Chapter 6
“Oomf.” Ben groaned as a vicious hit to his crotch sent him backward. He was wearing a cup and extra padding, so he couldn’t get hurt, but there was no denying that when the ladies didn’t hold back, they could carry a serious punch.
“You OK, man?” Nate asked with a hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah. Fuck. They don’t hold back.” It was hot as hell in the padded suit, and even his face was covered, so his voice was all muffled.
Nate chuckled. “Nah. Once they get confident, they love seeing us on our knees.”
Ben got back in position to face the next girl, making sure all his protections were in place.
This whole volunteering thing was fucking exhausting. The first class had been all nice and good. Mostly theory, getting the women comfortable with their surroundings. Then the real thing had started, and he was now constantly in his Michelin man suit.
Nate stayed with him, helping one poor girl who seemed to struggle a little more than the others, while he basically stood there, taking hit after hit until the instructor was finally satisfied he had been stricken down hard enough.
“Thanks,” Ben said sarcastically once the girl finally left.
“I warned you it wasn’t an easy job.”
“It’s OK. Great workout. Just fucking hot in here.”
“Your girl is doing good, though.”
Ben’s eyes wandered across the room, catching Madison just as she was kneeing the shit out of Robert’s groin before slamming the sole of her palm in the general direction of his face. He couldn’t help but wince, picturing the damage she could do in real life.
“Yeah.”
“Anyway. Time’s up for today.” He gave a few whistle blows and Ben let out a huge sigh of relief as he got rid of the giant foam helmet he was forced to wear.
The shower he took was heaven on earth. The water pressure wasn’t exactly the best, not like in his bathroom, but after the copious sweating, he wasn’t exactly picky.
As usual, he waited for Madison by the front desk, sitting on one of the chairs lining the wall. He jumped to his feet when she walked through the door.
“Ready to go?” he asked as she buttoned up her coat.
“Yup.”
Her cheeks were still rosy from the exertion and her shower, her hair up in a messy bun. She always wore contacts for their classes, and he actually missed seeing the big black frames on her face. There were only two classes left, and he had noticed that the intensity of the exercises had started to get to her a little. She usually was quiet after their sessions, now. Not that it was very surprising, because she was the quiet type, but he had noticed a slight shift in her behavior. She seemed a little more introverted than usual. No matter how friendly and fun the group was, he knew that in the back of everyone’s mind was always the fact that what they were learning would probably be useful to one of them one day.
It was now October, and the weather had gotten quite chilly in the past few days. He started the heater as soon as they were in the car, getting rid of the beanie he had shoved on his head and throwing it in the backseat.
He turned the music up, mentally readying himself for the-
“Oh, for Goodness’ sake, not again,” Madison said right on time as percussions started to echo in the car.
He bit back a smile and turned to face her with a scowl instead. “This is the greatest song of all times, from the greatest movie of all times.”
“Cocktail? Cocktail is the greatest movie of all times?!”
“Yes. Tom Cruise? The Bahamas? Chicks in bikinis everywhere? The freaking Beach Boys in the background? Hello, Madison, even you can’t deny that nothing greater has been done ever since.”
“That was almost thirty years ago, surely there has to be another song we can listen to on repeat?
“As a wise man once said, driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.”
“You’re quoting Dean Winchester?!”
He threw her a pointed glare. “Please. I am Dean Winchester. Nice car? Check. Dashingly handsome and devilishly sexy at the same time? Check. Big doofus as a brother? Check.”
Madison laughed. “Chris is not your blood brother, though.”
“Yet, you knew right away I was talking about him.” He drummed on the steering wheel as he waited in line to get out of the parking lot, humming along about Aruba and Jamaica.
“Would be hard not to. I can’t believe he still hasn’t grown a pair and just told Everleigh he’s in love with her.”
“Well, to be fair, your friend hasn’t told him either.”
“But she’s pregnant and more vulnerable right now, Ben. And he’s the one who screwed up.”
“Good point. Hey, do you mind if we go to IHOP this time?”
She glanced at him, her eyebrows high on her forehead. “IHOP?”
“Yeah.”
“I… have you ever even set foot in there before?”
He rubbed the lobe of his ear. “It was my favorite restaurant when I was a kid. I always had the double blueberry pancakes.”
“Well… OK, then. I am the last person who would ever deny someone a good, healthy craving.”
Thankfully, there was a nearby restaurant on this side of Harlem, and it barely took twenty minutes to get there. Usually, they would grab breakfast at a small café closer to Manhattan, one that served cold-pressed juices and everything good and healthy after a workout session, so he wasn’t exactly surprised at Madison’s reaction.
Seeing as it was the weekend, there was already a small line, and they waited patiently after he gave the hostess his name.
“So… only two more sessions,” Madison said as they sat down on a bench, next to a couple and their toddler.
“Yeah.”
“I like it, you know,” she admitted with a sheepish smile. “Thank you for forcing my hand.”
He snorted. “I didn’t force your hand.”
“Well, you made me feel like a friend needed my help and I was refusing so… yeah, you kinda did.”
He bumped his shoulder against hers. “It wasn’t that bad, now, was it?”
“Nah. I… To be totally honest, I was considering taking classes like that so… you just made me act on it.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” She didn’t seem to want to elaborate, and he let her be. They had grown closer in the past weeks, between going to the gym and having a meal together. They hadn’t told their friends of their common activity, and since everyone in their group was focused on Chris and Everleigh, it hadn’t exactly been hard to keep it under the radar.
He had learned much more about her. She was a nerd, definitely. He hadn’t been surprised by it, but she wore it proudly. Her socks were almost always themed - Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, he had seen them all. She loved video games and chess and was the fastest person alive to do mental math, or so it seemed. She liked the silence and wasn’t uncomfortable when it was quiet around her, something a little unsettling for him because he tended to see it as a personal mission to fill in the blanks. But he was slowly finding out that the calm was nice, too.
“Ackerman, table of two!”
He stood up, letting Madison step ahead of him before following her and the hostess. She sat them at a small booth and handed them their menus.
“You already know what you want?” Madison asked in surprise, glancing at him when he didn’t even open his.
“Yup. Told you, I have my favorite.”
A smile crept up on her lips, transforming her cheeks into lovely little hills and crinkling the corners of her eyes. “Then I will trust your expertise,” she said, closing her own menu as well.
He grinned, suddenly a little bashful. “Well, it’s nothing special you know.”
“Childhood favorites are always special, Ackerman.”
“Yes, they are,” he agreed softly before clearing his throat. “What about you?”
“Childhood special?”
“Yup.”
“I loved waffles with chocolate syrup and a little bit of melted peanut butter drizzled on top. Mom would always cut a peanut butter cup into tiny chunks and sprinkle them on top, with whipped cream. It was my birthday breakfast, but now she makes it for me when I go home for the holidays.”
“Oh, so you’re a waffle lover, huh?”
“Yes. Sorry, I bat for the other team.”
They gave their order to the waitress and, while they were waiting for their food, he asked her about work. He knew that the past few weeks had been a little hectic for her - the semester was in full swing, and her workload as a TA was now much heavier.
“It’s gotten better. I have a better grasp of the way the new professor teaches, which makes my job as an assistant much easier. For the rest, my study sessions have filled up drastically since the first tests came back. They were dreadful,” she hissed, taking a sip of coffee.
“Do you still plan on teaching yourself eventually?”
“Yes. Although, honestly, working as a statistician full time would be great, too. It’s only part of my job now.”
“I always wondered… what exactly do you do?”
“Right now, I analyze surveys and market research for the Department of Economics,. There’s an ongoing study right now, which started two years ago, about the effects of the market crash of 2008 on the global economy. The goal is to compare the changes with a previous study conducted in the late nineties. Once this part is done, I don’t know what my next assignment will be. I might be asked to join a different department, depending on who needs a statistician.”
“Looks like our fields aren’t that opposite at the moment.”
She smiled. “No, they’re not. You’re just on the making money part while I’m on the observing part of how and when people make money. Hence you live in the Upper East Side, and I’m in a tiny studio in the Village.”
“I inherited the place, though. Wouldn’t be able to afford it on my salary alone.”
“Cheater.”
“Guilty as charged.”
The waitress arrived with their food, and Madison grinned. “I can’t remember the last time I had a glass of milk with breakfast.”
“It’s the best with blueberry pancakes.”
“As I said… I trust your wisdom on that.”
He watched as she carefully took a bite. “So?”
She frowned, chewing for long seconds. “You know… it’s actually not bad. A little on the sweet side with the blueberry jam thingy, but I guess that’s where the milk comes in handy, right?”
He beamed. “Exactly!”
“And the whipped cream is because…?”
“I fucking love whipped cream.”
“Great reason,” she approved with a small tilt of her fork before quickly diving and stealing some from his plate.
“Hey, what the hell? You’ve got some too!”
“Yeah, but your dollop is bigger than my dollop, I was just leveling the scales.”
He chortled. “My dollop is bigger than yours, that’s really where you’re going with this?”
“You haven’t made an innuendo about the size of your penis in at least forty-eight hours, I figured you needed a little help.”
“Aww. A woman who understands my language. I knew I was right about asking you to be my fake girlfriend.” He swooned, a hand over his heart. “Next thing I know, you’ll be asking for dick pics.”
She snorted. “Let’s not get too crazy.”
“Well, just so you know… if it’s you asking, I’ll do it,” he finished with a wink before going back to his breakfast.
“Now I feel special.”
Swallowing his bite, he nodded. “You should. I have a fantastic penis.”
She pinched her lips, closing her eyes with a small smile and a shake of her head, and he took advantage of it to steal some of her blueberry jam.
“Hey!”
“Just leveling the field.”
She threw him a little glare, which only made him grin. Madison was a pretty girl, something that was now glaringly obvious to him. A part of him was still a little confused as to how he hadn’t really noticed that before. Sure, she wasn’t exactly his type of girl, but she had a beautiful smile and the most expressive eyes he had ever seen. Like right now, she was pissed - or fakely pissed, to be more accurate - and it brought a fire to her brown irises. It complemented the pink on her cheeks, the natural paleness of her skin, and the ensemble was… pretty adorable if he was honest. Even in her old, ratty hoodie. Her body was small, curvy, and no matter how many times he had had to remind himself he was not supposed to ogle his friends, he couldn’t help but notice she had a seriously drool-worthy cleavage. Not only was the girl smart, pretty, with boobs that seemed to come straight from heaven, she was also funny. She had a dry, sarcastic sense of humor, and their bantering was one of the things he liked the most during their time together. Madison wasn’t as serious or as mousy as he had thought. She loved to tease and poke fun, giving as good as she took. He just hadn’t been lucky enough to witness that part of her before.
“You’re staring at me,” she said with a small, embarrassed smile before taking another bite of pancake. The familiar blush was spreading on her cheeks, and he grinned apologetically.
“Sorry. You just… you have some whipped cream, right there,” he said, his finger pointing to the left corner of her mouth.
Her tongue peeked out, quickly licking the tiny spot, and something happened inside him. A very sudden, very unexpected desire to lick it too and get a taste of her lips.
He wanted to kiss her.
He wanted to kiss Madison, right here, right now, in the middle of a crowded IHOP.
Where the fuck did that come from?