Page 21 of What We Had

Bennett kicked my ass during chest. Wiped the floor with me when we did hammer curls in front of the mirror. Our chatter had stayed mostly neutral with the occasional tease, mostly coming from Bennett. Each one caught me off guard, and I fumbled for a quippy response. We finished our session with hanging leg raises, something I did regularly at home. I banged out thirty rapid reps in a row as Bennett made a dramatic show of rolling his eyes.

“Wrong. All wrong,” he said as he shook his head. His tone had been consistently playful for the past hour. “You go too fast. All Hollywood. Here, watch this.”

I stepped aside and asked, “Would you like a step stool?” then proceeded to belly laugh at my own joke while Bennett fought to keep from smiling. I had him on that one.

He leaped up to grab the neutral position of the overhead bars. I moved to watch him from the side so he could watch himself in the mirror. His biceps and triceps bulged from his body’s hanging weight, armpit hair slick with sweat. Legs snapped together, toes pointed, as he slowly lifted his legs. When they hit a ninety-degree bend from his waist, I felt my eyes dilate from a sudden rush of pleasure.

For a fraction of a moment, I had an updated photograph of the one still in my wallet. Bennett, L-Sit position, hanging instead of bracing against rings, but his more mature face and body looking like athletic perfection.

His legs continued up as his butt rolled to flex his abdomen muscles. He went all the way to a two-hundred-seventy-degree bend, and I didn’t doubt he could fold completely in two if he wanted. Then, he lowered his legs just as slowly as he had when raising them.

I turned and walked away as he started into his second rep. My cock stood at full attention and I beelined it to a bubbler and drank a liter’s worth of water to hose off the inferno in my head. Tried to induce a brain freeze if I could.

Jerked off a hundred times to that picture, I thought as my lips ran cold from the continual drinking.Now I see it live and in person. Even better than the photograph. I would explode if I didn’t cool down.

“You okay?” I looked up from the fountain to see Bennett standing there, hands on his hips, chest rising and falling. “Sorta just… walked away.”

“Bruised ego,” I said and tried my damnedest to angle my lower body away from him. I leaned on the water fountain. The contraption groaned from my sudden weight. “You’re… you’re quite the athlete, Bennett.”

His cheeks burned red and he pressed his lips together. Eyes darted away. When he found the clock on the wall, he blurted out, “Gah!I’m gonna be late.” He hesitated to step forward, stopped, redirected, stopped again. “Um. I gotta shower and get outta here. But. Listen, um.”

I waved and smiled. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Go ahead.”

He nodded, then walked past me toward the men’s locker room. He spun and walked backward as he said, “Show me some judo moves next time?”

“My turn to ass kick?” I double-clucked my cheek. “Deal.”

Another smile. This one ensnared me so fully that I didn’t even notice the person walking up behind him. The two collided. Bennett apologized profusely. I laughed and reminded myself to make fun of him for it later.

I bided my time on the treadmill until I saw him leave the locker room. We walked out together and he made me promise to drive slower. I told him only if he promised to text me when he got settled in his cruiser at his spot. He said, “Deal,” before I could even finish my sentence.

ChapterSeven

Bennett:(8:03) Hey.

Bennett:(8:03) Settled and on the lookout for speeding rentals.

Bennett:(8:04) (picture from Bennett’s point of view overlooking a dark road)

Me:(8:05) They’re sneaky! I hope you can stay awake and keep your eyes peeled.

Bennett:(8:05) As long as I have some company, I should be okay.

Bennett:(8:06) Glad you could join me at the gym today. I needed the ego boost.

Me:(8:06) So happy to oblige in letting you win to bolster your self-confidence.

Bennett:(8:21) Wow, first one of the night. That was quick. What is it with people and doing fifty-five on this road?

Me:(8:21) I wouldn’t know. As someone who is adamant in obeying the speed limit, I’m baffled by lawbreakers.

Me:(8:22) (picture of high school yearbook photo)

Me:(8:22) Just an innocent rule follower right here.

Bennett:(8:23) OMG lol I remember that silver chain. You wore it with everything. So classy.

Me:(8:24)Yeah, remember how it used to dangle from my neck and brush against your chin while I piledrived you into

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