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"I couldn't sleep." I sighed. "What about you?"
"It's four a.m." He smiled, flicking on a light in the kitchen. I narrowed my eyes. He said that like I should know what that meant. "I go to the gym at four a.m."
"Every day?"
He nodded. "You want to come?" he smiled.
"Oh, no," I shook my head. "I don't really work out."
"It would help you sleep," he said. "And it would help you with all that built-up tension."
"You know what," I said, twisting my feet to the floor. "Why not?" He was right; I needed a release, and maybe working out was my only chance to do that.
"Go get dressed while I finish my protein shakes." He smirked.
I hadn't intended on going to the gym, so all I had close to workout clothes was a pair of tight spandex shorts and a t-shirt. I quickly threw them on and met Maddox at the door.
* * *
Apparently,four a.m. was the time to go to the gym if you wanted to be alone because the place was empty. I'd never worked out before, so figuring out what to do and how to do it was a little bit intimidating. Maddox must have noticed because he asked, "Do you want to work out with me?" I should have said no and figured this out on my own, but I didn't.
"First, we'll start with the treadmill," he said, walking towards the row of treadmills. "Only for about ten minutes to get our blood pumping." I hopped on, and he showed me how to set my speed and how to stop before jumping on his. I kept my pace low to reserve energy for whatever else Maddox had planned.
"Do you still do art?" Maddox asked, increasing his speed.
"No," I said, focusing on my steps. I hadn't put paint on paper since the day I left. It wasn't the same anymore. The love I'd had for art left the moment I saw those pictures on Karly's phone.
"You know there's an old abandoned..."
"Maddox," I snapped, cutting him off. I knew where this was going, and I couldn't do this with him. He wasn't going to fix this or us by finding me a new place to paint because my heart wasn't in it anymore. "If you want this friendship to stand a chance, you can't do this." Our friendship didn't stand a chance anyway, but I needed him to stop bringing up the past—the old me.
My heart squeezed when hurt flashed across his face, but then it was gone. Pressing his lips into a thin line, he nodded before shoving his AirPods in his ears to finish his walk.
We walked our ten minutes in silence, and I was thankful when it was over, and so was the silent treatment. I shouldn't care that I hurt his feelings, but I did.
We moved from workout to workout, and before I knew it, I'd forgotten about our argument. I'd forgotten that I hated him. We laughed and talked as he taught me how to use each piece of equipment—neither of us spoke another word about the past.
"Can you do a pull-up?" he asked, wiping the sweat from his face.
"No." I scowled, looking over to the pull-up bar that I was pretty sure I couldn't reach at all.
"Come here." He jerked his head towards the bar. I followed him, stopping underneath it.
"I can't reach it," I said, stretching to reach up to the bar. I flinched, jumping back when I felt his hands curl around my waist.
"I was just going to help." He laughed, throwing his hands up, surrendering.
"Nothing else," I asked. After last night, my trust in his motives was almost nonexistent.
"I'm sorry about last night." He sighed. "I shouldn't have kissed you, and I promise I won't do it again." I narrowed my eyes, not wholly convinced. "Well, unless you ask me to." He laughed, and I smiled.
"Fine." I rolled my eyes, lifting my arms to the bar. "But no funny business." His hands curled around my waist, lifting me effortlessly to the bar. I wrapped my hands tightly around the bar, and Maddox dropped his hands.
"Okay, now pull yourself up."
I huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, that's not going to happen." It was harder than I thought, but before I could say another word, Maddox jumped, grabbing hold of the bar. The same bar I was hanging from. His mouth was so close I could smell the mint on his breath. "What are you doing?"
"Helping." He laughed playfully. "No funny business." He wrapped his legs around my thighs, locking his feet behind me. I started to protest but snapped my mouth shut when he said, "Now pull." I did, and with his help, I did my first pull-up.
