Page 8 of German

“Really?”I said, hands on my hips.

“Gym etiquette states if you can leave a space between equipment and a stranger, you fucking do it,” German firmly answered.“Everyone knows that.The asswipe’s just a creep looking to make small talk in hopes of getting your number.”

German was probably right, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.Selecting my settings, I started my workout with a brisk walk.After five minutes, I upped the tempo to a light jog.Wanting to really push myself, I notched it up again to a moderate-paced run.

When I’d had enough of the treadmill, I decided to work on my arms.Noticing the machine I’d intended to use was taken, I settled for some light weightlifting.Because I’d wanted to impress German, I’d pushed myself to look good while running and had a glossy sheen of sweat all over my body and a bright color to my cheeks.

As I selected my weights, I found a place by the mirror and began to work my arms and core.When I started to perform some deep squats, I could see his gaze shifting around the room, watching what was going on around me.Something caught his attention then, and his face shifted from stony to angry.

Following his gaze, I saw what had triggered him.A group of gym bros in the corner were watching me as I worked out.They weren’t exactly hiding it either.And it would seem my irritable companion was none too pleased by this.

Feeling a bit wicked, I decided to play with my bodyguard a little.If he didn’t like what I was wearing, he definitely wasn’t going to like what I did next.Setting my weights to the side, I lifted my arms in the air and dropped my head back.Since I’d been a ballet dancer from the age of six to eighteen, I was more flexible than your average woman.And I was about to put that fact to good use.

I started with some basic moves.Some side stretches.Some toe touching.Then, like the treadmill before this, I notched it up a degree.Lifting my leg into the air, I straightened my planted one, locked my position, angled my head backward, gracefully reached for my toes, and achieved the perfect standing split.

I could feel German’s gaze even before I saw it.His nostrils flared as he watched me, and his eyes narrowed each time he watched the men behind us in the mirror watching me.The gym bro wearing black shorts struck his buddy’s arm and whispered something into his friend’s ear, causing the second man to erupt into laughter.I could only imagine what colorful things he’d said.As I’m sure German was also doing, and not so stoked about.

I’m not going to deny his protectiveness made me feel powerful, though I was unwilling to actually delve into the psychology of why that was.Regardless, I saw the hungry expressions on the men’s faces behind me and hid a smile.Sometimes it was good to be a girl.Even when it was just over a small power move like this.

Wanting to test the waters to see how far I could take this game, I lowered myself to the mat and began to stretch out for some refreshing yoga moves.I began with cat/cow, which involves your palms and knees flat on the ground while your rear end is hiked in the air.Rounding my back, I began to breathe.Spreading my thighs further apart, I canted my hips so my ass was raised high.I did this slowly, and deliberately.Each iteration becoming more pronounced than the last.

German’s temperature rose off of him like steam from a boiling kettle.But, unable to argue, because we were at a gym and I was simply doing yoga, he just sat there, stewing in his permanent frustration.

Widening my stance again, I pushed my weight forward onto my forearms and stretched even deeper.Unless someone had been living in a convent, this position definitely conjured up images of a highly sexual nature.

When I added a bend in my back and splayed out my arms, I heard German’s voice gruffly state, “The arm press machine is free.”

Looking at him under my arm, I said, “In a minute.I just want to stretch my back for a bit.”

The smoldering hot look in his eye told me he knew what I was doing and he wasn’t pleased.It also said, as soon as he got me home, I was never coming back here again.

Deciding I’d pushed him far enough for one day, I finished off my set of yoga stretches and stood.“I’m ready now,” I stated merrily, my smile wide and falsely sweet.

When I got to the arm press, I realized there wasn’t a disinfectant bottle to clean down the machine.Since I’d seen the last person who’d used it and who’d left a puddle of sweat behind the size and shape of a Rorschach test, there was no way in hell I was pressing my skin against that equipment without some serious sanitation power.

Putting two and two together, German handed me some paper towels and said, “I’ll go get you a spray bottle from another machine.”

As German crossed the gym, I saw someone approaching me out of the corner of my eye.“Hey, Maddy,” Nathan called out, as he hesitantly approached.

Nathan and I had gone to high school together and I’d always liked him.I’d had a super crush on the former lacrosse player since junior year, but he’d never really noticed me.I’d always just been the girl who sat behind him in English class.Over the last few months, we’d seen each other out at the gym and chatted about what we’d been up to since high school.I’d begged the Gods of Meet-Cutes to give the obtuse man a shove in my direction and to ask me out.The last time we’d talked, I was positive he was going to do it.But, just as he was inquiring about what kind of coffee I liked to drink, he’d gotten an important phone call from work and had to step away to speak to the person on the other end.

I hadn’t seen him since that day.Now, here I was, looking my best, and I had my hulking, leather-clad babysitter with me acting like the world’s biggest wet blanket.Even though we’d only just met, I knew the ornery biker wasn’t going to like my spending time with Nathan.However, despite what he’d said, German wasn’t my father.He couldn’t tell me what to do.If I wanted to talk to a hot boy at the gym, whom I’d been crushing on for nearly a decade, no one was going to stop me.

“Hey Nathan,” I greeted, nervously fixing my ponytail.The man was shirtless and had the same killer abs I’d remembered from high school that always made me drool.“Haven’t seen you around lately.”

Nathan grinned.“I was about to say the same thing to you, Maddy.What have you been up to?”As he spoke, his eyes darted to my chest and I quickly patted myself on the back for dressing up today.

“Mainly work and hanging out with family, now that I’m on summer break from school.You?”Though I couldn’t see German, my spidey senses told me he was getting closer, which made me nervous.

“I’ve been busy with work myself, so I haven’t gotten to the gym as often as I’d like,” Nathan joked conversationally, tapping his perfectly flat abs.“But I’m back now and ready to hustle like coach used to make us.”

I could tell the very second German stood behind me because Nathan’s expression changed from happy-go-lucky to confused.Mistaking my bodyguard for a member of the gym staff, he said, “We don’t need anything right now, thanks.”

German handed over the bottle of cleaner to me, effectively cutting off the conversation between Nathan and me.Ignoring Nathan, he groused, “Let’s get going.Your dad wanted you home by five and it’s getting late.”

My face flushed at his heavy-handed order.“Yeah, I know.I’ll be done in a second.”

Tilting his head, Nathan’s curious gaze shifted between German and me.“Is this a friend of yours, Maddy?”he asked, obviously angling for more details.

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