Thats Life

Chapter Thirty-Six

I slide into the passenger side of Josh's car and rub my eyes.

"Well, good morning sunshine." He chuckles.

I wave him off while pulling the seatbelt across my chest. Usually, I wouldn't be so tired, but I was up all night attempting to study for those finals I somehow just learned about.

I take the drive to wake up more, which is easy once the smell of Josh invades my scents. I've never seen Josh in regular clothes, He's wearing a loose black tank top and some shorts that are higher up than I usually see men wearing. He's more muscled than I thought he was. His thighs are nice and large, they make the shorts look tight even thought I know they are supposed to be mildly baggy. The armpit of his tank top is cut down to the bottom of his ribs showing off the side of his toned chest.

Another reason I couldn't sleep last night was because I couldn't get over what happened at school. I'm still not 100% sure I didn't imagine it. He didn't even ask for anything in return, just finished me off and went back to class. So now, I'm stuck wondering when it can happen again, but I don't want to sound too weird and clingy by texting him.

"You like music?" Josh's voice pulls me out of my memory, probably for the best.

Confused, I respond, "Yeah... I like music."

"What do you listen too?"

Oh god, I hate this question. "You'll laugh if I tell you."

"Well now I have to know. What is it, like girly pop music? You have some Hannah Montana up your sleeve?"

'Not quite." I chuckle. "It's old man music, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., I guess. Ella Fitzgerald, the Ink spots, Ray Charles, stuff like that."

His head shoots my way in surprise briefly before looking back to the road in front of him. "Hmm." He struggles to contain his smile. "So, 1940s then? Do you listen to anything current?"

I shake my head. "No. I haven't really had a social life, I grew up with family members who listened to older music and I guess I just never changed. I get laughed at a lot for it, but the stuff made today has nothing on older swing music."

"Yeah, I'd have to agree with you there. But we're going to change that for you I think you will be mildly surprised."

I roll my eyes, you would be surprised about how many times people have tried to get me onto new music. Mostly the siblings, I think they get tired of my swing music filling the house.

"Hey now, don't go trying to change me. I can't be swayed, it's a proven fact."

"Unfortunately, I'm not giving you a choice." He chuckles, "I have some good stuff. I'll get you into it."

"I wish you luck, I'd be impressed to see it." I smile thinking about the songs he would try to show me.

Once we get to the gym, Josh wastes no time getting on a treadmill for his warmup. I follow behind him and pretend I know what I'm doing. He takes us through a few of the machines and teaches me how to use them, then pushes me much farther than I'd like to finish what he called, 3 reps of 20. I hated it at first, I regretted coming because I am not in shape enough to be doing this shit. But after a while, it felt nice, like a burst of energy and motivation pushed through me. Near the end of the work out, Josh was smiling approvingly at me. After being here for two hours Josh leads us back to the treadmill for a cool down.