no turning back

• forty two •

gladys

An uncomfortable twinge in my chest made me grimace, but I only gritted my teeth and kept running. My feet felt like cinder blocks. If I had to go much further, I would probably crash face-first into the ground.

"Are you sure you don't have asthma?" Brant asked, not sounding the least bit fatigued while I gasped for air like a fish out of water.

"Yes," I hissed, squinting at him. "I'm out of shape, that's all."

He raised a doubtful brow, and I could practically hear the jest forming on his lips. We've been running together for weeks now. How are you still so unfit?

"Whatever you're gonna say," Elijah threatened him from my other side, "don't."

Despite my exhaustion, I smiled. Eli always took my side, and it never got old. I flashed him an appreciative look and the corner of his mouth twitched back.

"Okay, but . . . how much . . . further?" I wheezed.

Brant lifted his arm to read the smart watch on his wrist. "Half a mile." I threw an arm into his stomach, and he groaned, doubling over as he stumbled a few steps. "A tenth!" He coughed.

"That's what I thought," I grumbled.

"You've increased your pace a lot, you know," Elijah told me. The pride in his dark eyes stirred something warm inside me, making me momentarily forget that I was on the brink of passing out.

"I'm still slow as fuck, but thank you."

"You don't become a track star overnight. It takes time, patience, and persistence."

I snorted. "I do not want to be a track star. I just don't want to get any chubbier than I already am."

His eyes narrowed and he leaned toward me. When he proceeded to voice the exact words I predicted in my head, I knew I'd spent too much time with these men.

"Sounds like you want a spanking, Princess."

Lifting my chin, I forced two breaths through my nose before gasping raggedly through my mouth. "I do not. I'm just telling the truth. You don't have to like it, Elijah, but it's the way it is."

"Done!" Brant called out.

I was pretty certain we still had a few more yards to go and he only said that to shut us up. Every time Eli mentioned punishing me or flirted with me, Brant made a quick exit. He had to hear us basically every day, so I didn't blame him.

Regardless, I was thrilled to be done with this torture and stopped immediately. I bent over and put my hands on my knees while I huffed and puffed. As much as I hated running, I had no one to blame for this but myself. I'd been in the best shape of my life before Elijah brought me to Arkansas, and since then I'd spent about two months doing nothing but sitting around. I put on weight, and I didn't like it. So, three weeks ago, I told the guys I needed help and wanted them to train me.

A big, warm hand rested on my lower spine. Elijah crouched down to speak quietly to me. "I agreed to train you because you said this was to get fit. Not because you wanted to lose weight or change the shape of your figure."