“What?” he asked, and she told him, laying out the details that had hastily come to her brain. He raised an eyebrow as she spoke.
“You would do that for me? Go against him and stand beside me?”
“I’m not going against anyone,” she snapped, ignoring her phone as it beeped again. “But you need each other, you do, and you just don’t realize it. Hell, the hardest part of this plan is going to be convincing David. If we can do that, the rest is a breeze.”
***
“What’s Gwen got up her sleeve?” Derrick slid into the booth beside David, Ally sandwiching him as they waited. The Grill was crowded already, and they were lucky to get a booth at all. David checked his phone, although there was nothing new.
“No idea. Although knowing her, she’s probably organized a flash mob that involves stripper poles and a full Broadway production. Sometimes I think Gwen doesn’t know how to do anything besides perform.”
“I don’t think it’s a flash mob,” Ally said, her eyes fixed on the doorway. David looked up, and their jaws dropped as she entered, her hand firmly gripped in Finn’s.
“I sure hope she’s acting,” David said, raising an eyebrow. Derrick turned to him, aghast.
“Did you know about this?”
“No idea, brother,” he replied, just as stunned as the rest of them.
“Guys,” Gwen said as she approached. “This is Finn. Finn, this is David and his brother Derrick, and his girlfriend, Ally.”
“It’s a pleasure,” Finn disentangled his hand from Gwen long enough to reach out to shake. No one however, moved.
“What kind of joke is this?” David asked, turning to Gwen. “Kiddo, what are you pulling?”
“So I haven’t been entirely honest,” Gwen said, sliding into the booth chair. Finn slid in after her.
“You got that right,” David replied, his eyes flashing to Finn. “You have about 5 minutes before I accuse you of working with the enemy.”
Gwen rolled her eyes, and Finn coughed, clearly uncomfortable.
“Finn and I… knew each other, a long time ago, in New York. I haven’t known him the whole time, we have lost touch. But when I saw him again, here, what was I supposed to do? All of you were so angry, and you kind of have a right to be, I mean, no one wants to lose their business or home. But neither does Finn,” she looked to each of them.
David rolled his eyes, about to interrupt, but she held up a finger. “Listen. The rumors you heard are true. He does have cancer. And it’s because he went into the public eye to seek treatment. So, you two need to compromise. Finn stays and lives in Hanover Heights and gets treatment at our hospital, which I know is capable of doing chemo. Stays out of the public eye, recovers and lives to destroy some other town. In return, Hanover Heights is safe.”
“What!” Derrick, Ally and David stared at her, and then began babbling at once.
“No way in hell are we going to just let…”
“The town would never accept…”
“It’s…”
“Guys, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Gwen asked. “I’m asking you to save a life.”
“No,” Finn finally piped up, turning to Gwen. “My dear, you have been very kind, but it’s clear that this is a deal with the devil.”
“Now wait just a minute,” Gwen shook her head. “You both have to be willing to make this deal. Holy shit, Finn, stop being a workaholic for one minute and think about your life. You want to be around to make another deal, or you want your Board to kick you to the curb?”
“Even if we agreed to back off,” Ally finally spoke, looking at the boys carefully. “Someone will tell the media that he’s here. No one in the town trusts him and he sticks out like a sore thumb.”
“More than me?” Gwen raised an eyebrow. “Because I’ll give up my next contract and stay here to distract as long as I’m needed…”
“Gwen!” David exclaimed. “You can’t do that!”
“Sure I can. One phone call and it’s done.”
Derrick looked to the other two with a sigh.
“Well… if Gwen is willing to make such a sacrifice for two causes that are not hers… the least we can do is one. The town will be saved, so what difference does it make?”
“You’d stay?” Finn lowered his voice, so only she could hear it. She shrugged, giving him a lopsided grin.
“Sure, if you want me to. I’m not asking you to marry me, don’t look so horrified. We’ll pick up where things left off, if you want.”
He beamed at her, nodding.
“I would like that, very much. Although… it’s not going to be easy, Gwen. This isn’t TV-cancer where everything is pretty and everyone is always feeling well.”
Gwen laughed at that.
“Well then, it’ll be an experience. Also, I really don’t care. You’re back. What difference does it make to me?”
“Ew,” David said, breaking the mood as he watched them. “Really?”
Under the table, she kicked him hard, and he kicked her back. Now it was Ally’s turn to roll her eyes, sliding out of the booth with Derrick.
“We’re gonna go tell everyone. You two can continue to act like children if you want. Finn,” she turned to him, a smile on her face. “Welcome to town.”
“Thank you, my dear,” he replied, dipping his head in appreciation. “I hope everyone’s welcome is as pleasant as yours.”
“This isn’t going to work, Gwen,” David said under his breath as the two exchanged pleasantries. “You’re creating a war.”
She shrugged, casually.
“I’m fighting for something I believe in.”
He sighed, reaching to brush her arm and echoing Finn’s words.
“This isn’t TV love, either, Gwen, where everyone always is happy and all accepting and there’s never any problems.”
“Well, maybe it would be good for me to experience something real, instead of playing make believe all the time,” she replied, softly. “I’ve been playing make believe since I was nine years old, I can’t keep running for real life forever.”
“And if he dies?” David asked, and she looked away.
“He won’t,” she said with determination. “Because I love him. We just found each other again, David, so how can he leave now? And I need you to help me, I need you to be supportive of this, because I know it’s not going to be easy. You’re my best friend, so please.”
David sighed looking for Finn and then back to Gwen. More than anything he wanted to protect this beautiful young girl from the horrors of the real world. But it seemed it was too late.
“Of course, babe,” he replied at last. “Of course.”
***
[Hope you liked the story and don't forget your 8 complimentary books, which you may find a download link to on the last page of this collection, just after the 11th story ends. Now, on to the next story!]
The Gym Instructor
by
Evelyn Hunt
Grace smiled nervously as she glanced around. The gym looked more like a torture chamber to her than anything else and she sensed her nerves taking hold.
“First time exercising in a gym?” the young woman showing her around asked.
Grace shook her head. “Not the first time ever,” she replied. “But certainly the first time in a long, long while.” When she signed her divorce papers the previous week it brought home that her marriage really was over for good and the forty four year old woman decided the time was right for a new start.
She sat down with a blank piece of paper to write down the things she was going to do and joining a gym to get in shape and lose some weight was number one on the list. Grace looked around the equipment again and shook her head a little. “I’m not even sure I would know how to use half this stuff,” she confessed.
“That’s no problem,” the young woman said with a smile. “The cost of the membership includes for a personal trainer for your first two visits. They will show you around the various machines and get yo
u started so that you are familiar with the equipment.”
“Oh OK,” Grace said. She wasn’t exactly sure whether a trainer putting her through her paces was a good or bad idea, but at least she wouldn’t be left on her own to work things out.
The tour of the exercise room came to an end and the young woman showed Grace the locker rooms and sauna area then took her back to the office. “So what do you think?” she asked as they sat at a desk.
“Well I promised myself I would do it,” Grace answered, “so no backing out now.”
The woman got some forms out of a drawer and marked an X where they needed to be signed. Grace took the pen and sat filling in the application. When she was finished she inked her signature on the paper and then got her purse out. Counting out the membership fee she handed it across and the deal was done. The woman used a paper clip to attach the money and forms together and then stood. Grace followed suit and was led to the door.
“Just ask at the front desk for your membership card when you come in for your first visit,” the young woman said. “The trainer assigned to you will give you a call to set up a meeting and you can take it from there.”
Grace thanked her as she left. She took a final look around as she walked to the exit and then put the gym out of her mind as she walked back to work. It was a few days before it came back to her attention fully again. She’d got around to buying a couple of outfits and a pair of trainers, but made no effort to visit the gym. When her mobile phone rang one morning at work she looked at the number, but didn’t recognize it.
“Hello,” she said as she answered the call.
“Hi,” a male voice replied. “Is this Mrs. Reed?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Well…, I use Miss Reed now that I’m single again.”
“Oh OK,” the voice went on. “My name is Rob. I’m calling from the gym. I’ve been assigned as your personal trainer and just wanted to know when you were planning to come in for your first visit.”
“Oh…,” Grace said as the question caught her off guard. “I hadn’t thought about it to be honest.”
“How about coming in tonight?” Rob went on.
Grace hesitated, but knew the phone call was the incentive she needed to get started. “Sure,” she finally agreed. “I can be there around seven if that suits you.”
“That’s fine,” he said. “Just ask for me at the front desk and I’ll come and meet you.”
“OK, I’ll do that,” she went on. She heard the click of the call being disconnected and put her mobile phone back in her bag. The rest of the working day seemed to pass quickly and suddenly she was on the bus home. Grace decided to wait until after she finished the training session before eating and simply grabbed her training gear and left the house again. It was just after six when she got back into town and she went to have a coffee.
She suddenly wondered why she hadn’t been assigned a female trainer and sat considering what Rob would be like. There was no way of knowing simply from his voice on the phone though and her mind drifted away from the subject as she looked out the café window at the world passing by. She finally left when it was approaching seven and made her way to the gym.
Stepping up to the front desk in the reception area, Grace gave her name and asked if her membership card was there. The young woman checked and smiled as she picked it up to hand it over. “I have to meet a fitness instructor named Rob also,” Grace went on. “How do I do that?” she asked.
“Hold on,” the woman said and picked up the phone in front of her. The call was quickly over and she replaced the handset. “Just take a seat,” she went on. “Rob is on his way.”
Grace looked to where the woman behind the desk was pointing and went to take a seat. A couple of minutes later she saw a young man making his way towards her and was surprised at the flash of attraction that took hold. Since her husband left her she’d been off men, but was suddenly reappraising that idea as she watched her personal trainer approaching. His muscular physique showed through the top and shorts he was wearing, although it was the short, dark hair and smiling face that caught Grace’s attention. Keep it calm, he must be twenty years younger than you she chided herself, but the flash of interest remained in her mind.
“Hi,” the man said as he approached. “You’re Miss Reed?”
She smiled at him. “Nice to meet you Rob,” she replied. “Call me Grace.” She got up to shake the outstretched hand and they stood silently for a few seconds. It was her that finally broke the silence. “So what now?” she asked.
“Well you need to get your training gear on,” Rob said with a laugh. “Come on I’ll show you where you can get changed.” Grace knew where to go already, but followed behind as the young man moved off. Her eyes dropped to the taut ass and remained on it as they walked along. She was quick to lift her gaze as they reached a door though. “Just come in to the exercise room when you are changed,” Rob went on.
“Sure,” she agreed and stepped inside the locker room. She chose a locker close to the door and stripped off her clothes to put on a t-shirt, shorts and trainers. Looking at herself in the mirror she could see the tight fit of the clothes put her curves on display and she thought she looked nice. The anticipation of being close to the muscular instructor suddenly took hold and her pulse raced a little. She tried to calm herself as she closed her locker and made her way to the exercise room. Rob was waiting just inside the door and she walked up to him. “So where do we start?” she asked.
“Let me have a look first,” he said and walked around her. The nervousness took hold a little under the critical appraisal and she wondered what was going through the young man’s mind as he circled her. “Do you exercise much already?” Rob finally asked.
Grace shook her head. “Not really,” she answered.
“OK, well I better be gentle with you this first time,” he said. You can be as rough as you want Grace suddenly thought and suppressed a grin. She followed as Rob stepped over to a treadmill. “OK hop up and we will get you sweating a little.”
Another dirty thought ran through the older woman’s mind about how the muscular young man could get her sweating, but she got up on the treadmill and started walking as it was switched on. The speed gradually increased until she was slowly jogging and she could feel her breathing getting heavier. Grace really was sweating when she finally stepped off the treadmill a few minutes later. Rob gave her a couple of minutes to recover and then led her over to a leg curl machine.
“Just get on,” he said, but Grace just looked at him. “Like this,” he encouraged and lay face down on the bench then locked the back of his ankles under the lifting bar. He raised his legs to bring the bar up and then lowered them again. Grace got on the machine when he stood up and suddenly tensed at the touch on the back of her thighs. “The machine works the hamstrings,” Rob said and the older woman shuddered as the touch worked up the back of her thigh. She raised and lowered her legs to work the muscles and wondered if Rob was looking at her butt.
The next piece of equipment was a leg abduction machine which worked the inner thighs. Rob again stroked a touch on her leg as she sat on the equipment to show her the muscles she was using and as she pressed her knees on the pads her legs opened and closed. The instructor stood right in front of her watching and this time she could see he was looking between her thighs as they spread apart.
Grace wondered if is interest was purely professional, but there was no sign of an erection in his shorts so she wasn’t exactly sure. Her interest however was definitely more than just exercising and as she was led around a succession of machines that targeted leg muscles she enjoyed the touch of the hands on her skin. By the time they were finished for the evening her body was tingling and it wasn’t just from the training. Rob walked with Grace to the locker room.
“When are you planning your next visit?” he asked.
“Not sure,” she said and laughed. “I think I will recover from this one first.”
Rob joined in the l
aughing. “I was gentle with you,” he teased. “You should be ready for another session with me tomorrow.”
Grace shook her head. “Can I just phone you and arrange it?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said. “You have my number. Just call me when you are ready. See you soon.”
“OK, thanks,” she replied and watched the taut ass again as Rob walked away. The thrill of the evening stayed with her through her shower and trip home. Grace was still buzzing a little as she got into the bed that evening and could feel the tingle all over her body. The training hadn’t been as bad as she thought and her mind went over the touches on her body. She was suddenly fantasizing about where she would really like the muscular young fitness trainer to put his hands and the heat grew between her thighs.
The Ultimate Erotic Short Story Collection 17: 11 Steamingly Hot Erotica Books For Women Page 12
