Why would they, when there were better-looking alphas around? When people like Gage-fucking-Frost could smile, and half the world would drop their pants?
Ulric was starting to get stir-crazy. It had been months since he’d slept with anyone. And even then, sex with Mick hadn’t been all that great—Mick often came first, and he’d left Ulric alone to finish off.
At least in porn movies, people finished at the same time. Or at least, their partners hung around until they did.
Feeling awfully lonely, Ulric pulled on his gym clothes—black this time—and packed his duffel.
He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d do at the gym. Maybe he’d get on one of those bike machine things and pedal until... something happened. And then he would go home.
He drove to the gym, grabbed his bag, and scanned his card. This time, he made sure to search out the bike machines discreetly. Then he dumped his bag in a locker, grabbed his towel and water bottle, and wove between all the machines, avoiding as many people as he could.
He found a machine that was furthest from everyone else. Then he sat on the cushioned seat and... stared at yet another complex control panel. Ulric sighed. Why was it so difficult to exercise?
Before he could spy on his neighbors in an attempt to figure this out, someone stopped next to him. He smelled familiar pine even as the alpha rumbled, “Haven’t seen you here in a while.”
Ulric’s stomach flipped. He was half-glad for Gage’s presence, and half-annoyed. Did he think Ulric couldn’t figure this out on his own? He turned with a glower. “It shouldn’t matter to you.”
Gage had his hands in his pockets, his biceps beautiful as ever, his green eyes locked onto Ulric. Years back, Ulric would’ve given anything for an alpha to look at him, smiling like that.
Now... he figured it was just part of Gage’s job. It felt like he was paying for Gage’s attention. And yet, Ulric still basked in that smile.
He was so distracted that it took him a moment to notice the shadows under Gage’s eyes. Ulric stared harder. “What’s wrong with you?”
Gage’s smile tightened. “Aside from the bumps I’m facing, trying to help our new guest?”
It really wasn’t any of Ulric’s business. Why would someone like Gage confide in him, anyway? So he shrugged, looking back at the bike machine console. “I’m fine.”
Gage paused. In a lower tone, he said, “Tell you a secret. Use the fancier bike. That one gives you some scenery to ride along to.”
A fancy machine also meant more buttons to fuck up with. Ulric looked back at his own machine—hell, he didn’t even know how to start this thing.
“I’ll help,” Gage murmured. He wriggled his fingers discreetly, beckoning Ulric over.
For a second, Ulric was torn. Then he figured that (1) Gage was a gym employee. It wasn’t as likely for him to make a fool of Ulric in public, and (2) Ulric had the option to go home.
He heaved himself off the machine and followed Gage to another bike—also set away from the other guests. This one had an extra screen mounted to the top of the control panel. Gage was already pressing buttons even before Ulric sat down—the screen turned on to display a road winding through a beautiful mountainside.
“Typically, people set goals for a session,” Gage explained quietly. “This button lets you adjust your session duration. There are various resistance levels on this machine—the more resistance you cycle against, the more calories you’ll burn. There are different workout presets, too.”
Ulric stared. That was... a lot to decide.
“What are your session goals for today?”
His insides tightened. “Uh.” It seemed like it’d be a bad idea to say I don’t know. I just came here to get out of the house. So Ulric kept his mouth shut.
“Here, why don’t we try something easy,” Gage said. “This workout lasts for fifteen minutes. Give it a go. If, by the end of this, you want to do it again, hit this button.”
He looked at Ulric. Even though it wasn’t a challenge, Ulric sure felt the need to... what, prove Gage wrong? Prove that he could do more than the beginner workout?
“I’ll get on it,” Ulric said, his neck burning. Bad enough that Gage had to give him the beginner’s talk. “Thanks.”
He waited until Gage walked away. Then he started the machine, pedaling slowly. Ulric had learned his lesson—no speeding things up until they went out of hand. The video showed him cycling up an incline—at the same time the resistance against his feet increased.
Ulric stared at the pedals, amazed. He’d tried exercise bikes in the past, but none of them had done this. It felt as though he was actually cycling on a hill. So he looked back at the mountain road video, gaining a new appreciation for it.
He was sweating slightly by the end of fifteen minutes—but not enough to give up yet. A quick glance around showed that Gage was helping someone else. While he was distracted, Ulric poked around with the buttons, half-expecting one of them to sound an alarm and tell everyone he was fucking up.
But the machine didn’t do that. He found the list of preset exercise routes; the next easiest route gave him a preview of a mountain road in autumn, full of fire-red leaves. Ulric started the exercise. The pedals had more resistance to them now—nothing Ulric couldn’t handle. He lost himself in the red leaves.
In fact, he liked the autumn leaves route so much that he started it again, even though he’d told himself to try a more difficult routine next.
He did the autumn leaves route a third time. Then a fourth time.
Ulric was starting to wish it were autumn right now, maybe every day of the year, when Gage stopped by next to him. Ulric stiffened.
“Still here?” Gage gave an easy smile. Ulric thought Gage might scoff. Then Gage said, “You’re
