I’m now running around the house, trying to find my good sports bra to wear to the gym with Miles. I burned through more workout clothes this week than I usually do in a month, and I haven’t been on top of the laundry. The only one I have now is a black Nike one which I haven’t worn since high school. And not to my benefit now, my boobs have grown a ton since then.
“Did you shave?” Scarlett asks through of a mouthful of toast when I get to the kitchen. She’s sat at the island, eating her breakfast while balancing a study video on the back of her cup. She’s been pestering me with these kinds of questions all morning.
“No, Scarlett, I didn’t. We’re going to the gym, I’m not trying to fuck him,” I counter but she shrugs. Under very different circumstances I would have. Hell, if I was unstable enough last week, Idefinitelywould have. I know it goes against everything I’ve tried to avoid but there is something so undeniably attractive about him. Something that with one look, I could be completely destroyed. Hockey player and all.
“Can’t you do both?” Kennedy asks, walking in the kitchen as she rubs sleep out of her eyes. "He might just trip and fall right between your legs."
“Do you guys both have to be on my case right now?” I sigh frustrated. They both giggle and there’s rapid knocking on the door. They exchange glances and pull a stupid face as I run to answer it.
It’s Miles. He’s in grey shorts and a white tee, a duffle bag slung across his shoulder. He looks devastating. He steps into the apartment and raises a hand to Kennedy and Scarlett who are so obviously ogling. I am too.
“You look hot,” he says quickly, gesturing to my tiny sports bra and joggers. I suck in a breath at his forwardness. Swatting him on his shoulder, I try to battle the blush on my cheeks.
“You don’t have to pretend to like me. They already know that we’re pretending,” I say, walking away from him to collect my bag from the couch.
“I know,” he whispers. I turn to see him smirking. Scarlett gets out of her seat, standing in front of him. I don’t have to see her face that she’s either smiling or judging him. They’re almost the same height, Miles only a few inches taller.
“Miles. Nice to finally meet you. Again,” Scarlett says, her voice humours and light. He shakes her outstretched hand. I walk up towards them, standing at her side.
“Ooh, don’t say ‘finally.’ He’ll think that I talk about him all the time,” I warn, rolling my eyes. Miles' mouth opens then closes, shaking his head. I smile to myself.
“But youdotalk about him all the time,” Kennedy shouts from whatever corner she’s disappeared to. I catch Miles’ eyes over Scarlett’s head. He raises his eyebrows, but I ignore it.
“You ready to go?” I ask. He nods, exchanges goodbyes with my friends and we head out of the door and catch the elevator down to the bottom floor. He walks past my car in the parking lot and continues walking down towards the main road. “Where are you going?”
He turns around dumbfounded. “To the gym. Why are you taking your car? It’s, like, five minutes away.” He sighs, throwing his hands up and then dropping them.
“Oh, you sweet, innocent, child. Get in,” I demand, and he obliges. He looks so out of place in my car. His larger-than-life shoulders barley fit in the seat, and he has to adjust his chair to give his legs more room. It’s comical, really. We barely make it out of the drive before he starts asking me a million questions.
“Where are we going? There’s not another gym for miles. Are you going to murder me? Is this a kidnapping? Why aren’t you answering my questions?” he asks rapidly.
“If I wanted to kidnap you, why would I ask you to come tomyapartment?”
“You’re right but that still doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“Can you chill? I said we were going to dorealtraining. If there is one perk to my dad owning hotels, it’s that I get access to all the private gyms.”
He looks at me and laughs. “You’re insane.”
“That is the second time you’ve called me that. I’m just being practical. Why would we waste our time in a gym where the equipment is mediocre, at best, when we could go to a luxury one that has just been built.”
He doesn’t ask any more questions while I drive. He does change the music every two minutes, never letting a full song play. In the last ten minutes I’ve heard, Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Lil Nas X and Miley Cyrus. I was beginning to think that he’s not that bad. That he’s not the douche hockey guy I made him out to be. Until he started singing. I almost crashed four times in the thirty-minute drive at his screeching.
“Remind me to never carpool with you again,” I say when we walk into the hotel.
“I’ve got a gorgeous voice, Wren,” he whispers in my ear at the reception desk. His breath tickles my neck and I shiver. I ignore him and get our day passes and we walk through the transparent doors into the gym.
Secluded gyms like these, that nobody knows about just yet, are my favourite. They always smell fresh and I’m usually one of the first people to use the equipment. It’s like opening the cap of a fresh orange juice bottle. It’s so satisfying and calming.
We place our bags in the corner of the room and we start a light warm up. It was easy settling into a routine with him. The girls took forever to get into going to the gym with me. After a few painful months for them, they saw it more as an annual thing to come along with me. Apparently, I’m too intense for them. Miles and I quickly get into a smooth rhythm of doing a few miles on the treadmill and the Step Master. We then move to the weights.
“How much can you bench?” I ask when we take a small break. I pull out the lid off my water bottle with my teeth and gulp some while he just stares, catching his breath.
“Isn’t that the same as asking a girl what their bra size is?” he asks back. I can’t help but laugh.
“That’s not the same thing. You don’t have to tell me. I was just wondering,” I say, getting ready to go on the bench press myself. He stands behind me as I slide in, getting ready to spot me.
“I don’t know. Maybe, one-seventy,” he concedes, suddenly looking embarrassed. I let out ahuhin recognition. “What about you?”
