Working Out Issues

"It's too thick," I whimpered.

"You got this bro!" Adam said, "Keep that grip tight!"

"Adam! It's too heavy!" I gasped, "I'm gonna drop it!"

After an hour at the gym, Adam had slowly worked me through warming up, and using some of the machines, and training with dumbbells and kettlebells, and decided I was ready to try lifting some serious weights. So I was in the squat rack, struggling to lift the heavy bar off the hooks. Adam was standing right behind me, his arms hovering in position, ready to take my weight if I started to falter.

Which it really felt like I was going to.

"Adam!" I whimpered again.

"You can do this, Mel!" Adam urged me on, "Come on, dude! I'm right here! I've got you!"

"It's gonna crush me!" I hissed. I could feel Adam's breath on the back of my neck. I blinked a drop of sweat out of my eye. My knees were trembling. Oh god. I felt like everyone in the gym was staring at me. They probably were! Everyone knew who Adam was here, they were probably all laughing to each other about the fat loser he was hanging out with on his time off. 'Hey, I thought Adam had another client today? Oh he must have cancelled to help out this fucking trainwreck!'

Adam moved a little closer, his arms hooking under me, hands by my chest, ready to catch me, "You got this, dude! Just the bar! This is easy!"

"Not so loud!" I whispered, shaking my head to try and get the sweat out of my eyes. A few strands of hair came loose from my headband and fell in front of my face.

"Come on, Mel!"

I gasped pathetically, then put all of my power into my shaking legs, lifting the bar off the hooks.

"Yes, dude!" Adam shouted. I wobbled back, and he stepped back behind me, staying in the right position to spot me. "Now bring it down! Easy!"

"Adam, Adam!" I panted. My hands were so sweaty, the bar felt like it was going to slip out at any moment and pin me to the floor. My breath was pounding in my ears, my vision was so blurry I couldn't see anything. I was gonna drop it! "I can't hold it! I can't hold it! Adam!"

"It's okay, it's okay!" I felt Adam press in close behind me, wrapping his strong arms around my chest, helping me lift the bar back onto the hooks. I gasped with relief, like I had just been pulled out of freezing water. I ducked under the bar and stumbled over to a bench. Adam joined me, putting an arm around my shaking shoulders.

"That was pretty good for a first try, dude," he said.

I laughed bitterly, shrugging off his arm, "Thanks. Yeah. It felt fucking awesome."

"Hey, come on," he said, "You're doing really good today!"

"Dude, I couldn't even squat the bar!" I said, "I feel like a fucking idiot."

"You gotta start somewhere, man," Adam said soothingly, "Do you wanna switch places? I'll do some squats and you can spot me, then maybe try again later?"

I sighed and looked around the gym. Luckily it seemed like nobody had really been paying attention to my failure. There were a few people casually working out around us, but it seemed like most of the serious gym bros had gathered around the other side of the gym for some reason. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try again...

"Okay," I said. Adam grinned. "Do you want me to help you, um, rack up your weights? Or whatever you call it?"

Adam winced, "Uh. Well. It would probably take a lot of time to make it heavy enough for me, and then, uh, light enough for you, so... I think maybe I'll just use the bar and get some practice that way."

"What?" I said, "So you're not even actually getting a workout?"

"I mean you don't have to lift your max every time..." Adam said.

"But then I'm like totally wasting your time then!" I whined, feeling even more pathetic, "Dude! I thought we were supposed to be, like, gym bros! This is just you being my personal trainer!"

Adam shrugged, "I like helping you make progress!"

"I wanna be helping you!" I said, "Dude, you already make my food, and you missed your friend's bar opening last night, and you bought me all those clothes..."

"I mean, I didn't exactly nail it with the clothes,"  Adam laughed.

"But I wanna pay you back," I protested, "Like, should I just be giving you money or something?"

Adam looked shocked, "Mel, dude, I don't want our friendship to be like that. I really... I really care about you."

"Adam! Bro! You free, man?" said a deep voice from behind us. We turned around to see one of the other trainers, a short but super muscley guy with a thick beard. Adam stood up and immediately clasped hands for a bro hug. I quickly shuffled away on the bench so he wouldn't get embarrassed by us sitting together.

"Dilruk, what's up man," said Adam. They pulled out of the hug. I noticed, true to Adam's word, that Dilruk definitely appeared to be flexing. I smirked.

"Bro, you know Kevin?" said Dilruk, "Dude's on some new pre, gonna try max out on deadlift. Stacked on 60 extra. You wanna watch?"

"Why the fuck would he try and beat his PB by 60 pounds?" Adam said, "That's legit insane."

Dilruk shrugged, "Dunno brah. Kevin gonna Kev. You coming?"

Adam looked conflicted, "I mean, you go tell him he's an idiot, but... I'm actually helping my friend—"

"You should go," I said quickly. No way was I gonna make Adam miss out on more stuff because of me, "I'm good, bro. I'm gonna take a break."

"You sure?" Adam asked. From the other side of the gym I could hear laughter. We looked over and saw the crowd of bros, presumably gathered to watch Kevin eat shit.

"Yeah, dude," I forced my most convincing smile, "I'm good."

"Sick, come on bro," said Dilruk. He headed off. Adam squeezed my shoulder then followed him. As soon as they stepped away, I sighed and slumped down on the bench. Fuck. I had actually thought I was kind of in shape, but it was pretty clear this whole day had basically been some kind of pity PT session.

I heard a voice behind me say, "Excuse me, miss?"

Adam would be so much better off just training with Dilruk or whoever. Honestly, would I even be able to spot him? I couldn't imagine catching Adam the way he had caught me. I would just be pressed up against his muscular back, helplessly clinging on while he powered through the workout by himself.

"Uh, ma'am? Could you help me with something?"

I turned around to see who the voice was, and who they were talking to. A kinda skinny looking Asian guy with impeccably gelled hair was standing awkwardly, looking right at me. He looked a little surprised when I turned around, but quickly covered with a smile.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt. All the other trainers are busy laughing at this guy trying to lift weights, and I, uh," he laughed sheepishly, "I can't figure out how to open my locker. Do you have a master key, or..."

"Oh!' I blushed, "Um, I actually don't work here, uh... obviously," I gestured at my body, which was far from professional-gym-bro physique.

"Oh, sorry," he said, "I guess I was kinda thrown off by the clothes. You look great, but, you know, kind of a walking billboard."

I looked down and blushed again. Okay, he totally had a point. I didn't really think a sports bra and leggings would be the way to go for my first proper gym outing, so I had borrowed more clothes from Adam's surplus merch boxes. I was still wearing my standard sports bra and panties, but they were hidden under a women's T-shirt and shorts. The shorts didn't quite make it to mid-thigh, and the tight T-shirt didn't do much to hide the size of my breasts, but they were really comfy and looked pretty unisex. What I hadn't thought about was the fact that they were plastered with the gym's logo.

"Oh my god, sorry!" I gasped, "Oh, that's so confusing. I'm totally not a trainer, I didn't mean to trick you. I'm just, like, a random guy, and my roommate let me borrow these clothes, cause I never work out, and he's a trainer, but I'm not, so, sorry, and, um, I'm rambling a lot, sorry," I took a deep breath and reached out my hand, "I'm Mel."

The stranger looked a little taken aback by my unprompted rant, but he smiled and shook my hand, "Hey, I'm Jeremy. Sorry I called you "Ma'am" before."

"It's fine," I blushed. I had my hair up in a ponytail, but it was still pretty long and I knew it must look kinda feminine from behind, "It's the hair, I know."

"You do have amazing hair," said Jeremy, "It's so... is it creepy for me to say luscious? It feels creepy."

I smiled, "No way, my hair is totally luscious. Yours looks amazing too. Do you style it yourself?I kinda wanna touch it."

"Yeah, go for it," Jeremy shrugged, "I unfortunately had to let my styling team go earlier this year. The economy."

I giggled but quickly turned it into a manly sounding cough, "Well I don't think you ever needed them at all." I reached towards his hair, gently touching it. It was crispy! Jeremy gestured towards my hair, and I nodded, and he reached out and softly ran his fingers through my ponytail. Ooh! It felt weirdly nice.

"This feels very intimate," Jeremy whispered, faux-seriously. I laughed and we let go of each other's hair, "For the record, you totally look like you could be a trainer, but... I mostly just wanted to talk to you cause I'm kinda intimidated by the gym bros. You seem cool, though."

Across the gym, I could hear the gym bros chanting. It seemed like half were chanting "KEV-IN! KEV-IN!" but the rest were chanting "EAT SHIT! EAT SHIT!" I definitely felt glad I was talking to Jeremy instead. Something about the way he talked, the way he held himself, was so relaxed and calm. It was nice. Oh wow, I really needed to get out more.

"Thanks," I said, "I mean, you'd think a lot different if you saw me try and work out."

"Maybe. But you were sitting on that bench like an absolute professional," he said. I totally manly-coughed again. Jeremy continued, "Honestly, this is my first time here, so you've got to be doing better than me. I tried to pick up a barbell that still had plates on it and I think I legitimately could have been killed."

"Tell me about it," I laughed, "I almost had a heart attack trying to do squats just now. I'm surprised you didn't hear me screaming."

"Oh, you should've called me for help," he smiled, "Then we could both die together. Hey, I know you don't work here—"

"—despite the outfit," I smiled back.

"But do you reckon you could help me with my locker anyway? I'm probably just... turning the handle wrong, or something," he laughed, "I don't even know. I really just want to go home and play video games."

"Oh god, that sounds inviting," I said. I had actually been meaning to spend the weekend catching up on games before the whole situation with my employee review came up. I had been spending a lot of time with Michelle Champion, and my gaming had kind of fallen by the wayside, "I was planning to check out Apex Legends—"

"Hey!" Jeremy grinned, "That's exactly what I've been playing. We should team up. Maybe your roommate can be the third."

I heard a loud yell from across the gym. Jeremy and I both turned to look, but there were too many muscley dudes blocking the way. I shook my head.

"I don't think he's really the gaming type. Show me your locker, maybe I can work some magic," I wiggled my fingers mysteriously. Or tried to. They were really stiff and achey from trying to hold onto the bar. "Ow."

Jeremy lead me over to the locker he was using, and we tried to figure out what the heck he had done to fuck it up so bad. It looked like the key was turning fine, but then the door still wouldn't open. I jiggled the key. Jeremy jiggled the key. I tried pulling the handle while he turned the key in the lock. He tried yanking on the door while I whispered "open sesame" into the keyhole. No dice!

"So, you really don't work out?" Jeremy asked, "Because you honestly look great. I'm surprised you were having trouble squatting, your legs are incredible."

I blushed, "I do aerobics at home, but I think they mostly just get exercise from carrying my fat ass around."

"I don't think you need to," Jeremy shrugged, "I think you're what people call "thicc". It's a good look."

"Oh my god, shut up!" I laughed, "Why are you here? You obviously don't need to lose weight."

Jeremy laughed and held out his arms, "Sure, but I'm a total weakling. Sometimes I have to ask my roommate to help me open pickle jars. And sometimes she says no, and then I can't eat pickles."

I giggled, "You're joking, right?"

"It's definitely less embarrassing if I say yes. So, yes."

We tried pulling on the handle together. Nothing. We tried pushing the door extra closed. Apparently reverse psychology doesn't work on lockers.

"Your roommate sounds pretty mean, dude," I teased, "Depriving you of pickles like that."

"She's alright," said Jeremy, "She will not shut about fashion. And she definitely needs to get laid. But she's actually very thoughtful. When she calms down."

"Wait," I giggled, "Her name isn't Ashanti, is it? She works at a department store?"

Jeremy winced, "Oh my god. I'm so sorry that's the context you had to meet her in."

"It's fine," I laughed. What were the chances! "She's definitely good at her job. My roommate just bought a shit ton of clothes from her this morning. I think he has a pretty major crush on her."

Jeremy stopped trying to massage the hinges on the locker and looked at me, "We should totally set them up. If he's friends with you, he must be a great guy."

I grinned. Holy shit. Actually setting Adam up with someone would be the perfect way to pay him back for all the help he had given me over the past few months. And if Jeremy liked Ashanti, she was probably super cool and nice outside of work. And she was really pretty, definitely the kind of girl I personally would want to date when I was more attractive. Her and Adam would make such a perfect couple...

"Hey, bro, what happened?" said Adam. I jumped. You wouldn't think a guy that big could sneak up on you like that!

"Oh my god! Adam!" I squealed. I quickly composed myself. "I was just talking to my new friend, um, I was just talking to Jeremy. His locker got stuck."

"Hey," smiled Jeremy, "You must be Mel's roommate, right?"

"Yeah," said Adam slowly. He eyed Jeremy up and down, then gave me a look. I smiled. Adam looked back at Jeremy, "Haven't seen you around here much."

"Yeah, I'm pretty new," he said, "Trying to get shredded."

I giggled. Adam took a step towards me.

"Sick, bro," he said, "I was actually helping Mel do the same thing, so..." he nodded back towards the gym, "We should probably get back to it, right dude?"

"Oh, sorry!" I said, "I was actually thinking I might finish for the day. It seemed like you were having fun with Dilruk, and I don't really wanna hold you back from getting a good workout. So maybe I'll head home, and you can work out with the other trainers?"

"Oh," said Adam, "I kinda thought we were killing it together, dude."

"It's okay, you don't need to flatter me," I laughed, "Besides you were watching Kevin, and then I started talking to Jeremy...."

"And I really can't go home if I don't figure out how to open this locker," Jeremy smiled sheepishly.

I giggled, "Yeah, it's an emergency."

Adam stepped forward, reared back his hand, and smacked the door of Jeremy's locker. It popped open.

"Now can you can go home, dude," he said, "Mel?"

"Wow!" I said, I grinned at Jeremy and pointed at Adam, "THAT is how a roommate should behave"

Jeremy laughed, "Yeah. I bet you never miss out on pickles."

I burst out laughing. Adam looked at the two of us with a weird expression on his face.

"Uh, yeah," said Adam, "I... don't think we usually eat pickles much..."

"Don't worry," I said, "It's an inside joke."

"Oh. Great," said Adam. He took another step toward me, hesitantly. Actually, he seemed a little nervous? His shoulders were tensed up and he was acting kind of antsy. Oh. He was probably just eager to get back to working out. He stepped towards the gym again, "So..."

"Hey Mel," said Jeremy as he started gathering his stuff from the busted-open locker, "If you're done working out too, do you wanna come over and hang out? I have a couple games that still have local multiplayer."

"Yes, dude!" I said, jumping up excitedly, "That would be awesome! I haven't actually played with someone in the same room for, like, two years."

"Awesome," Jeremy smiled. I felt my heart flutter for a second. I couldn't believe he wanted to hang out! I made a friend! A cool friend! At the gym! And he was maybe going to help me set Adam up with someone!

I turned to Adam, "Okay, so, perfect! We're gonna go play video games, like a couple of little kids, and you can stay here and get even more ridiculously muscular."

"Yeah," said Adam, watching Jeremy sorting out his gym stuff, "Perfect."

Jeremy had his back turned to us, so I reached up and gave Adam a sneaky hug. He hugged me back, gently.

"Thanks for trying to help me use the weights, dude," I said, "Maybe we can try again another time."

Adam nodded, "Definitely. You promise?"

I broke the hug, "Yeah, dude, don't be clingy! Now off you go, go work out." I swatted him on the arm. He half-smiled and headed back to the gym. I turned back to Jeremy and leaned against his locker.

"So," I said, "Should we make our roommates fall in love?"

Jeremy laughed, "Yeah, Adam seems great. A little... on edge today?"

"I think he just needs to blow off some steam," I said, "Speaking of which... I hope you're ready to get owned."

Jeremy grinned, "You're on."