“Are you gonna work out with me today, you *, or are you bailing?” I berate Nash, needing a good workout to relieve some of the pent up stress.
“Fuck you,” he jibes back, punching me in the shoulder, making me laugh. “Don’t forget who got you where you are today.”
“Oh, I haven’t. I owe everything to my mom.” He shakes his head at me and we both chuckle, turning to Amanda as she approaches us with a smile on her face.
“I bet Amanda will work out with you. I told you, I got shit to do today.”
“Nash, don’t be an ass,” Amanda chimes in. “Nate’s going through a lot.”
“Then work out with him.”
“Sorry, I can’t. I have a doctor’s appointment today,” she says, staring between the two of us. “Are you guys fighting again?”
“No,” Nash blurts out as I simultaneously say, “Yes.”
“What’s the problem then?” she asks crossing her arms over her chest that is covered by a very tiny red sports bra. From there, I can’t stop my eyes from trailing down her abs which are sculpted to perfection. She’s really gonna make someone happy one day.
“Nash won’t work out with me,” I tell her, playing up the whiny bitch in my voice, but trying to be as serious as possible. We love fucking with her.
“Nate, for real,” she says, trying to be helpful in her approach. “Look at all of the people in here, you don’t see everyone working out with someone else, do you? You’ll be okay, just go at it alone like you do at home.”
I look around pretending to be very sad, ’cause if I look at Nash, I’ll lose it. I can almost hear him laughing under his breath. Then I turn towards her with the saddest look on my face possible. She looks back at me and I can see that she feels terrible, but it lasts only about two seconds before I crack. Both Nash and I bust out laughing, pissing Amanda off immediately. She storms off and I yell, “Come on, Amanda, we were just joking.”
“I actually felt bad for you, you asshole!” she shouts back, leaving out the front door.
Here at Mechanical Gym, we love to joke around, and for some reason, Amanda always seems to be the brunt of the jokes.
“That was fucking good, man,” Nash says.
“Right? I love getting under her skin. She’s so easy to piss off.”
“For sure. Are you ready to lift some weights, you bitch? Your arms are looking a little scrawny,” he glares down at my ripped biceps and I can’t resist flexing them. To be in the kind of shape we’re in, you take things to a whole other level. But regardless of whose arms are bigger, I do owe a lot to him. He’s become a great friend and business partner and pulled me out of a depression that I was wallowing in. If it wasn’t for him pushing me and giving me a purpose to focus on with this place, I don’t know where I would be.
When I lost Arion, I thought I couldn’t go on with my life. Everything halted when she chose Bain over me, but Nash forced me to move on. It’s still a work in progress…sometimes a very fucked up work in progress…but hey, it’s progress.
I grab my gallon of water that I’ve been slamming all day and follow Nash to the free weight area. “What do you want to start with first?” he asks me.
“Bench press?” I suggest.
“You sure? We did arms yesterday.”
“Yeah, my leg is kinda sore…I’m not sure this new prosthetic is fitting the best.”
“Have you called your doctor?”
“Yeah, I’m waiting to hear back,” I tell him, grabbing a few plates and sliding them on one side of the bar while he does the other.
“How much do you want on here?”
“Two-sixty.” We load the bar and I put my lifting gloves on and then lie under it.
“Ready?” he asks.
I nod my head and lift the weight straight up, then take in a deep breath as I lower it down to my chest. As I push the bar back up, I exhale, sweat beads on my forehead. I do this six more times before Nash helps me guide it back on the holder. Damn, that was easy, I think to myself as I lie there and rest before my next set.
“Did I tell you I found a ring?” he says out of nowhere.
“When are you gonna ask her?” This is huge for Nash – he’s wanted to propose to his girlfriend Jess for a while now, but he’s wanted to talk things over with her dad first and finally just got his blessing.
“I don’t know, I was thinking on her birthday. She wants to go out of town, so she won’t really be expecting it, but I hate to leave everything here on your shoulders, man. Especially with everything that you have going on.”
“Dude, don’t even worry about it. I need to keep busy. Spending so much time at the hospital is driving me a bit mental. I’m happy to pick up the extra slack if it means you going away and finally getting your ass engaged. Plus, I’ll have Amanda back to keep my head on straight if anything hits the fan.”
“Ohhhhhh, you and Amanda are so cute.”
“Whatever, dude.”