RUSH

Ch. 2: Bennett Watch

-Mason-

Like most habits, the one involving the cute instructor at my local gym had started out by pure accident.

My friend Eric had been busy with exams and hadn't been able to hang out at all, leaving me with a sudden huge gap of free time smack in the middle of the afternoon. It had previously been taken up by us binge-watching TV shows or gaming the afternoon away, but suddenly he was too busy to do much of anything.

That's how I ended up at the gym at around four pm, instead of the usual ten pm, on that seemingly ordinary Friday, tiredly glancing at the packed parking lot as I exited my car; part of me had hoped that it'd be somewhat less packed during the day than it was at night. No such luck, though.

I fell into my regular schedule quite easily, plugging in my earbuds, blasting one of my many workout playlists, and easily shutting everyone else out. The plan was to do some light stretching, jog on the treadmill for thirty minutes to warm-up, and then hit the weight room. Today was leg day, which meant I'd probably be physically fighting people for the Leg press.

The treadmills all ended up being busy, but that wasn't too big of a deal. I was already here at an odd time, so why not shake it up a bit more? I decided to just jog at the indoor track instead, amused by the mere prospect considering I rarely frequented it.

And that, inevitably, led to me jogging around the indoor track the entire afternoon...

Yeah, it was kind of pathetic.

Shutting everyone out had been going according to plan, at least until it suddenly wasn't working at all. Curiosity got the best of me when I heard a particularly terrifying screech from down below, surprised that not even my noise-canceling headphones could keep it at bay. I glanced down, casually inspecting my surroundings and cringing when I noticed the multitude of loud children frantically dashing about the gymnasium.

I wasn't too fond of the pandemonium, but it was easy enough to ignore when I could hardly hear them. And honestly, that was going to be the end of it.

Then, I managed to catch a glimpse of the infuriatingly attractive class instructor standing tall amid the chaos, wearing a sheepish, warm smile on his face. The man crouched before one of the kids and chuckled while helping him up from a failed attempt at a squat. I was, unfortunately, unable to catch his laugh due to the loud music booming against my eardrums.

I immediately ripped the earbuds off, shamelessly staring at him as I slowed down to a walk, holding my gaze even as I tried to ignore the sudden tightness in my chest.

The instructor walked around them with a certain serenity, warmly beaming at the kids before signaling for them to take a break. The class was a disorganized hellscape, but there seemed to be a method to its chaos.

He seemed more than happy just standing there, surrounded by the noise... and I felt a conflicting calmness softly enveloping me, my tense body relaxing at the mere sight of him.

That was until he looked up.

I pressed myself back against the wall, out of sight, nervously watching as one of the runners on the track curiously glanced over their shoulder as they passed me. My heart was pounding viciously against my chest, which made no sense. What the hell was I freaking out about?

Hesitantly, I tried to continue jogging along the track, to shake it off and move on, but my traitorous eyes kept drifting back to him.