Page 44 of Gym With Benefits

The accusation hit my chest in a burst of cold water. “You're out of your mind.”

“I don’t think so.”

“She's a pain in the ass.”

He shrugged. “I’m just calling ‘em how I see ‘em.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” I said, fighting the urge to run and hide. “She's the most annoying, stubborn, combative woman I've ever met. Not my type, thanks.”

“Sure.” A knowing smile broke through his stern expression. “She’s all those things. She’s also crazy smart, and she doesn't break when you push too hard. And that drives you crazy because you know you don't stand a chance with her.”

“And you do?” I scoffed, the heat in my blood flaring up all over again. Thicker this time, darker. “Is that what that little huddle by the dumbbell rack was about? You playing the sensitive protector so she’ll give you a five-star review on your training portal?”

Brock just stood there, looking down at me with the supreme, maddening confidence of a man who already knew the score. Like someone who had already occupied the territory I was blocked from entering.

“I don't need to play anything,” he said then, the tension leaving his shoulders. “Unlike you, I actually know how to talk to her without starting a riot. And unlike you, I know exactly what she likes. How she likes it. And how to give it to her.”

The implication hung in the tight space between us, dense and suffocating.

How to give it to her.

The phrase uncoiled in my brain, translating instantly into a truth I couldn’t stomach. The subtle lean of his head by the dumbbell rack. The way he’d tucked her hair behind her ear with a familiar softness. The way she had trusted him with whatever she was whispering before I interrupted.

“You fucked her.” The words sounded hollow, and I didn’t know why.

They were both consenting adults, free to do what—and whom—ever they pleased.

Brock didn't deny it. He didn't even try to soften the blow. He just shifted his weight to his back foot, his chin rising slightly in a gesture of silent, arrogant confirmation.

“That's none of your business.”

The world shrank down to the space between his jaw and my knuckles. Every thought in my head pulled into a stinging flatline as I dropped my shoulder and swung. The impact was a dull, cracking explosion of bone against cartilage as my fist met his face, and he fell to the floor.

16

Jess

“He is a sociopath.” The adrenaline from the training room still hummed in my ears, a high-frequency buzz that made my fingers twitch.

The admin office was a small, windowless box of industrial carpet and gray metal filing cabinets. The door clicked shut, cutting off the rhythmic clank of the weight room and replacing it with the monotonous hum of a computer tower beneath the desk.

“Just… take a breath.”

“A literal, textbook clinical case.” I stopped pacing long enough to hammer the point home to Hunter. “The man should be studied. How an adult human can possess that level of unprovoked malice is a phenomenon.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t step in sooner. I had no idea things would get this out of hand.” Hunter stood with his back against the closed door, his hands jammed deep into the pockets of his track pants. His expression was a complicated mix of professional concern and something much more volatile.

“It’s not your fault. How were you supposed to know?” My shoulders sagged with a defeated sigh.

“He’s defensive. And reactive. Once you get to know—”

“You’re taking his side?” I glared at him, incredulous. This wasn’t happening. For weeks the guy had been up my ass, a total dick, and now Hunter was trying to explain his behavior away.

“I just meant—”

“No.” I crossed the floor and got right in his face. “He’s actively ruining every one of my sessions. And it doesn’t even start here. He fucks with me the second I enter the parking lot!”

“Jess, please, just—”