Page 6 of Gym With Benefits

“The voucher you scanned for a free month,” Hunter clarified. “It’s from Fisher Investments.”

“Oh! Right. I’m, uh…”

My flailing must have been obvious, because Hunter quickly came to my rescue. “It’s all right if you don’t work there. Honestly, we give out thousands of vouchers. We don’t care who uses them, we’re just trying to get new customers through the door and get them hooked.”

“My roommate gave me the voucher,” I explained.

Hunter squinted at me. “Ah hah! Caught you. You just admitted to voucher fraud.” Before I could freak out, he held out both palms in a soothing motion. “Just kidding. We really don’t care. Time to take the photo for your member badge. If you can stand up against this wall for me…”

I felt my cheeks redden as I positioned myself in front of the webcam. I was terrible at being photographed, and was already cringing at how I knew it would turn out.

“You should wipe that mustard off your lip first,” Hunter said casually.

“What!” I frantically started rubbing at my mouth.

“Just kidding. You look fine.”

“You son of a—” I teased, barely containing a laugh.

“Got it,” Hunter said, smiling proudly as he swiveled the computer monitor around to show me. “Look at that smile.”

He’d snapped the photo at the perfect moment, my eyes slightly wide with shock and a surprised grin on my face. For once, I actually kind of liked how I looked.

“Yeah?” he teased. “I nailed it, didn’t I?”

“Not bad,” I admitted.

The printer on the desk whirred to life, and then he handed me a badge with my name, photo, and member ID on it.

“That’s about the gist of it,” Hunter said. “If you ever need anything, just come ask.”

“I’d love to,” I replied. Then, realizing I sounded way too thirsty, I added, “I mean, I will. Thanks!”

I quickly left the station, closing my eyes and cringing to myself. Get it together, Jess.

To keep things simple on my first day, I went straight to the Sweat Sanctuary and picked an elliptical in the back row. After stretching my legs a little bit, I got on and started moving. A few button-presses later and the machine was programmed for a thirty-minute workout. That sounded about right.

I blasted music in my AirPods, my playlist picking up where it had left off in the car withPink Pony Club. That immediately caused me to start moving faster, getting into the rhythm of the exercise.

A smile spread across my face. This was good. I was glad David had pushed me into coming. I would never tell him that outright, though. He would gloat about it formonths.

People were constantly moving throughout the gym, but I tuned them out while humming along to the music in my ears. I was vaguely aware of someone getting on the elliptical to my right. At first, I ignored them, but I finally glanced over when I felt their eyes on me.

My heart sank when I saw who it was.

Him.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered, pausing my music.

The guy from the parking lot was shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re all kinds of in my way today.”

“I was here first, and I’m hardly in your way,” I spat back.

“That’s my favorite machine. Best view of the TV.”

“There are, like, twenty other ellipticals you can use.”

“I know,” he said, acid dripping from every word. “Which is why I’m on this one. Just mind your own business and leave me alone, all right?”