To Be Loved By You - A Bradley Bradshaw Story

Fears and Propositions

Author's Note: Here is chapter four of To Be Loved By You! This is completely not how this chapter or this story was supposed to go but I have to admit I love the way it went!

Another big thank you to everyone that's read the story this far. We're at 150 views now! I wanna give an extra big thanks to mackot and avahartnett for voting for this story!

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Later that evening, Brad walked up to the door of a gym simply named Charlie's. Logan was waiting outside and waved Brad over when he saw him. "Hey, man!"

He jogged the rest of the way up to the building. "Hey, Logan." Brad let the other man lead him through the door and it opened up to a large room filled with people he recognized from the base.

"All right," Logan clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "They've got free weights." He pointed to one side of the room. "Boxing ring and punching bags over there," his attention moved across the room. "And there's a room back there with machines." He looked back at Brad. "Where do you wanna start?"

Brad took a look around the gym. Maybe this was a good idea. A good sweat could get his mind off his troubles and he had promised the captain he would be distraction-free tomorrow. "Treadmill?" he asked.

Logan shrugged. "Sure." He started to lead him toward the room behind the boxing ring, but a familiar face caught Brad's attention. She was wearing a T-shirt and shorts with her curls pulled back from her face. She was still beautiful.

"You good, man?" Logan had returned to his side.

"I didn't expect to see her," he answered, watching as she moved confidently among the soldiers.

"Oh, yeah." Logan cleared his throat. "Well, she owns the place so she's here most days."

Brad's eyes left her figure and turned to focus on Logan. "She owns this place?"

"Yeah," Logan smiled proudly for his friend. "Opened it a couple of years back." Logan waved over to her and yelled, "Yo, Thea!"

She looked over at them, smiling. Her smile wavered slightly when her eyes landed on him but she waved back nonetheless. She turned to finish talking to the woman next to her before making her way over. "Hey, guys."

Logan reached over to give her a quick hug. "How's it been today?" He kept an arm thrown over her shoulders.

She hummed a quiet, "Good," in response. He tried to catch her attention but she looked everywhere but at him.

"Stef get a hold of you, yet?"

"Yes," She rolled her eyes, chuckling. "She forced her presence on me yesterday."

He ruffled her hair and let her go. "Good, you needed it."

"Thea," he spoke, longing to see those green eyes again. "This place is great."

She looked into his eyes briefly, quickly turning her attention back to the floor. "Thanks."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them and Brad wished for the comfort they'd found in each other just a few days before. "I, um," she cleared her throat roughly. "I gotta go up to the office and do some paperwork." She began backing away. "You guys have a good workout."

His eyes followed her as she retreated up the stairs on the back wall. Only when she was hidden securely behind the door did he let his head drop. Sighing, he squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Fuck," he whispered. There was no way he was going to be distraction-free tomorrow.

"What the hell happened with you two?" Logan asked as he started toward the back room again.

Brad followed behind him. "I have no fucking clue." He moved to get onto a treadmill, but when he found the room empty he sat on it instead. Logan came to stand beside him. "We had a great time, man. It was amazing."