Chapter 2
The next morning Claire stepping into Astro’s Gym around her usual time, if a bit earlier. Though their date was nothing more than platonic, she was rather eager to impress the man she had been friendly with. Matthew had always been something of an enigma, remaining single in the entire period she had known him. There were rumors at the bar that he’d been in a relationship that ended badly with some golddigger. She paid rumors little mind in most situations, but it seemed to fit the way he approached women. He seemed to think of the women he dated as little more than clingy sex toys, though she supposed she wasn’t awfully different when it came to men. It just more socially acceptable for a man to have an alpha personality, as opposed to a woman. Though it was altogether unfair, she couldn’t change the way society viewed things.
Shaking herself from distracting thoughts, she disappeared into the locker room to change into her gym clothes. When she emerged, she spotted a familiar figure on the opposite side of the gym. Though the dress code at the gym prohibited it, she supposed once you were a billionaire, you were entitled to go shirtless wherever you felt so inclined. Her eyes widened as they took in the expansive tattoo on his shoulder, curling down and around his pectoral muscle which seemed to dance as he flexed his body. He was doing curls with a rather hefty weight, and she tried to keep herself from salivating as she crossed the gym to meet him. He glanced up as she approached, looking at her appreciatively.
“Claire, dear. Fancy seeing you, here,” he hummed, winking. She rolled her eyes in exasperation, though she couldn’t deny that his attention sent a small jolt of pleasure through her. Though she had no plans to get swept up like most women who met Matthew, it was hard to ignore how attractive the man was as he worked the weights. It seemed he had already been at it for some time, with the sheen of sweat that shone on his skin. She couldn’t help the curious tilt of her head, scratching her cheek nervously.
“I thought you usually came a bit later. Seems you’ve been at it for a while, now,” she cleared her throat, and he faced her with a sly quirk of his lips.
“Oh, I thought I’d get here a little early, today. I’d hate to disappoint my fake girlfriend. Plus, it was a good opportunity to show off the goods,” he teased, flexing his arms as if to make a point. Claire felt her cheeks grow flush, but tried to ignore her body’s primal response to the man’s efforts.
“Well, I give you an A for effort. You didn’t strike me as the type to have a tattoo. I feel like I should know these things, at the very least. We’ve been friends for how long now?” She inquired, sitting at the weight bench beside him and beginning her routine with a set of weights much lighter than the ones Matthew was using.
“I’m not exactly the friendliest guy, even when I like someone,” he crossed his arms, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. His eyes widened slightly as he watched her work the weights as well, musing that she certainly was no slacker.
“We’re gonna have to work on that, y’know, considering we’re fake dating,” she smirked, a bead of sweat rolling down her neck. He followed the small droplet with his eyes, looking away once he realized she noticed his observations. She looked a mix of vaguely confused and vaguely amused, offering him a coy wink before focusing on her workout routine. Her insides were fluttering at a pace previously unmatched, and it was a struggle to feign indifference to his stares. It was undeniable that there was at least an attraction between them, though it only ran skin deep. As much as she could see the man in her bedroom, she had a careful distance to maintain. The most important thing for the time being, was having a date for her sister’s wedding, and she couldn’t afford to ruin the plot for the sake of a likely satisfying lay.
For his part, he seemed to be making little effort in keeping his gaze averted off her, and she found herself growing increasingly self-conscious beneath his stare.
“So, I suppose we ought to work out some sort of story. Something we can agree upon, makes us both look good and respectable,” he hummed, finally drawing his eyes away from her. Claire considered his words, setting her weights aside and sitting upright on the weight bench. “What, you can’t work and plot at the same time?” He inquired teasingly, and she snorted.
“I can, but I’d much rather watch you work out while we scheme,” she quirked her lips coyly and fluttered her eyelashes. Unexpectedly he simply renewed his efforts, grunting and groaning softly with each flex of his muscles. Claire forcibly ignored the tingling in her gut, as well as the tingling between her thighs. He seemed to sense her unease, and for his part looked altogether too pleased with himself.
“Like what you see? Let’s start plotting, then. Let’s say… we met at the gym. My rock-hard abs made you think unmentionable things, so you flirted a bit, a bit low key. I was receptive, took you home, and from there-” he grinned as she cleared her throat, cutting him off abruptly.
“Unmentionables aside, as well as you take me home— which, you wish, honey, I guess we can play the gym angle. I’d like to seem like I have some dignity, however, not like I’m the easiest woman on the planet,” she tilted her head. He smirked, setting his weights down and turning to face her fully.
“So you’d like to seem like you have dignity, thereby admitting that you have none?” He snickered.
“Aren’t you the clever one?” She bit back, crossing her arms under her chest. His eyes widened visibly as her breasts were accentuated by the slight arc of her back, and she mentally counted it as a victory. The two scrutinized each other for a moment before dissolving into amicable laughter. “Seriously, though. I can’t very well tell my family that I brought you to the wedding just because you were a good lay,” she groaned, leaning back on the weight bench.
“But my abilities aren’t coming into question, with this line of thinking, correct?” He hummed.
“Of course not, you’re an absolute Adonis. A God among men, and so forth. I have to pretend to be infatuated with you, at the very least. It’s a given in this scenario that we’ve had sex, but maybe after a few dates,” she mused aloud.
“Three dates,” he suggested, and she snorted in amusement.
“I doubt they’ll ask for that much detail,” she smiled. He shrugged his shoulders, rising from the weight bench and toweling off his torso. She watched with her lip drawn between her teeth, cursing her love for big and buff men.
“Granted, but we should be prepared at the very least. Come on Claire, commit to your nefarious plan,” he teased, offering her his hand. “Let’s get a smoothie. It’s on me,” he smiled, gripping her hand in his own, and helping her pull herself to her feet. She rested a hand on his shoulder to steady herself, drawing away with a jolt as she realized just how temptingly warm he was. He seemed not to notice, turning to lead her to the smoothie bar. She trailed behind him, watching the way his bubble butt filled out his gym shorts. She knew she needed to get a hold of herself, but at the very least she could appreciate his physique. He was built much like the Greek god she had referred to in jest, and she found herself wishing for the briefest moments that this was more than some charade. Not something as intense as a relationship, not by any means, but she could only wonder if he would consider a friends-with-benefits arrangement.
She had to remind herself that she wasn’t that sort of girl. Sure, she’d had her share of good lays, but she had been trying not to fool around with so many men. She wanted an actual relationship at heart, it was just that… no one wanted her in that capacity. Those who had wanted more than a one night stand ended up being overwhelmed by her big personality. Though she had scorned the thought of some overly sensitive man taking her home to his mother, it had very scarcely gotten that far. She’d never been one to doubt herself, but her ego had taken something of a hit. Now, here she stood on her own territory with a gorgeous man who expressed interest in her, but she had to keep reminding herself it was only skin deep. Their personalities would likely clash if they were together for more than an hour or two at a time, at least, if they were sober together for that long. He seemed to enjoy her company well enough, but Matthew was untouchable in the relationship department. Entertaining being in a relationship with him would only lead to hurt, he was a bachelor through and through.
She also had to remind herself that she had never started this whole charade with the intention of getting attached to the man. He was simply a means to an end, a way to get her nagging mother off her back for… a few months at least. Until the next get-together, which her family seemed all too fond of. They were playing roles, and she was here to figure out how they could accurately play the part.
“What smoothie do you want?” Matthew called out, dragging her from her thoughts. He gestured to the smoothie bar, something she rarely treated herself to. She barely even knew what they served, it had been so long since she had been to this facility in the gym.
“What do you usually get?” She responded with a question of her own, and he quirked a brow before stepping up to order.
“Two Power Green smoothies. Extra probiotic mix in my own, please,” he said, drawing his wallet from his pocket. Claire narrowed her eyes, not used to being ordered for and certainly not sure if she particularly liked it. She supposed she had welcomed him to the task, however, and decided upon picking a table for them to share. She chose one near the window that faced the street, sitting on the awkward stool. She rested her elbows on the small table, watching the traffic as it passed outside the window.
“My favorite spot,” Matthew said with a small smile, placing her smoothie in front of her. She considered the sickly green beverage with an uncertain expression, and he could only chuckle at the sight. “It’s pretty tasty, for a health beverage. I won’t say it’s as pleasant as something like a strawberry banana smoothie, but the health benefits of one much outweigh the other,” he murmured. He slipped his straw into his cup, taking a long sip. Claire watched him for a moment before taking her own straw with some trepidation. She supposed if they were going to pretend to date, she could place this small amount of faith in the man. She poked her straw through the hole in the top, taking a small sip of her own smoothie. Her initial reaction was to scrunch her face in distaste, but as the liquid trickled down her throat, she began to adjust to the taste. It wasn’t as bad as she might have thought, but it certainly wasn’t good either.
“It’s… alright,” she allowed, smiling sheepishly. Matthew seemed nonplussed by her distaste, however, simply watching her with a faint smile.
“You know, I’m not used to having company at the gym. People are generally too intimidated to approach me,” he admitted.
“Might have to do with buff shirtless dude thing. But hey, come on, Matt. You have to admit, I’m not like most women you would spend your time with,” she grinned. He nodded, seeming to be debating whether or not that was a good thing. Claire averted her eyes, feeling herself grow self-conscious once more.
“We can use that, you know. That’s why we work so well together, in this fake relationship. You were unlike the others from the start, and I couldn’t help but fall for your charms,” he grinned, reaching out to give her a teasing nudge. She rolled her eyes, but shot him an appreciative grin immediately after.
“Okay, well, when you put it that way,” she murmured, flipping her hair dramatically and fixing him with a sultry look. “Who could resist my charms, Matt?” She purred, internally pleased with the faint dusting of a blush on his cheeks.
“Who would want to, my dear?” He retorted before glancing at his watch. “Alright, since we have a vague idea of what we’re going to tell people, we can hammer out the details over the next month or so until the wedding. No rush, yeah?” He suggested, and she hesitated for a long moment, seeming to consider his words.
“That should work. It would probably be best if we exchanged numbers, so we can actually… keep touch, I suppose,” She dropped her eye contact, grabbing her cellphone out of her pocket. He grabbed his as well, sweeping through a long list of contacts. “You sure you’ll be able to find me in that extensive list, dudley do-right?” She deadpanned, and he snorted in amusement.
“I was just thinking it would probably be better if I added you to my favorite contacts list,” he admitted with a wide grin, swiping to another screen and typing her name in the proper input field. She did the same, going as far to put an emoticon heart beside his name.
“To look authentic,” she supplied as they swapped phones and he smirked at his contact listing.
“How precious,” he teased as the two input their contact info in each other’s phones. They swapped back, and he laughed upon seeing that Claire had put a heart beside her name in his contact list as well. “I guess we’re both precious, then,” he mused aloud.
“I don’t know about that. We’ll just be in the honeymoon phase,” she muttered, slipping her phone back into her pocket.
“Already planning a honeymoon? Isn’t that more for the bride and groom?” He retorted, holding his hands up in a placating gesture as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Kidding, kidding. I understand, Claire. I’ll text you later, so we at least have some backlog if someone asks to see your phone,” he muttered, rising from the table.
“Thanks, Matt. For… all of this. It…,” she paused, realizing she was coming off as far too sentimental. “Well, it helps me a lot. It’ll be a relief to get my mom off my back,” she said, chuckling awkwardly. He hesitated, looking as if he were sincerely considering his next words.
“It’s no problem. Anything for a friend, though that’s a remarkably new sentiment coming from me. I’ll see you around, Claire,” he smiled, waving before slipping towards the locker room. She watched him go with a faint smile, cursing herself for how much she wanted to see what he looked like under those gym shorts. Shaking off the thought, she retreated to the women’s locker room. She couldn’t have known that he was thinking the very same about her bare form, but well…
Boys will be boys.