few words with the man working there. An envelope exchanged hands and was promptly handed to Harper.
“Your access card to get around the building. Do you need to change?”
William eyed him skeptically as Harper shook his head.
“No, I’m good.”
He’d never seen William wearing anything that wasn’t a suit, so he was somewhat curious about what he had on under his jacket. He followed the alpha into the changing rooms, grabbing the locker next to him and stowing away his jacket and bag. As he wrestled with the lock, which didn’t seem to want to close, William stood near the door, his arms crossed. Harper could almost hear the foot tap and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
“Don’t let me keep you. I can follow you out.”
“That seems like it would defeat the point of us exercising together,” William said pointedly.
Harper flushed and turned his back, finally slamming the lock into place with a sigh of relief. He followed the alpha into the main hall of the gym. The first thing he noticed was that the room was properly cold. Goose bumps rose on his skin, and he began to wish he’d brought his jacket in with him. William was obviously forewarned, still wearing his sweatshirt. He turned to Harper, his enthusiasm obvious.
“I was thinking we’d do some stretches to warm up, and then a run on the treadmill to get the blood pumping. How’s that sound?”
It sounded like Harper’s idea of hell, but he’d play along, for now.
“Whatever you say.”
He trailed William into the center of the room, and they took adjacent mats. Harper, never one for enforced exercise, did some half-hearted stretching as he looked around, taking in the room. It was pretty quiet for a gym. He guessed that was why William had chosen this particular day and time. There weren’t any lines for the equipment and few people around to pay much attention to them.
“Ready for that run?”
William had moved to the edge of his mat, looking a little tense.
“Why not?”
He hopped onto a treadmill, William taking the one to his left. He kept the pace slow, surprised to find the alpha doing the same. But whereas Harper was content with more of a jog, William gradually sped up until he was running full tilt. Harper slowed back down to a walk, wondering how this was supposed to be inspiring William. The alpha had barely given him a second glance since they’d arrived and seemed fully intent on his exercise routine. Maybe the gym had been a bad idea.
While he mulled that over, increasing the treadmill speed just a little so he could stomp out his irritation, William’s machine beeped and gradually slowed until the alpha was at walking pace once again.
“Good run?”
The words felt awkward leaving his lips, but he was short on conversations starters just then.
“I prefer the outdoors if I’m going to run properly. But it’s hard to beat a quick sprint when you need a warm-up.”
“That was a warm-up?” Warm-up to what?
“Sure. It was barely two miles.” He got off the treadmill. “Weights next. Always leave the best for last.”
Harper hadn’t pegged William as a weightlifter. He thought quickly as he followed the alpha to the benches.
“Why don’t you take a bench next to the mats? While you work out, I’ll do some yoga.”
A look of distaste crossed William’s face. “Yoga?”
“Yoga, Pilates, maybe some break dance moves. It’s that or me standing here watching you lift, because there’s no way in hell I’m picking up a bar, let alone packing weights onto it. I’m an omega.”
“Omegas can lift weights,” William pointed out, bewildered.
“Yes, but this omega doesn’t, as a general rule. So, what’ll it be? Am I going all Stepford Mate and watching you do your thing, or am I working out right next to you and drawing less attention from the room as a whole?”
“Uh, the latter, please.”
William spent some time putting his weights securely on the bar. Harper knew little to nothing about the activity except that it looked like a lot of weight to be hefting. He hoped the alpha wasn’t trying to impress him, because William seriously didn’t look like someone who regularly bench pressed his bodyweight—
The alpha pulled off his sweatshirt, revealing a sleeveless vest underneath and bringing Harper’s musing to a halt. It wasn’t the vest that caught Harper’s attention—it was the muscle. Holy hell, those shirts he’d been wearing did not do him justice. It was like Clark Kent to Superman right in front of