Page 43 of Gym Bros
“Wait, actually?” Priya asks, looking very serious.
I nod enthusiastically, mentally crossing my fingers behind my back. I’ll find a way to get out of it, or at least stall. Literally all I care about is Samuel meeting them. With any luck, they’ll take him under their wing and givehimsome fun nights out to look forward to. They go out nearly every night of the week.
“Deal,” Rachel says for both of them.
To Priya I say, “Don’t wear your good Lulus.”
She laughs. “What are you drinking?”
Now that my work is done here, I don’t feel the need to hang out for a drink, but I’ll grin and try to bear it. I point at Rachel’sdrink. Priya easily snags the bartender’s attention and orders me one.
“I assume this week with him has been good?” Rachel asks.
“Better, I think. He’s really trying.”
The best decision I’ve made was to incorporate strength poses. While Samuel isn’t the most flexible person in the world, he’s very powerful, and his warrior one is impressive to behold. His triangle doesn’t suck either, and the mild hamstring stretch in that one is giving him more confidence in his right leg. The one and only thing that breaks through his poker face is a look of cool confidence when he knows he’s doing something right.
“Is he being nice to you?” she asks.
I’m not sure how to answer that. He’s not mean, he’s just not…warm. But I deserve that. “Nice enough. He’s pretty reserved.” There. That was diplomatic.
“Mm…I can’t wait to meet him. Do you think he’ll let me feel his muscles? Spar with me a little?” She wiggles her shoulders like she’s raring to go.
“I want to spar, too,” Priya says, rejoining the conversation.
“I think both of you need to tone it down, but I barely know the guy, so I could be misreading.”
“We’ll go easy on him.”
“Sure we will,” Priya says with a smirk as she sips her margarita.
“Is he straight, though?” Rachel asks
“I’m assuming, yeah,” I say.
“You can’t assume that shit around here,” she says with the cynicism of someone who’s lived in San Francisco her whole life. “And you’re not interested?”
“I just said he’s straight.”
“You said youthinkhe is, and those labels never seem to apply to you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I tell her, trying toignore the enormous man nearby who hasn’t stopped staring at me.Not interested, bro.“I think I made it clear when I said he’s not my type.”
“And yet, you’ve taken such a special interest.”
“Because I’m fucking hisfather,” I remind her.
“Oh, you hardly ever fuck Marcus. Quarterly doesn’t count.”
“Pardon me, but it certainly does.”
“Are you in love with him?”
“He’s married. And no, I’m not in love with Marcus. He’s an asshole who cheats on his wife. He’s just very, very hot and difficult to resist.”
“Have you tried resisting?” Rachel asks.
I roll my eyes and grab the drink the bartender just placed in front of me. “I’m sure I could manage.”
