Jess Finds Herself in a Contest Ch. 02

"Everything OK Dante?" I asked him.

"Yeah Jess. Busy week ahead and I'm beginning to prepare for my competition." Dante said.

"Anything I can do to help? I asked him. "You seem kind of quieter than normal."

"I appreciate the offer Jess. Honestly, I'm OK." Dante responded.

Tuesdays intermediate group session, and Wednesdays personal training class went exactly the same way. I realized that I had been enjoying the interaction with Dante more than I had the actual workouts. His aloofness was driving me crazy.

When I got home from Wednesdays training session I started to have doubts about even wanting to do the competition. The lack of connection with Dante was absolutely affecting my overall mood. It obviously showed. During dinner Jake commented, asking if there was something wrong. I made up something about having a headache, not feeling all that well, and it being really hard to stay focused on preparing for the competition when I wasn't feeling all that well. I told Jake that maybe I just needed to get some sleep and retired to the bedroom early.

While I was lying in bed stewing over the situation I decided that I needed some sort of resolution. I couldn't get the silence with Dante out of my head. I still had his number from the initial workout routines he sent me. I grabbed my phone, scrolled to his message, and started typing.

"Dante, I'm sorry to bother you, but I feel like there is something wrong between us. The chemistry we've had since the first class just doesn't seem to be there. Did I do something to upset you? I don't want to be weird about this, but I've found this week really difficult to get through without your normal upbeat attitude. I just want to find the dynamic we had before this week. Jess"

I knew Dante had an iphone so I should be able to see whether or not he received my message. After pressing send I stared at my screen. It showed received, then a minute later it showed read.

My heart started pounding waiting to see if he was going to respond. A minute later the little dot's at the bottom of the conversation appeared. He's responding. I exhaled. Thank god. I thought to myself.

I felt like I was waiting forever for his response. Several minutes went by. Finally a long reply appeared.

"Jess, you haven't done anything wrong. I too miss the fun we've been having the past few weeks. Thing is, I know there is strong chemistry between us. I feel it, I know you feel it. I am afraid that if one of us doesn't back off a bit we're going to do something that we'll regret. I don't want that to happen. I don't want something to go wrong and end up ruining our ability to work together. D."

I read his text and processed what he was telling me. He feels the chemistry between us. That is part of the magic that has made the workouts so good. I'm flustered, frustrated, and kind of upset. My emotions are clearly getting the best of me and I'm having a hard time keeping them under control. I re-read his text. I cannot deny that I've been thinking more and more about him. It has definitely moved beyond just a proximity infatuation. I think back to Friday night. I had Jake fuck me with our favorite toy and fantasized about Dante. That is obviously wrong.

I haven't had many situations while married where I found myself attracted to someone else. The few times over the 12 years of our marriage that I did, I very quickly nipped it in the bud. I certainly didn't fan the flames by trying to spend more time with the guy. I let out a deep breath. I need to get myself under control before I do something I'm going to regret. Wise words Dante, I think to myself. It's not too late to take a step back and take it easy.

"D, thanks for your response. I needed to hear that. I think that the newness of this workout thing, and the way we've connected have just felt so good that I let this get a bit carried away in my head. You're an amazing trainer, and a very attractive man, I'm guessing you've seen this happen before. Like you said, I don't want to do anything I'm going to regret, even if it seems like something I really want. I just hope that we can find a little bit of the fun we've been having over the past few weeks, knowing that we both need to keep ourselves in check. Jess"

I re-read my text to make sure it makes sense. It says what I want it to say. I press send. Moments later Dante is responding.

"I'm glad you messaged me Jess. I hate leaving things unsaid, especially when it's so heavy in the air. We needed to talk about this. I'm confident that we can keep getting you ready for your competition, and get back to having a good time doing it. Like you said, we both keep ourselves in check, and keep each other honest."

I read his text. I half smile. Part of me is sad that that we're agreeing to keep this strictly professional. Another part feels relieved. There is always a price to pay for infidelity, and that is surely the road this seemed to be going down...at least in my head it was. This is good I tell myself. I send him one final text.

"Thanks again for being strong, and talking sense into me. Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow at 1:00. Jess"

Dante responds, "Good night Jess, be ready for a great workout tomorrow. Dante."

I deleted the texts just in case Jake was still feeling insecure about the situation. Him seeing these texts would definitely complicate the situation, which now seemed to be back under control.

-----

Monday's training session went well. I was a bit worried that things would be awkward. When I walked into the training room Dante was already there. I said Hi and gave a bit of a nervous smile. Dante immediately tried to defuse the situation by confronting it head on.

Walking over to me, he held up his hand for a high five. It seemed absolutely silly to me to think a "bro" high five would fix the awkwardness. "What the hell." I thought to myself. I raise my hand to high five him. When are hands touch Dante keeps his hand up for a second, I kept my hand resting against his.

"This is only a problem if we make it one." Dante told me. "We haven't said or done anything that we can't reverse course on. Right?"

I looked down at the floor, then back up at him. "I know." I said to him. I flashed him a semi forced smile. "I feel stupid."

"Don't do that." Dante said to me. "Listen, we both felt a connection and some really good chemistry. That shit is hard to ignore. But we recognized it and now we're just going to re-direct that energy towards kicking ass while training for the competition." He continued.

A big smile crossed Dante's face. He raised his eyebrows. "Whatta ya say Jess?" He asked me.

"I just don't want to go through the next month with this weird silence, or acting like we can't be friendly towards each other." I told him. "Do you know what I mean?" I then asked.

Our hands were still pressed together. Dante pulled his hand down, mine followed.

"I do know what you mean." At that Dante shrugged his shoulders and spread his arms out. "We're good Jess. There's nothing unsaid between us. We dig each other, but we gonna move past that. We can still have a good time, joke around, and be real. We just ain't gonna let it get out of hand." Dante told me. "Now bring it in girl." He motioned for me to give him a hug.

I moved towards him, arms spread. I'm not sure this is gonna help, I thought to myself. We hugged for just a few seconds. It wasn't full of sparks like I expected. Before we finished the hug I looked up at him. "We're cool Dante." I said to him.

"Good." Dante replied. "Now lets get it."

After that the session was great. He pushed me hard, but we still had fun. The fun dynamic was back without any lingering awkwardness. That made pushing through the pain much easier. The session ended without any weird feeling. Good, I thought to myself.

The next two weeks went the same. I was in a good rhythm. I was feeling psyched about the competition as well as about how my body was looking. On Monday, four days before his competition , Dante asked me if i was interested in going to Pensacola to see what the competition looked like. I was very curious about what to expect and I wouldn't get another opportunity to see one before my competition in three weeks.

I was scheduled for an eight hour opening shift on Saturday. I would need to find a way to get the day off. I absolutely wanted to be there, both to see what the other girls looked like, and to support Dante. Fuck it, I've never called in sick, and I've covered plenty of last minute shifts for others, I've earned a sick day.

"I'm pretty sure I can make it." I told him. "I absolutely want to be there, both to see what the competition is like, and to support you. What time does it start?" I asked Dante.

"Final registration starts at eight. The competition starts at nine. A few other people from Everyday Fitness are going as well. Sarah from the front desk will be there, and Brian, one of the other fitness coaches will be going." Dante told me. "Brian is preparing for his first event, so he's in the same boat as you. I think both of them plan to be there for your competition as well."

"What time does the event end?" I then asked.

"They are short events, generally half a day. We should be done by noon." Dante told me. "I imagine we'll go out for lunch afterwards. Do you need to be home at a certain time?" He then asked.

"No." I told Dante. "That works perfect. Jake has plans for the day." That wasn't a lie. Jake expected me to be at work until two so he had planned for a morning fishing trip with one of his co-workers. He said he didn't expect to be back until around five.

"Tomorrow I'll introduce you to Brian after tomorrows class. Both him and Sarah are great. We'll have a good time Saturday." Dante said. "You wanna car pool to Pensacola?" Dante then asked.

"Yeah." I told him. "Just give me the deets and I'll be there."

"I'll text you my address." Dante told me. "I plan to leave around six in the morning."

"God that's too early for the weekend." I replied. "Are we all car pooling?" I asked Dante. Partly because I was curious, but mostly to know if we were going to be alone for hours in the car. As much as I was on board with keeping this professional, I couldn't quite erase everything that had happened.

"No, Brian needs to drive himself. I haven't asked Sarah yet, I was planning on doing that after our session." Dante said. I smiled at Dante. Slightly disappointed that it might not be just the two of us, but also slightly relieved. Sarah being there might keep us honest.

"Cool." I said to Dante. "I guess i should get going now."

I said goodbye, then turned to leave. "Oh, one more thing," Dante said. "On Wednesday we should take some mid-progress pictures. Can you bring in the same bikini you wore last time?" Dante asked.

I was nervous to see what kind of progress I was making. What if there was no real difference? That would suck. I forced myself to try and focus on the competition aspect of Dante taking pictures of me. The whole jiggling butt thing, and his comments about my ass were definitely on my mind. Fight it, I told myself. Maybe after we compare pictures we'll be able to identify specific areas that have been effective, and what I need to work harder on. That's exciting.

Time to stop thinking and get going. "Sure thing." I told Dante. I then said goodbye for a second time and made my way out of the workout room. I hadn't gotten particularly sweaty so I skipped the changing room and just drove home.

During the drive home I justified to myself my reason for Saturdays secret plan. I was going to call in sick to work, then keep my plans from Jake. I told myself it's OK. I wanted this to be for me. Since moving to Florida, Jake had done really well. He had an awesome job, great co-workers, and had made some friends. I on the other hand was having a difficult time with the move. I hadn't found a good job to replace the one I left. I wasn't bonding particularly well with any of my co-workers, and I only had one person that I could remotely consider a friend. I needed this to be my own thing, and I didn't want to justify calling in sick to work. Especially since I would have to explain that I would be going to a competition with Dante. Easier just to skip work and let things go.

-----

"Do you want to car pool to Pensacola on Saturday?" I asked Sarah.

"What time you planning to leave?" Sarah asked.

"Six." I told her.

"I think I'll pass." Sarah replied. "Competition starts at nine right?"

"Yeah." I told Sarah.

"I think I'll sleep in until seven and meet you there. Did you talk to Jess about going? Sarah then asked.

"Yeah she'll be there." I replied.

"She'll be there, or she'll be there in the car with you while you drive to Pensacola?" Sarah asked in a teasing tone.

"Yeah, Yeah. We're car pooling, You are more than welcome to come and be the chaperone." I told Sarah in an equally teasing manner.

"I don't know." She told me. I'll think about it. Something tells me I should be there to keep you guys in line. I'll let you know before Saturday." Sarah said with a smile.

I felt like I was doing a good job trying to steer us away from the danger zone. It's not that I didn't want to go there. I wanted it so bad I could taste it. But I knew that nothing good could come of pursing this. Now i just had to stay disciplined, fight the urges of my little brain, and keep Jess from distracting me with that ridiculous body. For a minute I let my mind wander to that ass and those hips. I could feel myself getting aroused just thinking about them. I snapped myself out of it to prevent getting full wood right in front of Sarah at the front desk.

"It would be cool if you came along." I told her. Partly because it would be cool, but mostly because if I'm this weak just thinking about Jess, how would it be being alone with her in the car for several hours. "I figured after the competition we'd get lunch before driving back." I continued.

"Yeah sure." Sarah replied. "I'm down for that. And I'll get back to you about the car pool thing."

Jess was my last appointment of the afternoon, time to call it a day. I said goodbye to Sarah and made my way to the locker room. Driving home I started thinking more about being alone in the car with Jess. Fight it, I told myself.

I know what I need, I thought to myself. I had a few girls that were reliable booty calls. One in particular would be a solid distraction from my current Jess fixation. She was a little older than me, and had a build kind of like Jess. She was also a brunette like Jess. Most of the white girls I dated were blondes. That was kind of my thing. Not that I was planning on fantasizing about Jess while fucking her, but maybe that would fulfill my current needs. Those needs were coming on strong right now. What they were saying was, skip the car pooling with Sarah, Invite Jess up to your apartment, and fuck the hell out of Jess on Saturday.