Wild About You

Chapter Three

Veronica

I joined the local gym for two reasons. First, I wanna stay healthy, that is my primary goal. Second, because my job as a medical coder allows me to work from home, it also allows me to stay inside my own head for far longer than I should. So I avoid that endless loop of playing out bad scenarios or even worse, thinking about the past by doing something physical. It's nothing but pros going to the gym; there are nearly no cons. Well, maybe one--I actually have to go. So about a week ago, I joined. Now I'm currently on the treadmill, earbuds firmly in place as I listen to a Joseph Dipensa lecture on manifestation as I run my ass off. I've been getting good sleep for the past week and my energy has returned. Apparently, Officer Orgasm and his bitchy little opera singer have been going to her place for their nightly shenanigans. 

I had a moment of pure anxiety when he raised his hand at me. I know now it was just a gesture to ask for silence but a flash of memory in my brain took me somewhere else. Somewhere I never want to go again. I heard his words of apology but it was like my head was full of white noise. After I closed the door, I took deep breaths to keep myself from letting those feelings of panic and fear take over. This man wasn't Charlie. I wasn't in danger. I was safe. It took a few minutes but eventually, I calmed myself. 

I have to admit, meeting Travis for the first time was almost comical. Cash certainly didn't deserve the verbal beating I gave him. I ran into him two days ago waiting for Travis to come out and I gave him a sincere apology. He took it with grace, for which I was glad. No one on planet Earth would ever mistake Cash for Travis or vice versa. 

Travis is something else.

You don't have to be an aficionado of men or beauty to know that Travis is gorgeous. Drop dead, makes you weak in the knees male perfection. He checks off all the boxes in a romance writer's playbook. He's nearly a foot taller than me, thick brown hair, cut neat and short just like his beard with the broadest shoulders and biggest hands I've ever seen. 

So obviously I'm going to steer clear of him. Guys like Travis are like Charlie was-- gorgeous and secretly awful. Of course, the evil doesn't put itself on display right away; they lull you into a false sense of security. Then the shit storm begins. Although I give Charlie credit- he made it a whole year before showing me who he really was. 

So as pleasant as Travis is to look at, that's all I plan on doing. Not that I think Travis would even glance in my direction. Based on his current bed partners, he goes for the typical model blonde size zero, which is his right. I just happen to be the polar opposite of his cat in heat which is protecting me from his gaze. Men like Travis are too much trouble, no matter how dazzling his blue eyes are or how long his lashes may be. 

My lecture over I switch to my music playlist as I'm hitting the four-mile mark. A little Beyonce is just what I need to keep up my momentum. Just as "Cuff It" comes blaring through, someone catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. 

Speak of the devil. it's Travis. I must not have noticed him at first because he wasn't in uniform. He was halfway across the gym, in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt doing pull-ups. 

And those sleeves look stretched to the limit. 

I studied him casually as he had yet to notice me looking. Lord have mercy, the devil was working hard today. He had his feet crossed at the ankles as he pulled himself up, over and over again as if it involved no effort at all. I kept my face neutral as I watched the bottom of his shirt yawn upwards exposing his flat belly with a light dusting of hair on it. I glanced over to the woman on the treadmill next to me and she gave me a wink and a smile as she was staring at Travis also. I pop an earbud out as I see her beginning to speak.