I put the barbell on the rack. It took a bit of effort to stop myself from curling it, just to mess with Lyta a bit more, obviously.

Well, frankly speaking, I wasn’t quite sure if my current physique was enough to do so with strict enough form. And doing it with cheating would greatly diminish the result.

“Are you okay?” I asked the still-shocked girl.

“Ah. Yes. I’m fine.” She responded in quick succession.

“Any discomfort or pain?” I decided not to trust her excuses.

I had my fair share of training accidents throughout my life, so I felt a bit concerned at the moment.

“No, nothing. I lost my grip because of exhaustion. As far as I can tell, no tears or sprains.” Lyta reported her status. “And, um, thank you for the save.”

I nodded, accepting the gratitude, then put back the earbud and decided to continue my journey to the cardio zone.

I felt a tug on my t-shirt. Did she want something else?

“Yes?” I asked.

“Can we talk?” Well, that’s unexpected.

“After I finish my warm-up.” I answered with a shrug.

What was there to even talk about?

***

I focused again on the exercise while my temporary gym buddy was trying her best to stare a hole in me. I was busy doing curls with the EZ bar, planning to superset it into a French press.

Lyta, still glaring daggers in this direction, was sitting on the bench nearby. Was she done with her own workout already? Well, I had no real complaints since she was looking pleasant enough to the eyes.

I guess some people would have found her muscle definition unattractive, but the curves and proportions were all there, coupled with a pretty face. Bella certainly knew how to choose them, eh?

“I have been thinking about your words for the last week.” The personal assistant of my special woman said something odd.

My words? What was she talking about? A trip down memory lane hadn’t revealed anything, so I could only keep my mouth shut, waiting for the continuation.

“About the condition being full stop or not.” She clarified.

Without saying anything, I finished the curls and laid down on the bench, proceeding with my training. The silence continued, on the verge of turning awkward.

“Either way,” Lyta broke the silence, “I still don’t understand why you would even say something like that in the first place.”

I finished the set and took a sip out of my water bottle. For fuck’s sake, couldn’t she have used words less ambiguous?

Yeah, I still had no idea. To be fair, we had an extremely limited amount of exposure to each other, and this week wasn’t the calmest by any scale. But, judging by her troubled expression, it seemed to be something important.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Fuck it, let’s go with ambiguous half-questions.

My gym buddy—temporary designation—looked at me, surprise clear in her eyes. Hm, were my words that much of a miss?

“I mean, I look like this.” Lyta made a vague gesture with her hand.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

“Dunno, Bella has quite a taste,” I decided to play it safe.

“Isn’t it because I look like a guy?” Her reply threw me for a loop.

I made a gesture with my head pointing at the gym mirror.

“Yeah, sure. I can barely spot any difference.” I emphasized the sarcastic nature of my words with an exaggerated eye roll.

Hm, why did she look so surprised after hearing my words?

“Wait a moment, you weren’t joking?” I actually felt shocked.

Lyta just nodded in response.

“Holy mother of fuck. Are you for real?” It was my turn to stare at her in wonder.

Another quiet nod followed.

“Well, here, if you want my expert opinion,” I said, adding some additional theatrics to reinforce my speech. “While your appearance certainly is on the tomboyish side, someone needs to be fucking blind to call you a dude.”

Ever so slowly, a wave of redness rose from her neck. A moment later, Lyta bolted away.

What’s wrong with Helen’s friends? I shook my head and returned to my training.

***

I just finished the last set and was catching my breath as I moved toward the stretching zone when the music in my earbuds stopped momentarily as my phone started playing the ringtone designated to my special woman’s number.

I picked up the call.

“What the fuck did you do to my assistant?” Those words met me instead of a greeting.

People calling me lately have been all quite rude.

“Hello to you as well, my dear.” I replied nonetheless.

A sigh followed from the other side of the phone line.

“Yeah, it’s nice to hear your voice as well, dear.” My special woman’s words were very pleasant to my ears.

“So, when are you coming?” I asked.

“We just finished boarding, so about three hours, give or take,” replied Bella. “I’ll send you the location after we finish our talk.”

Let’s hope that traffic wasn’t that bad.

“I hope that I won’t get stuck in traffic somewhere,” I said, voicing my concern.

“I’ll wait for you.” My dear alleviated it. “Now stop trying to change the topic and answer my question.”

What was I supposed to even say?

“Would you believe me if I said I have no idea what you are talking about?” The truth was on my side.

“You tell me, considering that Lyta just asked me for some advice on how to seduce you.” Bella’s words were laced with skepticism.

Hm, wasn’t that girl hating me with all her guts? What gives?

“Why would she do that?” I asked, feeling confused as fuck.

Another sigh followed from the other side of the line.

“Fine. We’ll talk in person. Dear.” Her tone made it clear enough that this wasn’t the end of it.

“Yes, my dear.” I agreed with no hesitation.

One weird topic more, one weird topic less. Won’t even make a dent in my situation.

“See you soon.” Bella said her farewells and ended the call.

The music took its place in my ears as I stared at the dark screen. If only someone could tell me what the fuck was going on.

My phone pinged as I received the aforementioned location from my dear. I opened the maps, checking the traffic and ETA. Good, I had enough time to finish my stretches, albeit not a full routine, and take a shower afterward.