“Ok,” I smiled. I was apprehensive, but something about Daniel’s confidence and enthusiasm here in the gym was infectious. He led me over to what he called a squat rack.
“I’m going to start by showing you how to do a squat,” he told me, putting a bar on the rack at about his shoulder height. “Squats give you a great butt, on top of strong legs. And I like a girl with a great butt,” he added with a wink, as my face went crimson. He showed me how to use the safeties to make sure that if I couldn’t get back up I wouldn’t hurt myself, then did a few repetitions of a squat, explaining the importance of form.
“Now try it here, without the bar, and I’ll make sure you’ve got your form right.”
At first I was self conscious as I bent down, making sure my hips were past being parallel with my knees, but Daniel was encouraging and positive, and I quickly found myself actually enjoying the burn that came with the workout. I managed to do sets with the 45 pound bar.
“Hey, congratulations! You’re naturally pretty strong, it’s pretty rare for someone as small as you to be able to do the bar on their first day. I don’t have champagne to celebrate, but you can have some of my protein drink if you’d like,” he told me, offering me the bottle. As I took it from him, my fingers grazed his, and I inhaled sharply. It was like a spark ran between us, a zap that coursed through every vein of my body. My heart began to pound even harder than it had been from the exercise. I raised the bottle to my mouth and took a sip, then immediately scrunched up my face.
“That’s pretty gross, how the hell do you drink that?”
“Sorry. I guess you get used to it, I forget that some people aren’t used to the taste of whey protein.”
“It certainly isn’t champagne, let me tell you.”
“No, but it helps your muscles recover better than champagne does.”
“Ugh, surely there’s another way.”
“Well, if you join me again I’ll make sure to have some chocolate milk for you. It’s not as good for you, but it’s a good post-workout drink since it’s high in both protein and carbs.”
“Is that you asking me out on a second date?” I teased.
“Maybe,” he replied, a twinkle in his eye.
“Well I dunno, this is getting pretty serious for a bunch of maybe-dates.”
“Alright then, it’s a definite date. Now, let me show you how to bench press. You know, getting to the romantic part of this date,” he continued, and I laughed.
Daniel had me lie down on the bench after he showed me the proper form. He moved his hands to mine, and again my heart pounded in my chest. I wanted him to touch so much more than just my hands. I wanted him to touch my waist, my hips, my chest, my ass, my thighs. I wanted his hands all over me, I wanted him to discover my body slowly, taking his time as he explored me.
My mind was suddenly brought back from my reverie, my fantasy as Daniel moved the bar from the hooks holding it in place and above me. It was so heavy!
“Remember, drive with your feet and arch your back,” Daniel encouraged as he helped me move the bar down towards my chest. Up and down, the bar went, again and again, his hands just grazing mine as he was ready to catch the bar if the weight was too much for me.
“Awesome, good job!” he exclaimed when I was finished the three sets he got me to do. “Are you enjoying it, or is it just my amazing company keeping you here?” he asked as we took another break.
“As amazing as your company is, I actually am enjoying this by itself” I replied, and it was the truth. I had never expected that I would be the type of person to lift weights. After all, I’d never been athletic growing up, and while I had seen a lot of amateur athletes at the physiotherapy clinic I volunteered at when I was a undergrad, it had never seemed to be the sort of thing that would interest me. And yet, I was finding that I actually really liked it. The burn at the end of the sets, the determination it took to get the weight back to where it should be, the feeling of satisfaction when I was finished were all huge adrenaline boosts.
As soon as I realized how much I loved this I began to feel guilty once more. I wasn’t allowed to enjoy things. It was bad enough my panties were soaked without having anything to do with the sweat pouring from my body, it was bad enough that I spent half the morning fantasizing about Daniel, about wanting his hands all over so much more of me, but that I was also enjoying the actual workout was just the icing on the cake. I wasn’t allowed to enjoy things, and I wanted to refuse to enjoy this. I just couldn’t help it.
“Why are you doing this for me?” I asked suddenly after getting a drink of water. “There’s a lot of other girls in here, why me?”
Daniel looked amused at my question. “Why do you think?”
“I don’t know, honestly.”