Chapter 8
8
HANK
O kay man, you can do this. Just walk up to her and ask her if she wants to go to dinner. Shit, if nothing else ask her for her number. Or at least say hello. It’s time to stop pussyfooting around and be a man. You’ve been to war for Christ’s sake, you can ask a pretty girl for her number.
But that’s the thing, she wasn’t pretty.
She was stunning. Breathtaking. Drop to your knees and kiss the ground she walked on gorgeous. I don’t know what God was thinking when he created a woman like her, but he really laid it on thick.
After seeing her on Saturday at the bar, my friends wouldn’t stop hounding me about her. Our group chat, which normally focused on things like work and casual hookups, had managed to come back to Bailey at least three times a day. When they found out I didn’t ask her out when I saw her yesterday morning at the gym, they threatened to cut my dick off and force feed it to me. Malcolm asked me which gym I went to because, as he put it, ‘a beautiful woman like her needed to be taken out and shown off’ and if I wasn’t going to be man enough to do it, he would do it himself.
I told him to fuck off and that I would knee cap him if he even tried.
Now it was Monday, and the words of my friends calling me a moron and a wimp were ringing in my ears as I watched the entrance of the gym. She normally came in ten to fifteen minutes after the doors unlocked, so she should be here any minute.
Not that I kept track of when she showed up or anything.
She was just a creature of habit and a few times as she came in, I may have also checked my watch at the same time. Now her arrival time was in my head as if it had been branded into my brain.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time: 0509. She should be here soon.
As I slipped my phone back into my pocket, I looked up from the bench I was sitting at just in time to spot her golden blonde hair across the gym. She always wore it pulled back and there had been plenty of times over the last couple weeks where I’d fantasized myself behind her, pulling her hair, while I sunk myself deep inside of her as she moaned out my name. Most of the time, I helped myself along in the shower as I pictured her blonde hair falling behind her back as she rode me until we both fell apart together.
My dick suddenly started to grow under my shorts and I had to fill my brain with images that would kill the massive hard on I was fighting. My great aunt Carmen. Musicals. Sweaty fat men playing baseball.
Every man had things they thought about to kill a boner. These were mine.
I tried taking a few breaths and watched as Bailey started to set up her rack. This girl was dedicated to her lift and I found it wildly attractive just how much she could take. The last couple weeks I’d watched as she would come in, turn on her headphones, and pull a book out of her bag before setting up her rack. She would lift, pause her music, then take a seat and read until she started her next set. She followed this routine almost exactly each day and I loved watching her move through it.
When she finished with her first set and grabbed her book, I saw my opening and took it. As I walked towards her, I tried to hype myself up as best as I could.
You can do this man. You’re a good looking dude, any girl would love to go to dinner with you. Plus, she came and talked to you in front of your friends on Saturday. Clearly she’s into you. Just go up to her and ask her out. Don’t be a dicklicker and wimp out, just do it. ?Sé un hombre!? 1
You’ve been to war, you can ask a girl out!
When I finally reached her, I saw her eyes glance to my feet, but she didn’t look up from the pages of her book. She just kept reading. I stood there, waiting for her to look up and acknowledge me, but she didn’t.
“Those are some nice boots you got there,” she finally said after a long pause, still not looking up from her book or moving her headphones from her ears.
“Uhh, thanks.”
She finally looked at me, a devilish grin started to spread across her face.
“You know it’s rude to interrupt someone who’s reading?” Shit maybe she’s not interested in me.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I won’t bother you then.” My feet turned away quickly until I heard her start to laugh.
“Wait, I was only teasing. Come back here.” I turned to see her closing her book and looking at me with a smile that reminded me of pure sunshine. With her head cocked to one side, her ponytail swished behind her.
“You ever gonna ask me out, soldier?” she teased. The look on her face caused my dick to press against my shorts. Don’t you fucking dare , I thought to myself.
I chuckled and took a few steps closer to her. Of course she would call me out for my bullshit. This woman has me wrapped around her finger and we hadn’t even gone on a date yet.
“Well, blondie, that’s actually why I was coming over here. You kinda stole my thunder though,” I teased back and grinned. Smooth .
“Well I’m sorry, but I was starting to think you didn’t have enough thunder to do it. And I would very much like to go out with you if you wanted to go out with me.” She had a slight Southern drawl to her words that made them sound like honey to my ears. Sweet and thick. I stared at her lips as she spoke and wanted nothing more than to bend over and find out if they tasted as good as they sounded.
“Are you always this straightforward with people?” I asked, attempting to be cool and not overthink things. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever laid eyes on and she was asking me on a date.
“Only with the people I really like.” She crossed her legs in front of her on the bench and tucked her hands between her legs. She looked up at me with admiration and tease, and I was eating it up like free candy.
“Alright then. Would you like to grab dinner with me sometime?” I placed my hands on the bench in front of her legs and leveled my eyes with hers. Our faces were just inches apart and I took it as a good sign when she didn’t move away from me.
“I’d thought you’d never ask.” Being this close to her made me keenly aware of the fact that she smelled as sweet as she sounded—the scent of honey and vanilla filled up my nose as I breathed her in.
Aren’t you supposed to smell bad when you workout? Why didn’t she smell bad?
“How do you feel about Italian food?”
“I love Italian food.” She leaned in when she said the word ‘love’ and our lips were so close that if I had leaned in at the same time they would have met.
“Italian food it is. How’s Saturday?” Good job man, keep it up. Lock it in.
“Saturday is perfect. Pick me up at six?”
“I look forward to it.” I stood up and started to walk away, feeling my pride start to swell because I had asked her on a date. When I heard her laughing, I panicked that I had just been punked, and turned to look at her.
“What are you laughing at?”
“How are you supposed to know where to pick me up if you don’t have my number?” You fucking idiot, you didn’t ask for her number.
“Riiiight….here give me your phone.” She unlocked it, handed it to me, and I sent myself a text before handing her back her phone.
“Very smooth.” She chuckled and shook her head as she read the text.
“What, am I wrong?” I teased. Somewhere in the depths of my soul I managed to conjure enough confidence to text, ‘I am the luckiest girl in the world to get to go out with you, Hank Martínez. I can’t wait for our date on Saturday.’
Since I had texted myself from her phone, it looked like she had sent it.
“No, you aren’t wrong, not entirely. I don’t know if I’m the luckiest girl in the world yet , but I am excited for our date.” She looked up and winked at me.
Looking down at my phone, I texted her back.
I can’t wait either, blondie.
She looked down at her phone, read the text, and I didn’t miss the change of color in her cheeks and how her lips pushed into a soft smile.
“I’ll let you get back to your lift.” I gave her a wave and walked back to my own side of the gym feeling confident. My puffed up ego and pride carried me through the rest of my workout as if it was nothing. Nothing could stop me and nothing could hold me back.
I had a date with Bailey on Saturday and nothing felt better than that.
1 ? Be a man!