Nacrene City Gym

After wrapping up a book signing out of town, I received a message from a friend on the way home. "This personal trainer is something else. He can do all kinds of things with an exercise ball." He also sent me a Live Photo. In the Live Photo, a woman was lying on an exercise ball, pinned down by a man. Her hair was covering her face. In the Live Photo that was a second long, I heard a familiar moan. I called my fiancée. "Where are you?" Her voice was a bit hoarse, "I'm training with an exercise ball at the neighborhood gym, babe. I have a big surprise waiting for you when you get home." I snorted and said, real slow, "How about I give you a big surprise right now? Open the door!"

I was getting a spa treatment at a beauty salon when Phoebe called. "I just saw Derrick buying jewelry for a woman at the mall." "Got it." "Aren't you going to catch him in the act?" "No need." I gave birth three months ago. After the spa, I needed to hit the gym, and by five, I had to pick up William. I had no time for this nonsense.

Ava Lane, my wife of five years, suddenly gets addicted to yoga. Whenever she visits the yoga gym, she'll stay there for the whole day. She often does yoga to the point that she forgets all about the time. As a result, she ditches our daughter, Daisy Statham, at the kindergarten, letting her burst into loud cries out of fear. As I cradle Daisy in my arms, I decide to confront Ava angrily. But she retains a nonchalant attitude. "You were the one who told me that I should train my body because of how weak I am! So why are you scolding me for exercising?" I no longer want to tolerate Ava's behavior, so I leave a divorce agreement behind and take Daisy away. Everyone accuses me of being dramatic, saying that nothing actually happened to my daughter. Ava responds by crying about the whole thing in front of my parents. She thinks I'm completely unreasonable. "If not for the fact that Jordan, a personal trainer, doesn't like my figure, I wouldn't have started learning yoga in the first place! And yet, now he tells me that I can't go for yoga anymore! What am I, his slave? Must I obey his every order?" I just point at Ava's trembling legs while mocking in return, "I can't do anything about how devoted you are to yoga at the end of the day. Once we're divorced, you might as well spend the rest of your life in that yoga gym!"

A sweet, aching, slow-burn romance about first love, second chances, and the kind of boy who never let go of control. ⠀ Lila & Anthony. ✨ High school sweethearts. 💃 Secret dances under gym lights. 🌸 A hand-blown glass lily gifted with meaning. ⠀ He was always dominant. Always the one who led. Even back then, when she didn’t fully understand what that meant. ⠀ Years later, when she’s in college and he’s in the Air Force, fate gives them another shot. But some wounds don’t heal easily. And some love stories don’t follow the rules. ⠀ They loved twice. They broke once. This time… Will it be forever?

Alpha Arnold McLean, the great Alpha of the white diamond pack has waited for over a hundred years for his fated mate but the goddess seems to have turned her back on him, or so he thought. Having stayed for as long as a century without his fated mate, he was almost going feral when his people decided to find his him a choose mate. His chosen mate was Tanya Gates, the daughter of a neighbouring pack's Alpha. He agreed to court her for six months before marking her as his mate. Within those six months, Tanya broke his heart and he decided to go far away for some time so as to clear his head. Mildred Paige was an orphan human girl, who hated being broke and idle. She also detested depending on people so she did so many jobs, side jobs to earn a living. Amongst her jobs the one she loved the most was working at the gym house as a cleaner. It was less stressful and better paid. Above all she experienced love there more than anywhere. One day the Alpha decided to visit the gym house as part of his recovery plan, when he got there he felt something different, something he never felt before. His wolf Black screamed mate in his head. "My mate in the human realm?" He thought within himself as a beautiful blond stood in front of him confused. Will Arnold be able to take a human mate? What will Tanya and other wolves do when they find out that their Alpha has impregnated a human?

Curiosity isn't a bad thing... Particularly for two powerful men locked in a silent battle they refuse to acknowledge. When they allow a human to open a mysterious business between their tattoo shop and gym, they soon realize their new tenant plans to help them explore more than just surface-level issues. They're about to learn that desire isn't something you can control... and being stuck in the middle might just be the best place to start becoming more fluid in their beliefs.

My husband's gym was celebrating its grand opening, so I grabbed my best friend and headed over under the guise of "checking the place out," armed with a $10 trial class we had snagged from a group deal. I never once mentioned that I was the owner's wife. The moment we wrapped up the workout, a female trainer slapped a price sheet into our hands and gave us a look that could cut glass. "Let me guess, you two came here to milk the freebies? Our private training sessions cost hundreds. They're not here for people like you to exploit." I let out a disbelieving laugh. "We bought a perfectly valid trial class. How does that make us freeloaders? Get your manager." She rolled her eyes, acting like she was the rules. "Call whoever you want! The owner is my boyfriend, and he can't stand penny-pinchers who show up trying to mooch off his gym." Then, right in front of us, she called him—voice raised, dramatic, dripping with fake indignation. "Babe, there are two cheapskates in your gym demanding the manager. Come deal with them for me!"

"Ah… Slow down… My husband hasn't even ended the call yet…" I slump on the floor with my butt raised high. As I listen to my husband's instructions, I continue to shift positions every now and then. Meanwhile, the gym trainer has one hand latching onto my hip while smacking my butt heavily with the other. Under my husband's instructions, he thrusts forward heavily…

“No… I can’t… Uh… My body belongs to my husband…” At the gym, I hired a personal trainer to work on my glutes. To make sure I was training my hips right, I wore a pink mini skirt with a hint of my plain white underwear peeking out from underneath. As if I wasn’t sensitive enough, the personal trainer lifted my skirt and pressed against my thighs. I felt a tingling sensation coursing through my body. The personal trainer tugged down my damp underwear. “Are you getting an itch you can’t scratch? Let me help you there.”

Rowan Crestfall always thought she was just a normal girl—quiet, ordinary, and invisible in a world of magic. But everything changes the day fire bursts from her hands in gym class, setting Arcadia Academy into chaos and uncovering a truth no one saw coming. Kai Stormrider, heir to the fire dragons and cursed by a deadly legacy, sees what she is before anyone else: the Dragonheart—born once in a thousand years, with the power to either awaken or destroy dragonkind. But Rowan’s fire is wild and unpredictable, tied to a history even older and darker than the prophecy. As her power grows, enemies close in, secrets unravel, and the one person she might need to trust… is the dragon prince destined to burn with her. In a world where fire decides fate, can they survive the bond fate has written for them? Or will their hearts be what burns everything down?