Chapter Nine: In ANY Way

"Twelve."

"Thirteen."

Reid exhaled hard pushing the barbell up from his chest.

"Come on man! This is only about eighty pounds."

Danvers stood over the weight bench looking down at Reid. The blonde was red-faced and sweating, clearly struggling with his last set.

"I'm pretty sure Gorman can bench more than this," Caleb added.

"Fifteen. Done." Reid gasped fully extending his arms.

"What happened to fourteen?" Caleb asked leading the bar back into the fork.

"Fuuuuuck," Reid hissed as he sat up, slouching over his knees.

There was a clinking sound as Caleb added more weight to the bar. Reid moved off the bench as he and Caleb switched places.

Taking position over Caleb, he watched as Danvers lifted the bar and brought it slowly down to his chest. Reid also noticed a group of girls walk into the gym.

"One"

He counted as he saw the bar rise out of the corner of his eye. The girls were all wearing very tiny work out shorts.

"Two"

One of them turned around and he saw the word "CHEER" written across her ass.

"Three"

His heart skipped a beat as he stared at the Harvard Cheerleading Squad.

"Four"

They split up going to the treadmills, stationary bikes and step machines.

"Five"

Two girls grabbed light weight barbells and stood in front of the mirror doing curls.

"Six"

Then one girl walked over to the water cooler.

"Seven"

She leaned over holding her water bottle under the tap.

"Eight"

Her shorts rode up exposing half of her ass.

"Nine"

Reid held his breath as he stared at the exposed area.

Now, had he been paying attention to spotting Caleb, he would have noticed that Caleb had stopped halfway, not able to finish the last rep. He would have seen Danvers face redden and the veins bulge in his neck. He would have seen Caleb digging his heels into the floor as he tried to lock out his arms.

"Reeeeeid!" Caleb grunted. The bar had started to tip.

Reid snapped his attention back to Caleb, but it was already too late. Caleb brought the bar down to his chest to steady it.

"Heelllp," he groaned as his fatigued muscles could only lift the bar about a millimeter off his body.

Reid reached over to assist Caleb, lifting the bar back up and docking it in the fork with a loud clank.

Reid heard the giggling and turned around.

The cheerleaders had seen it all.

Reid's gaze whipped back to the cheerleader at the water fountain, who was now looking at him, a giant smirk on her face.

"What were you staring at?" Caleb panted wiping the sweat with his forearm.

When Garwin didn't reply, Caleb sat up and followed his gaze. He shook his head when he realized what the source of the distraction was.

"Go talk to her," he suggested. "But don't say anything about your grandmother."

"haha," Reid shot his friend a look.

The girl had taken the initiative and came up to them.

"I'm Ashley," she announced cocking her head to the side and extending her hand.

"Caleb," the Son offered his own hand.

"I'm Reid," the blonde interjected taking her hand and shaking it firmly. "I really like your shorts."

As soon as the words left his mouth he cursed himself for his own stupidity.

"Uh, Thanks." Ashley's eyebrows raised into an arch.

"So will I see you boys at the game tomorrow?" she asked giving them a warm smile.

"Yeah, definitely," Reid answered nodding eagerly.

"I like your shorts?" Caleb whispered when Ashley was out of earshot. "What are you, twelve?"

"Shut the hell up, Caleb."


Official OC Counter:
1. Vanessa - Sarah's roommate
2. Sara - From Calculus
3. Stacey – Women's Swim Team Captain
4. Ashley - cheerleader

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