Inner Desires

20.

The Little Europe gym was not exactly luxurious, but much on the contrary. It consisted of a tiny room with barely two small, high windows. That explained the smell of sweat even when it was empty. Yet it was also sort of practical – no-one could see you from outside while you worked out, which is always embarrassing. The few machines, while not the newest you could see advertised on television, seemed to be in good condition, even though the saddle of the exercise bike looked as though it had been bitten. Still, that should do.

Hanna tied her hair in a ponytail and left her towel and water bottle on the floor, next to the bike. As she started pedaling, she watched her friend, who was still stretching like she was a professional. No doubt Terhi took her exercise seriously. Her figure was proof of that. Although Hanna had never studied the other woman's body with much attention, now she was having the chance to check her out completely; and though she liked what she saw, it made her immediately jealous. Even in that simple outfit, consisting of a tank top and leggings, she looked fabulous and feminine. Apart from how the black pants enhanced her thin yet muscular legs, it was amazing how she had calculated every detail: the color of the hair-band matched the sneakers, and not a single strand of hair was out of control.

After some weightlifting, the Finn started using the treadmill. Her friend felt rather frustrated to see her running with such energy, like it had no difficulty at all for her, while the five minutes she had been on the bike already made her puff. In the end, she gave up and moved on to a different machine.

"Wanna have a break?" Terhi asked her from the treadmill after a while.

"That'd be good" she replied breathlessly.

Both spread the towels on the floor and sat down. The Dutch girl saw herself out of the corner of her eye in one of the mirrors. Her face was already quite red.

"How long has it been?" she wondered.

"About twenty minutes" the other woman replied, checking her watch.

"Urgh!" Hanna moaned "And I'm already almost dead!"

"Hey, it's normal the first time when you're not used to it" Terhi chuckled "I never thought you were really into sports, actually."

"I'm not. But I thought I should try to start doing something athletic. Kimberly says I'm getting fat."

Her friend's eyes widened, making her face even more expressive than it usually was.

"She said that to you?!"

"Well... not directly. She sort of pointed it out to me the other day."

The incident had taken place a couple of nights before. After months longing for some intimacy with her girlfriend, Hanna had begun trying to seduce Kimberly while they were changing into their pajamas, undressing her playfully and kissing her all over. The blonde had resisted, whining between chuckles that she wasn't in the mood... but in the end she had given up the fight. However, once the Dutch girl was naked and holding her, Kim's hands had wandered distractedly to her sides and started pinching gently.

"What are you doing?" Hanna asked, breaking the kiss.

"What's this?" Kimberly giggled "Is this a love handle? This wasn't here before."

"Stop that!" she pulled away, feeling that she was blushing with embarrassment.

"Hey, it's kind of cute!" she reached for her and caressed the area again "Look at this sweet little belly!"

As a result, Hanna had slipped into her nightdress and hurried to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Sometimes she did that when she was stressed, so she didn't see Kimberly sighing in relief. When the Dutch girl came back, she wasn't in the mood for sex anymore. The blonde knew perfectly that her girlfriend hadn't changed at all since they had met; she had just thought making her feel self-conscious about her body would be a good escape from sleeping with her. Her plan had worked.