"Come on, chop chop. We can leave the hot romantic things for later."
***
An hour later, we enteredthe fitness center. I wasn’t a big fan of them; as far as I was concerned, going to the gym was a waste of time. The treadmill and weights section in my home were all I needed besides the ring.
"This is amazing," Zoey said, looking around. We’d brought our training gear with us. Zoey insisted we could train here after my chat with my brothers.
The fitness branch wasn’t part of the original group of companies in Whitley Industries. Father set it up on his own, and Nick had transformed it by leaps and bounds.
I remembered reading the financial reports of all the companies in Whitley Industries back in the day when I first started at Whitley Biotech. The fitness branch was barely breaking even. Considering Nick had expanded it and it was now one of the top fitness clubs in the country, I was sure it was doing extraordinarily well financially.
We went straight to the reception desk where a woman sat behind a screen.
"Hi, I'm Colton Whitley."
Her expression immediately changed, going from polite to eager, smiling and looking at me and Zoey.
"Yes, Nick told me you were coming. They're expecting you. We can give you a small tour or you can head right to the locker rooms."
I turned to Zoey. "We can do a tour later.”
“Sure. I’m curious. I want to see the fitness studio and check out everything."
I groaned. The prospect of checking out everything was daunting. "Come on, don't be such a grump," she said, and I laughed. “I know, not everyone can be a ray of sunshine like me. But you know what they say, 'Fake it until you make it.'" Her enthusiasm was contagious.
She was right. We could explore it together. At any rate, I wouldn't mind watching her work out. Even though it would probably be even harder for me to keep my hands off her. Whenever I saw her in tight spandex in the workout room at home, I immediately got a hard-on. I couldn't see myself doing much better in public.
"Anyway, he asked us to do anything to make you feel comfortable, so let us know what you need,” the receptionist said.
I appreciated that. I was determined to make more of an effort with my half brothers. I was the one who'd been standing in the way all this time.
I’d only been here once before and had hung around with my brothers at the bar. Spencer had needed everyone's advice, and I wasn’t one to sit out a family meeting if I could help.
The receptionist showed us to the changing room. Zoey and I agreed to meet in front. Five minutes later, I came out, looking around. There was a place to fill the water bottle I got from the reception area, so I went to do just that. Someone walked up to me, and I stepped to the right.
"Oh, hi. Thanks, such a gentleman. You can finish filling your bottle."
"No, be my guest."
"I haven't seen you around," she said with a smile.
"Only my second time here.”
"I could show you around. I've been coming here for years. I know all the best spots."
"The best spots in the gym?"
"You know, where it's not too crowded," she said. "Where we can grab a drink, if you want to buy one."
I realized she was hitting on me. "I'm here with someone, so no thanks."
The woman took a step back, shrugging. "My bad. Didn't know you were taken."
She glanced at my finger and smiled, looking very pleased.
What the hell?Suddenly, I realized she was checking for a ring.
"I'm not interested," I repeated.