Page 14 of Not That Ridiculous

I obediently clutched Kevin while he did a bicep curl. Jasper stood behind me, close enough that his body was brushing mine. He reached around to flatten my hand on Kevin’s side, and slid it up and down a couple of times.

“See?” he said. “Feel how solid he is? He’s stable. Grounded. What you’re doing is swinging your body weight forwards, and using the momentum to swing the weight up. It’s cheating.”

“God forbid I cheat at lifting weights.”

“Asymmetrical biceps,” Jasper reminded me in a whisper.

“I do not believe you about that.”

“Hush.”

“Shall I do some more?” Kevin said.

“Yeah, do a set of eight,” Jasper told him. “Right, Charlie. Press against his waist here, and you’ll feel his abs tighten.”

I stared at my hand, sitting on Kevin’s abs. Jasper was still talking, I was aware of it, but all I heard was white noise. A crackle, like static.

Was I having an episode, I wondered vaguely?

Kevin was wearing a plain white t-shirt with a black Under Armour logo dead centre on his wide chest. It was, presumably, chosen for its lightweight, sweat-wicking properties. It did nothing to hold back the sheer animal heat of him as he worked through a set.

“Now up here. Charlie. Charlie?”

“Hmm?” I glanced at Kevin before I realised that Jasper was the one talking. Kevin’s attention was on my face. He was watching me watch him. He blinked, slowly. I had no idea what he was thinking. One side of his mouth hitched, but mostly his expression was blank.

“Charlie,” Jasper said again. “Pay attention up here. His arm.”

Great. Now I was back to staring at his bare, gleaming, flexing muscle.

Seriously. I resented this. I really did.

This was supposed to be a blood pressure-lowering gym trip, not what probably looked from the outside like a three-way date, as we huddled at the back end of the main room,touchingeach other.

I wasn’t a big toucher. I liked my personal space, thanks all the same.

And yet here I was, quite contentedly touching Kevin.

Kevin pumped iron and I held my hand over the hot, sleek curve of his bicep as he did it.

His skin was smooth under my palm, contracting and relaxing in a hypnotic rhythm.

“Are you feeling it, Charlie?” Jasper said.

“Yes,” I said. I really was.

“Shall I do some more?” Kevin asked, and I realised belatedly that he’d reached the end of his set.

“Yes,” I said, still touching him.

“I think we’ll have Charlie do some first.”

“Yes,” I said. “Wait, no.” I snatched my hands off his body and held them up in front of me in a warding gesture.

“Ah, go on.” Kevin pushed his dumbbell at me. “Bet you can do it properly now.”

I took the dumbbell, said, “Oof,” and bent at the waist when it dragged me down.

“Hee hee,” Kevin said.

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