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“I hope you realize I won’t be able to move by the end of this,” she said as he led her to the bench press.
“That’s the idea. Don’t worry. This is the last one.”
“Am I doing okay? I feel like I’m not doing very well.”
“Embarrassed?”
She looked like she wanted to hit him. “A little. I wish I was in better shape.”
She was in excellent shape, but he wasn’t going to tell her that yet. “You’re doing all right. For this, you’re going to push out as many reps as you can, then I’ll take the weights off two at a time until all that’s left is the bar.”
“That sounds horrible.”
“It is. You ready?”
“No,” she groaned but lay back on the bench.
* * *
When she approached the end of the session, Will’s hands hovered under the bar that was vacant of weights. Charlotte’s face contorted, and her arms shook as she pushed with everything she had.
“Come on,” he said. “You can do it. One final push. This is your last one.”
With a grunt, she spent everything she had to direct the bar to the catch, but he blocked it. “Just one more.”
Her eyes widened as her arms collapsed, and he caught the bar, setting in carefully in place.
Charlotte’s arms hung limply at her side. “You said that was the last one.”
“Sorry. Bad joke.”
“That was supposed to be a joke?”
“You think I’m underhanded?”
“Yes.”
He took her hands and pulled her to sitting, then handed her a water bottle. She took it but dropped it in her lap. “Look at me. I can’t even take a drink of water.”
“You want some help?”
“No. I don’t like you very much right now.”
“The sign of an effective trainer. You’re not supposed to like me. Just give it a few minutes. You’ll recover. I told you I needed to know your limits.”
“And?”
“And you lied to me.”
“About what?”
“You said your fitness was average.”
“It is.” She lifted the bottle and got a short chug in before her arm gave way.
“I wouldn’t call that average.”
“Sorry to disappoint you. I did my best. I’ve never been pushed that hard in my life.”
