Page 71 of Gigi and the Gym Rats

You have to try again.

* * *

“Hi,” he says, “I’m Ron.”

“Ron?” I freeze, halfway through sitting down, Ronin’s face flashing through my mind—Ronin looking at me from under his pale lashes, a smirk on his face, Ronin lying on his bed, his cock hard and pointing at?—

“Ronald,” he clarifies. “Ronald Keith.”

“Oh. Right. Hi.”

Yeah, this is my second blind rendezvous, courtesy of the Amazing Coco. I’m experimenting, much like Ronin is, I realize as I finally sit. Trying to see if I can do this.

What makes me tick.

What makes me feel.

What makes me want to climb onto someone’s lap and lick their skin, kiss their mouth.

Wait, Gigi, wait… that wasn’t the goal, not really. It was to find a reasonably handsome, intelligent beta man who will offer you a…

Know what? This isn’t easy. Nothing reasonable about the way my body and brain seem to be working.

“Gigi,” he says.

I realize he’s expecting something from me. “I’m sorry?”

His smile isn’t all that bad, I think. “I said, it’s nice to meet you.”

I take him in fully for the first time. His looks run on the darker side, reminding me of Zayne—stop it, Gigi, I’m serious, stop thinking of Zayne—with dark eyes and hair cropped short. He’s dressed sensibly in a blue polo shirt, his gray jacket thrown over the back of the chair next to him.

A nice beta boy.

Honestly, Coco deserves a prize. Her aim is tried and true. If you’d asked me for a perfect example of a beta man, I couldn’t have picked better.

And yet…

“Nice to meet you, too,” I say.

I mean, it’s the truth. He’s sweet. Unlike that Paul guy, Ronald pays attention. He listens to me, he’s quiet and calm, and doesn’t say he wants a wife to cook and clean for him while popping out babies.

He also has a good job in a big company, doing their accounting, and has a downpayment on a house in the suburbs.

Man, he’s quite the catch. He’s perfect. My mom would adopt him in a heartbeat. He’s a guy I could see myself going out with.

… If I lusted after him…

… if we shared any interests…

… if I felt a connection…

… in another life?...

“I like sports,” he’s saying now, “and I’m into Judo, like, hardcore. I won several championships. Do you like martial arts?”

“Uh… not really.” I got a fresh orange juice but now that I’m tasting it, I’m not sure it’s not from a box.

Just like this beta male business.

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