Page 6 of Reclaiming Love

Chapter 4

“You see?” Matt stared at her thighs in the mirror before dragging his gaze to meet hers. Melissa cringed at the reflection of her in black Lycra leggings and a tight sports top. She would never have worn this; it made her more conscious whenever she walked into the cool, metallic, mirrored, machine room.

Treadmills, ellipticals and rowers stood to attention in neat lines in a corner of the gym and were more welcoming than the hostile looks she was usually met with, noticeably from women, as she trailed Matt. The men, all sweat and pained concentration on their faces, were too far gone into the ecstasy of their workouts to look up. The veins in their necks and arms corded, their butts as hard as cricket balls.

She’d never had an issue with her soft curves before—Heather for one had always envied her figure. But Matt had decided she could improve.

“Baby, you could do with some toning,” he’d told her one evening when they’d been making out on the couch. At first she’d put it off, thinking her constant refusal and total lack of enthusiasm to want to go anywhere near the gym might give him the hint. Only, he never seemed to let up. The more excuses she gave him the more he seemed to want to mold her to his way of thinking.

She’d managed to hold him off for a while but then, unable to put up with the constant lecturing, she’d given in. Now here she was, a supposedly regular gym-goer, albeit one who had been hammered into going.

She felt like a surly new recruit, made to work out two to three times a week at seven o’clock in the morning. Her figure had never been an issue until Matt had made it one.

“They’re so much tighter now.” He sounded smug, as though his prophecy had come true. Because she’d done as he’d commanded.

She threw another glance at herself in the mirror, her gaze falling to her legs, while Matt stood behind her, his arms possessively around her body.

She smelled the patch of sweat under her arms and felt her heart beating furiously. Twenty minutes on the cross-trainer no longer seemed as much of a challenge now that her body was used to the regime. Her thighs looked the same to her; the only difference was that they were a teeny-weeny bit firmer. As her gaze trailed up to meet Matt’s, his hand traveled up to caress her bottom lightly. He moved back a little and examined her behind as though it were a rump joint.

“Huge improvement,” he remarked with naked admiration. His fingers dug into her bottom and squeezed as she squirmed under his touch, conscious that the place was already busy so early in the morning.

“Now, this”—he squeezed harder still—“is beautiful firm ass.” His hot breath grazed her ear. “You don’t know what it makes me want to do to you.” She blushed, horrified that he’d had the audacity to touch her up so roughly in front of everyone.

“Stop it,” she cried, subtle anger burning into her. She wriggled for release but his hand was firm against her bottom. He barely loosened his hold.

“I can’t help it.”

Disgusted, she removed his hand and shifted out of his grip. “Don’t,” she warned, hating the way his dick seemed to take over his brain sometimes.

“I’d do you here if I could.” His words fell bullets, and her heart shattered like shrapnel. The way he spoke, the things he did, made her wonder how he saw her.

Or what she saw in him.

She cringed, darting her eyes from side to side, checking to see if any heads had turned their way.

“Do you have to be so gross?” She moved away, wanting to leave. He could go from being the nice guy who showered her with gifts and tender kisses, to the control freak who seemed obsessed with her body. She was starting to find excuses to not meet up sometimes.

“You’re hot, Mel. You don’t see it.” He made to move towards her, but she stepped back again.

“I’m going.” The coffee shop beckoned.

“Ten minutes and then you can call it a day.” He seemed to think he could dictate her day.

“I can’t. I’m going to be late.” Nadine had asked her to come in early today.

“Whatever.” He skulked over to the neatly lined up rowing machines demanding to be taken. “Ten minutes,” he said, his voice cold.

“I can’t. I have to go back.” Nadine was a stickler for time and Melissa knew she’d be waiting.

She’d done forty-five minutes and she’d had enough. She was calling it a day. Visions of neatly lined up blueberry muffins called out to her. She’d made a habit out of rewarding herself with a muffin on extremely stressful days, and a cup of coffee any day she worked out.

A gift to herself for surviving the morning ritual.

Though lately, ever since the encounter with the guy in the coffee shop a few days ago, she’d found herself going to the coffee shop every day. Even on non-gym days.

She gave Matt a backward glance. He pushed back and forth on the rower with force, his forearms and biceps straining. The workout god, taut, lean, muscular and he never seemed to tire of pushing himself to the limit, as if the high from the grueling workout re-energized him.

“I’ll see you later.”

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