Page 77 of The Boss and the Wedding Mess

Maybe he just wants to train with me and then I'll be allowed to delete the picture. Or does he expect me to let him keep it? As a memento? Have I perhaps bruised his ego because I want him to delete it? Men are so insanely complicated.

Once home, I freshen up, eat some meat, cheese curds, and a banana before packing my gym bag. After that, I even have time to clean my windows—a good warm-up already.

I leave for the boxing club right on time. Even though I’m twenty minutes early, Alexander’s car is already there. Trying to get an advantage, huh?

I grab my bag from the back seat and as I walk to the entrance, I see Carlos lighting a cigarette.

"Weren't you planning to quit?" I tease him with a sweet smile.

"Weren’t you planning to come every week?" He grins and takes a long drag. I nod and head inside toward the changing rooms.

It’s busy tonight. Even Manuela is here—her back is as broad as most of the men’s. Impressive.

But no sign of Alexander. He’s probably still changing. Must have arrived just before me.

In the women’s changing room, I slip into my workout outfit: loose-fitting shorts like the men wear, ending mid-thigh, and a tight top with a bit of cleavage, showing my midriff. Over it, an open training jacket I keep on during breaks—or when there are too many gawkers. With my water bottle, wraps, gloves, and towel, I head into the hall.

I glance around and spot Alexander and Carlos by the punching bags. I'm a bit nervous, I have to admit. Especially when I see Alexander from behind—because now I know what he looks like naked. I take a deep breath and approach them. Alex is also wearing loose shorts that fall almost to his knees, and a loose black muscle shirt. Whew, completely in black. The outfit suits him extremely well. I'm also dressed all in black, but matching outfits wasn't my intention.

"Hey," I greet them both.

Carlos smiles knowingly; I think he knows more than he would ever admit to me.

"Well, I hope you're staying longer today, little one," he says with a slightly scolding look, then grins cheekily.

"I'll do my best," I assure him.

"I'll make sure of that," Alex chimes in and pushes a rope into my hand. "But first, you'll warm up with me."

"Are you challenging me?" I shoot back, trying to sound combative.

"Of course."

Alexander grabs a jump rope of his own and gets into position. I drop my bag on the bench, slip off my training jacket, stretch, then take a few steps and stretch before positioning the jump rope, while Alex does the same. Carlos stands beside us, crossing his arms over his hairy chest—which everyone can admire thanks to his plunging neckline—and cheers us on by clapping his hands.

"Come on. I'll count!" he calls out.

Now it’s on between Alex and me. The only thing is, he's never seen me jump rope. At least, not really. Last week I just did some light warm-up jumps, but I'm really good with it.

"Ready?" he asks me and sets his counter to zero. I do the same.

"Two minutes?" I ask him.

"Okay." Alex nods and looks at Carlos, who pulls out his stopwatch.

"Get in position. Three. Two. One. Go!"

We start jumping. . At first I let him think he’s in the lead, but after a few seconds, I crank up the speed.

Sure, I'm very skilled at this, but he's also picking up speed. While we're both disciplined and well-trained, this is probablythe only challenge I could win. In anything else, I'm physically at a significant disadvantage.

"Thirty seconds left." Carlos counts us down.

Alex is highly concentrated and doesn't let up but I'm not going to make it easy for him!

"Three. Two. One. Stop!"

Alex and I stop immediately. Well, that was a goodwarm-up. We both smile at each other and hand our jump ropes to Carlos. He laughs loudly and says: "402 for you, little one, and 408 for Alex. Narrow win."