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11
Over the next couple of weeks, I managed to work out a routine that I was happy with. My student loan had come in, my dad had a confirmed start date for his new job, and now that I didn’t have the money worries hanging over my head, I was free to concentrate on my coursework and uni life. I’d settled into my classes, and I had a weekly date with the running club. I normally tried to get in another run either on my own or with Elliot whenever I had a decent chunk of free time, and worked out in the uni gym as often as I could too. Exercise cleared my head, and although the professors were taking it easy on us in our first semester, I needed that mental break.
“Noah!”
I yanked my headphones off, hitting the button to slow the treadmill to a walking pace. Preston stood next to my treadmill with a grin on his face, with Travis and Liam on either side of him. “I just spoke to Kian. Do you still want to go to Revolve? I might have used you as a convenient excuse to persuade him to come with us. I said you needed the moral support.”
It took me a minute to work out what he meant, and then I nodded. “Yeah. Definitely. When?”
“Friday?”
“Count me in, and feel free to use me as an excuse anytime.”
“Revolve? My cousin works there. I can get him to give you a bit of a discount on drinks,” Elliot interjected from the treadmill next to mine. “I can probably get you on the guest list too, if you want.”
I glanced over at him. “Wanna come with us? Apparently, I need the moral support.”
Both he and Preston laughed, and then he nodded. “Yeah, that would be great.”
Liam’s gaze bounced between Elliot and me, his eyes hard. I gritted my teeth, steeling myself. What was his problem now? I thought we were past all the hostility. It had seemed like we were on our way to becoming friends, in fact.
His words completely shocked me.
“I’ll come.”
Everyone turned to stare at him. Preston exchanged glances with Elliot before leaning closer to Liam and speaking in a low voice. “You know it’s a gay club?”
Liam rolled his eyes at him. “Yeah, I’m aware of that. What, I’m not allowed to come because I’m straight?”
“No, I—”
“Okay, so I’ll come. Trav? Spot me on the bench press?” Liam abruptly turned and began heading over to the free weights area of the gym. Travis looked at Preston and shrugged, before following Liam.
Liam had invited himself on our night out. Why?
When I’d finished my cool-down, I headed over to the weights area, and it was a complete coincidence that Liam still happened to be there, sitting back on one of the chest press machines, his muscles straining with the effort as he gripped the machine handles, moving them back and forth in a steady rhythm.
My stomach flipped, and I swallowed hard. He looked so good.
Fuck.
This was worse than I thought. Why did I have to become fixated on him, of all people? My stupid fucking brain, or more like my stupid fucking dick, was clearly broken. Nothing could ever happen with him.
Quickly, I moved to sit on the machine next to him, shoving the pin into the stack of weights at a level I was comfortable with. I’d been going for about eight reps when there was a clang next to me, and suddenly, Liam was standing in front of me with his brows pulled together.
“You’re doing it wrong. You need to breathe properly. It’ll make things easier.”
“Huh?” I stared at him.
“You’re holding your breath. You need to breathe in when you pull it towards you, then breathe out when you push against the weight.” Huffing impatiently, he tapped the machine. “Move. I’ll show you.”
“Uh, okay.” Was I about to pass up a chance to openly watch him work out? Not likely.
Taking my place on the machine, he pulled the pin out of the stack. “Start with no weight, get the technique right.”
“I guess you’re about to tell me I need to work on that too, huh?”
“Yep. Watch the master at work.” He flashed a quick grin at my eye-roll before gripping the handles and moving the machine in a slow, precise way, inhaling and exhaling exaggeratedly. My eyes were drawn to his flexing muscles and the way his T-shirt clung to his skin, damp with sweat.
