Gym Junkie

I smile as I watch them play while everyone goes back to their conversation.

Victoria rolls her eyes. “Damn Cameron. He can’t be serious for one minute.”

I giggle as I watch him play with the little boy.

Brock puts his hand at the small of my back, and I smile up at him.

“I like your crazy family,” I whisper.

He smiles down at me. “Me, too.”

I lie on my side in bed. Brock has just had a shower, and we are back at his house. It’s late now, and he’s walking towards me when he drops his towel and I smile up at him. God, I still get awestruck at his sexual confidence. No matter how many times he parades around in front of me naked without a care in the world, I find it intoxicating.

“My family loved you,” he tells me as he steps into his boxer shorts.

“Do you think so?”

He lies down beside me. “I know so.”

He watches me for a moment. “Are you okay? You were quiet on the ride home.”

I smile sadly and roll onto my back. “I guess.”

“What’s wrong?”

I look over at him and shrug.

He raises his brow. “You can talk to me. I won’t…” His voice trails off.

I pause for a moment. I really want to talk to him about this, but I don’t want him to get angry with me. “Do you think I’ve treated Simon badly?” I ask softly.

He rests up onto his elbow. “Tell me why you broke up again.”

I exhale and look up at the ceiling. “We met when we were fifteen.”

He stays silent as he listens.

“And we were kids. Our love was puppy love.” I look over at him to see how he’s handling this, and he smiles over at me. His smile gives me courage to go on.

“But I always just thought we would break up one day, you know? And I was going to do all the things that I had always wanted to do.”

He picks up my hand and kisses my fingertips.

“But we never did.” I stare sadly at the air conditioning vent up in the ceiling.

“And then ten months ago he asked me to marry him.”

Brock’s smile fades, a frown taking over his face.

“But I didn’t want to get married, and...” I shake my head as I go back to the dreadful day when I told him we were over.

“You don’t want to get married?” He frowns.

My eyes meet his. “I do. Now, I do.”

His face falls. “You want to get married now?”

I giggle. “Don’t panic I don’t mean now, now.”

He smiles. “Go on.”

I frown as I try to tell the story as accurately as I can. “I ended up asking Simon for a twelve-month break and he accepted. I promised him I would return to him and that I wouldn’t meet anyone else.”

Brock’s eyes hold mine. He already knows how the rest of the story goes. “But you met me,” he whispers t.

I get a lump in my throat and I nod sadly. “Not only did I meet you, I fucked you in the worst way possible.”

“Pock.” He sighs as he cups my face. “Can you stop saying that? It wasn’t like that. We were so attracted to each other that we couldn’t help it.”

That’s not the real story and he knows it.

“The thing is, Brock… meeting you, being with you, it all made me realise that my feelings for him weren’t real or true.”

He frowns again, his eyes searching mine.

“I never…” I sigh heavily.

“You never what?”

“I never felt with him what I feel when I’m with you.”

“What do you mean?”

My eyes search his. “Sometimes I feel like I will die if you don’t touch me.”

Tenderness crosses his face, and he leans in to kiss me softly.

“The thing is, I realised that I loved Simon, but I wasn’t in love with him anymore.” I run my hand through his hair. “And even if you and I hadn’t of worked out, Simon wasn’t the man for me.”

He nods, not needing to tell me he understands. His face says it all.

“And it sucks, you know.” My eyes fill with tears. “Because he never did anything wrong.”

Brock cups my face in his hands.

“He loved me so much,” I whisper.

He puts his arm around me, and I rest my head on his chest. I run my hand idly over his heart and his abs as I think.

“I hope he meets someone.” Sadness overwhelms me as I imagine him sad and alone tonight.

Brock pulls me close and kisses my forehead. “It’s not your fault, Tully.”

I frown up at him. “You don’t think?”

“People change.”

“Have you changed?” I ask.

He nods. “Yeah, I’ve changed. A lot, actually.”

“How?”

“Well, I had my first girlfriend when I was sixteen.”

I smile up at him. “What was her name?”

“Rebecca.”

I bite my bottom lip. “What happened with Rebecca?”

His eyes widen. “It was a complete disaster.”