Page 13 of Every Move You Make

“Not yet,” I huff. “There’s someone I think might be great at it, but… I don’t know.”

“Who?”

“It’s probably a bad idea.” When I don’t continue, Dell eyes me and increases the resistance to its most difficult setting. “Okay,” I grunt. “It’s because I’ve kinda had a thing for him for a long time.”

“Oh,” he sings, then mercifully lowers the intensity. “What? Don’t think you can handle seeing your crush all the time?”

I see you all the time.

“He’s just… we used to be so close. And now he avoids me like I’m the plague. I don’t know what Idid.”

“Are you sure it was you?”

“I don’t know what else it could have been. Maybe I gave Friendzone vibes too strong back in the day, and now he can’t see me as anything else.”

“Oh, he’s an old friend?”

“Yeah.”

“He still likes you.”

“What? What do you mean,still?”

“Did he want to hang out with you a lot? Did you guys spend time talking one-on-one often? Did you talk about deep stuff? Have you met each other’s families?”

I’m silent for a moment as I think back. “Yes.” All those tournaments and rugby parties we went to. We’d socialize with our teams, but we’d always gravitate toward each other and block out everyone else. Most of it was drunken fun, harmless to the untrained eye, but sometimes there were moments I could barely resist him. There was something so easy about him. So tender and kind on the inside. But our paths never aligned and I could never quite figure out if he wanted me in the same way.

“He still likes you,” Dell says, matter-of-factly.

“Well, how the hell am I supposed to get him to talk to me again? I feel so awkward around him now. When it comes to him, I have no game.”

“That’s rather out of character for you.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Alright,” Dell smirks, turning off the bike. “You’ve convinced me. I’ll be your flirt coach.”

Chapter 6

Flirt Coach

Dell

Here’s the thing about me: sometimes I dive in headfirst without checking how deep, clean, or safe the water is. But that’s how I go through life, and it’s worked out for the most part. I don’t usually second-guess myself.

But with Robyn staring at me like I’m out of my mind, I do.

I remember so distinctly when I first saw her at Philly’s Pride parade. The second she walked into my gym two years ago, I recognized her. I swallowed my pride and pretended it was our first meeting. I’ve been trying to make a professional name for myself since I opened my gym seven years ago, when I was twenty-six.

Once she came back into my life, I thought I could sweep our chance encounter under the rug and ignore that tiny suspended moment of my life where I was nothing more than a man who wanted to kiss a woman in the street. I wanted to listen to her speak and know everything about her. I wanted to know how she likes her eggs cooked and what kind of music she likes. I wanted to know what she tastes like.

Instead, I’ve ignored my instincts, praying that my attraction to her would fizzle out—but no. I have a big, fat crush on my pretty client. My pretty, Olympian client whose teammates have hired me at her recommendation.

There’s no real rule against personal trainers dating clients. Hell, I know plenty of peers who have. I’ve doneit myself too, many times. Nothing was ever serious, not that I do serious anymore, anyway. But I started getting a reputation that I fuck all my clients, which led to me being labeled as unprofessional by some, and, one by one, I lost the clients I messed around with. I decided that’s not what I wanted for this new part of my life. I wanted to get away from all of that.

Therefore, for the last three years, I’ve had a strict No Dating Clients rule in an attempt to stay professional and rebuild my name.

So, that secret crush I have on Robyn Cassidy? It’s gonna stay that way.

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