It was at the far side of the gym where I got the best view of the hottest ass in the room. It was firm and tucked into a tight pair of running shorts, showing off his toned calves and thighs. He’d stripped his shirt, and the corded muscles of his back rolled under his skin as he ran, gleaming with sweat under the fluorescent lights.

Asher was worthy of this room. He looked impeccable. No wonder he had a lot of girlfriends and notches in his headboard.

He wore earbuds and was staring up at a TV in the corner by the ceiling that was showing sports highlights from the weekend’s football games.

I glanced around, checking to see if they had any benches or an observation area where I could buy popcorn and watch the beautiful men as they worked out. Of course, that didn’t exist. It should. They’d make a killing if they charged five bucks a half hour. I’d spend every day here.

I inched around Asher’s treadmill and caught his attention. He popped the buds from his ears and grinned, not stopping his pace as he continued his fast jog.

“Hey.”

“Hi. You’re one of those guys who runs for fun. You’re a freak.”

He chuckled. “Did you bring shorts or something?”

“What? No way. Are you out of your mind? I’m not working out. I came to … watch. I’m gonna do all the watching while you do all the hard stuff.”

Asher chuckled. “That’s not a thing.”

“It should be. Have you looked around? So much yumminess here.”

Ash wiggled his brows. “Fucking right.”

“Okay. Stop looking around. Now you’re just pissing me off.”

Asher glanced at the display screen on the treadmill. “I have another fifteen minutes of my run, and then I’m meeting up with Tony for weightlifting. Do you want to wait for me somewhere else?”

“Like where?”

“The coffee house? Bar?”

“No.” Can’t afford to waste money there, I wanted to say.

“Well, here.” He unpinned a key he had hanging on his shorts. “Locker number thirty-six. I have extra gym shorts and shirts in there. Go dress and find a machine. You can’t stand around and ogle people. It’s weird. You need to do something.”

“Ogling people is doing something.” Asher pinned me with a look, telling me I was wrong. “Fine. It was a terrible idea to come here.”

I took his key and dragged my feet back toward the doors in search of the changerooms.

“Did you find him okay?” the scantily clad fitness model lady with the navel ring and six-pack who was working the front desk asked.