“Later, jock.”
He grinned and then started walking again. I stared after him for a second, breathless, before finally heading off to class.
I moved through the day in a light daze, mindless and smiling to myself. That hadn’t exactly been some big profession of love or whatever, but he’d admitted that he wanted me.
I finished up class and then headed over to Gibson’s apartment. He had already gone through his afternoon practice while I was sitting through a biology lecture. I knocked and Hynes answered.
“He’s late,” Hynes said.
“What?”
“Gibson’s late. Come on. You can wait inside.”
“Oh,” I said, and headed in. Hynes nodded at the couch and then disappeared back into his room.
This was unlike Gibson. He didn’t normally run late. He had only a few minutes to himself after practice and before tutoring, and he normally used that time to scarf down some food while I hovered around him.
He showed up a few minutes later, a little out of breath and sweating.
“Hey,” he said. “Sorry.” He threw his stuff down. “Let’s do this.”
I guided him to the couch. “You okay?”
“I’m great,” he said, grinning. “I have a little surprise for you actually.”
“What’s that? There’s not a ring in your pocket or something?”
He laughed. “No. Not yet. Maybe after I get drafted or something.”
“Oh great. Now I have something to look forward to.”
He grinned at me. “How would you like to watch me lift weights?”
I sighed as I went through my vitals routine. “I don’t know. Sounds boring.”
“For your study.”
“Ah,” I said. “Well then. Maybe.”
“I got us some time at the gym after closing, for real this time. No sneaking in the back door.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep, seriously.”
“That’d be really good for the study,” I said slowly. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” He took my chin and pulled me close. “Now say thank you.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling.
He kissed me. “Anything, anytime.”
I finished up his vitals and he got up. “All right, I’m going to rinse off and then run the hell out of here. I’ll see you later?”
“Sure. See you later.”
“Same time as last time.”
I nodded, grabbed my bag, and then watched him disappear into the bathroom. I wished I could follow him in there and watch the water run down his body, but instead I turned and reluctantly left.
A few hours passed, and I found myself standing outside the gym again.
It felt pretty familiar, standing there alone in front of the closed gym. This time, though, I had a pretty good idea of what was actually happening.
Gibson showed up a few minutes later. He smirked at me as he approached. “Ready to see how a real man lifts?”
“Can’t wait,” I said, sarcastic.
“Come on.” He opened the front door and I followed him in. A man was standing behind the front desk, and he nodded at Gibson as we approached.
“Thanks for this, Jim,” Gibson said.
“No problem. Just lock up on your way out.”
“Will do.”
The man smiled at me and then headed out, carrying a bag.
“Who was that?”
“The manager here,” Gibson said. “He’s a friend of the football team.”
“Everyone is around here,” I said.
“That’s true.”
I followed Gibson into the gym. We headed right over to the back part of the space. He shut a pair of heavy double doors, closing us into the room together.
He took off his shirt and I got out my equipment. I strapped him up to the Holter monitor again and started getting his baseline vitals before we began.
“So, how much weight should I lift?” he asked.
“We’ll start out small.”
“Aw, come on, let me show off these guns.” He flexed, smirking at me.
“Right now, I’m the scientist. You’ll do as I say.”
“Damn, girl. I think I like that.” He laughed.
I blushed. “Cut it out. This is professional.”
“Yeah, right.”
I finished setting him up and then he went and began his lifting routine.
“I’m keeping it light at first, as requested,” he said. “The lifting coach gave me the green light to do this routine for you, so don’t worry about my training.”
“I wasn’t worried,” I said.
“My body is a machine, you know,” he said. “Any change could throw me off.”
“Oh yeah. You’re such a machine.”