Page 42 of Gym Bros (Bay Area Bros #2)
Meanwhile, Calyx is gesturing frantically at me. I put my water down and walk over to him where he’s standing with Ryan and Malcolm. I glance at the other two men with them. One I don’t know, and the other is—“Holy shit.”
Evan grins up at me, his cute smile wide and his cheeks flushed. "Hey!”
I go in for a hug without thinking about it. He laughs, rubbing my back affectionately. “Small world.”
“You two know each other?” Calyx asks.
I pull away and share a look with Evan before turning back to my boyfriend. “Yeah.”
“How?”
“We went to high school together.”
“Oh— this is your Evan?” Calyx asks, putting it all together in his head at once and turning slightly green.
Evan speaks up, saving me. “Saber, this is Deacon. My roommate.”
My brow lifts and I look at the other man who’s my height. I try not to do the up and down scan, but I can’t stop myself. There’s a lot to take in.
He’s extremely handsome, and, if I’m reading him right—very uncomfortable. He’s clutching his beer like a life raft. I immediately want to get him something stronger. I hold out my hand to shake it.
“Saber’s a nickname,” I say. “I’m Samuel. ”
He forces a smile that makes him look slightly ill and shakes my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Why didn’t I know this was the same Evan?” Calyx asks again.
“Why didn’t I know you knew him?” I ask in return.
He frowns at that. “I barely do. I’ve only met him once before.”
“Well, I guess there’s your answer. He’s my friend.”
Calyx snorts at that. “Like platonically ?”
Evan appears clueless as to what’s going on, and I’m grateful for that. “Yeah—like the same way you and Rachel are friends.”
He’s glaring now.
“You’ve been keeping him busy, though,” Evan says. “This is the first time I’ve seen him in weeks.”
Calyx looks Evan up and down and then gestures at my face. “Well, he’s got a black eye.”
Evan’s smile reappears. “I noticed that.”
“Obviously I didn’t do it.”
I squint at Calyx. Is that why the black eye is bothering him? I thought it was for purely aesthetic reasons.
Evan looks up at me. “You seem relaxed.”
I think he’s kidding, but I don’t really want to stick around long enough to find out. Maybe I could take Deacon to the bar or something and we can both drink some shots and hide. “Yeah, I’m good, thanks.”
“You’re good?” Calyx asks.
I smile at my boyfriend. “I’m great, actually.” Turning back to Evan, I ask, “You’ve been okay?”
The smile he gives me now is as forced as his roommate’s. “Awesome.”
Before he can say more, Calyx cuts in. “I want to show them our triangle.” The look on his face is very determined, and I know better than to say no, even if this is slightly embarrassing, and I’m not sure my pants can take it.
We’ve leveled up our partner yoga game with a lot of trial and error both at the gym and at home.
Once Calyx realized I could do a headstand, the two-person poses have gotten a lot more challenging.
I should consider myself lucky he’s not making me do one of those.
At least the triangle won’t require me to touch the floor. “Okay,” I say, “But that’s it.”
“Promise,” he says, eyes sparkling up at me with that slightly manic glaze.
It’s now that I realize I’ll do fucking anything for him. He better love me back goddamnit. He clears a space and gestures for me to assume the position.
There are a lot of ways to do triangle with a partner, but our version is pretty cute with wrapped hands and wrapped legs.
We form one triangle together. A small crowd gathers to watch, and Calyx—who I guess is over the fact that Evan sucked my dick once—giggles the entire time.
Once we hit the pose and everyone claps, I grab him by the waist and pull him against my side.
He splays his hand on my abs and looks at Deacon. “Isn’t he amazing?”
Jesus.
Poor Deacon. Evan speaks up. “Multi-talented for sure.” And then he winks.
I give Calyx a squeeze before the wink has a chance to make him think too hard. “He taught me everything I know,” I say.
Evan looks up at Deacon. “Are you flexible at all?”
“Uh…I stretch after I work out.”
“I’ve never seen you stretch.”
“Just basic stuff,” Deacon says.
“It’s super important,” my sort of drunk boyfriend interjects. “Especially with all those muscles. You can get super tight—like Samuel’s lower back was?— ”
“Okay, that’s enough,” I say. “Dance with me?”
“Oh! Yeah.” Then to Deacon and Evan he says, “He can’t keep his hands off me.”
Dear God.
I take this as my cue, putting my hands on his hips and backing him up through the crowd to where a dozen or so people are dancing. He’s got his arms around my neck and is staring at me salaciously, already swaying to the music.
Adorable and sexy.
“Having fun?” I ask.
His smile is blinding. “Not really!”
I laugh. “Fooled me, angel.”
“Good. So you and Evan are friends ?”
“Yep,” I say. “He’s my only friend outside the gym. No more surprises, I promise.”
“But he sucked your cock?”
“Once. As a favor.”
“You swear it was just the one time and that’s as far as it?—”
I press my mouth to his. When he shuts up and softens in my arms, I tell him, “He’s got a crush on his roommate.”
“He also works for Isaac. I can’t imagine there’s not something going on between the two of them.”
“You—wait. Isaac is Evan’s boss?”
“Has he told you about him? Are they fucking?”
“I—” My mouth snaps shut. “This is none of our business.”
“No,” he says, moving in closer. “I guess it’s not.”
We fall into a rhythm with our arms around each other and him more or less riding my leg.
His fingers are stroking the back of my neck, and that, among other things, gets me rock fucking hard. “You should kiss me again so I don’t have to look at your beat up face anymore.”
“Is that how you wanna deal with this until it heals?”
“Works for me. ”
I do not indulge him. “I think it gives me character.”
“It’s giving masochist.”
I smirk. “I must be with all the shit you give me.”
He presses a kiss to my throat. “I give you nice things, too.”
“You do,” I say. “I’m very lucky.”
“That better not be sarcastic.”
“It’s not.”
His smile softens into something more realistic. The way he looks at me sometimes gets me fucking high. Like I’m the best thing to ever exist. “It’s your turn to say something nice,” I tell him.
He looks into my eyes and hesitates by pressing his lips together. “Your ass looks hot in those pants.”
I shake my head, not bothering to conceal my disappointment. “That’s not what you were about to say.”
“I was just rephrasing in my head,” he says.
“I’m gonna be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks, you know,” I tell him.
He nods, his gaze dropping.
“Like I might not be able to make yoga.”
“Oh.”
“I mean, obviously I’ll let you know in advance so you can make other plans.”
I realize I’m baiting him, but I’m not completely lying. The trainers told those of us with fights to put a hold on our social lives, but to me that just means I need to use my downtime wisely.
“Other plans, huh? You don’t think sticking with it could help with your…”
He never says fight. It’s like if he doesn’t say it, it’ll stop existing. It’s the one major thing I worry about in terms of Calyx and me turning into something longer-term.
I don’t want to think about what I’d be like if I didn’t have the outlet fighting and training gives me. It honestly doesn’t seem fair that he would ask me to give it up when he knows, at least partially, how intrinsic it is to who I am.
I’m very deliberate about not trying to tell him how to run his life, but maybe that’s because his flexible schedule works for me, and I’m being selfish. Maybe my dad’s right, and he needs to be out there—taking advantage of his youth and beauty, making as much money as he possibly can.
It’d mean hardly ever seeing him, though. But at the same time, if I get an offer to go train with one of the best coaches in the country, whether in Texas or New Mexico…then what?
I get the distinct feeling Calyx would want me to choose, and I don’t love that.
But I do love him. A lot. Anyone would say I was crazy, but I’m pretty sure Calyx is the one for me.
If balance is the word of the year, he’s exactly what I need.
He’s a challenge, but he’s also peace. I used to think I needed a cheerleader.
Someone wildly enthusiastic in my corner, urging me to achieve my goals.
But Calyx keeps me grounded and real. He keeps me in touch with my softer side, which used to feel like a weakness but now feels like one of my greatest strengths. Shit, it’s on the tip of my fucking tongue. I want to say it. Declare myself.
I kiss him to shut myself up.
It takes him by surprise, and he tenses a moment before he melts just the way I like him to.
It might be a little much for a public dance floor, but he feels a little hornier than I gave him credit for.
It also very much feels like he’s fighting the words, too. His answering kiss is borderline desperate.
“Sorry, boys. We had a quick chat and decided to cut in before clothes started coming off.”
It’s Priya, and she’s got her hand on my shoulder .
I tear my lips away from Calyx’s and see Rachel behind him, doing her best to dislodge him from me.
I reluctantly let go and turn to Priya who’s grinning from ear to ear.
“Never thought I’d see the day,” she says as I start dancing with her.
“The day what?”
“When our little sour gummy bear would fall in love.”