Page 45 of The Grumpy Vet
Dario
Today's workout session has been…weird.
Ryde and I got to Linus's place, opened up the roller door, and he instructed me to start with a five-minute warm-up. Then Linus joined us. Ryde immediately got him doing some dynamic stretches. We then proceeded to spend the next forty minutes barely stopping as Ryde had us doing round after round of squats, push-ups, and progressively heavier weights.
What I'm saying is he actually made uswork out.
Banter and chitchat were kept to a minimum—mainly because it's hard to talk while your muscles are burning and you're panting for breath like a dingo in the outback. The vibe was off compared to normal.
Not necessarily bad, just…different.
When he's finally done torturing us, Ryde hands us each a foam roller. I start with my calves, pressing them into the roller and feeling the tension slowly release, before making my way up my legs and onto my back. I find a sore spot right in between my shoulder blades and work into it, breathing through the discomfort in short puffs.
"Take it easy," he instructs Linus. "Don't want to flare up your quad issue."
Linus just grunts, his chest heaving, no doubt as exhausted as I am. We take one week off, and we're both hurting badly. It's almost enough to make a person want to keep exercising.
As much fun as it is to pay out on Ryde for how seriously he takes this, the results do speak for themselves. I've lost weight, gained muscle, and am way more defined. At this rate, my abs should be making a welcome return in the not-too-distant future.
Not that either one of these guys seems to care about that as much as I do. I still think about the moment when we were about to blow Linus in the shower—I was hit by a wave of self-doubt so strong it almost bowled me over. I didnotwant to take that shirt off, convinced the sight of shirtless me would turn them off.
But it didn't.
They both like my body just as it is, a work in progress, and since that moment in the shower, whenever I've been catching my reflection in the mirror in the bathroom or when I get changed, I don't suck my stomach in or do that thing where I angle my body to the side to make it seem leaner. I think I might be starting to be okay just as I am.
"What's on your mind?" Ryde asks me once we've finished and he's putting the foam rollers away.
"Uh, nothing."
He looks at Linus who looks to me, so I shift my gaze to Ryde to continue the looking loop.
"All right." Linus claps his hands. "The three of us need to talk. I'll grab some beers and meet you two at the bench near the roosters. Go."
He shoos us out of the carport, closes the roller down behind us, and heads for his house while Ryde and I make our way to the rooster pen.
"Any idea what's on his mind?" I ask.
His mouth makes a shape as if to speak, but nothing comes out on the first try. "Dunno," he eventually manages.
We sit down on the wooden bench, and a few moments later, Linus joins us with a clinking bag of beers in one hand and afoldout chair in the other. He opens one bottle at a time, handing one first to me, then to Ryde, and then taking one for himself as he settles into the chair.
We sip our beers in silence but not for long. "All right," Linus says. "Let's talk. I'll start."
Ryde and I exchange a look.
"Are you okay, Linus?" I ask, half joking, half not since this is not a guy who readily starts a conversation.
"I am. Clearer than I have been in a long time, actually. First item on today's agenda." He tips his beer bottle towards Ryde. "Your father. To say I have mixed feelings about his visit is an understatement. I hated lying to him and not telling him about…er…us. But I also value my life and would like to be able to continue, you know, living it. What about you guys?"
I'm stunned. I don't think I've ever heard that many words come out of Linus's mouth all at once.
Ryde answers first. "Same. A lot of mixed emotions. I hated not being honest with him since I always tell him pretty much everything. But I'm also relieved he didn't find out. Then I feel guilty about that, and it's all a bit of a mess."
"It is," Linus agrees with a nod. "And you, Dario?"
"This doesn't affect me as much as it does you guys, so I'm just glad things went well, but it sucks you guys are going through it and there's nothing I can do."
A warm smile lights up Linus's dark-hazel eyes. "Just you saying that helps."
