Page 31 of The Incredible Kindness of Paper

Oliver

That evening, Oliver threw himself into his hardest jiu jitsu conditioning workout.

He had to find a way to stop thinking about Chloe at Bergdorf Goodman—about the way the blue silk of that gown skimmed her body, how it rustled against her skin when she spun in place, how much he wanted to run his hands over the liquid fabric and trace every inch of her beneath it.

Pull-ups. Rope climb. Plate flips.

Bench press. Hammer lift. Dead lift.

Squats. Kettlebell. Power cleans.

These exercises required concentration on form so that he maximized efficiency and didn’t injure himself.

They would also burn up Oliver’s physical reserves so that maybe he’d be depleted enough to stop fantasizing about the things he wanted to do with a woman who wasn’t his to have, and never could be.

If the workout wasn’t sufficient, though, he’d go to the studio and hit the mats. A good sparring session would set his head straight.

Except that sparring in jiu jitsu was often like wrestling, and then Oliver’s mind went to what it would be like if his body was entwined with Chloe’s, and…

He sighed. He was doomed.