Chapter 37 Zane
ZANE
The race was bullshit. Jakob’s explanations were bullshit. You know what? I think Jakob might’ve hired that woman with the kid to show up in Delaware Park, in that exact spot, at that precise time, just to fuck me up.
Yeah, I know how crazy that sounds, but I don’t give a shit. I know damn well I’m faster than my boyfriend running. Hell, I was twice as fast as him on the ice, no matter what he said.
So far, we’d said almost nothing about hockey, but we didn’t have to in order to keep our tension nice and fresh.
Turned out that my boyfriend hadn’t forgotten how to be a serious pain in the ass.
I knew damn well that he really wanted to rub in his “victory” in that race, since it was the closest thing to a triumph he’d ever scored over me.
And no, knocking me out at the Colter Bay Grill doesn’t count. Let’s use our common sense here.
At the gym, I stood in the mirror and flexed. No, I didn’t pose like Hulk Hogan or any of those bodybuilders you see on TV. I just wanted to see what the rest of the world got to enjoy. When you’ve got a body like mine, why be subtle about it?
But could Jakob handle that? Fuck no. He stood behind me and watched, a dumbass grin growing on his face, as if I couldn’t see him in the mirror. That’s how my boyfriend chose to operate.
Real mature, huh?
“What are you doing?’ Jakob tried to pose the question as serious, but I knew better. An atomic bomb could hit the city of Buffalo, and he would still make dumbass jokes.
“Posing, what does it look like?”
“For who?”
“For anyone who wants to admire this amazing fucking body.”
I splayed my hands in front of my body because I figured I deserved some dramatic flare.
He half-smiled but said nothing, which just about drove me up a tree.
“Dude, if you’re going to pose, you should try something like this.”
He flitted his fingers as if to shoo me away. Stupid me, I actually shuffled aside! God, I can’t tell you how maddening he could be at times. But it gets worse. Oh, so much worse.
When he stood in the mirror, he looked like he belonged in front of it. By that, I mean he thought he belonged in front of it. You know, because he was so totally full of himself?
He struck a pose, but not like the innocent, subtle one I made.
No, he thought he was Lou Ferrigno, for crying out loud.
Or Schwarzenegger in his heyday. I tried with all my might not to roll my eyes.
Shit, I tried not to puke coat hangers. Jakob was obviously trying to upstage me just like he’d done in Delaware Park.
“Give me a break,” I said. “You want to get out of the way so we can get down to business?”
But he wouldn’t listen to me. For all I knew, he couldn’t even hear me. Honest to God, he was completely wrapped up in himself.
“Jakob!” I clapped my hands at him. “We’ve got a workout to finish. Let’s get going, huh?”
And Jakob kept posing like my words had passed through one ear and out the other.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Corbin, the gym ray I most wanted to look like stopped by, looking buff as hell. I felt sort of glad I wasn’t posing now. Topping his herculean physique would’ve been damn near impossible.
Problem was, when he said hello, he wasn’t speaking to me. Fuck no. He was addressing Jakob, for Christ’s sake.
“You’ve really gotten into shape, bro,” he said. “You look like you could bench press a Buick.”
“Thanks, man.” Jakob said. “That means a lot coming from you.”
“Would you look at that pump? Let’s see it!”
Jakob smiled hugely and accepted the invitation to flex again. Of course he did. He was full of himself, remember? He flexed and Corbin regarded my boyfriend like he really was Schwarzenegger.
“I was right,” Corbin said. “You really do look a lot better than the last time I saw you. What did you use for motivation?”
“Hockey, of course.”
“Right!” He pointed his index finger straight at my boyfriend. “You guys are in the championship game coming up, are you not?”
“Right, and we’re gonna fucking win, too.”
Okay, I swore that he’d totally forgotten that I was even there. Even still, it took a boatload of nerve for him to just assume that they were going to win.
“Hope it all works out for you,” Corbin told him, still treating me like the invisible man. “And I know you’ll be great. Those Remington Riptides are shit.”
“Don’t I know it.”
And they both laughed like that last comment was the funniest thing on earth.
The gloves were definitely off.
“Let me get one more good look at you,” Corbin said.
Jakob flexed for him, even doing a little turn. Corbin looked at him like he could pop an erection at any moment. In fact, I started to wonder. He slapped Jakob’s hand but might as well have slapped his ass.
I stuck my hand out, but he not only didn’t shake it but kept on walking. You know, like I really was the invisible man?
I glanced over my shoulder, thinking Corbin would right his wrong, and come back and ask me to flex. But it didn’t happen.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“That was Corbin,” he said.
“I know who he is, Jakob. I’m just wondering why he paid so much attention to you and absolutely none to me.”
And what’s with this garbage about the Riptides being shit? I wanted to ask. And who the hell said you and your team full of losers would have a prayer against us?
I kept my questions to myself as I’d learned that the one thing Jakob was truly good at was wielding that smart mouth of his.
“A bug jump up your ass or something?” he asked.
“No, Jakob, I just want to finish this workout, okay?”
“Fine.”
We headed over to the nearest bench and I loaded two hundred and twenty pounds in weights to the barbell.
Then I sat down, scooted under, and wrapped my fingers around it.
When I lifted it, a grunt bellowed through my clenched teeth.
I brought the barbell down to my chest, honestly worried I would drop it.
I noticed my boyfriend posed over me, ready to lift the weight off my chest if I needed it but fuck that. No way did I need anyone helping me.
For a moment, I honestly worried my arms would fall off but wouldn’t let that keep me from finishing. Finally, I reached my set of ten and set the barbell back in the holder.
When I sat up, I would’ve ushered Jakob to take my place, but he rushed right onto it, like he was in an all-fired hurry.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Two hundred and twenty pounds is a lot, don’t you think?”
“You just did it.”
“I know, but you’re… never mind, never mind. You go right ahead.”
He lay down under the bar bell and I assumed the position.
My boyfriend’s face reddened almost instantly when he lifted the weights.
Then his cheeks puffed out as he lowered the barbell down to his chest. At first, I honestly didn’t think he would be able to push it back up.
Please don’t confuse that with wanting him to fail. I could never want something like that.
As he lowered the barbell down to his chest again, I saw Corbin pass by.
“Hey Corbin, you got a second?” I asked. “I wanted to ask you about your diet regimen.”
“I’m sorry, do I know you?”
“Of course you do. Zane Hirst. We’ve talked a hundred times.”
“Oh, right, Zane Hirst.” He snapped his fingers. “Sorry about that.”
“Anyway, is it really true that you get up in the middle of the night to eat so you can keep your metabolism moving?”
“Oh, I try to do that, but it’s hard to do that every single night.”
“Whatever you’re doing, it’s really paying off. You look totally fucking shredded.”
“Hey thanks, bro, I—um, shit bro, your friend there is about to die.”
When I spun around, I noticed that the barbell was about to crush Jakob’s chest. I dashed over to pull it off of him.
When he sat up, he said, “What are you trying to do? Kill me?”
“Of course not. Why would you think I could possibly do such a thing?”
He didn’t answer, but I knew he understood the reason. He rolled off of the bench and didn’t say another word. I did nothing to rub in the fact that I could bench the two-twenty for an entire set and he couldn’t do shit without it landing on his chest.
All that mattered to me was that I’d won this round. After all, nothing in the whole world was more important than victory.