Page 4 of Mending Me

BAILEY

My hand reached to slap my alarm off after the first obnoxious siren sounded. I always set my alarm for 4:15 so I could sleep for another fifteen minutes. After my fifteen minutes of grace were up, I would drag my ass out of bed, shove my sports bra on, and pull up my leggings. Getting out of bed was the hardest part of getting up. But once I was out, I was good.

You just gotta get your feet on the floor.

Sitting up in bed, I rubbed my eyes before dragging myself out from under the covers. I grabbed the workout gear I had laid out for myself the night before and pulled them on. I loved this specific brand because their bras were soft, yet supportive, and their leggings did something for my ass that no other pair of leggings could seem to do. It wasn’t lost on me why I pulled this specific pair out of my drawer last night. Today was Wednesday, which meant it was leg day. I loved leg day.

Hopefully, the cute soldier at the gym loved leg day too.

It had been two weeks since he first showed up at the gym and I’d noticed him across the weight room. Ever since thatmorning, he was always at the gym by the time I got there. A few times I’d caught him staring at me as I set up my rack or looked up from the pages of my book to start my next set. He thought he was being sly, but the way he whipped his head away from my direction wasn’t discrete. One day I noticed how he seemed to be slowing down as he walked by me and waited to see if he was finally going to stop and say hello. Instead, he just stopped behind me, checked his phone, and kept walking. I remember pushing out my lips in disappointment and watching his back in the mirror as he walked away.

He was cute, no, he was hot. Smokin’ hot, which surprised me because I didn’t normally go for his type. The strong, put together, clean cut type. Normally, I went for the kind of guy who had more tattoos than he did brain cells and rarely ever showered. I was less than stellar at picking men, I knew this. That’s why my attraction to the soldier was so surprising to me. While there was no doubt he was good looking, the thing that always caught my eye about him were the boots.

Who wears combat boots to the gym? And why did I find it wildly attractive that he did?

Dressed and with my hair pulled back, I snagged my Nike Blazers from the basket next to my bed and carried them out into the living room. I shared a condo with my best friend, Ophelia, who was still fast asleep in her room. You couldn’t really call our living arrangements a true roommate relationship because she owned the place and was nice enough to let me live with her while I figured out my life. Unlike me, she had her shit together and made several hundred thousand dollars a year. Meanwhile, I wasn’t doing much more than picking up side jobs here and there. The last two years of my life hadn’t been what I expected them to be, but I was working to figure it out.

Once in the living room, I pulled the chain on the lamp next to the couch and walked into the kitchen. The condo we sharedwas downtown and had an amazing view of the water. While it wasn’t ideal living here, seeing as how the gym I went to was north of the city, it was my only option. After my life fell apart two years ago, Ophelia invited me to live with her while I got back on my feet again and I wasn’t in a position to say no. Sure, I could find a gym closer than the one I drove to each morning, but it was the gym I’d gone to before moving down into the city. It was my safe place and a place I knew. It was the one piece of my old life I wasn’t willing to let go of. And while it was annoying to have to get up early and drive to the gym, the Lowcountry sunrises off the water each morning made it a little bit easier to bare.

I grabbed an energy drink from the fridge and filled up my water in the sink before sitting back down on the couch to put on my shoes. When I stood, I caught a glance of myself in the mirror that was leaning against the wall across from me and turned to look at myself.

“My ass looks amazing today,” I whispered, smiling at my reflection and feeling confident.

As I walked out the door, I snatched my headphones, book, and keys off the shelf before closing the door behind me and locking it.

If Soldier didn’t say anything to me today, I was going to be convinced that he was gay.

I was wellinto my lift and getting into a spicy scene in my book when I spotted a pair of shoes step into my line of view on the floor. Looking up, I noticed the shoes were connected to a man I hadn’t seen before. A man who was standing uncomfortably close to the bench I was sitting on and who reeked of Axebody spray. He had said something that I couldn’t hear over my music, so I hit pause on my phone and pulled one side of my headphones back.

“What was that?” I looked up at him from where I sat and tried to be friendly. It wasn’t easy though, I’m not usually one who likes to talk to other people so early in the morning. If it was Soldier, I would’ve been fine with it. But it wasn’t, and I was trying not to be annoyed.

“I said, what are you reading?” he asked, pulling his lips back in one corner and giving me an overly confident grin for a guy who smelled like a seventh grader.

“Just a book a friend recommended,” I lied. I wasn’t going to tell him the title or show him the cover because it would give away the fact that I was reading a trashy romance novel. I wasn’t ashamed of the books I read but I didn’t want to give this guy any reason to linger longer than neccesary.

“I noticed you were doing back squats today. You need a spot?” He took a step forward and was now within the realm of way too fucking close. He licked his lips as he looked down at me and I felt my face morph into a grimace.Girl you better fix your face right fucking now.

“Nope. I’m good. I’ve got my safety catches in place. Thanks though.” My lips pulled together into a tight line, faking a polite nicety.

“Nahh, come on. It’s good to have a spot when you squat. If you fall out of it, I’ll be there to catch you.”The way I’d much rather fall and let the barbell crush me than let this guy touch me.

He lifted one leg and set his foot up on the bench, bending it into a ninety degree angle, with his hips facing me. Still sitting on the bench, his crotch was now at eye level. A very unwelcomed sight at only five thirty in the morning.

Not wanting to continue to have his dick in my face, I stood up and hoped that as I did, he would take a step back and give me space. He didn’t.

“Really, I’m okay. Thanks though. I’m going to get back to my set.” I stood up and tried to step around him but he didn’t move.

“Come on, baby, let me catch you. I promise I’m strong enough for it.” He was dangerously close and I could smell whatever sports drink he’d had on his breath. I tried to calm the panic that was building in my chest. This wasn’t the first time someone had gotten too close and the last time it happened, I ended up in the hospital filing a police report.

As my brain was trying to come up with something smart to say back, I noticed Soldier walking towards where I was currently trapped by the Axe soaked douchebag. He had his head down and was looking at his phone, but he wasn’t wearing any headphones. I decided that this was my out and I needed to take it.

“Hey, sweetie, there you are! Can you spot me please?”

5

HANK

Iheard her before I saw her and was surprised by the sound of her voice. It wasn’t what I expected her to sound like. It was better. Like sweet honey, smooth and rich.

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