Chapter 23 #2
“Showoff,” I muttered under my breath as I resumed my own set.
Enoch chuckled and we continued on, working through several more exercises.
“What made you get into weight training?” he asked casually during a break between sets.
“Um,” I paused, thinking about my response.
“When I started at Grip Lab, I couldn’t even manage a fucking push-up, and I wanted to get stronger.
Needed to, if I was going to be expected to belay someone on the wall or just climb to the top to grab a cable or give instructions…
And we had this personal trainer that used to work at the gym.
I took a couple sessions, got the basic idea of what to do, how to do it, etcetera.
And then…I dunno, I just liked it—loved it actually.
I liked seeing how strong I was. I mean, physically being able to see the changes, being able to do more, lift heavier.
I’m not, like, into bodybuilding or anything—”
“Nah, I get you.”
“Yeah,” I shrugged.
He pulled out a water bottle from his bag, and I cursed to myself.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, brow furrowed as he studied me.
I waved him off, shaking my head. “Nothing. Just forgot to bring water.”
“Oh,” he shrugged, holding out his water bottle toward me. “Here.”
I hesitated, staring at him. “You don’t mind sharing?”
He shook his head, a small smile on his lips. “Not at all. If we can kiss, we can certainly share a water bottle.”
I rolled my eyes, biting back a smile and took it. “Thanks.”
“So,” he started when I handed him back the water bottle, “what’s next?”
“Uh, I usually end doing some pull-ups and then about fifteen minutes of core work.”
“Damn, okay. You go first, I wanna see how many you can do.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped up to the bar within the framework that I used for pull-ups. I jumped up to catch the bar and let my body hang for a moment, enjoying the stretch of my muscles. Then, I crossed my ankles and pulled myself up.
Enoch whistled long and low and I half-laughed, half-groaned, stuttering on my way up to the bar and dropping down.
“Shut up, you’re ruining my flow,” I said, glaring at him through the mirror.
I managed a few more before my muscles gave out and I dropped down and spun on my heel.
“Shit,” I muttered, colliding with Enoch’s chest. His hands squeezed my hips, sliding down my sides and around to my ass.
“That was really fucking impressive.”
I rolled my eyes at his repetition of my comment from earlier, but he squeezed my ass, pulling my hips into his.
“Seriously,” he muttered, leaning his face over mine. “That was really freaking hot. You’re making it hard not to want to end this gym session and head upstairs.”
I scrunched my nose. “I’m all sweaty and gross. There’s no way you’re turned on right now.”
Enoch rolled his hips, letting me feel just exactly how turned on he was.
“Believe me now?” he asked, his brown eyes filled with need.
Enoch’s hands slid down to my thighs before he lifted me off the ground. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist as my hands came to his shoulders to steady myself.
His lips met mine. I held the back of his neck, kissing him back with just as much energy as he was giving me.
My hips rolled of their own accord, seeking out friction against his hard muscles.
I moaned into his mouth and suddenly we were moving.
I didn’t open my eyes to see where we were going, but flinched as my back hit a wall, paper crinkling.
Enoch braced me against the wall, freeing up his hands as they trailed a path of heat up my sides, my arms, until one hand gripped the braid at the nape of my neck, his fingers spearing through my hair to gather it tightly. He pulled and I moaned at the tingling sensation of euphoric pain.
“You like that?” He panted against my mouth. “When I pull your hair?”
“Mmhmm.”
I bit down into his lower lip. He groaned in response, his kisses growing frenzied. Fuck, I guess he likes a little pain with his pleasure too.
My mind blanked, my only focus on the feel of our bodies connected, the music in the room a distant hum in my ears.
I wanted to get closer, crawl inside his skin, feel every part of him.
Enoch pulled my hair, exposing my neck as his mouth trailed hot kisses down my jaw, to my ear, until his teeth tugged on my earlobe.
“Fuck,” he said huskily, his breath tickling the shell of my ear.
My heart pounded against my chest as his mouth moved down, down, torturously slowly, until he met the collar of my shirt. He paused and I tugged him up by his hair until his mouth was back on mine.
Enoch’s hand moved slowly from where it had been kneading my ass, up my waist until his fingers danced along the underside of my sports bra.
He hesitated, likely unsure if I wanted him to go further. I didn’t want to stop, I wanted more.
“Out of battery.”
I jolted away from Enoch’s lips, my head smacking into the hard wall as my eyes flew open. The lack of music left us in a startling silence, the sound of our heavy breathing filling the space.
Enoch groaned, his forehead dropped against my collarbone as he tried to catch his own breath. He removed his hand from my ribcage, and then from my hair. Enoch supported the backs of my thighs as he lowered me to the ground.
“Any chance you want to move this upstairs?”
My eyes dropped from his slightly flushed face to the gold cross hanging around his neck.
My fingers drummed against my thigh as I considered his offer.
Do I want to keep going? Yes. Should I? Hell no.
Going upstairs only opened the door for things that I wasn’t capable of.
“Let’s just finish the workout, yeah?” he asked.
My gaze met his, and I pinched my lips together, guilt making my stomach hurt.
He obviously wanted to go back upstairs, if the bulge in his shorts was any indication.
I was being selfish. What if I never got the courage to let him see me naked?
What if I never wanted to cross the line I’d drawn, and sex was off limits indefinitely?
Maybe not the end-all be-all of a relationship, but sex was still important. And he wasn’t going to want to stay a virgin forever. I flinched as his hand moved up to cup my cheek. I relaxed against his touch, leaning my head into his palm.
“Hey.” I lifted my eyes to his brown ones filled with concern. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Fine.”
His mouth thinned into a tight line as he studied my face. “Was that too much?”
I shook my head, and his thumb stroked my cheek.
“Then, what?”
“Nothing,” I shrugged, chewing my lip. “You’re not upset?”
His head cocked to the side. “No. Gosh. Not at all.”
I stared, wishing I could read his mind, determine what exactly he was thinking, what he was feeling.
“I promise,” he said, staring intently. “I am not upset. I told you, I’ll follow your lead. You want to stop, we stop.”
I closed my eyes, teeth grinding as I tried to fight off the swarm of insecurity and doubt that had me itching for my favorite escape.
“Come on,” he coaxed. His lips landed on mine for a brief kiss. “You haven’t tortured me yet with your core exercises you have planned.”
I chuckled half-heartedly and opened my eyes.
“Okay. But you never did your pull-ups.”
“Ah, yes,” he said with a teasing smile. “Just didn’t want you to get jealous when you saw how many I could do.”
I rolled my eyes as he stepped backward, leaving me room to remove myself from the wall.
“Shitbird.”