Page 43 of Fluffing the Stallion

“Good job, man,” I tell him, helping him place the bar back into the holders. “That’s a new record for you.”

Sam stands up, shaking his arms out as he gives me a grin. “Yeah, it is. I’ll definitely be ready for the competition in a few months.”

Since I started training him, Sam has gotten more confidence and started entering bodybuilding competitions. He’s won a few titles and is interested in becoming a trainer himself. We’ve been working closely together and he’s learning a lot of skills that he can use for his own clients.

“Fuck yes, you will,” I tell him, clapping him on the back.

Julian swaggers over, a towel wrapped around his neck. “What are you two jokers talking about?”

Sam snaps him with a towel, then saddles up close to him, kissing him on the mouth. The two of them finally admitted their feelings for each other when Julian started working at Carnal Desires. The whole bros thing was true, but they both wanted more. They’ve been together for five years now, with no sign of stopping.

“My competition coming up. I feel ready.”

“You are ready, babe,” Julian tells him, kissing his forehead. “As long as Clay does his job,” he says jokingly.

“Hey,” I say back. “I got this. He’ll be ready. As long as you don’t distract him with your dick, and he can show up for his gym sessions.” We all share a laugh at that, since Julian has made Sam miss quite a few of our sessions since they would end up stuck in bed like fucking newlywed virgins.

We chat for a bit, then I walk around the fitness portion of the wellness center, checking on patrons and trainers, making sure everyone is comfortable and don’t need assistance.

After Yuri and I got back from his parents’ house all those years ago, we threw ourselves into figuring out how to start our wellness center. It wasn’t easy, hitting roadblock after roadblock, but we finally made it happen, and we couldn’t be happier.

It was mostly because Yuri believed I could do it. Honestly, I wanted to quit a few times. I wanted to give up on my dream because it wasn’t panning out, but Yuri sat me down and told me, “If we want things badly enough, we have to work and grind for them. No one said it would be easy, but when you get to where you want to be, it’ll be worth it.”

He was right. All the hard work and frustration was definitely worth it.

I walk out of the gym portion and go behind the front desk, checking over the schedule to see when Yuri will have a free moment. He’s been working here since he graduated, jumping headfirst into working as a kinesiologist to assist with muscle therapy and stretching exercises to help enrich their lives.

True to his word, Yuri quit working at Carnal Desires about a year after I graduated and went to school for kinesiology. He’s so fucking smart that he had no problems with his classes or exams, making it look easy. But I still set up some incentives so he could do well and make the dean’s list. For every C he got, he got a hand job. For every B, he got a blowjob. For every A? He had a go at my ass. Yuri tended to bring home more A’s than anything else.

He worked hard his last year he was at Carnal Desires, making sure he had enough money to put himself through school and ensure he had enough for rent and emergencies. Yuri already had a lot of money saved from his years of working, but he said he wanted to take care of me even if he was out of work. I pulled my weight and made sure I wasn’t a burden on him while lifting him up when he was studying hard.

He still gets residuals from the film studio years later and Jake has been trying to get him to come back, though I think it’s halfhearted at best at this point.

Yuri needn’t have worried about not making money or taking care of me. Word started to spread that I was a good trainer and that I was opening my own fitness center. Clients flocked to me and when we opened, people were scrambling to get a membership. I hired more personal trainers, a nutritionist, and a dietician and we were a one stop shop to a sound and healthy body.

Just as I’m peeking at his schedule, Yuri opens his exam room door, leading an elderly woman out. “Continue to do those stretches and you shouldn’t have any issues. If your pain hasn’t gotten better, let me know and we can find a different method of exercise.”

“Thank you, dear.” She pats Yuri’s cheek and ambles past him.

Yuri meets my eyes and they light up, as if he didn’t see me at home this morning. Six years later and I’m still as in love with him as I was when we first started dating. I still get butterflies when he looks at me like this.

He saunters over to me, wrapping an arm protectively around my waist. “How’s it going?”

“Good. I wanted to talk to you about Jay’s first game. He’s expecting us there and he got all of us tickets.”

Jay got drafted to the Sacramento Red Doves major league baseball team after playing on the minors for a year and we couldn’t be prouder. He said he didn’t want to play for the pros because he didn’t think he had the talent, but the truth was he was afraid of telling his team he was gay, for fear of them not accepting him and giving him shit, making him quit the one thing he loved the most next to his family.

He needn’t have worried. He came out in college and most people were cool with it. There was the odd person or two that weren’t but fuck them. He’s one of the first out MLB players and he’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.

Yuri rests his head on my shoulder. “We’re the owners, we can take off when we want.”

I bark a laugh, shaking him off. “Yeah, but you also have clients that depend on you for weekly stretching. I don’t. I can leave when I want. You don’t have that luxury.”

“I’ve already told them. So we’re in the clear.”

“Good.” I kiss him quickly and step around the desk.

The front door opens and our receptionist greets the slight man that breezes in. “Hey, Clay,” Bailey says, waving at me. “Hey, Yuri.” He doesn’t break his stride as he enters the gym, heading over to where Sam and Julian are. The three of them have gotten really close since Julian started working at Carnal Desires. They hang out a lot, though they’re not dating. Sam and Julian are super possessive of each other and Bailey is really just one of their best friends.

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