Page 46 of Making New Plans

“Is it that obvious?”

He shrugged. “If you want to lose a pound a week, her classes are great. But she can be, ah, a little intense.”

“Hmm.” I couldn’t formulate a better response at the moment because I’d just spotted Chloe in the far corner of the studio warming up on the mat with her friends Sarah and Rose. I’d met Rose last week during one of her laundry runs for the lodge. She was cute in an edgy Tinker Bell sort of way. She’d given me a bright smile and sincerely thanked me for helping Chloe out.

The three women were chatting as they stretched, Chloe doing deep lunges, Rose in a leg pretzel, and Sarah halfheartedly waving her arms around. Chloe’s hair was in a high ponytail, and she wore a sporty blue tank top over black leggings. My neck craned as I dragged my eyes over every inch of her taut body. My heartrate jacked up like I was already working out.

“Dude, you’d better close your mouth, or your grandmother is going to beat you to a pulp.”

I snapped my mouth shut and shot a guilty glance at Owen.

He merely grinned with a knowing look in his eyes and clapped me on the back. “Good luck, Hunter.”

Before I could ask what he meant, Sal’s voice cut over the chatter. “Time to gut up or shut up! Find a place on the mat!”

Everyone scurried for a place on the floor, eyes forward, bodies at the ready. Well, except for my eyes, which found Chloe in the mirror. Just as her eyes found me, too. They widened.

Sal, in a loose all-black outfit and matching sweatband in her short, gray hair, clapped her hands. “Welcome to another fusion class designed by yours truly. Tonight, we’ll be doing a mix of kickboxing, barre, and dodgeball.”

Wait, what the hell did she say? She couldn’t be serious! I glanced at Owen in alarm. But he simply shook his head as if to say, “Hey, you got yourself into this.”

“Let’s start with a few barre exercises.”

Everyone found a place at the barre and started copying Sal’s poses. She turned on the stereo system, and blood-pumping dance music poured out. Sweat beaded along my skin within a few minutes. But hey, at least the view was nice.

Chloe was a few people in front of me, each move she made showing off her toned body. Her skin shone with sweat. Something that struck me as extremely sexy.

A burst of pain exploded on the side of my face. I gaped at Sal who grinned wickedly, hefting another rubber ball.

“Dodgeball!” she shouted and chucked it at my face.

I ducked as pandemonium unleashed. A rainbow torrent of balls flew around the room like someone had dumped a bucket of Skittles over the studio.

In the middle of it, Sal orchestrated teams, and people lined up on either side, hurling balls at each other. I managed to hit Sal as she skirted the room. Just a light throw to her stomach. She laughed like we were both twenty years younger and threw it to Sarah who launched it at Owen.

Catching a green ball, I sighted my next target and aimed for her knees. Chloe leapt out of the way with a heart-stopping grin. Then she whirled like she was doing a hammer throw and slung a red ball at me. I twisted out of the way and picked up a black ball. She crouched, ready to dodge. Grinning, I tossed it in the air a few times, letting her sweat. Something whizzed past my ear, and I heard Sarah shout in disappointment.

Taking advantage of Chloe glancing at her friend, I lobbed the ball across the warzone. But with some kind of Matrix move, her arms shot out and caught the ball away from her body. She didn’t even look until she caught it. Then she turned a triumphant grin on me.

Losing had never felt so good.

Sal blew a whistle, bringing the merry hell to a halt. “Get your gloves!”

Everyone limped and scrambled for pairs of boxing gloves from a bin in the corner of the room. They smelled like sweat and heavy-duty plastic. Velcro crunched as people secured them around their wrists. My bandaged hand had held up pretty well so far with minimal throbbing. Hopefully, the gloves would help more than hurt.

“Pair up, then we’ll do rotations,” Sal announced, switching the music over to a rock song.

Owen and I bumped fists and squared off. Another peek told me Choe had paired with Rose while Sarah tapped gloves with an unfamiliar woman.

After ten minutes of Sal’s drills, I thought I’d have to drink the entirety of the St. Croix River to replace all the sweat pouring off my body.

“And switch!”

Groans arose. Owen and I nodded wearily at each other and turned to find new partners. Chloe filled my vision.

“Partner?” she panted.

Hell to the yes, my mind shouted. But I simply nodded.

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