Page 137 of Gym Bros
“He also works for Isaac. I can’t imagine there’s not something going on between the two of them.”
“You—wait. Isaac is Evan’s boss?”
“Has he told you about him? Are they fucking?”
“I—” My mouth snaps shut. “This is none of our business.”
“No,” he says, moving in closer. “I guess it’s not.”
We fall into a rhythm with our arms around each other and him more or less riding my leg.
His fingers are stroking the back of my neck, and that, among other things, gets me rock fucking hard. “You should kiss me again so I don’t have to look at your beat up face anymore.”
“Is that how you wanna deal with this until it heals?”
“Works for me.”
I donotindulge him. “I think it gives me character.”
“It’s giving masochist.”
I smirk. “I must be with all the shit you give me.”
He presses a kiss to my throat. “I give you nice things, too.”
“You do,” I say. “I’m very lucky.”
“That better not be sarcastic.”
“It’s not.”
His smile softens into something more realistic. The way he looks at me sometimes gets me fucking high. Like I’m the best thing to ever exist. “It’s your turn to say something nice,” I tell him.
He looks into my eyes and hesitates by pressing his lips together. “Your ass looks hot in those pants.”
I shake my head, not bothering to conceal my disappointment. “That’s not what you were about to say.”
“I was just rephrasing in my head,” he says.
“I’m gonna be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks, you know,” I tell him.
He nods, his gaze dropping.
“Like I might not be able to make yoga.”
“Oh.”
“I mean, obviously I’ll let you know in advance so you can make other plans.”
I realize I’m baiting him, but I’m not completely lying. The trainers told those of us with fights to put a hold on our social lives, but to me that just means I need to use my downtime wisely.
“Other plans, huh? You don’t think sticking with it could help with your…”
He never says fight. It’s like if he doesn’t say it, it’ll stop existing. It’s the one major thing I worry about in terms of Calyx and me turning into something longer-term.
I don’t want to think about what I’d be like if I didn’t have theoutlet fighting and training gives me. It honestly doesn’t seem fair that he would ask me to give it up when he knows, at least partially, how intrinsic it is to who I am.
I’m very deliberate about not trying to tell him how to run his life, but maybe that’s because his flexible schedule works for me, and I’m being selfish. Maybe my dad’s right, and he needs to be out there—taking advantage of his youth and beauty, making as much money as he possibly can.
