“Hey, Ten. Where do you want to get started?”
“Hell if I know,” she says, scanning the gym. The twin towers are here, and they’re smashing it with the heavy weights. And Thane, looking a bit disgruntled, is making an overly confident Marine his bitch. It’s a welcoming place for these guys, but while Ten is strongly built, she also has a bit of padding around her belly and her thighs, and she’s looking uncomfortable.
“It’s not the friendliest place, sometimes.” I gesture to my thin frame, which is only just now beginning to pick up some extra weight. “I feel like Olive Oyl around all of these Popeyes, and I never work out when they’re here.”
“Then why should I?” she asks, sounding a bit salty. Penny had clearly forced her to come here today.
“That’s a fair question. Tell you what, why don’t we work out together? We could be the two misfits in a gym full of Arnold Schwarzeneggers.”
She tilts her head side to side. “Fine. I think I can do that.”
I show her a modified version of the thirty-minute weight routine I do in the morning, and by the end of it we’re both sweating and laughing. Turns out, her mouth is just as bad as mine.
“Thanks, beanpole. It was nice working out with you.”
I drape my hands lusciously down my beanpole frame, cracking us both up. “Want to try again day after tomorrow?”
“Sure, sounds like a plan.” With a fist bump on the agreement, she heads off to the showers, then leaves in her power suit, more confident than when she walked in.
Nick walks over after she leaves, and I’m waiting for him to give me shit for taking time out of my workday to work out with her.
“Nice job with Ten, Elijah. She and Penny do a lot for wounded veterans here in Austin, and I’ve invited her over a million times. Free of charge, free personal trainer at her disposal, and she’s always refused.”
“Yeah, well, the gym isn’t exactly welcoming to people who aren’t ripped. Though… I thought the idea of a gym was to improve one’s physical state. Silly me. I still feel intimidated every day.”
Nick seems taken aback but says nothing. I start laying out the mats, setting up Jake’s area the way I know he likes it, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Nick turn around and walk back toward me.
He stands there for a second, trying to put together the words. I’m pulling out the straps and other props when he finally speaks up. “So… what do you think would help the regular folks to feel more comfortable? I mean, I’m not gonna yell at Thane for being tall and ripped.”
“Mnmmm… I’m pretty sure the ripped people are half of the draw, so we definitely want to make sure we’re upping our game with our offerings for that crowd.”
“Then, what’s the problem?”
I think for a second, weighing the consequences of being truthful with a guy built like rock-hard abs are his job. Which, to be fair, it kinda is his job… ugh. “It’s not the presence of ripped people; it’s the absence of everyone else. If people could see others who look like them, they might be willing to give the gym a chance. Otherwise, this is a fairly standard gym, with the same unwelcome vibe for people starting out at a lower level of fitness. Literally the only thing that separates this gym from the others is that everyone here has served. And, yeah, it’s LGBTQIA+ friendly, which is… great. But in the end, for the majority of veterans, it’s still not welcoming.”
Nick really doesn’t like what I’m saying, but he is listening. “Okay then, what would you suggest?”
As he’s asking me, Roly walks in the door, bouncing on the energy that he always has in excess. He’s smiling, like maybe he just rode a rather large bear before coming into work. I laugh and point at him. “Easy. Start with Bear Night.”
Roly’s ears perk up. “Bear Night? Who has a Bear Night? Where is it? What day? I’m there.”
Nick nods his chin at me. “He’s saying that we need to shake things up to get people who maybe aren’t as ripped as everyone else into the gym. And his first suggestion was Bear Night.”
Roly’s eyes are wide and sparkling. “Oh, I’m all over it. Say no more. I’ve got it. We’ll do Wednesday nights, because that’s Bear Night over at the gay club, and bears will want to come in and get a little pumped up before they go in.”
I think on it and clarify. “I’m not just talking about bears with six-packs, like Thane. I mean bigger bears. We’ve gotta get the guys with bellies to come, too. What do you think?”
Roly lets out an adorable sigh and rolls his eyes heavenward. “Those are my favorite kinds of bears. It was never gonna work out with Thane because he had no softness to him, and I need some softness in my life,” he says, looking around like a jackal about to take down a meal.
Nick nods. “Okay, Roly, I’ll let you take care of that. All right, Elijah. What’s next?” It’s weird, but I think he’s sincerely interested in my ideas.
“Well, if we’re going to have a Bear Night, the other place where we don’t have a lot of representation is with women. And the few women we have here, again, are ripped to hell. Maybe we can do something like a moms’ night, where vets with kids can bring them, and me and Roly can watch while the moms get their gym on. Maybe put you up at the front of a class, have the hot combat vet lead a little bit of cardio and weight training. Kind of like Richard Simmons, except with more drool.”
Nick wrinkles his nose, not really liking the idea of standing in front of a horde of women, his only purpose to be the beefcake.
Roly laughs. “Come on, Nick. Let Wrecked objectify you to bring in new business.”
Nick growls and points at the huge wallpaper mural… but then sighs and gives a short, sharp nod. “I can do Tuesday nights. And we’ll call in Jules to watch the kids. She’s at least qualified.”
