I swallowed hard and grinned. “They fit.”
The words sounded more like a croak, but if she noticed, she didn’t say anything.
“Are you working out today?” she asked.
I looked at the rain pouring down outside through my office windows that I’d yet to buy shades for.
“Wasn’t planning on it quite yet,” I admitted.
“Were you going to work out at all?” she wondered.
I shrugged my shoulders and a bright idea hit me.
“Let’s do a partner workout,” I suggested as I walked to the front door and flipped the lock. “I need to get a workout in before leaving anyway, and with it raining and cold outside, we’re not going to want to go out there for the actual workout.”
I should’ve changed the workout at the beginning of the week when I realized that the rain possibility was high, but if I did that, I would have to change every single workout from now on. The chances of the rain actually ruining the workout was slim to none. The poor weathermen rarely got it right.
“I guess I could…” She hesitated. “If it’s something I can do.”
I snorted. “You’re capable of doing almost everything. Even if we have to modify it slightly,” I admitted. “I don’t think I’ve ever had someone come in here with so much potential before.”
Her face flushed with excitement as she walked toward the bar.
“Well, I just have to say that I’m really good at sucking in.” She patted her belly. “And the invention of these shorts that are high-waisted do an excellent job at hiding all the imperfections. But, you’re right. I have potential. I notice that I do. But I think the driving factor in all of this is my dislike for your ex-wife.”
I couldn’t help it.
I burst out laughing.
The laughter built and built until I had to lean over to catch my breath.
When I finally got myself under control, I looked up to find her smiling and warming up on the rower.
The rower that Rogue was now glaring at her for kicking him off of.
“Uh-oh,” I teased. “You’ll never be his friend again.”
She shrugged. “I’ll live.”
I pulled a rower down beside her and got on. “Let’s go for five hundred meters.”
Then I explained what the workout would be.
Ten minutes later, we were five minutes into our workout and I was watching her do burpees.
The lights went out, but we continued to work out, even cycling back to the rower without problem. The only thing lighting our way was my phone that was now playing the music as well as hers that was face down with the light shining in the air.
I could hear her heavy breathing, and it was fucking turning me on.
Thank God that the lights were mostly out, and she couldn’t see my erect cock bouncing with each movement we performed.
“How many more minutes of this?” she gasped, the rower sounding around us.
I looked at my watch in between wall balls. “Five minutes.”
She cursed and I couldn’t help but smile at that.
We were halfway through the five-minute set when a pounding sounded at the front door.
Both of our attentions were caught, but neither one of us moved toward the sound.
Mostly because it was more than obvious who that person was.
Maria.
I would not, under any circumstances, go and see what she wanted.
I was working out.
It was half past when class was supposed to start.
And I didn’t fucking like her.
So that was exactly what I did.
Left her there to get rained on.
That might make me a callous man, but Maria was just not going to be something I dealt with this morning.
No matter if it was pissing freezing rain or not.
“I hate her,” Fran panted through labored breaths.
I chuckled and finally finished my set, heading to the rower with my phone as I said, “Switch.”
So we did, staying like that until she finished her set, too.
Then, when we were completely done, we collapsed next to each other.
Her head hit my thigh, and her sweaty arm landed precariously across my sweaty chest.
But neither one of us moved.
“That was awful,” she whispered. “I’ll move off of you in just a second. I can’t breathe.”
I snorted out a laugh, causing her arm that traveled up the length of my chest to slip slightly to the side. Only my large hand catching her small one kept it where it was.
I didn’t know why I did that.
Honestly, we were both really gross, me more so than her, and sweat was pouring off of me in waves because Madden insisted turning the heater on was the best move for our members—I disagreed. I felt like it was better to be too cold than too hot. But whatever.
Regardless of our states, I liked her exactly where she was.
If she’d move just slightly to the right with her head, my dick would practically be poking her in the face.
“Why do you think she showed up that late and expected someone to still be here?” she asked curiously.
If there was anything that would make the need go away that I was feeling, it was talking about my ex-wife.
“Honestly?” I asked. “Because she likes to make my life difficult. Showing up late would’ve made her the center of attention in the class. I would’ve had to acknowledge her, which I don’t do all that often.”
She hummed then stood so swiftly that I missed her almost before she was even gone.
“Do you want your water?” she asked as she moved toward our drinks.
“Yes,” I replied. Though, I would’ve rather had her stay where she’d been. Fuck being thirsty.
My eyes were glued to her ass as she moved toward the bottles, then on her tits that were practically spilling out of her sports bra when she made her way back.
She handed my water to me when she reached my side, and I reluctantly sat up, taking it from her.
I swallowed large gulps from my bottle before looking at her and realizing that her eyes were on me.
“What?” I asked, spilling the water slightly and feeling it run down the length of my chest.
She followed the length of the water, and then swallowed. “I was thinking we should probably turn off the lights to preserve the batteries since we’re probably not going to get power back anytime soon.”
She was right.
We were generally the last ones to get power since we were off the beaten path in the grand scheme of things.
Our town, though healthy and thriving, was also one of the smaller ones on the grid.
Fewer people equaled less urgency to get things rolling in the power department.
“Probably a smart thing to do,” I admitted. “But don’t you not do well in the dark?”
That had been why I’d turned on my phone instead of just leaving hers to light our way.
I knew that she had problems with the darkness, and I wanted to make it as comfortable for her as I could if I had the ability.
And I’d run out of phone battery all day long if it meant keeping her comfortable.
“Yes.” She paused. “Though, lately not with you.”
Something soared in my chest.
“Really?” I asked, feeling my throat rasp with the words.
She grinned and downed her bottle of water, getting up to throw the empty in the trash before coming back, with our phones this time, and watched as I turned my light off first before answering.