Page 76 of Forgotten

They wandered through into the open-plan gym, which contained rows of machinery. It was fairly busy, with people of all shapes and sizes using the equipment. They walked straight past the electronic stuff to a small area that had traditional weights.

“Legs today,” Jared said, nodding a greeting to a trainer as they entered the area.

He found some leg weights and sat on a mat to wrap them around his ankles.

“They’re a couple of pounds each?” Kyrone asked, consulting the card.

“Yes.” He lay on his back, arms stretched by his side, ankles together. “Leg lifts first.”

Kyrone squatted beside him. “Do you want me to count for you?”

Jared nodded and then began, slowly raising his left leg to roughly forty-five degrees before lowering it again at the same speed. He repeated the action as Kyrone counted each rep. He alternated between watching Jared’s face for signs of strain and looking at his leg. He saw the wobble in Jared’s leg muscles about halfway through the set of twenty, quickly followed by his boyfriend pinching his brows and becoming slightly paler.

“You’ve got this,” he said encouragingly. “Just a few more to go. Concentrate on your breathing as well.” He waited for Jared to start lifting his leg again. “Exhale,” he instructed.

Jared obeyed, smiling slightly as Kyrone carried on talking him through the rest of the set.

“And rest,” Kyrone said, shifting so he was sitting cross-legged. He laid his hand over Jared’s, waiting for him to catch his breath.

“It’s hard,” Jared said.

“I know, babe.” Kyrone could see the frustration etched into Jared’s face as well as the glimmer of tears in his eyes.

“It’s a bit easier with you here, though.” Jared pressed his lips together. “But there I go, doing all the taking again.”

“You’re not,” Kyrone assured him. “Believe it or not, this is fun for me.”

Jared raised his eyebrows. “How?”

“Well… I get to see my adorable boyfriend working out.”

“First, I’m cute. Now, I’m adorable?”

Kyrone leant down to kiss the tip of Jared’s nose. “Absolutely.”

Jared smiled. “It’s nice getting to stare at my hot, sexy boyfriend while I work out.”

“Naturally.” Kyrone grinned and pretended to dust himself off. “Plus, I enjoy this kind of stuff.”

“Have you thought about becoming a gym instructor or a personal trainer?”

“No, but maybe I should. Are you ready to do your right leg?”

Jared nodded and got to work. It seemed harder for him, but that might have been because he was already tired from exercising his left leg. It was little wonder that he only had four exercises to do each session. Kyrone counted the reps again and uttered words of encouragement when he felt they were needed. He also helped Jared to improve his form when it got sloppy towards the end.

“You’re good at this,” Jared whispered as he rested for a second time. “You’d make a good physical therapist.”

The comment took Kyrone by surprise. “You think?”

“Yes. I’d have looked forward to my therapy sessions in the hospital more if I’d known someone as hot and sexy as you would be taking care of me.” He grinned up at Kyrone. “Thanks for coming.”

“I’ll help out whenever you want me to,” Kyrone promised him.

They worked through the rest of Jared’s leg programme slowly, the accumulating strain showing on Jared’s face and in the way his muscles shook. By the end, he was wobbly on his feet as they walked back to the changing rooms, so Kyrone wrapped his arm around his waist to support him.

“Did having some eye candy work?” he queried.

“Definitely.”