Page 6 of Nate

Nate arched a brow at that.

Kevin’s eyes widened, his face reddening even further. “I meant I’ll have to get used to other people’s sweat. I meanmysweat!” He closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath. “I didn’t mean that I’ll be seeing you sweaty all the time.”

This time Nate couldn’t hold back his grin. Kevin was adorable. And if he had anything to say about it, hewouldbe seeing him sweaty. It just wouldn’t be here at the gym. “Don’t worry about it,” he said out loud. “Let’s go sit.” They went over to one of the tables.

Kevin picked up where he’d left off filling out the forms. He had questions over the different packages that he asked in a voice that though soft, was still sure and intelligent. Nate broke them each down then watched as Kevin looked them over for a moment longer. He choose one that allowed unlimited guest passes.

“I have a friend that I might be able to talk into working out with me sometimes.”

Nate wanted to ask more about the friend, but that would be inappropriate, so he kept his mouth shut. He noticed that Kevin skipped past the part on signing up for a personal trainer.

“Hold on a minute. You’re just getting started, don’t you want to have someone give you a little guidance and encouragement?”

Kevin shook his head. “The thought of some drill sergeant type guy yelling at me to give him twenty more pushups is not appealing,” he said in a dry voice.

Nate laughed. “C’mon now, Kevin. Haven’t you figured out by now that’s not how we do things here? Tell you what. I’ll be your personal trainer. Free of charge. And I promise not to yell at you.”

A frown crossed Kevin’s forehead. “Why would you do that?”

Nate thought fast. He didn’t want to seem like he was doing a pushy sales pitch. And he damn sure didn’t want to come off like a creeper by saying he wanted to spend time with him. He had a feeling if he did, Kevin would never come back. “Sometimes I train the occasional guest to keep that skill fresh. I don’t get to train much anymore since I’m tied up with running the business.”

“Oh.”

Kevin looked down at the paper then back at him. Nate had to stop himself from smiling into those big dark eyes. They watched him like a puppy that wasn’t sure if he was welcome.

“You’re sure?”

“Yep. You’ll be doing me a favor.”

“All right, then.”

Kevin signed at the bottom of the form. Nate spun the paper around on the table to face him. He checked the box for personal trainer, filled in his name and scratched through the charge.

Kevin pulled out his credit card. “I decided to go ahead and sign up for the year. I figure I’ll be more likely to come in on a regular basis if I’ve already paid for it.”

“Great plan. Plus, you’ll get a pretty sweet discount for paying in advance.” He stood up. “Let’s go get you paid up, then we’ll get you started on your first session.”

“Now?”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, I just figured we’d set an appointment to come up with a workout plan.”

“But you’re here now so we might as well jump into it, right? We won’t do much. I’ll just show you the basics on how to use the machines and we’ll design the best training program for your particular goals. Shouldn’t take long. Unless you have somewhere else to be?”

Kevin shook his head. “I don’t. I work from home as a techie and I make my own schedule.” He looked down at his feet. “Are these shoes okay? I didn’t bring anything else with me.”

Nate looked down at his Chuck’s. They were red to match the Thundercats logo on his black T-shirt. “They’ll be all right for today. But we’ll talk about what gear you should have and what you should always have in your gym bag. Let’s go.”

∞∞∞

Nate swung by Max’s tattoo studio on his way home. His first little mini-session with Kevin that afternoon had gone well. Kevin was just as nice and genuine as he’d first seemed, and had a quirky sense of humor that managed to peek out once he got comfortable. After Nate got him set up with a four-times a week schedule, Kevin had left and Nate had gone about the rest of his day with a smile on his face.

Kevin had come back, just as he’d hoped. With some casual conversation, he’d managed to find out that the friend he’d mentioned was strictly of the platonic kind and Kevin was single. That was excellent news. He didn’t mind a little competition usually. But in this case, he didn’t want anything standing in his way.

He was eager to spend time with Kevin. Working as his trainer was a perfect way to get to know him. Thankfully, he had trained a guest or two for free before, so he’d had that excuse in his head when Kevin questioned him.

Miraculously, Nate found a spot in one of the lots near Max’s studio on Westheimer. He parked and walked the short distance to Bayou City Ink Society. Max was usually back in his section, tattoo machine in hand at this hour, but today he was at the front desk talking with one of his artists.

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