Page 4 of D.I.E.T. (Did I Eat That?)

A couple more people filed in, and Trevor patted my shoulder and ran back up to the front. I was vaguely aware of the body that came to stand next to me.

“Right,” Trevor said to get the attention of the group. “Welcome to your first day of boot camp. I’m Trevor, your instructor, and I’m here to help you change your lives. Before we get going, I’ll need your doctor’s notes and even those of you who didn’t have time to go to the doctor, I’ll need you to sign a medical release form stating that Super Fitness is in no way responsible for any health-related conditions that might arise.”

Trevor walked over to a table set up in the corner of the room, next to the standing scale. “Okay,” he said. “I need you all to get in a line formed to the left. When you get to me at the table, I’ll weigh you and take your body measurements. Then you can drop off your form or sign the release as I take care of the person behind you.”

Uh, excuse me? Weigh me? Take my measurements? In front of all these people? I never signed up for that. While Trevor was busy with the front of the line, I casually dropped to the back of the line in order to make my escape without being seen—only to be stopped by a body blocking my way.

His hazel eyes didn’t glint like Trevor’s baby blue ones, absorbing the light instead of reflecting it, warming his face, but they crinkled in the corners and his teeth were just as bright. His smile seemed genuine. “Going the wrong way, aren’t you?” he asked.

Who did this guy think he was showing upherelooking all gorgeous? Only the trainer was allowed to have such a strong, square jawline or that straight of a nose. Didn’t he read the bylaws? How was I expected to get my sweat on in the same room as a man whose face had been fashioned by the gods?

“No, I was just—”

“I’m sure,” he said. “Because it looks like you were making your way for the door. You weren’t thinking of leaving already, were you?” Despite the soft laughter, his voice held that deep masculine confidence, like he was used to being listened to.

As I searched for a plausible excuse (I mean, there was almost nothing worse than looking the fool in front of a hot guy) I couldn’t help giving him the onceover. I was a hetero woman, wasn’t I? I had two fully functioning eyes, didn’t I? Working at Affinity Salon, I knew an expensive haircut when I saw one and in spite of the wind blowing outside, this guy’s thick, deep-brown, wavy locks fell around his face like a three hundred dollar cut. Hands down.

“Well?” he asked.

“No.” I folded my arms over my chest and cocked my hip to best express my irritation. Two things about this guy already got under my skin. The first, he called me out. I didn’t even know his name and he called me out.One thing to learn about me, Mr. Man, I do not like being called out.And the second, he was right. I hated even more someone calling me out and being right, especially someone who didn’t know me. Now I was stuck doing damage control. “I just didn’t want someone looking over my shoulder while my measurements were being taken. So I thought I’d move to the end of the line.”

“Great.” Using his hand, the guy honestly tugged at the sleeve of my upper arm to gently usher me toward the line—the gall! “I’ll join you there.”

Being cornered, he left me no choice but to pretend like none of this bothered me. Which meant I walked over to the line, though I needed to point out that he got behind me instead of in front of me. Flustered and irritated, I didn’t know what else to say, and I never got flustered. “What’s your name?”

“Sinjin,” he answered. “Barrow.”

“Sinjin? Like, is that even a real name?” Okay, that could’ve come off as a little bit witchy.

But he chuckled kind of shaking his head like he’d heard that before. “It’s an old English name. Family name. My great-great-grandfather.”

Well… “I can relate to that. My name’s Brigeeta.”

“It’s good to meet you, Brigeeta.” He looked over my shoulder before looking back at me. “You can move up now.”

For some inexplicable reason, my face flamed with embarrassment. Why did my face think that this guy, and this situation, was flame-worthy?

Sinjin and I were the last two to take our turns. Trevor held his hand out to me to help me up onto the scale. He moved the weights and the counterweights back and forth, until the bar evened out at 165 pounds. Now this was a flame-worthy moment. Everybody, especially those in the front row, saw my humiliation in number form.

After Trevor helped me off the scale, he directed me to hold my arms out. Then, using a tape measure, he measured my bust, my waist, my hips, and each thigh, writing the number down in a little box on the paper with my name on it. Then he moved to each of my upper arms and wrote that down too. Tears prickled the backs of my eyes by the time he finished. If it wasn’t bad enough that hottie trainer Trevor saw my starting measurements, ridiculously hot guy Sinjin saw too. How could I fantasize about him now? You couldn’t fantasize about a man who knew your thigh size. If it’s not against the law, it should be.

Once he released me, I walked over to sign my release form and hid out against the far wall while Sinjin had his measurements taken.

Unfortunately, the man didn’t take a hint that I wanted to be left alone to wallow in my self-pity. No, he had the audacity to walk over and stand next to me. This man, who had seen my weight. He’d seen my measurements. One might think that the trauma would have ended after the weigh-in. But one would be sorely mistaken.

“Okay, everybody, look to the person next to you and sayhello,” Trevor directed. “Because this is your accountability buddy. If they’re already shaking hands then look to the person in front or in back of you. Fitness goals can’t be reached alone, and I don’t intend for them to be. In fact, daily check-ins with your accountability buddy is a requirement for this.” He paused to look around the room. “It appears all of you have phones with you. Take down the number of your buddy. Save it to contacts. I’ll be checking to make sure each of you is complying.”

Gee, thanks,Trevor. Frantically I looked around to the other people who, it appeared, had already paired off. Sinjin stood to my left and wall to my right. Sinjin and his irritatingly handsome face with the straight nose and square jaw and I kid not, full lips that made a girl think he knew how to give a kiss, smiled at me with his phone out. How dare he have lips that made a girl think he knew how to give a kiss?

On a loud huff—because I wanted him to feel my irritation—I rattled off my number. He pressed the call button and my phone lit up. “What?” I asked. “Did you expect me to give you a fake number?”

“No. But now you have mine. All you have to do is add my name. Should I have been worried that you’d give me fake digits?”

“I don’t like you,” I said instead of answering.

He chuckled and I swore I heard, “Well, I like you,” whispered under his breath.

Three:

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