Chapter 25
Rosalie
Iplace another toy in the donation bin and smile at the collection. It’s not even the Open House yet, and we’ve already collected about a dozen toys from gym members.
It feels good to be making a difference for once. Doing the Christmas shopping with Grant had been cathartic and reminded me that there are people out there way worse off than me.
My mind jumps back to one of my lowest days, when Scott had found me and beaten me and I’d escaped on a bus.
The girl who had given me the concealer seemed like she was running from something, too.
Although with her sunglasses on, it was hard to tell.
Despite that, she had helped me in my time of need.
And that’s what I wanted to do with this toy drive. Help kids who need it.
Two large hands grip my waist from behind before sliding around to the front of my body, engulfing me in a big hug.
“Have I told you today how amazing you are?” Grant asks against my ear as he looks down at the toy bin with me.
“Hmm… Not today,” I tease.
He kisses my neck, and I feel him smile against my skin. “Rosie, you’re truly amazing.”
“So are you,” I whisper breathlessly as he kisses a sensitive spot.
“Break it up you two,” Asher says as he passes by us with narrowed eyes. But I can hear the teasing in his tone.
“Jealous?” Grant asks as he stands tall and steps to my side, keeping one arm around me.
“Definitely,” Asher replies, surprising me. He gives me a wink, then continues on through the gym.
It’d been like that with him the past two days. He’s been way flirtier than usual. Grant slept in my bed last night, and tonight is Asher’s turn. But even more important than that was the fact that he was taking me out on a date after work.
I glance at the clock. Three ten. I almost groan, realizing it’s not time to go yet, but that thought makes me smile. It’s the first time I’ve actually wanted to leave this place, I love working here.
But Asher has me all hot and bothered lately. He greets me with a crazy heated kiss, then just smirks and walks off. As if he doesn’t just know what he’s doing to me, but is actively driving me insane on purpose.
Grant kisses my head, gaining my attention back on him. “I’ve gotta go train a client, be good.” I smile as he wanders off towards the squat racks. He's been doing more training lately, and he’s becoming really good at it. The clients love him, and he’s a natural with them.
I decide to go check the email to make sure there are no last-minute changes for the Christmas Open House.
As I pass the mats, I see Asher standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at my reflection in the wall of mirrors as I walk behind him.
He lifts a hand and quirks a finger at me, calling me over to him.
As I approach his side, he keeps his gaze on me in the mirror and reaches out to pull me in front of him, finally lowering his eyes to look at me directly.
“I think you need another self-defense lesson.” There’s something about the way he says it that makes me think this isn’t just about training me to protect myself.
My pulse quickens with excitement and nerves as I ask, “You want to spar? Right now?”
“Yep. Now, stand here.” He moves me to the center of the mat and takes a few steps backwards to put some space between us. “Try to not let me capture you,” he commands, then immediately marches towards me with a determined look on his face.
I know I’m supposed to flee or fight but he looks so fucking hot prowling towards me that I freeze, my body buzzing to life in hopes that he’s finally come to take me in the way I crave.
He wraps his arms around me and pulls me against him, my hands landing on his chest as I look up at him.
He frowns down at me in disappointment. “Rosie…”
“Sorry, it’s hard to pretend I don’t want you to touch me.” His frown turns heated and he kisses my forehead before letting me go and stepping back.
“Let’s try again.”
“It’s too hard, should we use Callum or Matt or something? It’d be easier to fight them. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Baby…” Asher says, his hand cupping my cheek. “You couldn’t if you tried.” He gives my cheek a tiny slap and my mouth drops open as he smirks and steps back. “Ready?”
I narrow my eyes with challenge. He wants to play that way—He suddenly lunges for me and I twist to the side, his hands narrowly missing me as we swing around to face each other.
He reaches for me again and I manage to block his hand before ducking under his arm and running a few steps in the opposite direction.
I turn back around and see him smiling. “Much better.”
“Are we done?” I ask, starting to get breathless.
“Nope.” He lunges again and I squeal in surprise as I try to knock his hand away. But before I can move away he wraps one of his thick arms around my waist and pulls me down to the ground, his body cushioning mine before he forces me onto my back and pins me to the ground.
I tickle his sides, and he laughs before grabbing my hands and pinning them to the mat above me. His face hovers above mine as he tsks.
“You’re making this too easy for me,” he says with a smirk.
“Clearly not,” I huff, thinking of how much I’ve been wanting him and how he’s been holding back.
He leans closer, and my breath catches as he stops so close I can feel his warm breath on my lips.
“Good things come to good girls who wait,” he whispers softly as his lips trail across my cheek. “And you, Rosie, have been a very good girl.”
He kisses my neck, making me moan as my core starts to heat up.
“I changed my mind, if that’s sparring, sign me up!” I jerk in surprise at the unfamiliar female voice.
Asher quickly helps me to my feet as we face two women, probably in their mid to early twenties, dressed in sports bras and yoga pants. They must be brand new as I haven’t seen them before. We tend to cater to a more male clientele, but women are definitely welcome, too.
“Are you the sparring instructor?” Girl number one asks, eyeing up Asher.
“He only trains men,” I say quickly, not wanting him anywhere near her. My face heats as I sense Asher turn to look down at me, and I know if I look, there’d be a cocky smirk on his face.
“Looks like he was training you,” the other girl says with an accusing tone.
“Rosalie is special,” Asher says, placing an arm around my shoulders. My stomach tightens with delight, his words and actions claiming me.
The girls eye me up and down before girl number one speaks again. “Yeah, I can see she needs the extra training. Come on, Vanessa, let’s go use the treadmills.”
“Excuse me,” Asher practically snarls as he steps forward, placing himself between us. “What did you just say?”
“Hey look, I get it, she clearly needs more one-on-one training then we do.”
I feel my cheeks heat in embarrassment. I glance down at my stomach. My Iron Oaks shirt isn’t really tight but it’s not baggy either, and you can clearly see my stomach pushing through my yoga pants and shirt.
I wrap my arms around my waist in a futile attempt to hide myself as I quickly turn and walk as fast as I can back towards the staff room.
Asher’s voice trails off as I leave but I still manage to catch some of what he says. “Your memberships have been revoked, you need to leave, now.”
I can hear the girls high pitched whines in response but I don’t hear what they say as I step into the office and close the door behind me.
I drop onto the couch and bury my face in my hands, groaning with embarrassment.
I’m not blind, I know Asher and the other two are way out of my league. But for some reason, they seem to like me. They have a way of making me feel desirable and beautiful and for a moment, I forgot how we must look to others. Does everyone think they’re out of my league?
“Here you are.” I pull my face from my hands as Grant steps into the office, closing the door behind him quietly.
He takes one look at my worried face and I see a spark of anger roll through his expression before he rolls his shoulders back and takes a deep breath.
“Come here.” He bends down and scoops me up, like I weigh nothing, reminding me why I love being around them so much. He takes my seat on the couch and holds me in his lap as his large hand runs up and down my arm.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“Not really,” I mumble, leaning against his chest so he can’t see my face.
“I just saw an extremely pissed off Asher kick two women out of our gym. I haven’t seen him that mad in a long time, and I have a feeling it has something to do with you.”
I just shrug, unsure what to say.
“Did they say something to you?” I nod against his chest, not wanting to tell him what they said. As if by saying it, it will alert him to the fact that I’m overweight. “Come on, sweetheart. I need to know what they said so I can tell you how stupid and wrong they are.”
I chuckle lightly. “If you don’t know what they said, how do you know they were wrong?”
“Because you’re upset. And you’re perfect. Therefore anything they said to upset you must have been untrue.”
“They weren’t wrong, though,” I admit quietly, my fingers playing with the front of his shirt.
“No? What did they say?”
I press my lips together but figure Asher will tell him eventually, anyway. I may as well get the humiliation over with. “They were just saying they could tell I needed extra training.”
He’s quiet for a second before he asks, “Because you were losing your sparring match to Asher?”
“No.”
It takes him a few seconds before he seems to finally clue in to what they meant.
“They were insinuating that you needed to exercise more?” he asks carefully.
I nod against him. “Sweetheart.” He hugs me tight and lets out a long sigh.
“I think you are perfect just the way you are. If you felt you wanted to change something, I would, of course, help, but—actually no. I changed my mind.”
I frown, pulling back to look up at him. His hands slide to my hips and he grips me firmly as he shakes his head. “I don’t want you to change anything about this perfect body.”
My eyebrows raise in surprise. “Really?”
He smiles, leaning down to give me a gentle kiss. “Really. You’re perfect. I like a woman who looks like a woman and not a fifteen-year-old girl.”
The door opens, and Asher barrels into the room. When he sees me smiling in Grant’s lap his shoulders drop with what looks like relief.
“They’re gone,” he says, his eyes scanning my face. “They’re not welcome here anymore.”
“You didn’t have to—”
“I did.” He nods his head once then glances at Grant before relaxing his tense posture. “Don’t get too comfy in here, we’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”
A large smile stretches across my face in eager anticipation for our date. He gives me a wink then exits as fast as he entered, pulling the door shut behind him.
Grant looks at me and raises an eyebrow as he says, “Fifteen minutes, huh? I wonder what we can do in that time?”