Feelin The Burn

Hannah

A heart rate monitor.

He was just holding out a heart rate monitor in his palm.

I felt my heart deflate slightly when I saw it.

His voice was gentle and deep as he extended his palm out toward me. “I believe this belongs to you.”

“Thanks,” I squeaked as I snatched it out of his palm and turned quickly, rushing out the door with my heart pounding.

Smooth, Hannah, real smooth.

***

The whole drive home from work on Friday, I was a bit of a wreck. After my session at the fitness studio, I was sore the next morning. Like tears actually sprang to my eyes any time I tried to bend.

I was half tempted to call out of work, but I knew that’d never fly. As the week went on, the tightness in my muscles eased, and I felt alright when I woke up this morning.

My eyes widened as I looked down at my phone screen and saw Parker’s incoming text.

Shit.

My whole body tensed as I awaited his response; I could feel my blood pressure rising. This was not happening... and Parker was taking forever to respond.

No... no... no. He couldn't do this to me.

Ugh.

I'm gonna kick your ass, Parker.

Goddammit!

As I got back to my apartment to change, I only had ten minutes to put on my workout gear before I needed to leave.

I was seriously contemplating just changing into my sweats and crying into a tub of ice cream on the couch. I didn't want to do this by myself.

When I looked up from digging my keys out of my purse, there were two bright pink Post-it notes on my door.

I love you; you're beautiful

~

Fucker.

Please forgive me! I promise you've got this. Go show the Dragon what you've got.

~

Grrr.

I was still mad at him, but he was right. I needed to go. If I didn't, I would never go back. Making excuses wasn't going to cut it anymore.

I huffed and puffed while pulling on my sports bra and putting on a pair of running tights. I threw on a blousy shirt on top with a zip-up jacket. At least I looked the part...

That was half the battle. The other half was getting on that damn treadmill again.

Or the rower... ugh.

I changed the station on the satellite radio to something upbeat to try to get myself in the mood to work out. It improved my mood. Not my desire to actually go in the door. But showing up in the parking lot didn't count.

Oh, how I wished that it did.

“Right on time, Hannah. You ready to get your profile done?” Ty asked as I walked in the door.

“Profile?”

“For the fitness tracking challenge,” he said as if I knew what that meant.

“Uh…”

Was I so tired in the last session that I didn’t remember signing up to do a fitness challenge?

“Don’t worry. Your boyfriend already came in earlier in the week and got his completed. He said you were doing it together.”

“Boyfriend?” I think I’d remember if I somehow gained a boyfriend sometime this week.

“Preston? Peter?” He started rattling off P names.

“Parker…” I growled—that bastard.

“Yeah. He said you were both interested in doing it when you were here before.”

I was going to kill him.

“It must have slipped my mind.” Ty smiled, obviously missing the heavy sarcasm in my voice.

“Well... we need to get you weighed in and do your body composition profile.”

“What? No.” My voice sounded as panicky as I felt. I did not agree to a body profile. I’d already been subjected to one at the doctor’s office. I did not need another one.

“Hannah, it’ll be fine. Think about how great you’ll feel when you look back at how far you’ve come.” Ty’s voice was enthusiastic and positive, but I was beyond caring.

If I wasn’t going to kill Parker before, he was a dead man now.

“Mal will come and get you in a few minutes, and you’ll go back to the office. It’ll take less than ten minutes.”

“Oh God, not the Dragon,” I sighed under my breath after he turned his back to grab some paperwork from the other side of the check-in desk.

He turned back with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his full lips.

“Did you just call Mal ‘the Dragon’?” My eyes widened as he leaned toward me and lowered his voice.

“Uh... I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hannah... Hannah... Hannah. Aren’t we friends?”

“No.”

“Damn.” He laughed as he mockingly grabbed his chest. “That was harsh, girl.”

The smirk remained as I rolled my eyes at him, but I could tell he was far from letting this go—damn Parker and planting that damn nickname in my head.

“Just tell me one thing, why ‘the Dragon’?”

“If you tell her,” I hissed as I leaned toward him, “so help me God…”

“My lips are sealed. Spill it.”

“Parker said Mal must be short for Maleficent.”

He burst into laughter and placed his hand on top of mine over the desk, squeezing as he tried to calm down. It made my heart rate kick up for a whole other reason.

“I promise I won’t tell her.”

“No, you can’t tell anyone,” I warned with wide eyes.

“Oh, come on, Coach Jordan would die if he knew that you called her that.”

“Then you tell him Parker calls her that. Please don’t embarrass me,” I begged. “Or put me on the hot seat with her.”

He laughed again and leaned in. “Because she’s a fire-breathing dragon?”

“Stop it,” I swatted at his arm. Then the door to the office burst open, and I stepped back as he pushed his chair away from the desk.

“Hannah? You ready?” Mallory called out to me.

I shook my head, and I may have let out a barely audible whimper.

“Come on. Class starts in fifteen, and we need to get this done.”

“Go.” Ty laughed at my panicked look and motioned for me to follow her. “Get your fine ass in there.”

“Oh, stop it.” I rolled my eyes at him again. “You dork.”

I left Ty sitting at the desk and followed Mallory into the small office.

“All right. Back up against the gray wall and turn to your side,” she instructed as she picked up an iPad and pointed it in my direction.

I felt like I was getting a mugshot taken.

“Now, back,” she said, no-nonsense, as she took a few quick pictures.

“Okay, front.”

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to look at the camera or not. I ended up with my eyes darting around, trying to avoid looking directly at her.

Her glare was like the sun.

“Take off your socks and shoes.”

I put my bag down on the floor and awkwardly leaned against the wall to pull them off. She tapped her toe and stood with her iPad pulled up to her chest while she waited.

“Okay, we’re going to do weight first,” she instructed, pointing at the device in front of me with a little computer pedestal attached. “Step on the scale and line up your heels with the back of the plates.”

I held my breath as the weight registered, and the machine beeped. Knowing what it would say, I just kept staring at the wall in front of me.

“Now, put your information into the computer.”

A small computer screen showed spaces for me to type in my email address, phone number, height, and age. I typed them in and then turned to look back at Mal. Her resting bitch face was as strong as ever.

“Okay. This next part, you need to stand very still and keep your feet on the plates. Pick up those handles and place your thumbs on the metal plates at the end.”

Doing as she instructed, I tried to resist the urge to move. When the machine beeped and popped up as scan complete, I hopped off of it like it was on fire.

It was pretty much the same information that had been on the scan at the doctor’s office.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mal take a look at the small screen and pull a sour face.

What the hell?!

Turning away from her, I bit my lip as tears sprung to the corners of my eyes. Fuck this stupid skinny supermodel and the Dragon she rode in on.

She was supposed to be helping people—making a face at 45.5% body fat was not helping. I knew I was fat. So much for this place, not fat-shaming people. Her face said it all.

Once I had my shoes retied, I ignored the crap she started talking about with teams and coach consultations. I would not be talking to her if she were my coach.

“An email should be going out in a few days, and you’ll get an invitation to a Facebook support group.”

I nodded and pushed out the door... smacking directly into a very firm chest in the hallway. When I looked up, my eyes widened, and I sputtered as I took in who I’d crashed into.

“I’m sorry.”

His large hands tightened briefly where he’d instinctively grasped my upper arms, where ordinary people had biceps.

It was him again.

He smiled slightly as he looked into my eyes, and I quickly averted them as I stepped back and bumped into the door frame.

“It’s no problem. Are you all right?” he asked as he slowly dropped his hands from my arms.

My face flamed as I blinked up at him. He was tall... well over six feet and tightly muscled. His form-fitting tank showed off his defined biceps and his hard chest.

He wasn’t shaved or waxed like some of the guys I’d seen, Ty included. I had to admit, the chest hair was appealing.

It gave him a sense of hyper-masculinity that set my pulse racing. The fact that he smelled like the outdoors wasn’t helping me regain my senses either.

“I didn’t mean to…” I stuttered as he gazed down at me.

“You’re perfectly fine. I didn’t realize there was anyone in the office. It was my fault for practically standing in the doorway.”

“I’m just a hot mess,” I muttered, and his face morphed into a natural smile.

My anger at the Dragon had died down with my plowing right into the handsome stranger who I kept running into lately. At least I didn’t drop something this time.

“Aren’t we all?” He chuckled as he stepped to the side. He bent slightly and grabbed his sweatshirt and a pair of dirty sneakers that had been dropped to the floor as I ran into him.

He leaned to the side and shoved them into an empty locker, his shoulder brushing my arm.

“I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. We all have those moments.” I was a little shocked at how friendly he seemed. Normally, I’d be intimidated by men like him.

“I just have more than most.”

He smiled as he straightened up. “Give yourself a break sometimes. We’re all human.”

I nodded as he turned and took a few steps toward the studio door.

“Take a deep breath and keep going. You got this,” he winked as his back pressed the release bar, and he stepped into the room. “See you in here.”

The door closed behind him, jolting me back to reality. I let out a shaky breath and shook my head.

“Five minutes, Hannah.” Mallory’s voice startled me back into reality.

“Okay.”

And the anger returned as little miss perfect put her headset on and sauntered toward the studio’s door.

I tried to focus as I put away my extra shoes and sweatshirt, remembering to grab my water bottle this time.

There was only one treadmill available when I entered the studio, so I stepped onto it and quickly pressed a few buttons to start a brisk walk at a decent incline. I took a few deep breaths before we began.

When I looked up, I met the gaze of the person jogging beside me in the mirror, and I tightly gripped the handholds at the front of the treadmill.

“Lighten up.”

“Excuse me?”

He leaned forward and pressed a button, slowing his speed down to a quick walk next to me.

“Lighten up your hands, relax your fingers. You don’t need a death grip. I’ve yet to see someone fall off the treadmill.”

I nodded and slowly peeled my fingers off the bar, flexing them, and put my hands down at my sides while I walked.

“That’s better. Relax your muscles and just focus on your breathing. You’ll have a harder time if you’re tense.”

“Thank you,” I said as I glanced over at him.

“No problem,” he nodded. “Remember... just relax and go at your own pace.”

“You’re good at this,” I laughed, and he flashed me a smile. “Maybe you should be the trainer.”

His eyes twinkled as he smiled at me, laughing a little before he pushed the button to pick back up the pace on his treadmill.

“Maybe…”