Chapter 3
An Unexpected Opportunity
“Ten more reps,” I whispered as I pressed up against the barbell.
I’d increased to seventy-five pounds, and my chest, abs, and arms had benefited.
I hated working out until the only student job available last year was at the athletic center.
My duties were simple: keep towels clean and stocked, disinfect equipment, help orient students to the gym, and order necessary supplies for the smoothie bar and classes, such as yoga mats and free weights.
The main perk of spending twenty-five hours a week at the center was that I became interested in fitness.
The love of junk and fast food made it challenging to adopt a healthier meal plan, but I exercised.
When I noticed my clothes fit my body better and my curves that weren’t quite right began to settle closer to right, it only spurred me on.
Now, instead of a cover-up, I wear shorts over my one-piece when I wear a bathing suit.
One day, I would try a bikini top and shorts.
Baby steps.
As I finished my last rep, a shirtless, sweaty Carter appeared out of nowhere above me. “Let me spot you. I can tell your arms are getting weak.”
It’d been a week since I moved next door, and I hadn’t seen him, though I heard him move around.
Two nights ago, I heard the thumping and loud moans of sex, and I buried my head under my pillow and comforter to block out the grating, horrible noises because it wasn't me. I didn’t need to be reminded that I had no idea how having a man inside of me felt.
I’d come before from a man’s fingers but not from a mouth or his dick.
He smiled at me as he reached for a towel on the wall behind him. “Thought I would see you more since we’re neighbors.”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to find words to keep the conversation going. A simple answer wasn’t the way to go.
Carter wiped his chest, chiseled abs, and the fine hair on his stomach that led to his manhood that rested beneath his shorts.
I didn’t realize my eyes followed his hand until he tossed it in the bin beside me.
His lips curved in a knowing smile. If my dark brown skin were lighter, he would’ve seen the tell-tale signs of embarrassment. “You ready?”
I nodded, knowing I had to focus or risk injuring myself. How in the world am I supposed to do that when the man of my fantasies stood over me half-naked, his sexy chest glistening with sweat?
He picked up the bar like it weighed nothing. “Grab it.”
I gritted my teeth, determined to clear my mind of any nervousness and Carter long enough to finish my reps.
I squeezed the metal and lifted it up and down until he told me to stop.
We did five more than my planned ten reps before Carter took the bar out of my hands. “You could probably handle more.”
“You think?” I asked, beaming that he had confidence in my ability.
Carter smirked. “Think you can handle as much as you want. Are you done here?”
“Yeah...umm...my shift ended an hour ago.” I still rested on my back, his bare legs on either side.
A bolder me would cover his legs with kisses to the part of him that I longed to see.
To touch. To taste. It was such a precarious position that I tried to pretend that talking to Carter was normal.
I slid down the bench and sat up to face him before I did something stupid.
“You work here?” He asked, surprise evident in his voice.
“Yes, my work-study job.”
Carter surveyed the half-empty gym. Typical for a Sunday afternoon. “You need a ride home?”
I didn’t, and Grey would kill me when I arrived home without his car. But not in a million years would his request be turned down. “Sure. Just need to grab my bag out of the locker room.”
He pulled me up to stand before him and glanced down briefly at my lips. “Do you need to take a shower?”
“Are you saying I need to?” I teased, surprised at myself.
“Naw. Like the way your skin looks.” He rubbed the top of my arm with the back of his index finger. “It’s kinda sexy to see you like this.”
Breathe. “Sweaty, and my hair all over the place is sexy to you?” I looked up at him, tilting my head, locking eyes with his, channeling my inner Beyonce. Or at least what I believed she would do in this situation.
He tightened his jaw, and that simple act set off an explosion of butterflies in my stomach. “Seeing you without glasses, wearing a tank and shorts, and your hair wild and loose, skin all dewy, is sexy as fuck.”
Words were stuck somewhere unconsciously, trying desperately to travel to my consciousness. I stared up at him, unsure how to respond to his obvious flirting. When his hand reached to touch my hair, I nervously backed up, and my legs hit the bench. He captured my arms before I fell back.
Carter exclaimed, “Got ya.”
Embarrassed, I shrugged his hands off me and slid by him. “I’ll just get my bag if you still want to give me a ride.”
He grabbed the t-shirt he’d tucked in the back of his shorts and pulled it on. “Yeah. Meet me out front. You know my car, right?”
I knew he drove a blue F150, but I pretended otherwise. “No.”
Carter’s thick brows raised, though he replied, “I’ll just pull up in front.”
The expectant, flirty energy between us shifted to awkwardness as I watched him walk away, and it was all my fault. I needed reinforcement, like yesterday, if Carter was ever a possibility.
I needed my best friend.