“I don’t understand, buddy. One minute I was worried you’d be joining a monastery or something and the next you’re talking about getting engaged?”

“Shh… OK, I never said anything about getting engaged, jeez. Just because I’m thinking about settling down some time doesn’t mean I’m talking engagement.”

Hugo whistled low under his breath. “Man, you don’t fuck around, huh? When I said you needed to catch some tail, you know I didn’t mean you should get a goddam wife,” he said and flicked me with the end of his towel.

I was two sets of inclined-press to go before I was done with my workout today. I relaxed back onto the bench, covered my eyes with my upper arms and tried to catch my breath.

“Hugo, look at this place though.”

“Yeah, I can see. Who knew there were so many chicks in the market for self-defense skills,” he said and peered around the gym, now so much fuller than it had been when it was just a rundown whole in the wall with bare lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling.

“Well, believe it, I bet half of them are your exes, Hugo…”

“Haha, very funny.”

“Half this town’s female population would love to get you in a choke-hold, and that’s the truth.”

“Fair comment,” said Hugo and took a swig of his water bottle.

“But see how things have turned around here? That’s her doing.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, bro.”

“Well, that’s just it. I worked hard too, but… I guess that’s what’s so awesome about it. We make a good team, you know?”

“So, when do I get to meet her?”

“I don’t know. I’ll bring her round to mom and dad’s one day soon for dinner.”

“Cool.”

“You’ll like her, Hugo. She’s smart.”

“Hey, nobody said I like smart women.”

“She’s adorable. She’s like five foot nothing, but I swear to god she’s tough. And kind. And really smart – she just sees things that I would never have noticed, and man, when you see her talk to folks around the gym, she just has this natural charisma…”

Hugo was laughing.

“What?”

“Nah, nothing, don’t mind me. Just wondering who the fuck you are and what you did with my brother.”

I tucked myself behind the bar, settled my scapula and quickly pushed through my last two sets with no break between. When the bar clinked back into the rack I looked down to see a dagger shaped sweat mark all down the front of my shirt.

“She gets me, Hugo. It’s a big deal for me.”

Hugo shooed me off the bench and settled in to do his own reps while he gave me a quizzical expression.

“Well, that’s awesome, and you have my blessing. I might rag on you for a while more, though, just a warning.”

“Permission granted,” I said and ran my towel along the back of my neck. The gym was brightly lit, bustling and busy. There’s nothing like being tired from good, hard work. And there’s no feeling quite so amazing as looking at the results of your efforts and feeling proud of what you’ve created. Hugo was deep into his first set, his neck tendons straining and his face flushing red. I crouched down beside him and tried to catch my own breath. When he was done he flung the bar onto the hooks with a clang, wiped his forehead on his sleeve and gave me a serious look. Hugo is almost never serious about anything.

“Bro, be honest with me for a second. I know when we were out there, you told me some things, you said you wanted to keep things simple when we got home, and I understood that. And I know that women are… not simple. Now I’m not saying I don’t trust your judgment. I trust it more than anyone else I know. But I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t remind you, you know…”

“Of our pact,” I said, completing the sentence for him.

He said nothing but nodded slowly.

“Our pact. I know I’m like, the clown of our team, Max, and God knows I’m not exactly one to talk about committed relationships… but, take care of yourself, OK?”

I nodded and we sat in silence for a moment.

“She’s different, Hugo. She understands. I can’t explain it. I know what I told you back then, and I did mean it… then. I’m not like you, I can’t waltz into a room and charm the panties off any girl I choose. But this woman? She’s something else man. She makes it all feel like it’s all worth something.”

Hugo set his jaw and lay back for his next set. He would never argue with me. He respected me, and I him, and we were long past the days of butting heads over anything.

“Then go for it, buddy. My advice, and I won’t say any more about it, is just to go a little slower, that’s all. If she’s so great, she’ll stick around. Besides, business is booming, you should have your eye on all this, because whatever you’re doing it’s working,” he said and gestured to the busy gym all around us.

“I take it Vinny’s also been talking to you about the other location?” I said. A new facility had become available uptown and the ex-owners of this place had strongly insinuated that if I wanted it for a second gym, they could put in a word for me. It would be a stretch for me, but I had no doubt there was enough interest for a series of classes.

“You should jump on it, Max.”

“What about one of the other guys though? Wouldn’t Dave or Noah be interested?”

“Dave’s on his own mission, and Noah’s gone AWOL for the moment.”

“Classic.”

“Yeah he’ll come around. But you should jump on it. Look how well this turned out. Is it money?”

“It’s time.”

“Yeah, and what with froggy a-courtin’ all day and night you don’t have much of that anymore, huh?” he said and gave me a playful side eye.

“Is this the ragging you were telling me about?” I said.

“Sure is. Hell, I’m just hoping this isn’t some new trend, brother. I’m good with the girls, you’re good with the money, remember? Now here I am giving you business advice and you’re two weeks away from getting fucking engaged.”

“Christ Hugo.”

“Ah, I’m just jealous. Is she hot? Be honest. Come on we made a pact,” he said and wriggled out from under the bar.

“Our pact never said anything about gossiping about my love life.”

“Come on, do it anyway,” he laughed. “Is she…?” here he traced the shape of some cartoon sized boobs in the air in front of him and lifted his eyebrows.

“She’s a goddess,” I said and playfully threatened to punch him.

“That good huh? Oh I understand…”

Yes, that good, and then some. I could have told him that fucking her was like a trip to heaven. That no amount of specialized physical training or fancy-ass combat drills could have prepared me for the shit she did to me in bed. That I was constantly amazed by her, and every single time she came in my arms it was like fifty Fourth of Julys all at once. I could have waxed lyrical about the way her hair smelt, or how it blew my fucking my mind just to think of that moment, that sweet, sweet moment where the slick little folds of her body parted and opened to the tip of my cock and I sunk into her one hard inch at a time, and being inside her was like dying and finding Valhalla after a long, hard fight.

“She’s… well, you’ll like her. You’ll meet her soon,” was all I said and found myself instantly daydreaming about our last encounter for the second time that day.

Hugo and I showered up and left the gym, but all the while I kept my secret memory of her playing in my mind, juicier and naughtier with each loop, rewinding and relishing the most delicious parts over and over. I loved that I had this secret. Well, a secret that she shared with me.

When I ran out of memories I switched over to daydreams for the future. Hugo was wrong; I wasn’t some fool about to leapt into a premature commitment. He knew better than anyone that that wasn’t my style. But isn’t that what a game changer was? Someone who came along and changed everything so completely that all the rules you thought you needed went right out the window? It was crazy, to be this into a woman after only a few short months. But I guess it made me crazy then. I was always the most cautious and risk averse in our team. I always held back, always encouraged strategy before action. I had the lowest kill count of our team but I was also the least prone to incident or communication failure. I knew the value of thinking one hundred times and acting once. But then again, the simple thought of the exact shade of pink of Kate’s puffy, generous breasts seemed to throw all of that right out the damn window, so what did I know?

On my way home I stopped at a florist and picked up some flowers. Nobody could object to me buying a temp employee a thank you gift, right? She had worked hard, she had put a pretty face on my business, quite literally, and I owed at least half of the success of the gym to her, if not more. As I drove home I tried to imagine that it was a bigger gift. I tried to imagine what it would feel like to be going home with a bigger, more meaningful present for her. For a secret second, I even imagined it was a ring in my pocket.

I got home, threw my kit into the living room and shut the door again before dashing over to her front door. An elderly woman standing in the front doorway of the furthest house to the end of the communal garden watched me. I waved and she waved back. I rang Kate’s doorbell and prayed she was in. She had been feeling a little down lately, and I knew these flowers would cheer her up. Our work ‘trial’ together was coming to a close, and flowers would be the best way to broach the topic with her. I’d find something else for her to do, or we’d find her another job somewhere close in town. With the last of the summer, I’d help her with her garden and then…

I heard her coming to open the door. The second I saw her face, though, I knew something was wrong. I came inside and she took the flowers from me awkwardly.

“You shouldn’t have,” she said and seemed to mean it literally.

“Well, it’s just a little thank you thing, you know, for doing such an amazing job with the gym…”

She perched herself on the edge of the sofa and seemed to be having a hard time making eye contact.

“Max, we need to talk.”