The sudden streak of nerves vanished from Luis’ expression, and he flashed his brilliant smile. “You’re right, that was dumb. Bring on the rich clients!”
As Val teased him and Luis rolled his eyes, I glanced around our space. It definitely wasn’t large or fancy like the resort gym Ashton and Val went to, but it was efficient. And ours. That was the important part. The space had two rooms—one with rubber mats on the floors and professional weight training equipment for him, and a room with mirror lined walls and hardwood floors for me.
It had originally been a small gym with a strength training section and aerobics section, so it suited our purposes just fine. We’d cobbled together our business plan, did a huge grand opening with incentives and raffles, and had barely kept things running on a handful of clients for the first few months. After that, the miracle of Google and Yelp reviews had kicked in along with word-of-mouth, and we’d had an influx. Now, Luis had a solid fifteen clients, and I taught two classes at a larger dance studio and had eight of my own clients who I saw regularly in our space along with people who hired me to come to their homes. We weren’t living large, but we were comfortable, and I fucking loved it.
“Why are you grinning over here?” Luis asked, pulling me against him again. “Dreaming of that mimosa? We’re about to go to brunch so you can eat.”
I snorted, glanced around, and saw Val and Ashton had gone to the other room to wash up and change. “No. Well. Yes, but mostly I was being mushy.”
“Ohhh…” Luis kissed my cheek then trailed his lips down. “Tell me more.”
“I’m just proud of us?” I wrapped my arms around in him return. “We’re good right now, but I think things can only improve from here. Not only is Ashton pimping the gym, but the dancers you performed with in that run of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have been inboxing you too. Everyone wants to be your client ever since you did that body transformation contest after the grand opening.”
“Yeah, but I’m worried about being stretched too thin.” Luis glanced at the door leading to the other room then back at me. “I know the extra money would be dope, but we both already work twelve-hour days sometimes, and I kinda miss our late-night dinners and dancing for fun.”
“And lying in bed together while discussing supplements and watching YouTube dance and workout videos?” I asked, smirking. “Our version of romance is super fucking work oriented, babe.”
“And?” Luis bit my earlobe. “Work aside, we have a lot in common. And you know you love my rants about supplements and whey isolate.”
“I love it more when you feed me Dominican takeout right before sucking my cock.”
Luis’ booming laugh exploded in my eardrum. He pulled away, holding up his hands when I glared. “You’ll forgive me when I tell you my really good idea.”
“Mmk. Does it involve alcohol and food?”
“Fuck yeah, it does.” Luis kissed one of my hands. “My fam is going to DR this winter for the holidays, and they want us to come. So, there’d be family, food, and alcohol. Also, an island instead of some wack snow. I want us to go and have a real vacation.”
It sounded magical, actually. “They really want me to come?”
“Uh, yeah. My mother loves you, and Titi Yaneris thinks you can do no wrong. I try to tell her you’re wrong, like, a lot of times per day, but she isn’t trying to hear that shit.”
“Because she knows you’re slandering me like an asshole,” I said, whipping my sweaty hair at him. “That sounds amazing. Of course, I’d love to go. Especially if we can take a couple of days to be alone and fuck really loudly on some excessive beach house.”
Luis bit his lower lip, eyes sweeping over me.
I snickered. “I take that as a yes.”
“You can take that as a hell yes.”
I draped my arms over his shoulders, smiling, and brushed our lips together. “I love you, Luis Wilberto Ramos.”
“I love you too, Charles Big Booty Jovanovic.”
I pinched his side just as Ashton reappeared in a floppy black hat, slinky black dress, and giant shitkicker boots. “How do I look?”
“Like a vampire with badass delts,” Luis said.
Ashton beamed. I snorted, and Val squeezed said delts when he came up behind Ashton wearing his usual hoodie and jeans. “We ready to eat?” he asked.
“I’m always ready to eat,” I informed him. “As soon as I slap on some deodorant and a sweater.”
“Mmm, but I don’t mind you sweaty,” Luis said.
Val made a face. “Dude, can I stop knowing things about your sexual desires?”
Luis grinned wickedly. “Not anymore. Just wait until brunch.”
“I’ll put on my headphones and ignore you,” Val deadpanned. “No lie.”
“He will.” Ashton shook his head mournfully. “If Angel or Aiden isn’t there to bro out with him, he literally ignores us and listens to music.”
“Val couldn’t ignore me if he tried,” Luis said with full confidence. “And he has tried a lot in the past decade.”
I shook my head, walking out of the room and laughing as they continued to banter. For the hell of it, I checked the post Ashton had tagged me on, and grinned at the first comment.
Amazing group shot. Your insta is my daily queer affirmation. I hope to someday have similar friendships and as satisfying a life as you all seem to have!
Not all days were as good as this one, but… I couldn’t deny that I hadn’t felt as good in my own skin for a long time. My life wasn’t just satisfying, it was happy. And it would be even happier once I had my mimosa in hand while I daydreamed about going on vacation with my beautiful lover.
The End
North Shore Page 25