Something that she did each and every morning.
I knew without a doubt that she was afraid of the dark.
I wondered if she had a good reason.
Most did.
“Ew, assault bike and back squats?” Maria’s annoying voice cried.
Fran came up to my side and stopped within touching distance.
“I really freakin’ hate agreeing with anything she says.” Fran leaned in to whisper in my ear, causing my dick to harden in the sweatpants that I was wearing. “But those two sound awful.”
I placed my palm on her hand and pulled her just a little bit closer.
“You’ll live,” I teased.
And she did.
With three calories on the assault bike left to go in the workout, I stood next to Fran and practically hollered in her ear.
“Push!” I crowed.
“I’m giving it all I’ve got, Captain,” Fran wheezed.
I snickered as she pushed herself just a little bit harder.
Which happened to be just enough to get off the bike a second faster than Maria.
I swear to God, I saw utter glee in her eyes as she looked at the clock.
“Fuckin’ cheater,” Maria grumbled.
“No cheating here, ma’am.” Fran laughed. “Look. It’s actually at twenty-six calories and not twenty-five now.”
Maria rolled her eyes and went to the friend she’d urged to come today.
Fran came to me.
She grinned at me widely and then said, “If I don’t have a great ass after that workout, I’ll be asking for a refund on my membership.”
I burst out laughing.
Turns out, she didn’t need the workout to get a great ass. Because she already freakin’ had one.
CHAPTER 9
For a good time, call Fran.
-21-15-9
(CrossFit Girl Workout)
FRAN
Six weeks later
It was fitting that we were ending the bootcamp by doing a regular class. And that we were ending it with the workout called ‘Fran.’
Everyone groaned, seasoned and unseasoned members alike, when Taos turned the board around for everyone to see today’s WOD.
“Today’s workout. Twenty-one, fifteen, nine of pull-ups and thrusters,” Taos announced.
I looked at the board. Twenty-one pull-ups was doable. Twenty-one thrusters at ninety-five pounds. Fifteen pull-ups, fifteen thrusters. Nine pull-ups, nine thrusters. All as fast as you could possibly do it.
That sounded… truly awful.
I couldn’t think of a worse combination.
Pull-ups I’d finally gotten about three weeks after Taos had helped me initially. Now, though I could do them, I was very slow at them. And they came one at a time. Slowly.
“Hey, Fran,” one of the other bootcampers called. “If you don’t win this, you’ll have to change your name.”
Maria, who had joined the bootcamp class, again, despite being a ‘seasoned’ CrossFitter, snorted.
I wanted to turn around and stare her in the eyes and tell her that I was going to fuckin’ dominate her.
Most likely, I wouldn’t.
Most likely, just like everything else, we’d be close, but she would win.
Mostly because she’d done all these movements before and didn’t really need to be in the beginners’ bootcamp here.
She needed to be in a regular class.
However, being in a regular class meant that she couldn’t see Taos teach.
Which happened to be why quite a few of the seasoned CrossFit athletes dropped into these times. Because, apparently, Taos was a legend.
He was also a very good coach, athlete, and person. And I had a major crush on the man that only got worse as the days went on.
My body was electrified every single time we got into close contact. And swear to God. If he offered to have me, I would practically fall at his feet.
“Fran will rock this one. They are two movements that she’s very good at now,” Taos said firmly, completely dismissing Maria’s snort.
“Hell yeah, she will,” I heard someone say behind me. I wasn’t sure of his name, seeing as I was now in a stare down with Maria. “You should’ve seen her rock that last thruster workout.”
I had rocked that one. But only because it was a light weight, and I’d always been very good at squats.
Or anything that had squats in the workout.
“I’ll do my best,” I promised.
And it was a promise to Maria.
Mostly because she’d started to cheat lately to win, and it was really chapping my ass.
“We’re going to go in waves, because this is such an intense workout. You’ll have a partner that’ll count for you.” Taos echoed my earlier thoughts.
Maria’s eyes went hard as she looked away, her eyes searching for someone in the class that she knew that would lie for her.
There wasn’t anyone that would. Mostly because there were only five in the early class this morning since it was a holiday.
Funny enough, I got paired up with Taos, as Maria got paired up with an ex-Marine that was about seventy years old, didn’t give a single fuck who he pissed off with his words, and would sure the fuck make sure she didn’t cheat.
My eyes were gleaming as I turned to Taos.
He caught one look at my face and turned around before he started laughing, drawing the board closer to us as he did.
We warmed up.
We did Fran.
And we died.
I didn’t even care what place I got once I was done.
I only cared about the fact that I was currently dying, my lungs weren’t working correctly, and Taos was leaning over me looking at me with his pretty eyes.
“You okay?”
I had a feeling he had asked that multiple times.
I swallowed. “Yes.”
I felt a baby slap me in the face and turned just in time to have Vlad plant an open-mouth kiss on mine.
I quickly closed my mouth so that drool wouldn’t get into mine, and then endured it as Vlad rubbed his gummy mouth on me until he pulled back with a smile.
“I can’t even do Fran that fast,” Mavis whispered with reverence.
I didn’t know what my time was.
All I knew was that I was dead.
My lungs were screaming.
“Fran lung,” I heard someone say.
I must’ve said that aloud because they answered me like I had.
Eventually, the entire class finished, and I had four other people surrounding me on the ground, all of us breathing heavy.
Even poor Maria who, after I recovered slightly, I realized hadn’t been anywhere near me on time.
I kept that smile hidden away.
Taos and I talked and talked, right into the next class.
I held on to Vlad while I watched my sister work out, but Vlad didn’t want anything to do with me.
He was all about Taos.
Taos held him, didn’t care when Vlad pulled his beard, and ultimately only forced himself even deeper into my heart until I knew that I was in love with him.
I wanted him. Badly.
And I had a feeling that he wanted me, too.
“How do you feel about a couple’s competition?” he asked, looking at me with a gleam of excitement in his eyes.
I frowned. “What?”
“Couple’s competition. Two people, girl and boy, compete among about fifty other gyms in the area,” he explained.