Page 10 of Mending Me

“Y–yeah. Yes, I will be there.” He finally looked at me and when he flashed me a smile, my insides began to burn.

“I look forward to it. I’ll see ya later then. Gentleman.” I gave the group a small nod before turning from them to head back to my table.

As I walked, I swung my hips back and forth and stood with my shoulders pressed back. I knew they were all watching me, but I only cared about one pair of eyes.

When I reached my seat, Ophelia was already starting to ask me a million questions. My eyes peeked back to where he sat and I found him looking back at me. His eyes burned into me and brought a warm feeling to my core that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

I picked up my drink, took a sip, and winked at him before turning back to my best friend to answer all of her questions.

8

HANK

Okay man, you can do this. Just walk up to her and ask her if she wants to go to dinner. Shit, if nothing else ask her for her number. Or at least say hello. It’s time to stop pussyfooting around and be a man. You’ve been to war for Christ’s sake, you can ask a pretty girl for her number.

But that’s the thing, she wasn’t pretty.

She was stunning. Breathtaking. Drop to your knees and kiss the ground she walked on gorgeous. I don’t know what God was thinking when he created a woman like her, but he really laid it on thick.

After seeing her on Saturday at the bar, my friends wouldn’t stop hounding me about her. Our group chat, which normally focused on things like work and casual hookups, had managed to come back to Bailey at least three times a day. When they found out I didn’t ask her out when I saw her yesterday morning at the gym, they threatened to cut my dick off and force feed it to me. Malcolm asked me which gym I went to because, as he put it, ‘a beautiful woman like her needed to be taken out and shown off’and if I wasn’t going to be man enough to do it, he would do it himself.

I told him to fuck off and that I would knee cap him if he even tried.

Now it was Monday, and the words of my friends calling me a moron and a wimp were ringing in my ears as I watched the entrance of the gym. She normally came in ten to fifteen minutes after the doors unlocked, so she should be here any minute.

Not that I kept track of when she showed up or anything.

She was just a creature of habit and a few times as she came in, Imayhave also checked my watch at the same time. Now her arrival time was in my head as if it had been branded into my brain.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time: 0509. She should be here soon.

As I slipped my phone back into my pocket, I looked up from the bench I was sitting at just in time to spot her golden blonde hair across the gym. She always wore it pulled back and there had been plenty of times over the last couple weeks where I’d fantasized myself behind her, pulling her hair, while I sunk myself deep inside of her as she moaned out my name. Most of the time, I helped myself along in the shower as I pictured her blonde hair falling behind her back as she rode me until we both fell apart together.

My dick suddenly started to grow under my shorts and I had to fill my brain with images that would kill the massive hard on I was fighting.My great aunt Carmen. Musicals. Sweaty fat men playing baseball.

Every man had things they thought about to kill a boner. These were mine.

I tried taking a few breaths and watched as Bailey started to set up her rack. This girl was dedicated to her lift and I found it wildly attractive just how much she could take. The lastcouple weeks I’d watched as she would come in, turn on her headphones, and pull a book out of her bag before setting up her rack. She would lift, pause her music, then take a seat and read until she started her next set. She followed this routine almost exactly each day and I loved watching her move through it.

When she finished with her first set and grabbed her book, I saw my opening and took it. As I walked towards her, I tried to hype myself up as best as I could.

You can do this man. You’re a good looking dude, any girl would love to go to dinner with you. Plus, she came and talked to you in front of your friends on Saturday. Clearly she’s into you. Just go up to her and ask her out. Don’t be a dicklicker and wimp out, just do it. ¡Sé un hombre!?1

You’ve been to war, you can ask a girl out!

When I finally reached her, I saw her eyes glance to my feet, but she didn’t look up from the pages of her book. She just kept reading. I stood there, waiting for her to look up and acknowledge me, but she didn’t.

“Those are some nice boots you got there,” she finally said after a long pause, still not looking up from her book or moving her headphones from her ears.

“Uhh, thanks.”

She finally looked at me, a devilish grin started to spread across her face.

“You know it’s rude to interrupt someone who’s reading?”Shit maybe she’s not interested in me.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I won’t bother you then.” My feet turned away quickly until I heard her start to laugh.

“Wait, I was only teasing. Come back here.” I turned to see her closing her book and looking at me with a smile that reminded me of pure sunshine. With her head cocked to one side, her ponytail swished behind her.

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