Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Rhodes trained me like normal, and he never touched me inappropriately in the gym. We were client and trainer, behaved and natural. He pushed me harder, and I fought him less. He smiled more, which made me do the same.
Rhodes loved to touch me when we weren’t in the gym.
He brought me pleasure in ways I’d never experienced before, yet we still hadn’t gone all the way. In fact, I had yet to give him a release, which bothered me. When I would try, he would tell me to wait. For what, I didn’t know. But, I didn’t argue — the truth was, I enjoyed his attention. We were practically inseparable, and I was learning more about him every day. He was even opening up about his sister, though those conversations were few and far between. When he let that part of him be seen—when he opened himself to me — those were the times I loved the most.
With Mason, sex was always rushed. It was sloppy and purposeful — we went until he grunted out a release and collapsed on top of me. I thought that’s all sex was, but before Rhodes had even touched me — when he had only heated me with his gaze — I knew there was more.
And God, did Rhodes show me more.
I lost the desire to talk to Mason at all. After the way he let me down at the fair, I wasn’t even sure who he was anymore. And the more attention I got from Rhodes, the less I cared about the lack of attention I was getting from Mason. Soon, his texts became fewer and fewer, he gave up trying to get me to talk to him, and I fell easily into my new reality with Rhodes.
But every now and then, Rhodes would slip into the same person I met at the beginning of the summer. He would shut down, block me out, or be evasive. Sometimes, he would have to leave my house to “go somewhere” or “do something”, but he never told me what. I questioned him a few times, but he would always change the subject or tell me not to worry, which in turn only made me worry more. I didn’t want to suspect another woman, not with the way he looked at me, but that’s where my mind immediately went. Sometimes I could talk myself out of it, but then my mind would go to even darker places. Because if it wasn’t another woman, what exactly was it? Mostly, I just felt this uncertainty deep in my stomach. Something was off, but he wasn’t telling me what.
It was just over a week later at our Sunday weigh-in session that I knew I was losing him again.
“Oh no...” I stared at the number on the large glass scale in Rhodes’ training office, the same one I’d seen the Sunday before, and I felt my stomach sink. This was it, I’d hit my limit. I was failing.
“It happens, Bug,” Rhodes said, but he seemed distracted as he scribbled something on my file. “We’ll switch up your diet and cardio, see if that helps and go from there.”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
Rhodes pursed his lips, shaking his head slightly. “Then we’ll figure it out.”
“How are you so sure?”
“Because I know what I’m doing. I’ve trained hundreds of women. This happens to everyone. It’s called a plateau.”
I flinched when he mentioned how many women he’d trained, because we both knew what usually went with that. I shuddered once more when I realized that, technically, I was one of them.
But that was a lie.
Because I knew, deep down, that I was more to him. Or maybe I just wanted to know that. I longed for that reassurance. That was what both terrified me and gave me hope at the same time. Rhodes wasn’t an easy break. I knew there was more of him to discover. But just like he didn’t treat me like any of the other women in his life, I was determined to help him find his own value. He looked at me as if I were an investment — something he believed in — and I saw him in the same light.
“I feel like I’m failing.”
Rhodes pinched the bridge of his nose. “Natalie, you’ve lost twenty-six pounds. In just over a month. Trust me, you’re fine.”
I could tell I was annoying him, but I couldn’t stop myself from talking. “Did I do something to upset you?”
“Other than complain about a problem that isn’t a real problem? No.” My mouth popped open. He glanced up from where he was scribbling on his notepad and sighed, tossing it on the desk. “I’m sorry. I just have some shit going on.”
I chewed my bottom lip and fought against the urge to reach out to him. Rhodes was adamant about keeping our relationship private, if that’s even what you would consider it. Whatever we were, we existed outside of the club. Here, we were just a customer and a service provider.