Page 29 of The Weight of Love
Beyond just the physical, I find myself yearning for a deeper connection with her, a longing I can’t seem to shake off.
“Where are you driving?”
“Back to the hotel. Keep me company while I drive? You can help keep me awake so I don’t end up making friends with any deer.”
“You should be fine; deer hate asses, from what I hear. I’ll keep you company, though, as long as you don’t mind hearing me gripe about Leslie.”
“Oh man, what’d he do now?”
“Have I told you about his new anti-pants stance?”
Chapter Thirteen
New Years
Stella
I hate January. I hate people. Go find your ‘new-year-new-you’ elsewhere and stop wrecking our gym.
I’m moving through the gym with the absolute worst case of resting bitch face possible. Somehow, the ridiculous new people broke two of the cable machines. Weights are all over the place. Half the clips for the working cable machines are missing.
I’ve started wearing both earbuds so that I don’t have to interact with any new people. I make it through my free weights and head over to set up on the pull-downs, and no bar or clip is hanging from the machine.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
A hand on my shoulder causes me to physically jump, flailing, and fall into the damn machine in front of me. Narrowing my eyes, I’m fully prepared to launch into a particularly ruthless stream of insults but stop short.
Clark.
He reaches out and shakes his head, pulling me back upright by my hips. Then, I pull my earbuds out of my ears.
“Didn’t mean to scare you. You only used to keep one of those in, so I thought you’d heard me.”
“Oh.”
“How have you been?”
He looks all sincere, sweet, and apologetic. Things have been so weird since Thanksgiving. He was so cold for a while. And then this sudden shift back to trying to be friends again since Christmas gives me emotional whiplash.
“You know, busy. Work, kids, gym. Lather, rinse, repeat.”
I awkwardly shift my weight, and his hands grip my hips tighter. My mind flashes with images of him above me, below me, and I am sorely tempted to climb him like a tree right there in the middle of the gym, new year crew be damned.
“Want to get some coffee after you’re done? I don’t want to stop you mid-workout. Just thought we could…talk.”
“Sure, I have three sets to do, then I should be done.” He chuckles and lets his hands drop.
“I know. I’ve watched you around this gym long enough to know your workout, Darlin’.”
I intend to return to my workout and remember my issue with the missing clip.
“Damn it.”
Clark steps back up behind me, reaching over my head, and using a magically procured clip, he clips the bar in place.
“My hero.”
I am trying hard to focus on the last of my workout, but I can feel his eyes on me. As I turn and our eyes meet, I feel another uncontrollable blush warming my cheeks. Now, his gaze meets mine, desire unmistakably etched across his features.