Page 15 of Please Open Me
Did I like going to the gym?
Not really.
It was loud. Everyone stunk. And guys with big muscles and even bigger egos would try to hit on me, which just made me uncomfortable. It hadn't been a problem when I was pregnant, and they stayed away on the rare days I went with Sebastian, but none of our schedules mixed well enough for me to have a consistent buddy.
That was, until the gym got a new personal trainer, and one thing led to another and, well—
“Come on, pipsqueak,” Mattie barked, clapping her hands like an overenthusiastic little league coach. “If you don’t squat deeper, I’m going to charge you double for wasting my time.”
I groaned and hugged the ten-pound medicine ball closer to my chest before lowering into a squat.
“Ahh, now your form’s shit,” Mattie tsked, planting her hands on her hips.
She raked a hand through her hair, slicking back the short strands before shaking her head.
“I thought you wanted to look hot for your wedding,” she added.
Like that fucking helped.
I stood up fast enough to make myself dizzy, then shoved the medicine ball into her well-muscled chest.
“Idowant to look hot. But my knees hurt.” It was a lame excuse, one that barely covered how tired I felt.
“Your knees wouldn’t hurt if you used your glutes—” She smacked my ass for emphasis. “—instead of your spine or whatever the fuck you’re doing.”
Mattie put the medicine ball back on the rack, and I wasthisclose to walking out.
“Come on, reset, try again.” She clapped again as she stalked toward me. “This time, body weight only. Because teeny-tiny pipsqueak can’t take an extra ten.”
I glared, but did as I was told.
Feet shoulder-width apart.
Toes pointed outward.
Chest proud—Mattie’s word.
Palms together, hands close to my face. Then down.
“Looking good, princess,” Mattie cheered before kicking my feet a little farther apart. “There we go. Keep it up. Remember—three sets of fifteen. Get lazy and the count restarts.”
I came up slowly, exhaling as I rose.
“Atta girl. Fourteen more.”
Fourteen. I could do this.
With that in mind, I dipped again.
Thirteen.
Twelve.
Eleven...
Eleven.
Eleven.
