Based off the prompt, "My spotter/workout buddy is too busy ogling someone across the gym and you notice that I'm kind of in distress here.'… Also based off of a regrettable personal experience.
It was the Sally Song that got him. The stupid tune that not only ear wormed its way into his head but also killed his arms when he benched to it. The Sally Challenge was easy to explain but painful to actually go through all the way. It was perfect in the sense that the person who squatted or benched always somehow had their bones turn to goop and jelly near the last few cords of the three minute and fifty-four second shit show people called a song.
The rules are simple, go with the lyrics.
"Bring Sally up."
Push the seventy pound bar with eighty extra weights attached up.
"And bring Sally down."
Bring back down.
"Lift and Squat, gotta tear the ground."
Hold. Don't move until the lyrics start then do it all again. Catch your breath and curse yourself because why, why did you start this?
It was so simple. So easy. Until Jim's spotter, fucking Gary Mitchell saw a little bit of eye candy over by the speakers that blasted the music, the girl struggling to find something in her bag. Between one lyric and the next his spotter was up and away asking if she needed any help not asking Jim of he needed any help, damnit! Jim huffed but brought the bar back down to his chest letting the warm metallic metal ghost over his bare sweaty chest as he waited for the song to tell him to bring it back up.
"Bring Sally up."
And he pushed for what felt like the millionth time up. His arms started to shake and he was a few words behind the song but he got the bar up hearing the clang of weights as he did so.
"And bring Sally down."
Shit. His shoulders and sides of his chest were starting to hurt.
"Lift and Squat-"
Jim didn't know if he could get the bar back up. He didn't have Gary bitching at him to push, push, push. Hell, Gary wasn't even above him ready to catch the bar or assist.
"Bring Sally up."
He pushed. God, did he push but the bar only went half way before the strength started seeping out of Jim's arm. The tightness in his chest turned to a stabbing pain and he faltered in the easy rhythm of lifting. He tried to push up even a little bit to get the bar high enough to rack it but it wouldn't budge. The weights clattered together as his arms shook.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, he was going to drop it. He was going to crush himself. This was it, really? This was the way he was going to go? Seriously? A freaking lifting accident? The bar crushing his chest?
"Gar-" he stuttered watching the heavy bar come down slowly like a bomb dropping. His face was red and hot, sweat dripped like water off his brow and his arms shook so hard it would have rattled his teeth were they not clenched as hard as he could. "Help…"
But the music was too loud and his friend was too distracted and shit, the bar was now on his chest and still going down obeying gravity to crush him. Down, down, down, he couldn't breathe and he couldn't lift it up anymore. Shit.
Suddenly hands grabbed hold of the bar seizing it and yanking it upwards off his chest and he sucked in a lung full of air so hard he gagged falling off the bench onto the floor. Over the sounds of his coughing and wheezing he could hear the bar being thrown back into the rack then watched as the person belonging to the hands who'd saved him jogged around to him. Jim looked up at the man anddamn.
He was big, brawny and fuck he was hot. And he'd just saved my life.
"You should be more careful, kid." Did god just try to kill Jim then decide to bless him because not only was this guy hot but his accent slid over his tongue like molasses.
"Jim," he corrected when he could speak again trying to save himself from embarrassment. Didn't work. He still felt like an idiot. The man laughed holding out his hand to help Jim up. The blonde took it feeling lightheaded and dizzy when he was righted. His arms hung limply at his sides, he didn't have the energy to move so he just stood here with a slightly hunched back semi-hating his life and wholeheartedly hating Gary.
"Why don't we go get you some water?" The man smiled at Jim and Jim felt his insides warm at the sight. "Names Leonard by the way but, everybody calls me Bones." Then he started walking towards the exit where the water machine was kept with a jerk of his head expecting Jim to follow.
And Jim did, just as the last notes of the song ended.
The 'Sally Song' is actually called Flower by Moby. It's a great song to work out to and if you do the challenge and finish the song you definitely have my respect.