Page 7 of Jacked
“Boring,” he declares, voice booming like a fog horn. “‘Ajax, stronger than grease.’ Anybody else remember that?” Hesqueezes my bicep, and I can’t help but blush a little at the way he manages to gas me up so effortlessly.
Yeah, I definitely picked the right gym.
“Alright, you’ve given him the tour, can I please get this paperwork done now so Andre doesn’t chew my ass out when he gets here?” Silas waves the papers at us from his place behind the desk.
“Andre’s already got plenty of ass to keep his mouth busy. I doubt he has any room for yours,” Fender says.
“Dude, don’t make me picture our boss eating his cute little boyfriend’s ass. I already have to work hard enough not to pop wood every time Ezra comes in,” Butch whines, shamelessly palming the bulge of his dick.
My skin flushes and my mouth goes dry. The boss is gay? I guess that explains the rainbow flag in the window. I hadn’t thought much about it since every business in this neighborhood seems to be sporting one. And apparently Butch is too? I swallow hard and hope my smile doesn’t look tense.
It’s totally cool. Just threw me off, that’s all. I know plenty of gay dudes are jacked, I just never see a beefed-up dude and think gay.The gym is, like,dudespace, which… Okay, actually now that I’m thinking about it, I get why gay guys would also like that. Fender slaps me on the back and gives me a little shove towards Silas.
“Go fill out dozens of pointless forms before Si pops a blood vessel. If you need to burn some energy once you’re done, come find me in the boxing gym, I could use a sparring partner.” Fender winks and then saunters off.
SLATER
After a long-ass day cooped up in the fluorescent hell of an office building, seeing the sign for Sweat come into view is like spotting water in the fucking desert. Sure, it was a new office building with new faces, new higher-ups to schmooze, and new bullshit to learn to juggle, but honestly, it was all the same. And whoever invented suits and ties is clearly a sadist who deserves to have his balls stomped.
I loosen my tie and hitch my gym bag higher on my shoulder. I didn’t want to have to stop back at the apartment before hitting Sweat after work, so I brought it with me this morning. And damn, am I glad I did. An extra ten-minute delay before some good, hard physical activity would have put me at serious risk of a case of the grumpies, as Cas always liked to say when we were kids. Nolan prefers to just say I’ve got my jock in a bunch when I get in a mood, but that one makes a hell of a lot less sense. The whole point of a jock is that it’s bunch-proof. It just politely holds your junk in place without all the extra hassle.
I push through the door to the gym and the smell of sweat and disinfectant greets me immediately. The place looks brand new and feels like home instantly, with motivational phrases painted onto the white brick walls in chunky black letters and the sound of grunting and clanging metal filling the air. There’s a decent buzz of activity without it feeling overly crowded. I can definitely see myself coming here every day; it has a nice vibe.
I undo my tie the rest of the way, letting it hang loose around my neck, then glance around in search of AJ. Before I can spot him, the guy behind the front desk greets me with a smile and a jerky nod.
“Hey, man, welcome to Sweat. First time?”
“Uh, yeah, actually…”
“He’s with me.” AJ cuts in, hopping off of a treadmill a few feet away. He snags his towel from where it’s dangling from the handle and uses it to mop the sweat off of his face. His skin isflushed with exertion and his hair is damp, matted down against his head.
“Cool. I’ll let you handle the membership paperwork then. But if you have any questions, just ask.” The dude hands me a clipboard just as AJ reaches me.
“Thanks, Andre,” AJ says.
I tug at the collar of my shirt and look at the clipboard with a grimace.
“Is it cool if I get changed first?”
“Oh, yeah, for sure.” He takes the clipboard from me and jerks his chin towards the back wall. “Changing room is right through there. Pick any locker you want that isn’t already taken.”
“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” I grab AJ’s shoulder in a friendly squeeze on my way past. His skin is just as slick with sweat as it looks, and for some reason that makes my stomach do a little flip. Disgust? That’s probably it. Except… I’ve never found sweat all that gross. It’s just salty water basically. Is it supposed to be gross because it leaks out of us?
“That ‘no fucking in the shower’ policy doesn’t sound so crazy now, does it?” someone says behind me as I push open the door to the locker room. I pause for half a second, trying to figure out if that comment was meant for me oraboutme, and what it even means. Do they think I look like the type to pick up a chick at the gym and fuck her in the shower?
“What?” AJ’s confused grunt echoes my thoughts exactly, which makes me laugh as the door swings closed behind me.
There are a few guys in the locker room already, and I can hear a couple of showers running. I dip into the first row of lockers and drop my gym bag on the bench. Peeling off my suit feels like shedding a skin that’s too damn tight and all wrong. Maybe corporate life isn’t the life for me. It’s not like I haven’t indulged in daydreams of turning in my two weeks’ notice, with a middle finger for good measure, and finding any-fucking-thingelse to do with my life. But, shit, it sounds daunting as hell to start from scratch at thirty.
I toss my shirt and tie into the locker without worrying about wrinkles. As I’m stepping out of my pants, a burly dude comes around the corner into my row. He clearly just got out of the shower because he’s dripping wet, his dark chest hair matted to his chest, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the tile behind him… and he’s completely bare-ass naked with his towel flung uselessly over his shoulder.
Guys with absolutely no shame are in no way a rarity in gym locker rooms. I think some of them come to the gym just for the pleasure of walking around balls out with an audience after they’re done working out. And I can definitely see why this dude in particular is strutting around with the biggest of dick energy. The meat between his legs would look right at home on a horse. His soft cock slaps against his gargantuan thighs with every swaggering step he takes. Honest to godslaps.
Slap.
Slap.
Slap.
