-Bennett-

I leaned back against the lobby bench, yawning under my breath while checking through my phone for any missed messages. I'd expected for Eve and I to head back together, but there was already a message from half an hour ago waiting for me, in which she cheekily revealed that her mom had arrived to pick her up soon after the second class had finished.

Oh, and that we'd need to talk about him later.

You could've waited for me, I texted back after thanking her for covering for me, trying not to pout at the realization that I'd been abandoned. Bamboozled. Left to fend for myself. Left for dead, really.

Isn't your grumpy boyfriend giving you a ride? Eve messaged back, followed by a rather lewd sequence of emojis. For fuck's sake...

He isn't, though, I answered, only somewhat hastily.

Which one?

Neither. He's neither.

I grumbled under my breath, ignoring Eve's implications in favor of sending Riley a quick text thanking her for helping with covering my shift today as well. Then, I shoved the phone back into my pocket, knowing she'd only keep teasing me until I caved and spilled my guts.

More than anything, I'd really wanted to avoid needing another favor from Mason.

I wasn't particular eager to inconvenience Mason any further, even if he never really seemed all that bothered. But regardless of how I felt, the last bus of the day had already passed, so all I could do was sit there like a fool, especially since Mason had already offered to drive me home even before I could figure out that I had no way back.

In all honesty, I was still considering just sneaking out while they were busy changing and walking my ass home. Not that our workout had gone badly by any means, but... well...

I couldn't quite place why I felt so restless now, my eyes surprisingly unfocused as I watched the occasional stranger walk past on their way out. My fingers kept drumming against the metal base of the bench, the coolness of the metal only serving as a light distraction as I leaned back and tried to relax.

Instead, my body was tense like a coiled-up spring, the anticipation building with every passing moment. I didn't really know what to do with my hands, so I settled for wrapping them around my bag as I placed it in front of me. Perhaps I was just growing delusional from exhaustion, yet I kept getting flashes to the gentle way his warm hands had settled on me whenever he'd guide me. Or praise me.

Every comment had been followed by a gentle graze, my skin burning at the sheer memory. Because it was just like me to get caught up in such mindless details, especially when it came to Mason. He was just being helpful... kind. And here I was, half-hard and uncomfortably heated at the mere idea of his voice, preening under the slightest bout of affection.

I knew I was looking too deeply into it. That he was just as tactile when he was around Eric, as I'd unwillingly taken notice of the last time that we'd hung out together. So, it couldn't be what my mind was urging me it was. It couldn't mean more.

Though, at the very least, perhaps it meant we were growing closer? Perhaps we were even friends now, not that I'd risk asking that, lest I die of embarrassment.

And why the hell did I feel so cold?

"I guess I'm waiting," I murmured to myself while tiredly rubbing at my arms, pressing down on the aching muscles with circular motions, trying to soothe some of the light ache. Tomorrow morning would be much worse, but that was alright with me; it wasn't like I hadn't expected a bit of pain when I signed up for this.

Eric walked out of the locker room soon after, wearing clothes that seemed a bit large on him. He was running his hands through his damp hair, pushing it all back and away from his face as he approached me. He looked quite tired himself, and I was honestly curious about what he'd spent the whole time doing.

"I had to borrow a change of clothes from Mason," Eric provided quite excitedly, settling down beside me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder with the casualness of embracing an old friend. Even as I nervously peered up at him, he just scoffed and patted my shoulder amiably, unconcerned by my hesitation. "How did it go today?"

"I'm tired," I grunted in response, suppressing another yawn. I also felt about ready to collapse, though the soreness was surprisingly encouraging, serving a straight-forward reminder that I'd engaged my muscles correctly. Mason had said so as well.

Well, Mason had said a lot of things, many of which were still swirling around in my head like vultures. But this was one of the few I could cling to without spiraling.

For someone so typically quiet, he was surprisingly generous when it came to dishing out compliments.

It was incredibly distracting.

If he told me I did a good job one more fucking time, I was going to combust into flames. And it'd be entirely his fault.

"Yeah, I bet. Mason wouldn't shut up about your plans," Eric mentioned, chuckling under his breath while gazing out towards the locker room entrance. "I don't think I've seen him that nervous before... not even during finals week."

I frowned, peering at Eric curiously. That was news to me, actually.

Why would he even be nervous about training me? From what I could recall, our session had gone quite smoothly. Or... did Mason think it wouldn't? Did he question whether I could handle it? Did he—?

"Yeah?" I breathed out wearily.

Eric nodded his head, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "The nerd wrote up like five back-up plans and kept drafting workout routines based on different scenarios. And I'd know. I had to proofread them all."

"Oh. D-did he think I wouldn't do well?" I forced myself to ask, wincing as the words slipped out of my mouth, unsure if I really wanted to know.

Eric scoffed, waving a dismissive hand, as if even the mere notion was ridiculous. "Not do well? Dude, he legit kept looking up terminology because he was worried that he'd come across as inexperienced in front of you."

Now, that didn't make much sense. Mason may be a bit hard to read at times, but I couldn't picture him being nervous, let alone questioning his own abilities. Especially not about this... about me. If anything, his steadfast composure was one of the qualities I found the most intimidating about him. "Are you sure?"

"He made flashcards."

My jaw slacked the tiniest bit. "But he's not really like that," I grumbled in response, unsure of whether to believe him or not.

Eric patted my back, stifling back a laugh. "Ahh, I guess it might seem that way to you, huh?"

"It's just... I don't know."

Eric shrugged. "I mean, you work here. It'd be weirder if you didn't know more than him."

I stared back at him, a bit taken aback by the simple concession. There was no hesitation to his voice as he said it, like it was a fact. A conflicting mixture of relief and mortification surged through me, leaving me rather in awe. I just furrowed my eyebrows in response, watching him intently... as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"What?" Eric asked while nudging me once more, chuckling to himself. "Is that surprising? Eh?"

"He said that?" I muttered quietly, openly frowning.

He nodded his head quite excitedly. "Of course. Not that he'd admit to it, but that's just because he secretly likes to come across as composed."

"I—"

"Can you stop feeding him bullshit?" Mason suddenly demanded while walking out of the locker room, scowling down at Eric. He stalked over and smacked him across the back of the head, snorting when Eric whined in complaint. "And that's for taking my clothes without asking. You're so lucky I had a second spare change of clothes."

"I—I was helping, actually," Eric yelled defensively while shooting up from the bench. "And I only took these because I knew you had more."

"Is that so?"

Eric scoffed at Mason's sarcastic tone, opening his mouth to argue before opting for flicking him square in the nose. And hard, from the looks of it. Then, he dashed away before Mason could do anything about it, flipping us both off, cackling as he fled.

And I just watched quietly as he ran out into the parking lot and tried to open the car door in vain, following him with my gaze right up until I was being made to look up. A wide, warm hand tilted my head back, bright ocean eyes peering down at me with an intensity that had me tensing up in anticipation.

"Bennett."

I tried to lower my gaze, hyper-aware of how easily I could probably get lost in them.

"Y-yeah?" I muttered, too flustered to say much else.

Mason's eyes were relentless as he peered down at me, his distrust for his friend growing abundantly clear. "He didn't say anything weird to you, right?" he asked rather sternly. "If he did, tell me."

I grumbled in response, unable to meet his eyes. "H-he was just joking around, I think," I explained rather vaguely, not really wanting to get into it. The last thing I wanted was to make things weird. And weirdly enough, I was almost fine blindly believing what Eric had said over being subjected to the truth.

Though, that didn't seem to be good enough of a response.

Mason nodded slowly, and then he was squatting down in front of me until we were eye-to-eye, his face leaning closer until I couldn't avoid him. "What did that idiot say?"

I shrugged once more. "Just..."

"Just what?"

"Y-you're so close," I blurted out, my eyes widening as Mason stared back in response. There was an uneasy moment of silence as he processed what I'd said, and then his hands were suddenly pulling away, body growing farther apart as he stood back up.

"Oh."

I could feel myself growing flustered, my mouth opening and closing as I tried to explain myself. "Y-you just... keep touching me. Makes it hard to think," I confessed, staring firmly at the ground.

I wanted to take it back almost immediately... to confess that I didn't mind, and that I was stupid for pointing it out. But all I could do was release a weary exhale. "Sorry," I added awkwardly.

Another few moments of silence, and then Mason was sighing under his breath.

"Sorry, I didn't realize I was doing that," Mason replied rather calmly, forcing a small smile before turning back out towards the parking lot, looking into the night through the gym's large windows. "It's late. We should go, right?"

I nodded while getting up, following him out into the chilly night.

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A/N: Thank you for reading. We looove misunderstandings.