Page 18 of Gym With Benefits

"My taste is infallible," David said, simmering down with a satisfied sigh. "Now do a full structural assessment. Turn around."

I shifted ninety degrees to catch my profile in the mirror, and all jokes left the building, along with my dignity.

"Oh my God."

"Is the seam holding?"

"My ass is partitioned!"

The leggings featured a distinct, strategic ruching directly down the center seam. A deliberate design feature that isolated and hoisted my glutes into two perfectly rounded, highly defined spheres.

“Talk to me, Jess,” he goaded from the other end of the line, knowing full well what the fuck was going on.

I couldn’t stop gawking. "There is a canyon. A literal topographical event. Everyone is going to be looking straight at my ass and nothing else."

"Ah, the poetry of the honeycomb scrunch," David purred, triumphant. "You're welcome. Now stop hiding the assets and go lift. And don’t forget to send me pi—"

I smashed the red circle that ended the call, hands shaking a little from the jump in my heartrate. The working out part hadn’teven started yet. What the fuck was he thinking? How was I going to pull this off out there?

“Ducks on a pond, Jess. Butterflies in a field.” My eyes dropped closed and I took a few measured breaths, repeating the mantra.

After a couple of seconds, I’d mustered enough courage to do the thing. The pocket on my leggings was a nice surprise, and I slid my phone into it, earphones slung around my neck. I had interests, and I had a life. And I wasn’t going to let a little honeycomb whatever get in the way of that.

I marched for the locker room door with purpose, but before I could make a grab for it, it swung open.

A wall of tailored charcoal wool and the scent of smoke and leather slammed into me. I stumbled back a step. Dane’s jaw set in a rigid line of zero fucks, seemingly unbothered by the impact.

“Look where you’re going, asshole.”

His gaze dropped from my face and took a lethal tour down the compressed length of contoured engineering I’d squeezed into. The poker face remained untouched, but the fiery glint in his eye proved my roommate’s point a thousand times over.

“If I remember correctly, you’re the one who likes to look.” His mouth twitched with the start of a grin that didn’t quite happen.

I made to push past him, but he mirrored my sidestep to block my path all over again. Childish dick.

“Get out of my way.”

“Stay out of mine,” he countered, stepping closer instead of backing off. “Or find a different gym.”

“This is a public facility. You don’t get to—”

“I know people. I can have your membership revoked before you finish your next set if you insist on ruining my workouts.”

“Y—you can’t do that.” But my resolve faltered under the force of his arrogance and that threat rolled into one. “I’m not the grade-A dick in this equation.”

Dane’s fingers went to his belt, unbuckling the leather with a fluid, dismissive click before reaching for his pants. “Speaking of dicks... are you just going to stand there again, or can I actually have some privacy this time?”

Ugh. The man was a pus-filled toe blister.

The snag of his zipper was enough to get my feet moving. I bolted out of the locker room so fast my hair flew out behind me. And as the door swung shut, I was sure I heard him laughing.

My body was still thrumming with the after-effects of Dane The Prick when I reached the Muscle Mansion. Now I had Monday work stress and, well, the other kind of stress to get rid of.

The free-weight section resembled a sprawling iron foundry, loud with the clanking of steel and low grunts of men moving immense amounts of mass. Standing on the perimeter, the overwhelming array of dumbbells and specialized racks offered no clues on where to begin. Or what to do once I did. Between my partitioned ass and prominent chest, there was a spotlight on my definite lack of a plan.

“So you took my advice...” Hunter materialized at my elbow, his gaze lingering on something behind me. I didn’t need any guesses to know what that was. His face split into an easy grin when he looked back up. “This is Brock. I told him it was your first time, and he was generous enough to take time out of his packed schedule to show you the ropes.”

“Hey.” Brock’s mass loomed over us. Up close, his presence possessed a dense, solid gravity that pulled me in.