Page 92 of Undeniably Enemies

She returns my gesture but doesn’t slow, and I decide to start with legs first followed by abs and then arms. When I was playing football, I pretty much lived in the gym. Well, the gym and the library, but working doctor’s hours doesn’t always afford me this so I push the girl from my head, drop my AirPods in my ears, turn on the audiobook I’m listening to, and get going.

I should feel ridiculous listening to this here but screw it. No one knows I’m listening to a spicy romance book but me. I didn’t dare text Wren to ask her what I should read or listen to next. Instead I just went with the next in the series from the author of the book I liked better and now I’m nearly at the end of it.

The only downside is when the sex scenes are especially hot and steamy, and I get hard. Like right now. Except instead ofallowing my blood flow to go to my dick, I work out the excess lust by pressing three twenty-five rather than my usual three hundred pounds. I push through my sets and get going on abs, working my way up my body because I like to end with arms.

I keep going, listening as the couple moves past their hot sex and into a fight. He wants her to stay, and she has to chase her dream job in the city. The couple goes back and forth, and I find myself doing two extra sets of twists and leg lifts because I’m so glued to the story. I mean, Christ. What is he supposed to do? He can’t just leave to follow her. He has a daughter and a business, but he can’t let her go either, right? I mean, she’s the love of his life and?—

“What has you so enthralled?”

A voice by my ear and a hand on my arm startles me so badly that I tumble to the mat from the hanging leg raise straight onto my ass causing the AirPods to go shooting from my ears and skid across the rubber. Shit.

I crawl to pick them up, but Wren is already there, squatting before me and popping one into her ear. A smile cracks clear across her lips and a giggle tickles them when she realizes it’s a romance book. Double shit. Not only did I just bust my ass right in front of my girl, but now she knows how deep into the book I am because I didn’t even hear or see her come up to my machine.

“I like this one,” she tells me, slipping the AirPod from her ear and handing it to me. “It’s not my favorite in the series, but it’s still good. You must have liked the scene where he spanks her.”

I glare as I pop the pods back into the case and stop the book so it doesn’t start blaring out through the speaker on my phone. “How was your run?” I ask instead of answering her non-question. She’s glistening with sweat and though I noticed before that she was only wearing yoga pants and a sports bra, I didn’t allow myself to linger on them. Or how her hair is up in ahigh ponytail, showing off her neck. But with her right in front of me, half bending forward in her crouch and giving me a hint of her cleavage with the smell of her skin permeating my senses, it’s the ultimate tease.

“Good,” she states breezily, still smiling teasingly at my expense. “I mean, probably not as good as your workout since I wasn’t listening to anything but a boring medical podcast on staph infections, but still good.”

This woman never misses a chance to mess with me. “You’re such a brat.”

“Only with you. Are you done?”

I shake my head and stand. “Arms and then I’m done.”

“Cool. Same. We can spot each other.”

I throw her a dubious look with a smile I can’t hide. “I bench two fifty, sweetheart.”

She shrugs. “Fine. You can spot me.”

“You use the bar?”

She laughs. “Hell no. I just wanted to see your face. I use dumbbells. That bar weighs like forty-five pounds and I’m a twelve-pound kind of girl.” She winks and I sigh, shaking my head in amusement. “Let’s see how many reps we can do. Loser buys the other a smoothie.”

“You’re on,” I say, knowing I’ll win, but having every intention of losing. I like doing this with her. I like talking like this. I like… being her friend, I guess is what this is.

She goes for her twelve-pound weights, and I hit the machine instead of the bench, loading it up since I don’t have a spotter and I don’t feel like dying today or trying to show off in front of the girl and ending up looking like more of a douche.

She takes the bench beside me, and we both start at the same time, watching each other out of the corner of our eyes. Me thrusting up and grunting as I go, her doing biceps and triceps curls and looking fucking adorable.

By our fourth set of twenty, I can tell she’s starting to struggle.She’s dripping sweat and gritting her teeth and her muscles are quivering. With one last thrust, I set the bar back in its holder on the machine and collapse, my hands on top of my head as I pant exaggeratedly.

“I’m done. No more.”

“Thank God,” she exclaims, walking over to return the dumbbells to the rack. “I’m not going to be able to lift my arms tomorrow.”

“Wimp,” I throw at her.

“Hey, you tapped out first.”

“I was benching like two of you.”

“Too bad that we’re just friends or I’d let you bench me for real.”

My jaw drops and my dick jerks, liking that idea far too much.

She breaks into a fit of giggles at my response. “Glad I can still affect you.”

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