Quinn's POV
"You like it?"
Her quiet voice broke my trance and my eyes flew to hers.
"Baby," I growled out, unable to help my reaction. Again, she licked her lips like she had no idea of the effect she had on me, nor what she was doing to me at that moment. "Fuck, Alexis…" my voice came out huskier than I'd expected like I was starved. "I love it and I want it,"
As though my words suddenly awakened something in her, she moved away from my front, turning her back to me and holding her head. When she turned back to me, she rubbed at her temple gently before sliding her palms down her face.
"Quinn, I'm sorry but we can't."
I took a step towards her, about to speak but she raised a hand to silence me.
"I'm not ready for this. I have a lot on my plate right now and I can't add something else to it. It's too much, I can't handle it,"
"You won't be alone. You'll have me all through every step of the way,"
"That's the problem," she threw her hands up in the air like she was trying hard to explain and I just couldn't understand nor see it from her point of view. "I do not need you to help me solve my problems. They're personal and I need to figure them out myself. I need to grow myself. One day, you might not be here, what would I do then if I get used to having you take care of them?" she questioned and for a millisecond, I thought I saw tears in her eyes but she blinked and they were gone.
"Love, you…"
"Don't, please. I just can't. I need to do this myself and I need you to give me the space I need while I'm at it. It's all I ask,"
Silence descended upon us after her words. We stood facing each other, staring into each other's eyes without speaking a word. The more the silence lasted, the more I felt her slipping away from me. Two weeks ago, I could swear I had her and her walls were gradually falling down but now, it felt as though she'd rebuilt them with stronger bricks and nothing I do would break them down, except to do things her way. In other words, I had no choice but to give her the space she wanted.
"Fine," I finally spoke, my voice thick with emotions. "But please come back to class,"
She shook her head as if she couldn't believe my words.
"We both know the free classes are over. If I decide to return, it'd be to register for the paid classes with a personal trainer and I'm not sure I want to proceed with that, at least, not yet."
Her words were like a bullet to my heart, knowing I'd lost the opportunity to see her daily. It was as good as saying our time together was over. Unable to speak, I gave her a curt nod. Her eyes stared into mine and I wondered if she could look into my soul to see how much I ached for her. Without saying another word, I exited her home, heading for my car and feeling more deflated than I'd been when I arrived. But as I pulled out of the curb, heading home, I told myself I wasn't going to give up on us. She was meant to be mine and I'd do all I can to have her.
The next week, I was elated to see she'd shown up, after registering for a six-month session, but sadly, I was no longer her personal instructor. If I had my way, I'd be but concerning her request, I was doing my best to give her the distance she wanted while watching her from the shadows. I just couldn't stay away from her completely.
As promised, I'd split the class into smaller groups, since the majority of the women that registered for the free class had stayed for the paid sessions. Hence, I assigned a different instructor to each group. Although I had some paperwork to do, I purposely stayed behind, pretending to check in on the available clients, when all I was simply doing was keeping an eye on my girl. I caught her a few times staring at me and I couldn't help the smirk that curled my lips. It felt good to know I wasn't the only one that couldn't stop ogling her.
I stayed around for the duration of the session and as soon as they were done, I approached her. Before I got to her, I saw the way she visibly stiffened the moment she noticed I was heading toward her. My heart fell a little at her reaction but I brushed it away.
"Hey," I called, balling my palms into fists to curb the strong urge to tuck the stray strands of hair that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ear, as I was used to.
"Hey," she responded, offering me a small smile that didn't quite get to her eyes.
"I'm glad you decided to continue with us," I returned her smile and she nodded.
"Me too,"
"I hope you enjoyed Charles's class?" I inquired, referring to her new instructor. Of course, Charles was good at what he does but I wanted the best for my girl and I wouldn't have a problem taking her from his class if she coughed about him as much.
"Yeah, he's good, just like you,"
"That's wonderful. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Sure," she responded, slinging her bag to her shoulder. "I have to get going," she added when I remained quiet, staring at her.
"Oh, yeah. Have a great day," with a nod and a wave of her hand, she exited the gym, mixing with the sea of bodies in the streets.
I didn't realize how long I'd been standing there until I felt someone tap me.
"You've got it bad,"
I turned around to see Jon, one of the bodybuilders, who was also a close friend.
"You have no idea," I muttered, raking a hand through my dark hair.
"Good luck, dude. Seems you'll need it," he winked, smirking before moving on with his business while I kept staring at the streets.