Page 4 of Gym Bros
“Wait—youdon’t post on X, do you?”
“No. Jesus.” AmericanVoguewould blacklist me forever.
“How are things going with your manager?” Ryan asks as he’s toweling off his sweaty face.
Probably my favorite thing about Ryan is his complete lack of judgment. I’ve talked about Marcus a lot this week during our workouts since I knew he was coming to town. I was concerned with my lack of excitement at having him here. “Better than I thought it’d be.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, he’s great. I’m the one with the problem.”
“Why?” Ryan asks. “What’s your problem? Besides being lazy as fuck. Roll over, we’re doing push-ups.”
I groan but do as he says. He moves three times as fast as I do through the exercise, but I’m not trying to be as built as he is. I also don’t think I could be unless I started injecting hormones.
“He’s pressuring me to go back to work.”
“With respect, I get that you’re sort of working here, but I don’t really get why you’re not modeling more either. Did something happen?”
“Not exactly.”
“Burnout’s completely understandable,” he says, his breaths easy. He’s not even winded. “But if it’s not going away, then are you thinking about next steps? You mentioned going back to school once.”
I’ve also mentioned moving to the Maldives and serving cocktails. There are few things I haven’t considered over the last several months, but nothing’s sparking my interest beyond a quick internet search. Careers are hard. Plus, I already have one, so I’d be starting all over, which sounds exhausting.
“I decided against it,” I say.
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” I grumble. “I just don’t want to.”
Ryan is great about knowing when to shut up. Pretty sure it’s his default setting.
Done with my fifteen push-ups, I sit back and wait for Ryan to finish his one hundred. I watch his sweat drip onto the mat. I’m lightly perspiring. Enough to give me a flush and a healthy glow.
I glance toward the door in time to see my two favorite women straggle in with sunglasses on and detox smoothies in hand.
Since I only settled down in San Francisco six months ago after years of traveling and only barely living here, my relationships are all fairly new or in the developmental stages, and they all stem from this neighborhood gym.
Lower Haight is a tight-knit community that’s super chill and accepting. It’s not cheap, obviously, nowhere in the city is, but it’s down to earth and friendly. My townhouse is just across the street, so this gym is my home away from home. I was thrilled when the manager gave me a few classes to teach. Honestly, I’d do it every day if they let me.
I don’t have any formal training per se, but I’ve been doing yoga and Pilates since I was twelve. I’m self-taught, but sure—I’dcall myself an expert. It’s not like I teach the advanced classes or anything.
My friend Rachel waves at me, and I wave back as Ryan finishes his workout. “I’ve gotta go set up for my class,” I tell him.
“See you Monday?” he asks.
“I’ll be here.” I put my hand on his shoulder to push myself to my feet. I wind my way through the equipment to Rachel and Priya. “Don’t tell me,” I say, slinging an arm around Rachel. “Karaoke orgy.”
“Close—karaoke pool party.”
“Naked?” I ask.
“She was,” Priya says.
Rachel snorts. “Bitch, don’t act like no one saw your nipples.”
“That was awardrobe malfunction.”
