Six months later
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I grumble while signing my name. I make it extra hard to read just to be obnoxious. Somehow, my scribbly signature doesn’t faze Abel.
“Come on, Rian,” Abel says with a huge grin that I just wanna slap off his beautifully chiseled little face. “You love my class. And what a better time to join than now, when you get a discount thanks to our fantastic new facility?”
I look around at the new building and grudgingly admit that he’s right. The old building was deemed a total loss, so the gym had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Everything in it is new. Even the floor plan had some modifications made, although the biggest changes are in the locker room. The gym gods apparently heard my bitching for long enough and convinced the plan makers to give us bigger showers complete with actual doors.
I almost threw my hands in the air and yelled “Hallelujah!” when I saw them. Okay, fine. So, I actually did do that. Tabitha thought it was funny, even if everyone else gave me dirty looks.
“I’m only signing this because of that discount,” I say, handing my paperwork over to my trainer.
“I don’t care why you’re doing it.” He takes it out of my hands and shoves it in a folder. “All I know is your ass is mine three days a week now. This is gonna be fun.”
“Give me my paper back.” I grab for the folder, but he holds it over his head so I can’t reach it. I’ve never been good at climbing, so it is well and truly out of my reach. “I change my mind.”
“Too late. You’ve already signed your life away.” He bellows out a maniacal laugh, and I’m this close to using my kickboxing skills to punch him in the gut when another male voice stops me.
“Uh, care to tell me why you’re trying to climb your trainer like a tree?”
I pause and look over my shoulder to see my boyfriend, with his arms crossed. He’s not serious. He knows how Abel and I are, but it’s still fun when he goes all alpha male.
I snap to attention, pulling my leg down from where it’s wrapped around Abel’s thigh. Huh. I’m better at climbing than I thought.
Pushing a rogue hair out of my face, I take a deep breath. “Just trying to get Abel to give me my paperwork back.”
“Rian,” Carlos says slowly. “We talked about this. Once you sign your name, it’s over.”
“But I thought you loved me,” I whine, hoping to get him on my side.
Instead, he shakes his head. Traitor. “I do love you. More than anything. But a legal document is still binding and you are still required to pay him no matter what.”
I drop my head back and sigh. “Fine. I’ll go to his stupid class. But no sleds.”
My pointing finger and mean face apparently do nothing to penetrate Abel’s walls of indifference. “Extra sleds. Got it.” He trots off with me shooting daggers into his back.
“One of these days, I’m going to sled right over his toe,” I threaten, but we both know I’ll never gain enough speed for that. More likely, I’d run into his foot, make a jarring stop, and throw my back out.
Getting older sucks.
Carlos puts his arm around my neck and kisses me on the top of my head. “You did a good thing there.”
“Yeah. Just don’t tell him that.”
I didn’t really sign the contract because of the discount. I signed it to help Abel out. We were all shuffled to different locations after the fire and Abel lost a lot of customers. For someone whose income is significantly affected by his ability to make commissions, it hurt his budget. A lot. Add onto it, he became a single dad during the same time period, so I know he’s feeling the pinch. Hopefully, bumping up from two days to three days a week will help him give his daughter at least a little bit of a Christmas.
It’s not like spending the money is going to kill my budget. I’m paid generously, and Quinn made good on that raise after the baby was born. I told him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted that I had proven my willingness to go above and beyond, and he didn’t want to risk losing me by not recognizing it. I still think it was his secret way of paying me to keep helping him find rare yarns. What he doesn’t know is I would be finding them for my sister’s presents anyway, so it’s not really extra work for me.
What has been extra work is training my new teammate… Francesca. She happened to find the second job opening at Cipher Systems, and when Carlos saw her resume, he immediately asked about her. I was shocked she met the qualifications for the job. I thought she had been working for Sandeke Telecom because she liked it. Turns out, she was just biding her time until the right job came along that used her architecture degree. Who knew?
So, she and I went right back to being cooking buddies, only this time we included Carlos in the mix. Since then, Teresa and a couple other people have joined in. I only have to cook one night a week now. It’s glorious.
Carlos and I continue to meander around the gym, just looking at the new equipment and where everything is set up. The cafe is in the same spot, but it’s all brand new. Tabitha couldn’t be happier. All her blenders are state of the art, which she tells everyone who sits down at her counter. She even has real menus now.
“Everyone seems so excited to be back in ‘our’ space again,” Carlos remarks, just as happy as everyone else. “It’s no fun to work out when you aren’t with your friends."
“That, and everyone is excited not to ride the El while stinky anymore.”
He rolls his eyes, still not understanding my disdain for that form of public transportation. “It was a five-minute train ride, Rian. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“You weren’t the one who was almost kicked off for leaving butt sweat on the seat,” I argue, making him laugh. Yes, the asshole is laughing at my trauma. “Do you know how embarrassing that was? He thought I’d peed on the seat!”
Carlos is full on laughing now. “That was so funny.”
I punch him in the shoulder. “Exactly how funny was it? Funny enough for you to sleep alone tonight?”
His face immediately straightens up. “Nope. Not that funny. Not funny at all. It was terrible. Please don’t make me sleep on your lumpy couch.”
“It’s not lumpy. It’s like sleeping on a cloud.”
“A cloud filled with marbles.”
“Well, my birthday is coming up. If you hate it that much, you can get me a new one.”
“Done.”
My jaw drops, and I squeal in protest. “Carlos, no! I was kidding!”
“Too late. I’m getting you a couch for your birthday. I’m sure I’ll eventually be forced to sleep there for real, so I wanna make sure it’s comfortable.”
Rolling my eyes, I can’t help but smile. “Always the planner.”
He kisses the top of my head. “You know you love me for it.”
“I do. More than anything.”
He smiles that grin that’s reserved for only me. “I love you, too.”
Yes, we love each other. Ever since the first time Carlos told me after a quick weekend trip to Vegas where I had such bad luck, I had to switch to nickel slots so my money would last longer, we say it a lot. Not at the office, unless Nancy is standing there because it makes her gag which makes us laugh. Otherwise, we stay professional on the job.
But it’s glorious being in love with your best friend, and now that we both realize our connection keeps getting stronger, we make sure to remind each other often. We’re more secure in our relationship every day, and those three words are part of why we no longer say things like, “But why me?”
That conversation got really obnoxious really fast. We’d rather watch cooking shows on my not-lumpy couch.
Coming to the entrance of one of the weight rooms, I turn and put my hands on my hips. “Well, we’re here. What do you want to do?”
Shortly after we started dating, Carlos and I stopped just ending up at the gym at the same time and starting purposely going together. Weight Expectations was already part of both of our lives. It just made sense to keep doing it together. I still go to Abel’s class a couple days a week and he still works out with Nick. But some days we actually lift together. It’s fun... ish. It’s fun-ish.
Okay, fine. Showering together afterward is fun, which makes the pain of lifting actual weights worth it.
“I was thinking,” Carlos starts with an ornery grin on his face. I know that look. He either wants to do leg day or he’s horny. Glancing down at his crotch I realize he must be thinking about leg day. Dammit. “Stop looking at my junk.” Busted. He knows me so well. Pulling me to him, I put my arms around his neck. “I was thinking about lunges, but you’ve distracted me. What do you say we blow this joint and go work on some calisthenics instead?”
“Really?” I giggle as he leans his forehead on mine.
“Really. I know I should want to stay, but I’m just in the mood to sit on your lumpy couch…” A small laugh bursts out of me. “Order some really bland takeout from that gluten-free fast-food place…” I stick out my tongue in disgust. “And spend the night making a meal out of my girlfriend.”
“Oh, that’s what you’re in the mood for?” I ask playfully, as he rubs his hands up my back.
“Yep.”
“I like that idea,” I rasp, moving just a hair closer until our lips are just about to touch.
“Get a room!” Abel yells as he walks by, making me laugh so hard I pull back just enough to see the smile on Carlos’s face as well. Happy is his regular mood now, and I love it.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I hug him close, not wanting to miss this small moment of joy.
Over his shoulder, a construction crane is being used to lift the new sign on the wall.
“Weight Expectations: Where Great Things Happen” is what it reads.
It’s not wrong.
It’s not wrong at all.
The End.