Chapter 6

Lainey

I knew the second Reese entered the gym, even though the room was packed with legging-clad bodies. It was mystifying, really, to think that I’d never been aware of him like this before. He was huge; towering as he waded across the sea of women. Something warmed in my chest when I realized he was making a beeline for me.

I’d spent the entire night reliving my conference room confessional and calling myself all sorts of idiot for being so weird with him. Hours ago, as I glared up at the dark ceiling, cringing at my parting question, it had been easy to convince myself that I was going to stop staring at him whenever he was in the room. And that I’d stop asking weird and inappropriate questions.

Now that he was in front of me, though, I had a feeling sticking to those commitments was going to be harder than I’d thought. I already had to remind myself to look somewhere else as he crossed the crowded floor.

“I thought you were scheduled today?” He was. At least he had been when I’d left the hospital last night. Not that I’d been looking at the board or anything.

His only response was a shrug. I pursed my lips, watching him watch me. I couldn’t believe I’d never noticed before what the weight of his gaze did to my body. I felt all buzzy—light and heavy at the same time.

I was about to ask whether he’d switched his schedule this morning just so he could take a workout class with me when Will trotted over. Thank God. I was pretty sure that would have fallen under the “asking inappropriate questions” category.

“Shit, it’s packed. We’ve had fifty people register for this session, alone. The rest of the week is getting wrecked.” He ran his hands through his hair and looked warily around the milling crowd. It was mostly women with a few hardcore looking gym bros sprinkled in. “I had to put limits on class sizes for the rest of the month.”

“You’re telling me I should register now before everything fills up?”

Will grinned. “Aw, Lainey, you know I’ll always find a spot for you.”

A week ago, his comment would have made my day. Now, I just laughed it off, glancing around. “I’ve never seen this place so crowded before.”

“A TV station was doing a piece on new local businesses. I did a quick interview that aired yesterday.” Will looked a little helpless. “I didn’t expect all this. Who even watches the news anymore?”

Suddenly, the female majority made more sense. “New gym in a cool area… hot trainer… It’s a workout girlie’s dream.”

Reese’s eyebrow twitched. Without a peep, he conveyed his dissatisfaction with my response.

“What? It’s the objective truth.” I gestured at Will, who was looking adorable and flustered as a few more spandex-clad people trickled through the gym doors.

“Favorite regular, I told you!” Will grinned at his brother before winking at me.

“What’s your plan here?” Reese interrupted, his eyes flicking between me and his brother and then back to me.

“Fuuuuuck, I don’t know, man.” Will gazed around, mentally calculating. “I’ll have to split them up and rotate through the circuits to fit everyone in. I could use your help, if you’re game.”

“I’ll take this section.” It could have been unintentional, the way Reese gestured to a group of about a dozen of us standing towards the back of the room. He herded me a little, almost knocking me into the two Lululemon ladies behind us. The move was so smooth, so casual, I assumed he gestured randomly to the closest side of the room.

Until Will rolled his eyes. “Sure you will, bro. So generous of you to take this group right here.” His hands circled over my head.

Teeth flashed white beneath Reese’s beard. He clapped Will on the back and steered him to the edge of the floor where their other brother, Conner, stood with a clipboard.

I shuffled forward to give the women behind me some more space. “Sorry,” I muttered.

“No worries. Is this your first time, too?” One of the Lulus behind me piped up. I wrenched my eyes away from the other side of the room, reminding myself again to not stare at your attending, Lainey , before facing them. The one who addressed me was taller, the cream color of her matching workout set making her dark skin glow. Her friend was shorter, standing close with her arms crossed. Her eyes peeked from behind blonde hair with purple streaks.

“Nah, I’ve been coming here for a while. You?”

“First time. We saw the owner’s interview on Facebook.” She nodded to where Will and his brothers were talking through some sort of chart on the clipboard. “Someone posted his interview on one of the Chicago workout groups. It’s gone a little viral. I’m Sameera, by the way.”

“Lainey.” I offered my hand. The blonde girl’s name was Tess. She barely met my eyes when we shook.

“How intense is this going to be? Tess and I are new to the HIIT thing. We’re nervous.” Sameera gave Tess a warm smile.

“Meery’s not nervous. She’s just here for emotional support.” Tess sighed. “It’s important to try new things outside of my comfort zone.” She droned like she was reciting something. Her arms clenched around her waist.

“It’s not too bad. Will’s good at modifying and giving options for people who want to take it slow.”

“Will? That’s the Viking one?” Meery looked back at the guys. I glanced over at Reese. Now that the three of them stood together, it was easy to see their resemblance, but he had a few inches on his brothers. And now that she mentioned it, that big, blocky build and light hair did give off solid Viking vibes.

“That’s Sam. I actually haven’t seen him teach a class before, but we work together. He’s got the patience of a saint. You’ll love him.”

All true. He was a good attending. A good person. Had I always admired him this way? Or had I only realized it now that I was in close proximity to his impressive shoulder circumference?

“Hey everyone! We’re about to get started here. We’ve got a full house today, so we’re going to split up into a few groups!” Will corralled us into three groups so he, Connor, and Reese could lead us through the exercises. We shuffled together as we got sectioned off.

“Actually, does that look a little uneven? Lainey, you want to come over here with me?” Will sported a downright wicked grin.

Before I moved a muscle, Reese’s hand landed between my shoulder blades, steering me deeper into his section without so much as a backwards glance at his brother.

“No? You guys good over there?”

“All good,” Reese called, still not looking back. Meery raised her eyebrows. The shaky smile I gave her turned into a gulp as Reese’s hand slid several inches down my spine before falling away. I rubbed at the goosebumps on my arms.

“Morning. I’m Sam. I’m helping Will out today. We’ll rotate through circuits to avoid the other teams. Start with a few laps to warm up, then we’re heading over to the tires, then kettlebells—”

“We’re going to kick your asses!” Will jogged by with his group on the way to the rack of exercise bands in the corner. Some people trailing him laughed and gave us bring it on gestures. I grinned.

“You’ll have to catch us first, team Will!” I called back. Oohs sounded at my back, along with a few other catcalls from team Sam. I glanced back at my attending. “We have to win, now.”

I got one of those slow blinks. For a split-second, I felt silly.

“Then you’d best get started, Carmichael.” He nodded to the track around the perimeter of the room. “Give me ten. Smoke ‘em.”

Behind me, Meery whooped and started jogging. The rest of our group followed suit, calling out good-natured jibes to the other teams across the room. Reese gestured with his chin for me to follow them. A challenge.

I grinned, throwing a backwards glance at my attending as I fell in with the group. His eyes tracked me as he set his clipboard on a bench and followed.

◆◆◆

As far as competitions went, this one was sketchy on the rules. Will and Connor started yelling ridiculous estimations of their teams’ accomplishments, including an exaggerated count of their group’s burpees and a highly inaccurate average speed for laps. Reese was a little more specific.

“Eight thousand pounds?! You’re full of it!” Will crowed while his team sprinted past. Reese didn’t bother responding, but the figure checked out with some quick mental math.

“We had…at least...nine thousand!” Connor huffed from the burpee corner.

“Another set!” a girl in my group cheered. Forty-five minutes into the most competitive workout of my life, I would have expected groans and denials from the rest of the team. Instead, we rallied. Next to me, Tess huffed, smiling, as she hefted the five-pound weight Reese handed her.

Another set, then another. My butt was killing me. All around, my teammates dropped like flies. Meery was dowsing herself in water from her bottle. A man in a blue shirt sprawled on the mats with his discarded kettle bell. I wasn’t far behind him.

“Give me three more.”

Reese’s voice came out of nowhere, rumbling right next to my ear. I jerked, kettlebell swinging wildly. When had he snuck up behind me?

“You got it. Keep your core engaged.” His chest radiated warmth to my back.

My whole freakin’ body engaged when his fingertips pressed lightly on my ribcage. I chanced a glance behind my shoulder to find him peering down at my form. My body moved without my permission. Maybe I was just used to following his direction. Maybe that gruff, assured command was so different from his gentle recommendations in the OR, I wanted to do as he said. I gulped a breath on my way down, forcing my mind away from that particular train of thought.

Reese followed me down, keeping that light, steady pressure on my ribs.

“Good.”

I squatted again, squeezing my eyes shut against the sudden flutter his praise sent ricocheting through me.

“One more.”

Breath burst from my lips at the feeling of his chest brushing against my back. I was sweaty and panting and about to fall over from exhaustion. I shouldn’t have had the capacity to get turned on right now. Yet…

“Perfect,” he murmured in my ear as I rose from my final rep. Those fingertips pressed ever-so-slightly where they rested against my ribcage before he released me to walk back to his clipboard. A shudder vibrated through my body that had nothing to do with muscle fatigue.

“Well, damn. How do I get a hands-on assist like that?” Meery sidled up next to me, toweling off. Tess raised her brows. All I could do was gulp down my water, still not completely sure what had just happened. When they turned away, my hand ghosted over the ridges of my ribs, still feeling the heat from where his fingers had rested.

I had an inkling that I’d be able to feel it for a very, very long time.