Gym Junkie

Rourke and I exchange looks, and I hunch my shoulders up like an excited child. “Thank you, sir. It means a lot.”

“Where are you off to?” he asks.

“Lunch.” I frown, not wanting to be rude. “Do you want to come?” I ask.

He smiles. “No, I’m going to go and check in on the others. Are they in the lab?”

“I don’t think so.” I look to Rourke.

“That’s okay, I’ll check anyway. You kids have a nice lunch break, hey?” He slaps Rourke on the back. “Congratulations again.”

The elevator doors open, and Rourke and I practically float inside. I look over at him.

“Guess I’m getting the spring rolls, too.”

The bar is bustling tonight. Music is playing throughout the building, setting the right ambience with the help of the sporadically placed fire lanterns that line the outdoor perimeter. I smile at Callie from across the table. She’s my best friend and has been my partner-in-crime since we were the age of twelve.

Callie looks around at our surroundings. “I swear, I’m so horny I could fuck a tree right now.” She sighs.

I hold up my margarita in the air and she clinks her glass to mine.

“To not fucking trees,” I say, raising my brows as I take a sip. Callie laughs.

My phone beeps with a text. It’s from Taz.

TAZ: We just arrested him.

Well done, Tull.

“Yesssss,” I hiss. “They got him.”

Callie beams. “Oh wow, that’s amazing. Congratulations, babe.” She holds her drink up. “Another toast! To kicking ass in the lab.”

I giggle and clink our glasses again. My eyes widen as I remember my news. “Oh my God, I forgot to tell you.”

She licks the salt from her lips as she looks up and waits for me to continue.

“So…” I pause because this story seems so ridiculous that it couldn’t possibly be true. I mean, I hardly believe it myself. “I hooked up with a guy last night.”

“What? Where?”

“At the gym.”

Her mouth falls open. “At the gym? What do you mean at the gym?”

I put my hands over my eyes, letting the embarrassment win for a moment. “It happened in the bathroom.”

When I peek through my fingers, I see her eyes practically bulging from their sockets. “What the fuck? You hooked up with a guy in the gym bathroom?”

I laugh. “It’s ridiculous, I know.”

“How the hell did this come about?”

I shrug. “Well…” I think for a moment. “He was there, and I was there...”

She frowns as she sips her drink, listening intently.

“We started chatting a bit. He was so gorgeous.”

“How gorgeous are we talking?”

“Like, fucking gorgeous—stupid hot. He starts showing off in front of me, acting all caveman, and I was pretending I hadn’t even noticed him.”

“Damn it.” She bangs her hand onto the table in front of us. “Why don’t hot guys ever show off for me?” She slaps her forehead. “I’m easily impressed. I could do with some showing off, for Christ’s sake.” She shakes her fist to the sky. “Is that too much to ask for, universe?” Her attention falls back to me. “Sorry. Go on.”

“This guy was on the rowing machine, going hell for leather fast, and I was running next to him on the treadmill. I was totally distracted by the muscles in his back.”

She frowns as she listens and continues to sip her drink.

“Then he pulled on the machine so hard that the cord broke and a piece flew off, landed in front of me and tripped me over.”

She cringes on my behalf. “Is this true or is this like a joke and the punch line is coming up?”

I laugh and cross my finger over my chest. “Cross my heart.”

She puffs air into her cheeks. “Okay, go on…”

“I skinned my knee really badly.”

“Are you all right?”

“Fine now,” I mutter. “I was so flustered, though, that I told him off for being a show off and stormed into the bathroom.

She frowns as she listens.

“That’s when he followed me in.”

“Where was the gym workers?”

“There was nobody else in the gym, just us. It’s a twenty-four-hour, unmanned gym.”

“This is the new gym you just joined?”

“Yes.” I hesitate as I try to remember all the details. “And it was definitely after 9:30 p.m. by this time.”

“Why so late?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I worked late and that’s what time I actually got there.”

“Okay, so this hot guy follows you into the bathroom and then what happens?” She’s sitting forward in her seat now, waiting for the rest of the story.

I shrug. “I don’t really know what happened next. He cleaned up my knee and there was all this sexual chemistry between us. I asked him what he was thinking about.”

“And?” She frowns.

“He said he was imagining what his cock would look like in my mouth.”

Her mouth falls open. “He did not.”

I raise both eyebrows and nod. “He did.”

“Oh my God.” She tips her head back and drains her glass. “Then what?”