After Kyle cleaned up following his class, he met me in the training room for his latest weigh-in and measurement. I smiled at him and said, “Take a deep breath, hon. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

“I know, I just… I don’t know. I just really want to see better results this time.” He bit his lip while I adjusted the dials on the scale, then I announced, “Two hundred and thirty-seven. Right back where you started before Sammy. I’d call that a win in anybody’s book.”

Kyle huffed out a breath and stepped off the scale. He stood there with his arms spread out and rolled his eyes impatiently. “I know, I know. Now come on and measure me. Give me another win.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, because I have control over this shit, apple blossom.” After I took his measurements, I showed him his chart. Once again, he was back to his pre-pregnancy stats. Before he could say anything, I held up a hand.

“Look, when we did your BMI earlier, it came out to twenty-seven. That’s barely even in the range to be considered overweight at your height. Can we just agree that you’re being slightly obsessive?”

“No, because that makes me sound crazy. You try always being the biggest one in the room and then not focusing on it. Trust me, there’s only so many times a person gets called fatty before they get a few hangups.”

Stepping into his space, I held his hands in mine as we stood chest to chest and I pressed my forehead to his. “I get that, hon. But I’m asking you to look at the numbers and realize that I’m not blowing smoke up your ass. I’m telling you this as a professional trainer. Kyle, you are in good enough condition.”

After we shared a tender kiss, he hesitated for a moment before blurting out what was weighing on his mind. “But what if I never get to be the perfect size?”

“The perfect size for what?” I asked incredulously. “The perfect size for you? You’ll probably never get there, because you will always be your own worst critic. But like I always tell you, hon, I don’t care whether you gain a few or lose a few. I just want you to be happy and healthy. As long as we keep following the nutritional program that you’ve started here and we keep working out together, I don’t think it should ever be a problem.”

“I do like working out with you,” Kyle admitted shyly. “This is our special thing, you know?”

I waggled my brows and licked my lips. “No, our special thing is that thing we do when we work out at home and my knot is buried in your ass. We can pretend our thing is working out here at the gym though, if that makes you feel better. That’s definitely a cleaner version to tell Sammy when she asks someday.”

“Are knots and asses the only things you think about, Dallas? And here I thought you were this respectable business owner when I met you.” Kyle’s eyes danced mischievously.

“Yeah, because that’s what you thought when you met me.” I snorted. “You were totally checking out my ass when we met at Beau’s wedding, tell the truth.”

“Was I, though? It’s been so long, and there were several cute alphas there that day. It’s hard to keep track.” He looked off to the side as though trying to remember.

After the moment of teasing, Kyle got serious again. “You know what, Dallas? Maybe you’re right. I do need to give myself a break. I’ll need you to keep reminding me of that, but I want to try. I mean, I’ve achieved part of my goal by getting healthier, and maybe the whole getting skinny goal was never the right one for me anyway. Maybe it’s not about fitting into the jeans I wore in high school, but feeling good in the ones I wear now.”

I reached around to palm his ass. “Mhmm, you definitely fill them out perfectly.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “First of all, cheesy line. Secondly, these aren’t even jeans, they’re workout shorts, so that line doesn’t even work. It’s like you’re not even trying anymore,” he finished with a playful pout.

Chuckling, I put my arms around him and grabbed both cheeks as I yanked him close against me. “If you’ll wear these home tonight for our private workout, I promise I’ll try a lot harder with my lines in the future.”

“Tempting offer. Here’s my counter, I’ll put jeans on over them for the ride home, but I’ll wear them for you in private.”

“That’ll work.” I grinned and gave his ass a smack as I stole a kiss before I began gathering up my stuff so we could get out of there. I mean, I’d been promised a home workout, so there were zero reasons for me to hang around the gym anymore tonight.

I was closing everything down when Kyle came walking out of the locker room chatting on his phone with an odd look on his face. He walked outside and waited beside the car while I locked up and set the alarm. He’d just ended the call when I opened the door for him. He slid in and reached for his belt while he waited for me to come around and join him. I glanced over as I got in the car. “Do I want to know what that phone call was about?”

“Like I wasn’t about to tell you? Please. Not only do I tell you everything, this one is too juicy to keep to myself. You’ll never guess who was on the phone.”

“No, I probably won’t because I suck at guessing. But then, that’s probably why I asked to start with.” I flashed him a wink when Kyle held up his middle finger in reply.

“You’re lucky I love you and that this is juicy news, otherwise I’d make you wait after that little bit of bullshit.” I resisted the urge to rush him, knowing damn well that he would just tease me longer if I did. Kyle smacked my arm playfully. “Fine, I’ll tell you.”

It was a good thing that I was still in the parking lot, otherwise I might have caused an accident when I slammed on my brakes when he said who had called.

“That was Henri. He called and fucking apologized, if you can believe that shit. He wanted me to know the update on Fred. He lost his badge, got slapped with the full fine, and will even do time for the assault.”

I shook my head. “Fred really should’ve thought things through before he beat the shit out of a judge’s kid. But hey, good for Henri if he’s learning from the experience and maybe becoming a better person in the process. Not that I think that anybody should be knocked around; even assholes don’t deserve that.”

Kyle nodded his agreement. “He really did sound sincere. He sounded a lot more grounded and mature than he ever has before. I mean, I don’t see myself ever becoming besties with the dude, but I did suggest that he come try Ethan’s yoga and self-defense classes. I think they’d be good for him. I know they were a big help for me.”

As we stopped at the light just before the plaza where our favorite ice cream shop was located, Kyle looked over at me with a grin. “How pissed off do you think Houston would be if we were a half-hour late picking up Sammy?”

“I don’t know, hon. Why do you ask?”

Kyle licked his lips, his eyes shining happily. “Because I’ve got a sudden craving for rocky road ice cream.”

I caught his hand and kissed the back of it as the light changed, happy to hear him say something like that. “You’ve got it, apple blossom. If my baby wants ice cream, my baby’s getting his damn ice cream.”