Page 71 of Make Me Laugh

Neither of us are used to this type of attention, but Joey’s taking the harder hit—I keep wanting to check on her, but I’m sure I already pushed her boundaries last night.

No need to piss her off on day one of living together.

Kell decides to take a nap, and I can’t sit in silence any longer.

I change and follow the signs in the building to a small gym with fairly decent equipment for its size.

I spend a while stretching, warming my muscles up slowly, focusing on my left leg the longest like I always do. I may have pushed it too hard this week during my runs, making my knee ache when pressing my fingers into the joint line.

I’ll probably need to ice it tonight after the show.

Halfway through an arm workout that requires no use of my legs, when my music is the loudest in my headphones, a brunette in Barbie Pink leggings and a matching sports bra comes in, pausing when she notices me. I give her a polite smile and reach for my water bottle.

She stares in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors, adding an exaggerated sway of her hips as she chooses the treadmill closest to me.

I pay her no mind, using the remainder of my short rest to reply to a few texts.

When I look up from my phone less than a minute later, the spot on the floor beside my bench is no longer empty. In front of the mirrored wall, there’s a yoga mat decorated with snakes and daggers. My eyes trail up long legs with tattoos I’m still studying like there might be a test. This time, I recognize the snake on her leg—Grim’s in a pointy witch hat, wrapped around a spell book.

Joey’s in her favorite oversized gray crewneck, Harvard embroidered across the chest, and a pair of black spandex shorts I’m only able to tell she’s in when she lifts her arms overhead to stretch. They barely cover her ass, and from my seated position I’m basically eye level with it.

I imagine lowering her down onto my lap, fucking her in front of the mirrors for us to watch. In this fantasy, brunette Barbie’s not here, of course.

Joey catches me staring, her eyes already on me in the mirror while I take my time dragging mine up her body. I slip my headphones to the back of my neck.

She bites her lip to stop herself from grinning at whatever look she sees on my face, switching arms. “I thought you’d be out for a run with how nice the weather is.” Stretching her tricep, Joey holds her elbow with the opposite hand.

“I’m maxed out on miles this week,” I answer, ignoring the vibration of my watch alerting me to start the next set.

Joey moves through a few more similar stretches, focusing on her upper back muscles. I’m sure sitting in front of her computer for long hours creates a lot of tension. Her eyes scan my left knee.

The scars are a lot less noticeable than they once were, fading into a color close to my natural skin tone. Even if they weren’t there physically, disappearing from my body altogether, the ones I’m left with inside my mind will stay with me forever.

“ACL?” Her voice is quiet when she asks, being conscious that we’re not alone.

I nod and throw up two fingers. “Twice.”

She grimaces, switching her focus to stretching her lower body. “Ouch.”

When she drops into a low squat, I reach for the dumbbell at my feet and decide it’s time to focus less on Joey. Even though I want my eyes—and other things—on her at all points of the day, every moment she’s with me… Especially if she’s wearing spandex shorts with a little bit of cheek peeking out.

Distraction of the fucking century: Josette Daniels.

Her ass in those shorts should actually be illegal. I’m not sure if she’s been blessed by the gods or something, but that’s an ass people pay money for.

Either to get or to see. And maybe, if luck’s on their side, to touch.

We fall into a comfortable silence, and at some point I’m able to throw my headphones back on and finish the last set of strict overhead presses.

Joey’s doing a light yoga routine, slipping out of her shoes and socks. Is it weird it’s not the first time I’ve noticed she has cute feet? I’m not even a foot kinda guy, but apparently I like everything about Joey, including her cute feet and their mixed metal toe rings.

With how well kept her fingernails are, the fresh pedicure she’s sporting, and the knowledge I have of how smooth her pussy is, it’s clear Joey likes to keep up on body maintenance.

I would have finished my workout within five minutes of her showing up, but adding on a couple extra rounds and reps wasn’t going to kill me. It made the burn worth it when I caught her staring at the veins in my forearms as I flexed my hands and gave my grip a break from the heavy dumbbell.

She averts her gaze the second she gets caught, lowering herself to lie flat on her back and cool down with a breathing exercise.

Using that as my sign to finish up too, I take my headphones off and catch brunette Barbie standing behind me in the mirror. She waves, smiling nervously when I twist to face her.