“Whoo hoo! Look who decided to join us,” Rex drawled from the bench where he’d been lifting while Mickey spotted for him. “Did someone keep you up late?”
“Feck off, eejit!”
“You’re late! Now we know why,” Mickey said, grinning like an arsehole.
“He has a new beau,” Alain drawled. “Leave the poor sod alone.”
“Thanks, Brit.” I grinned as I set down my water bottle and climbed onto the treadmill beside him to start my warmup with a slow jog. Besides Rex, Mickey, and Alain, we were the only members of the team in the gym. “Where would everyone be?” I asked.
“Candy was in his office on the telephone last time I checked,” Alain replied, tapping buttons to increase his speed. “Nash called to say he’s also running late, Miguel and Raven are in court this morning, and Mars is over there.” He pointed to the weight rack about twenty feet away, where he was putting weights on a bar. I hadn’t even noticed him.
“And Napoleon? Didn’t he come in with you, Pats?” Mickey asked.
“Where do you think he is?” Rex drawled as I glanced at him and nodded.
“Texas is right.”
“Irish speaks the truth. We’re always right,” Rex said, grunting as he hoisted the bar upward, resting it in the cradle as Mickey stood over him. “The fish is in the pool.” Napoleon always split his workouts between weight training and the pool, making sure he stayed in the water at least half the time we spent training. None of the rest of us made swimming a part of our daily cardio like the SEAL.
“I think I’m gonna cancel my gym membership,” Mickey said.
I turned to look at him. “Why would ya be having a membership at an outside gym when ya have access to this one?” I asked.
“I’ve had it ever since I was in high school.”
“So, yer tellin’ us that even though ya have the fantastic FBI gym at yer disposal 24/7, ya still pay them money?” I asked, increasing my speed on the treadmill, warming to the run and the conversation.
“Yeah, because sometimes I don’t want to work out with you assholes,” Mickey replied with a grin. “Besides, it’s like a block from my apartment and sometimes I don’t want to drive all the way here to get in a workout on a Sunday morning.”
“Lemme ask you somethin’,” Rex said, sitting up on the bench and grabbing his water bottle. He held up a hand as he took a long swig.
“What?” Mickey asked.
“Is it a nice gym? Maybe I’ll join. We don’t live too far from each other.”
“Yeah, it’s great.” Mickey drank from his own bottle. “It has all the same equipment and machines, and there’s an outdoor area where they’ve got pulling and climbing ropes, and even a rock wall.”
“I’ll never join an outside gym,” Alain drawled. “The last time I went into one to inquire about it, they tried to sell me exorbitantly priced training sessions with a personal trainer.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Mickey asked. “You don’t have to buy them.”
“I’m not sure,” Alain replied. “It just rubbed me up the wrong way. The chap said, ‘Hey, we’ll sell you time with a guy who’ll make you work out at a place you already pay to work out at.’ How does that make sense?”
I laughed, panting as I continued my run. “I’ll bet ya can also throw money in the rubbish for a small fee at that gym.”
Everyone chuckled.
“That’s not what bugs me about personal trainers,” Rex said, moving to the bench press and patting Mickey on the back in thanks for spotting him. “I always wonder how a gym hires them damned trainers.”
“How do you mean?” Mickey asked, claiming the bench press beside Rex and adjusting the weight.
“I mean, they’re all assholes. I heard one ask a girl what her goals were right after tellin’ her that her BMI was considered morbidly obese.”
“How’d she respond to that?” I asked.
“She told him that her goal was payin’ him for an hour, so she doesn’t eat for an hour, and then told him to shut up and stop askin’ questions about goals.”
I laughed out loud.
