“Um, excuse me?”
I turned, breathing hard, to find the guy I’d noticed earlier. He looked to be in his early twenties, tall and skinny with dark hair smeared across his forehead and an oversized T-shirt that hung loose on his scrawny frame.
My heart did something weird and fluttery.
Had the acid drained from my legs to my head?
I braced myself on the machine as I faced the guy.
He looked exactly like Theo might look in gym clothes—nervous, out of place, but determined. He chewed his bottom lip a moment before mustering the courage to speak, his head ducking as he did.
“I’m really sorry to bother you,” he said, adjusting his glasses. “I’m kinda new to this whole weight-lifting thing, and, well, I was wondering if you could spot me on the bench press? I don’t want to, you know, accidentally crush myself, and I think the bar might do that without any weights.”
He let out a self-deprecating, nervy chuckle that was so familiar it made my chest ache.
“Yeah, sure,” I managed, grabbing my towel and wiping the worst of the sweat from my face and arms. “We were all new sometime. Happy to help.”
I followed him to a bench where he’d set up what couldn’t have been more than ninety pounds—barely more than the bar itself.
“I know it’s not much,” he said, his cheeks flushing slightly. “But I’m working up to it. Slow and steady, right?”
“Form over weight. That’s the rule, right?” I assured him, taking position behind the bar. “You’re doing great just by being here.”
As he settled onto the bench and gripped the bar, I found myself studying his face. He was strikingly similar, yet different from Theo—with sharper cheekbones and lighter eyes. Still, something about his nervous determination, the way he bit his lip as he concentrated and stuck his tongue out one side of his mouth, reminded me so much of my librarian that it was almost painful.
Mylibrarian. Shit. What the hell? Where hadthatcome from? I shook my head like a dog after a bath. The image of Theo in my mind’s eye refused to budge.
“Ready?” he asked.
“I’ve got you,” I said, focusing on the guy beneath me. “Take your time.”
He pressed the weight up slowly, his form pretty decent for a beginner.
“That was good,” I said as he completed his set. “Really good form.”
“Thanks.” He sat up, breathing a little harder than the light weight warranted. “I’m Albert, by the way.”
“Jeremiah. Everyone calls me Jer.”
“Nice to meet you, Jer, and thanks for the spot. I was really worried about getting squished under there.”
We finished his workout, and I found myself focused for the first time all morning, giving him tips on form and encouraging him as he worked through his beginner routine. By the time we were done, he looked exhausted but proud.
I hobbled out to my car, climbed in, and let my head bang against the steering wheel. This couldn’t go on. Theo had invaded my mind like a tiny mental barbarian intent on taking down the whole Roman empire of my brain.
The fact I invoked Roman anything told me just how messed up I really was.
I couldn’t even point to Rome on a map. Hell, I didn’t even own a map.
I drove home with my mind churning, determined to come up with a plan to see Theo again, to ask him out and actually win a date. We might click—or not—but I had to find out. I had to know. I had to talk to him, to see his eyes light up, to kiss his lips—
“No, no, no!” I said aloud, letting my head bang against the steering wheel as I waited for the eternal light to turn green. “No kissing. No sex. No nothing but talking and getting to know him. He’s a good guy with a daughter, not some sex toy.”
That made me laugh.
Sex toy.
Like the one he’s stirring pasta with because of me.
