Page 40 of Mommy

Thankfully at least he keeps his hands on my elbows, helping me to go through the movement but by the time he finally lets me stop my shoulders still feel like someone set them on fire.

“Good job.” Derek nods, taking the weights from my hands and putting them on the ground before me. “You did good, little poison. Nice form. The only thing we need to work on is the bumping together at the top but the rest was perfect.”

“Is it not supposed to do that?” I ask, honestly confused.

“Nope.” He shakes his head, an apologetic expression on his face.

“But all the other people—” I start to justify myself, but he interrupts me.

“They do it wrong, baby.” Derek leans down slightly, brushing a stray hair from my face. “Most people here have no clue what they are doing. But that won’t be you. You’ll know exactly what to do and what not to do, as always.”

I know he’s being cute, but I don’t care. I’m too busy staring up at him.

There are tiny droplets of sweat on his shoulders. They glint in the bright light from above us like diamonds, highlighting his perfectly round shoulders. The muscles he has there are probably the size of my head, whereas my own shoulders look like they don’t even have a muscle.

Derek explained to me that they do, but after I just had to fight tooth and nail to move 10 ridiculous lbs I seriously doubt that.

I feel like an idiot, when Derek puts aside the 50s he was using up to now and returns with 100s instead.

“You got to be kidding me.” I say, eyes wide.

That’s twice my body weight.

The smirk on his lips tells me that he guessed the direction of my thoughts before he opened his mouth.

“Watch closely. And next time you try to keep me from carrying you, remember how easily I could lift two of you at the same time.”

I know he’s not exaggerating, when he moves the weight in position without any of my help and… reps it out.

What the actual⁠—

That can’t be normal.

When he puts the weight back down, I’m still gaping at him in the mirror. Mouth hanging wide open and eyes unblinking.

“Your turn.”

The two words are enough to make me snap out of it, and instead of staring I now scowl at Derek.

By the end of the exercise I’m sure the expression will stay on my face for eternity. A grumpy frown, etched into my skin, completed with wrinkles around my eyes and an angry line between my brows.

Derek’s amusement only makes it worse.

We don’t leave the free weights section, and I press my teeth together to keep from bursting into tears when Derek shows me the next shoulder exercise. And the next. And the next.

Because—apparently— one is not enough. And neither are five.

My arms are nearly numb from the pain and my stomach is growling angrily, when he finally nods his approval and lets me return to the locker room.

Chapter twenty four

Derek

I take her to dinner after the workout, making sure she eats something high in protein for her muscles and something sweet for her dopamine before I drop her off at home.

There’s a slight chance, I’m developing a new kink here. Watching her eat is bringing me way more satisfaction than it should.

If I would’ve had it my way, I would have taken her back home. Home as in: to my house. But she didn’t want to. She insisted, I bring her here instead. And because I want her to be comfortable when she comes over I obliged.