Community groups. Women’s groups. Gay bars. You know these things. You might just need a kick in the rear to make them happen.”
Matt nodded gratefully. “Yeah. Exactly. With all the minutiae, it’s easy to forget the big picture.”
“Now, my friends. I have their details.” She pulled out a notebook and flipped it open to a page with neat script. “I told them they can’t pay by check, so they’ll pay when they attend your first class. Which will be…?”
“As soon as I can,” Matt promised, and he found himself smiling. “I need to do some homework and design a class, or call some friends.” His brain was already kicking into gear.
It wasn’t just a relief to be finally thinking about how he could stand up to the bullies. It was letting himself do what he knew he was capable of, but damn, it was scary.
“Maybe I can hire a teacher…” he added, rubbing his chin.
“Hidden Creek needs a place like yours,” Cora told him. “Teach what you know.”
“Right?” Rory chimed in. She’d been listening to the whole thing with an I told you so expression. “You already coach newbies. You’ve led classes before,” she prompted him.
Damn it, they weren’t letting him get away with this. He squirmed uncomfortably. “Well, yeah. Back in Houston, at the gym where I worked… I ran a few.” He knew how to do it. But the idea of presenting himself as an expert here was scary.
“Now, where’s that boy been?” Cora looked around. “He’ll keep you on track.”
Ah. That was the other uncomfortable thing. Cas had dropped by the other day, witnessed Pastor Robinson putting his foot down, and he hadn’t been here since.
On the other hand, Matt hadn’t exactly invited him over after work, or tried to head over to his house. He’d made plenty of excuses to himself—he was busy, and tired, and stressed, and so was Cas.
“Stick your head in the sand and your ass will get burned,” Cora cheerily informed him.
Matt’s jaw dropped. He blushed, but he started to laugh. It was damn well true, and he couldn’t argue it, either. This was getting embarrassing.
“We’ve been busy,” he muttered, but he reached for his phone. Why hadn’t he been texting during the work day, like before? At least they could keep in touch, even if they couldn’t see each other.
And God, he wanted to see Cas. But…
But I still feel like he deserves better.
Despite everything these women were doing to raise his self-esteem, he still felt nervous about being with Cas. Not because of the public eye, but because of himself. That damn thorn in his side a
gain. He didn’t exactly have time to stop and go to therapy, though.
He’d just have to try to push through it.
“You’re sending that boy a message, right?” Cora prompted. “Because I don’t want to knock your heads together, but I will if you insist on hiding from each other.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll text him after this,” Matt promised, his lips twitching into a smile. It sounded like something Rory would say, too.
“You make sure he does,” Cora told Rory as she stood up and grabbed her cane again. “And I have errands to run. Call me as soon as you know when the first class will be. I’ll pass along the word.”
“Thank you,” Matt told her, but she wouldn’t hear of it.
“Bah, I should be thanking you. A good gabfest keeps an old lady busy.” She was remarkably quick on her feet to the door, though. She must have been healing well from the broken hip, Matt marveled. “And out of trouble.” She winked.
Matt smiled. “I doubt that,” he teased as he opened the door for her. “I’ll see you at a class soon.”
He was scared as hell that Cas would up and leave when he realized he could do better than Matt, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from trying. Otherwise, what would make this any different from his last few years of failed dating?
Before he settled down to brainstorm a list of classes, he sent a quick text.
bi unicorn: Hey gorgeous, how’s it going? Thinking of you :) Are you free this week?
Then he plugged in his phone to charge and started pacing around the gym, notebook in hand, to generate ideas for more classes. Safe hours for certain groups were all well and good, but if he could combine them with classes?
Cora was right: Lift needed to grow, which meant he did, too. And maybe he could grow into the man Caspian needed. The community would get a better gym, he’d get a boyfriend… everyone won.