50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Torn: Chapter Eighty-Two

     Aubrey preferred to work out at home. The last several times he'd visited a public gym, it had been mayhem. People crowding around him, gawking. Grown men begging for his autograph in the locker room. Women deliberately dropping their towels in front of his workout machine just so they could bend over in front of him. Roided up gym rats trying to give him pointers on his form while working out. There were certain public places where he could go and rest assured that people would barely give him a second glance. The gym was not one of those places. Whenever he went to a gym, it was a complete circus.

    This time was no different. He barely made it inside the doors of Push Pounds Fitness when a shrill scream pierced the air. "It's Drake?"

    Heads swiveled in his direction.

    "It's Aubrey! Aubrey Graham!"

    Clutching the strap of his gym bag, he continued walking across the gym floor. Personal trainers paused their sessions with clients. Their clients were too distracted to notice or care that their trainers weren't paying any attention. A scrawny kid who couldn't be older than seventeen dropped a free weight on his foot while gawking at Aubrey.

    Aubrey didn't stop walking until he was standing in front of a brown-skinned man with narrow eyes and a mega-watt smile. The man stopped talking in mid-sentence to one of the gym staffers. "Where the fuck have you been?"

    "I've been around, Jonny," Aubrey said, grinning.

    "You've been around?" Jonny Roxx repeated. "For the longest time, you've been nothing but a voice on the other end of the phone. You never visit anymore."

    "How's Kim?" Aubrey asked.

    "She's good," Jonny replied, crossing thick, corded arms over a broad chest. "Misses the hell out of you, though." He lowered his gaze to Aubrey's gym bag. "Wait a minute...you're here to work out? Here? In my gym?"

    Aubrey shrugged. "I figured it was time to check out the upgrades."

    "If I'm not mistaken, the last time you came here, this gym was nothing but two treadmills and a weight bench," Jonny muttered, turning and smiling proudly at the spread in front of them.

    "You had a lot more than treadmills and weight machines the last time I stopped by," Aubrey said, laughing. "You're exaggerating."

    "Not much more," Jonny insisted. He looked his friend up and down. After the appraisal, he gave his friend a knowing look. "What brings you here?"

    Aubrey ran a hand over his head. "Just looking to get a good workout in. We haven't had a chance to hang in forever."

    "And?" Jonny prodded.

    "And I wanted to check out your gym since I haven't been here in awhile," Aubrey added.

    Jonny unfolded his arms and raised a hand, making a beckoning gesture. "And? Come on. Out with it."

    "And what? What am I supposed to say?"

    "You didn't just randomly wake up and decide to visit me," Jonny told him. "You didn't just randomly decide to pop by my gym. You came for a specific reason, and it wasn't to get in a good workout. Come on, man. I know better than that. I know better than that from years of being around you. So stop trying to bullshit a bullshitter. What's up?"

    Aubrey glanced around them, checking to see if anyone was close enough to hear their conversation. "All right...I'm here because..." He stopped himself and found it hard to look his lifelong friend in the eye. He dropped his gaze down to the floor and stared down at it. "I need...I need to talk."