Page 34 of Every Inch of You
Chapter Eleven
BRAD
Iwasn’t expectingto see Vivian at the gym the next day, because we didn’t have an appointment scheduled until Wednesday. I had that feeling of relief and anxiety that had already become so familiar to me, when I didn’t expect to see her soon. I had spent half my lunch break on the treadmill, still needing to work off the tension from not engaging in sexual relations with her on theweekend.
Because all that exercise was making me hungry, I had gone out to grab dinner down the block at around seven, which is why I hadn’t seen Vivian arrive at the gym. I didn’t see her until she was walking out of the cardio class with a gym rat who was well-known to me as a player. He was good-looking and nice enough when he was getting to know the women, but over the course of the last year I had lost at least a dozen good female members who stopped coming to my gym after he slept with them and then totally blew themoff.
She wasn’t just walking next to him—they were laughing together. He put his hand on her back and she looked up at him through her thick lashes. I knew that look. She had looked at me like that a hundred times in the past couple of weeks. It made my skin crawl. It made me hot under the collar. Before I even realized what I was doing, I made a beeline straight for them and stopped about two inches from Vivian’sface.
“Hey, can I talk to you for aminute?”
She seemed genuinely surprised to see me right then. I mean, it was my gym, what did she expect? “Oh hey—hi!”
“Excuse us.” I said to Gym RatPlayer.
He nodded and told her he’d wait for her by thedoor.
“Goodclass?”
“Goodclass.”
“Making some new friends, Isee.”
“I wouldn’t classify him as a friend yet. He’s certainlyfriendly.”
I lowered my voice. “Oh yeah he’s very friendly. He’s a player. Hits on all the attractive women here. I’d be careful if I wereyou.”
“Would you?” She wasn’t teasing me, she was actually surprised that Icared.
“Telling you this as your trainer and as your friend. I just don’t want you to get involved with a guy like him and then get dumped again right when you’re hitting yourstride.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you.” Now she was beingsarcastic.
“I’m not telling you what to do or who…not to do. I’m just telling you what Iknow.”
“Thanks.” Now she wasannoyed.
I sighed. I was being unfair, and I knew it. I was refusing to have sex with her and I didn’t want her to have sex with anyone else. I mean—it’s not like I wanted her to be celibate for the rest of her life. I just didn’t want her dating anyone else while she was around me. Was that really too much to ask? After the blue balls and public humiliation I’d endured in junior and senior year?...Maybe. Yeah, I knew itwas.
She was watching me, and could see me struggling with myself mentally. She looked less annoyed. She took a deep breath. She signaled to Gym Rat Player that she needed another minute, then pulled me over to my office. I didn’t let her shut the door.Optics.
She looked me straight in the eye, and said, in a hushed voice: “Okay Brad. Mitch. Whatever. Here’s the deal. I am very aware of my body right now. I feel good in it. This is all thanks to you. I feel horny in it. This is also thanks to you. I need to have sex. Soon. I would very much prefer to have sex with you. A lot of it. But if you don’t want me I will have sex with someone else. That’s not an ultimatum it’s just afact.”
I sighed and looked down. She reached out to lift up my chin, forcing me to continue holding her gaze. “If you’re really still mad at me for what happened in high school—I don’t know what to tell you other than I’m so sorry that I treated you in a way that made you feel bad. I’m incredibly sorry that my friends treated you badly, and that I didn’t do enough to stop it. I’m sorry that I didn’t go to prom with you, and I’m not just sorry because you’re so hot now, I’m sorry because you were so sweet to me back then and I really cared about you. You were a good person and you were a cool person and you were smart. I hated high school. But I liked you. I’m not even friends with those other people anymore. You’re the only person I kept emailing and texting after we graduated. I was so happy that we crossed paths again, and I still am. I wish you’d give me another chance. I’m sorry if things feel complicated for you, but I really don’t think they have to be…That’s all. Let me know if you change yourmind.”
She walked out of my office and then poked her head back in to say: “I already told this guy I’d go get a smoothie with him, but I won’t sleep with him tonight. I promise. That’s all I can honestly tell you.” Then she left with theguy.
Every single thing she said turned me on and made me feel like I was crazy for holding a grudge against her. I could suddenly see that she was right—it didn’t have to be complicated…I could blow her mind in bed, so she really knew what she was missing,and then endit.
That made me feelbetter.
That would be better for both of us. And honestly, I wanted to enjoy her body when it was still soft in places. I knew that—with her stubborn determination—she would have the lean body of an athlete in a fewmonths.
I saw Larry watching me from across the room, with the eyes of a wise man who could see right through me. Maybe when I was on the fifth love of my life I’d be as gracious and open as he was, but for now I’d have to see if I could survive having sex with Vivian even once. It seemed to me that she would be my Ironman Triathlon, my Mt.Everest.
I really wasn’t sure what I’d be toher.
When Sebastian was done workingwith a client, I asked him to come talk to me in my office. He was the only person I’d consider handing Vivian over to for personal training. He was super gay. The other guys would probably hit on her, despite my unofficial policy. Marnie swung both ways and was so sexy I just wouldn’t be surprised if she turnedVivian.
