Page 3 of Bewitch

If it weren’t for his attitude, Lucas would be a solid ten. Because of his testosterone asshole-ishness, he’s more of an eight.

On a good day, I’m a five. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been told I have a pretty face or how much better I would look if I would just lose a few pounds.

I would be lying if I said that I just want to lose weight to be healthier. I want to look good in clothes and maybe then look good without clothes because I’m sure that’s too very different things.

But is that even possible? Clothes can hide a lot of sins. I know that because I’ve tried my best to do just that. I’ve been on yo-yo diets since I was in high school. Hell, my mom would restrict my food back in middle school. That might be when my issues with food really began. Since she wouldn’t let me have any sweets or desserts, I would sneak them behind her back, and I would’ve sworn up and down that they tasted better because they were a sin. They were just so tempting. If she really wanted to help me, she wouldn’t have kept those desserts in the house in the first place, and she wouldn’t have eaten them in front of me. Motivation, I’m sure she thought, for me to eat less so I would lose weight and then one day be able to eat them. I ate ‘em anyhow, though, so the weight didn’t come off. If anything, I put on more weight.

And then came the walks. She decided that if I went for a walk after dinner that would help. At first, she would walk with me, but then she decided that wasn’t a good use of her time, so she would send me out of the house by myself. I would walk a block to the library, head inside, and read for a bit before walking back home. The ironic part is that I liked walking. I still do. I hate the treadmill, though, because I find it burning as all hell, but walking outside? That I enjoy.

I just didn’t want to do it alone.

And now, I’m paying for someone to do it with me. Not going for walks but to help me in my weight-loss journey.

Lucas eyes the weights I put down. “Put them away,” he says. “We still haven’t finished establishing your baseline yet. If you stick with it and still can’t handle five-pound weights, maybe I’ll put in an order for two pounders, maybe even three and one pounders. But just like anything in life, if you don’t put in the work and energy and effort, you’re not going to get anything.”

He walks off toward where I need to go, and I suppress the urge to give him the finger.

Maybe this is his stickst, being a bully to try to motivate his clients.

But if I have my way, I’ll teach him that this isn’t the way to go about things.

Sure, he’s hot, and I would love to have him, but no, this would be so much better.

I’ll teach Lucas Thorpe a lesson he’ll never forget.

I’ll make him regret being an asshole.

And then break his heart.

CHAPTER2

By the time I leave the gym, I feel like I’m going to fall apart. I hardly ended up using any weights at all. Body weight workouts for me so I can try to lose weight and eventually become strong enough to use them. I mean, since my body weighs so much as it is, using my body weight might actually not be such a bad idea.

It’s just how he suggests everything that is so frustrating. I swear, if I could use his face as a punching bag…

I’m actually not hungry at all by the time I make it to Oak Park University. I head on up to my dorm room, cursing the stairs under my breath when a few girls start to head down my way. I barely look up at them, gripping the railing like it’s giving me a second life.

“Dawn! Come out to dinner with us!”

I look up at the girls and realize it’s Brooke Adams, my roommate, as well as Kaylie Sweeny and Eliza Rodriquez, the girls who live in the room next to ours and who shares our bathroom.

The thought of food should make my stomach nauseous after how hard I worked out, but now that I think about it, I deserve to eat something. My body needs fuel, and energy is fuel, right?

“Sure,” I say, and I turn back around.

Somehow, it’s even worse to walk down the stairs than up, but I manage. Kaylie is the one to drive the four of us over to some Mexican place. It smells divine inside. Who doesn’t love Mexican food? I sure do!

I sit on Eliza’s left side, which sucks because she’s hard of hearing in that ear, leaving me to shout at her. Brooke’s going on about karate with Kaylie. Honestly, karate sounds like a lot of fun, and Brooke absolutely loves it. She’s dying for me to join the dojo, and I know she’s said that there are people of all sizes who go, but I’m not flexible. Lucas isn’t wrong about that.

When the waiter comes around to get our order, Kaylie suggests margaritas all around. The other girls all seem excited about that, but I shake my head.

“I’m fine with water,” I tell the waiter.

“With lemon?”

“Please.”

“And your meal?” he asks patiently.

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