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“Let’s go over to the treadmills,” he said as he hopped up to his feet.
Misha glared at him when it took her a little more effort to get up from the mat. “Just so I know what’s coming… Is the treadmill the last part of this workout?”
“Nope.” Jay headed away from her, waving his hand for her to follow him.
With a sigh, Misha slowly walked across the gym to where six treadmills waited. Jay watched her, a grin on his face.
“We’ll start off slow,” Jay said as he got her set up on the treadmill.
“Is that anactualwe?” Misha asked. “Because somehow I doubtyou’regoing to go slow.”
“I usually start off slow, but I work up to a speed you won’t be at today.”
“Thank God for small mercies,” Misha murmured.
“Ready?”
“Yep.”
The treadmill began to move at a pace that she found tolerable. She was pretty sure that she moved faster when she walked through the store or the clinic. Jay didn’t get on a treadmill yet, standing next to hers and keeping an eye on her.
After a minute, he hit something on the dash of the treadmill and the speed increased slightly. After a few more small–but noticeable—incremental increases, Jay said, “There you go. Let’s try you at that speed for fifteen minutes and see how you feel.”
Even though it was a pace faster than she usually moved, it still felt tolerable, so Misha nodded. Now that she was set up, Jay climbed onto the treadmill next to hers. His starting speed surpassed her current speed. Within a couple of minutes, Jay was jogging along at a pretty good clip. And yet, he was still able to carry on a conversation with her.
By the time fifteen minutes had passed, Misha was feeling it in her calves, and sweat had broken out on her brow and was trickling down her back. It was a clear indicator of just how out of shape she was.
“Think you can keep going for another five minutes?” Jay asked as he continued to run next to her.
Misha wasn’t sure she could, but something inside her made her nod. If she had to put a name to it, she’d have to call it pride or ego. She didn’t want to look like an out-of-shape slob in front of Jay.
“You’re doing so well,” Jay said with an encouraging smile. “Keep it up.”
His words made her smile in return, even though she felt a bit like she was dying from over-exertion. Too bad she couldn’t carry on a conversation with him the way he could with her.
As the five minutes neared its end—she was tracking it on the large clock on the wall—she prayed that Jay didn’t try to get her to go for another five minutes. Her pride might just kill her by agreeing.
“Good job,” Jay said as he shut off his treadmill and deftly stepped off of it.
He reached over to press something on the dashboard of hers, and Misha breathed a sigh of relief as the pace slowed, then finally stopped. She lifted the neckline of her T-shirt and dragged it down her face, wishing she’d brought another shirt to change into.
“Let’s go back over to the mats and stretch again.”
“And that’s it?” Misha managed to ask as she waited for her heart to stop galloping in her chest.
Jay smiled as he nodded. “And that’s it.”
The stretching still felt good, though now her leg muscles felt more like cooked spaghetti than they had the first time around. She hoped that Jay didn’t ask her if she planned to come to the gym again the next day because her body would have overridden her pride and demanded that she say no.
She knew she wouldn’t reap the benefits of working out if she gave up after one session. But right then, all of her—except her pride and desire to be around Jay—wanted to sayabsolutely notto any suggestion of coming back to the gym.
“Feeling okay?” Jay asked as they finished stretching.
Misha lay flat on her back, sprawled like a starfish on a rubber mat beach. “Are my legs still attached to my body?”
Jay chuckled. “Yep. They are.”
“Then I guess I’m okay.”
