Chapter Fourteen
“And...time! Good job, everyone.” The instructor led the HIIT class, Tish and Misty among them, through a round of cooldown stretches.
“Glad we got to do this.” Tish’s voice came from the floor, where she was leaning forward in a butterfly stretch.
“Yeah. I barely had time to think I hate this before we moved on to something else.” Misty used one hand to balance against the wall as she stretched a hamstring with the other.
Tish laughed as she raised herself off the ground. Misty took her extended hand and pulled her all the way up. “That’s the beauty of it. Wanna grab dinner?”
“In an hour or so. I have something else.” This was her first time visiting Spencer’s apartment, and the thought had carried her through even the worst section of burpees the instructor had made them do because someone arrived late.
She ran a quick shower in the locker room, spritzed in some dry shampoo, and changed into her street clothes before Tish had even gotten out of her shower.
It was true that Spencer had seen her at far worse over the course of their training, but she wanted to look good for today.
Despite the strenuous class, excitement propelled her the few blocks to his building, a small pre-war building on a side street. After he buzzed her up, she walked up two flights of stairs and wondered why he worked in a gym. It looked like he’d get all the exercise he needed coming and going.
On the third floor, Spencer was waiting outside his front door. “How’d it go?”
“Not bad,” she said, following him inside and glancing around.
Much like every guy she’d visited over the past few years, the focal points of the living room were a big-screen TV and a couch across from it.
It opened to a Pullman kitchen with an espresso machine, blender, and various protein powders crowding one tiny counter.
Spencer led her further in. “Kitchen’s over here, bathroom’s two steps down.”
“Nicer than mine,” she said, peeking in. The shower in the corner wasn’t attached to a bathtub, but the rain head looked like it might make up for that.
“And there’s my bed.” He led her to an alcove in the back of the living room. There were posters from past kickboxing events on the wall, but the bed demanded Misty’s attention. It looked king-sized and made to military precision.
Through the entire brief apartment tour, they’d been inching closer.
Here in the bedroom doorway, she could reach back to touch him while barely moving her arm.
He turned to her as she brushed against him, and the next thing she knew, they were kissing against the door frame.
She’d been thinking about this all day, and the event managed to be even sweeter than the anticipation.
At the same time, a different type of anticipation roared up below the waist.
****
In the few days since he and Misty had first hooked up, Spencer’s post-sex glow had been clouded by doubts as to whether the connection between them was real or if they’d been responding to the euphoria of her news.
He knew from his days on the competition circuit that the thrill of victory could be as powerful as any drink or drug.
As a result, he’d had no shortage of amazing nights followed by second rounds that never lived up to the first time.
Today, though, everything had gone as normally as it was possible for a day to go for both of them. And yet, he needed her as much as he had on the sidewalk. If anything, he wanted her more because he remembered how good it could be.
As thrilling as the thought was, there was also something a little scary and sad about it.
How much were they going to be able to pack into the weeks before it was time for her to go?
A dash of melancholy stabbed into his happy haze, but he tried to push it aside and embrace it as a challenge.
He also embraced her, pulling her against him.
“Yes.”
He hadn’t even noticed he’d spoken out loud until she pulled back to check. “Yes to this?” she asked, grinding her hips against his groin.
“Yes to all this,” he said, pressing his erection into her and running his hands over her hair before kissing her again.
They collapsed onto his bed, letting their hands wander under each other’s clothes. Unlike the urgency of the first day, they took their time removing the layers. She slid his track pants down and grinned. “Did you forget something?” she asked as his hard cock sprang out.
“It’s easier this way.” He’d always thought so of going commando because there was less to pack on the road and less laundry to do at home. He especially appreciated the ease of it now.
He lightly stroked her over her underwear. “At the same time, it’s kind of hot to have this little barricade. I can feel you heating up and soaking into the fabric.”
Her smile turned sly. “Should I tell you there wasn’t any fabric on the days we spent in the pool? I wore my bathing suit under my clothes to go to the gym, and didn’t put it back on after I got out of the water.”
If Spencer had known that at the time, he didn’t know what he would have done. But here, he felt himself turn feral. He shoved the last shred of clothing away to tease and stroke her until she cried out and clenched around his fingers. “Please,” she begged, reaching for his cock.
Spencer could hardly deny her. He dug a condom out of his bedside drawer, and she drew her legs up to welcome him.
Just like when she’d first arrived, he was struck anew by how wonderful it was.
He lost himself in the sensations of being inside her and feeling her tighten around him in excitement.
Once she came out of her orgasmic haze, he lost all compunctions about pursuing his own pleasure.
She whispered encouragement, he erupted in euphoria, and they spent the next several minutes lying next to each other, their hands close enough to touch.
The setting sun filled Spencer’s west-facing apartment with light, and Misty drew her hand up to shade her eyes. “Another evening that got away from me.”
“Am I taking you away from anything?”
“I’m meeting Tish for dinner, but I’ll text you later.” She bent down for one more kiss before getting dressed to leave. Spencer lay back and watched fondly.
His buzzing phone jerked him out of his reverie. He hoped it wasn’t his dad (if anyone could burst his bubble, that man could) and was relieved to see his sister’s contact photo on the screen. “Hey, Laura. What’s up?”
“Just got Miles down and thought I’d say hi. It’s been a while.”
He smiled at the mention of his nephew. “How’s the little guy doing?”
“Ran me ragged today. He got up before six this morning.”
Spencer chuckled at Miles’ antics. “Does that at least mean it was easy to get him down for bed?”
“Don’t I wish. But how have you been? You sound good.”
“Things are good.” He paused to let his statement sink in. He was healthy, living in a good place, working a job he loved, and had just gotten laid. He basked in the good feelings as he caught up with his sister.
Two days later, on a chilly morning, he arrived at the gym as a woman with Misty’s height and taste in workout gear was leaving. “Misty?”
She turned to face him. Her eyes sparkled under a brightly striped knit hat. “Oh, hey!”
“What were you doing here?”
“A round of weights before work.” She adjusted her hat. “I’ve got so much client stuff to do before I go.”
“Good call getting your workout in before that. It can be too easy to let a day get away from you.”
“I know all too well.”
The conversation paused. No one else was around, and Misty’s distinctive hair was stuffed in the hat, making it extremely unlikely anyone would recognize her as a gym member. There was no reason they couldn’t talk freely here, a thought that terrified and thrilled him.
“Are you around tonight? I have a few free hours between sessions.”
She smiled. “Well, with that to keep me motivated...”
She let her voice trail off as she leaned in. The short time outside was enough to chill her lips, but the warmth of her mouth came through underneath. Spencer felt stirrings in his groin and chest, and he could feel his mood picking up, too. He felt her smiling as she pulled away and headed home.
“You dog.”
Spencer jumped at the sound of Kurt’s voice. His friend was off to the side, smirking. “You shouldn’t be doing that, you said. Don’t be the creepy trainer, you said.”
“It’s not—I mean—” Between that kiss and Kurt’s sudden appearance, Spencer felt and sounded like his brain had shorted out.
“Dude, all you had to say was that you had your eye on her, and I wouldn’t have done anything!”
“I didn’t!” Spencer protested. “This didn’t start until after her contract was up.”
Kurt shrugged. “Explain it to yourself all you want. It doesn’t bother me.”
“You’re not gonna say anything to Barry, are you?”
“No way. You’ve kept quiet about me. It’s only right that I should return the favor.”
As much as Spencer appreciated the discretion, something in him objected to being lumped in the same category as Kurt’s trysts.
For one thing, he’d kept things professional the entire time they’d been working together, as hard as that had been at times.
For another, he knew Misty too well for her to fall into the category of some anonymous fuck.
Something in him violently rejected that idea.