Page 11 of Saint
It feels like they’re appraising me, deciding if I’m worthy of knowing. Then one of them sees the tattoos on my arms, and they’re interested.
It seems like I’m accepted.
Walking in through the doors with Saint and a gaggle of teenagers is not how I expected this to go. I had expected it to be hiding in Saint’s shadow as he strutted around high fiving equally buff and muscled-up men. I thought the room would be full of free weights and smell of stinky old sweat and socks and jockstraps.
Instead, there’s soft rock coming through speakers mounted on the walls, there are treadmills, cross trainers, rowing machines, and others I have no idea about. There are plenty of weights and weight machines. I don’t even know if they’re called that, but they all look pretty hard core and way beyond anything I would ever want to do. High up on the mirrored wall are tv’s showing music channels on most, news runs on a couple of other, but it looks like a tv soap series is on at least one of them.
The kids run off through an open doorway in the wall by a large window. That seems to be an office. I can see Knox sitting behind a desk with a laptop. He sees me and waves and stands up. Is he coming to see me? Then I remember Saint’s here, and he’ll be getting up to see his brother.
But he doesn’t stop at Saint. Yeah, he pats him on the shoulder, but it’s me he stops in front of. “What do you think.”
“I…um. It’s different than I expected, not what I thought it would be at all.” As my eyes flit to him, he’s grinning.
“You were thinking stinky sweat and gym rats that looked like they’d growl if you so much as cast a glance their way.”
At least I had the decency to blush when I agreed with him. “Yeah, something like that.”
He looks at my jeans and T-shirt and frowns. “You not going to have a go?”
I shake my head. “Not really my scene. I’m sure you can tell that my body hasn’t done any physical exercise since I left school.”
“That’s a shame. I think you’d enjoy it. We have classes here too. Maybe something there could interest you. There’s no rush, we’re not going anywhere.”
“What are all the kids doing here today?” They’ve come out again, all changed now, and head through another doorway.
“Football with Royal. I don’t think you’ve met him yet. He’ll be here in a minute.”
“What about Saint? What’s he here for?” I stop looking at the changing room doorway and up at Knox.
“He hasn’t got any classes to teach today, he’ll probably be working out.”
Hands drop down on my shoulders, making me yelp, Saint leans in close to my ear. “I’m only here for you, to show you around. But I do need to work out. After such a busy week, my back and neck are all twisted and stiff.”
“You don’t need to show me around. I can manage.” I shake him off my shoulders, not because I don’t like his touch. No, it’s because I do. Too much.
Another large, dark-haired man joins us. He’s as big as Saint, and sexy as all hell, but not in the way Saint is. “Hey, you can all relax. I’m here!” he announces, eyes twinkling with humour as he looks at Knox then Saint. Then he looks at me, and his smile widens. “You must be Noah. Saint said you were coming here today. What do you think of the place?”
“It’s cool, not what I expected.” I look around the room again.
Saint jerks his head towards the doorway. “Hey, Royal, your kids are waiting.”
This time, Royal’s eyes narrow slightly, and he looks at Saint and then at me. “Oh, that’s how it is. Okay, I get the hint. Nice meeting you Noah.”
“What does he mean?” I look at Saint, who’s scowling at Royal’s back, then Knox, whose lips are pressed together, looking like he’s holding back a laugh.
“Nothing, Noah. It’s just Royal being a dick.” Saint’s annoyed, and I don’t know why, and when he turns away from us and storms over to a treadmill, I guess the conversation is over.
“Ignore both of them. They’re best friends but tease and taunt the hell out of each other. It’s always been like that. Come with me. I’ll show you around.”
Knox leads me in the opposite direction of Saint and tells me the history of the gym, showing it off with pride. He loves it here, and I can see that everyone knows him— he greets them all by name—and there must be about fifty people in here.
Then his name is called out, and he looks at me. “You okay by yourself for a bit? Go through to the office if you want.”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks, Knox.” As I lean against the wall, I look around with a new perspective. This is a great place, and with so many different activities, I wonder which one I would like. Because Saint’s right: no one is judging or looking down at anyone. There’s lots of banter and laughing, and although it’s mainly men in here, there are plenty of women, and there’s no common age group. Which again, leads to it being inclusive and welcoming.
I spy a timetable of the activities. Intrigued, I take a look. There are so many of them, from toddler gym to health and heart sessions. One catches my eye; I’ve been fascinated by yoga for a while and follow a few guys on Instagram who have incredible skills. The strength and control it requires is matched by the look of peace and serenity. I’d love to learn how to be that calm and controlled. I look at the days of the classes and decide to talk to Knox about it.
The kids come back, laughing and joking, from the football game and head to the drinks machine and soon have bottles of water or Gatorade. Royal joins them and has them back in his thrall as he leads them over to a matted area. They sit on benches as Royal talks to them, giving instructions with his hands as much as his voice. I’m interested and head over to them.
