I've never had the nerve to start a conversation with him. Faye tells me I should, but I'm always lost for words when he's in my vicinity. I don't like staring at him because I don't want to act like the creepy guys that stare at me, but he's so . . . wow. He's not the model type of pretty like Faye's brother, Adam. 
 Mr. Blue Eyes is a rugged, manly type of handsome. I like to imagine he uses his muscles for chopping wood, wrestling bears, leading his men into battle, or some other ridiculous romance novel stereotype.
I busy myself with adjusting the weights on the leg press, then peek over at the place I last saw him, in a totally nonstalkerish way. He's not there, and my heart sinks. That sucks. Maybe today would've been the day I got up the nerve to speak to him. I bend down to pick up my water bottle, and when I stand, I spot him. It's like he's moving in slow motion as he runs a hand through his thick black hair, pushing it off his forehead. He's like a walking shampoo commercial.
As I'm reminding myself not to gawk, his head shifts, and we're looking straight at each other, with eye contact and everything. There's a burning heat in my stomach when he smiles. Is he smiling at me? I peer behind me in case he's looking at someone else, but no one's there.
He's smiling at me.
I return the smile, and I hope he can't tell that I'm squealing inside. It must be all the encouragement he needs because he's in motion. His long legs striding. Right. Toward. Me.
Oh crap. Ohcrapohcrapohcrap. What should I do? What would Faye do? She's the master of flirting and can make guys fall to their knees begging for her to give them the time of day, and why isn't she here when I need her?
Because I spent all that time panicking about how I should act and what I should do with my arms, the result is that I stand there staring at him with my mouth open until he reaches me.
He stops right in front of me. Smiles. His lips move. He's saying something, but all I hear is Maluma singing in my ears. He looks down at the leg press and back at me, his lips moving again. He must be asking if I'm done with the machine.
I frantically rip out one earbud. "Yes," I say, flinching at my excessive volume.
His eyebrows draw together, as if confused why I'm still awkwardly standing in front of the machine he wants to use. This is the closest I've ever been to him, and I'm positively failing at my one chance to make him fall in love with me.
He opens his mouth to say something, probably to ask what my issue is, but before I can embarrass myself any further, I turn around while popping my earbud back in, and speed walk the hell away from him.
"Maybe today would've been the day I got up the nerve to speak to him," I mimic myself in my head and roll my eyes at my sheer stupidity. Yeah, because talking to him went real well, and I gave him my leg press machine before I even used it.
Ugh. What is up with me? I should quit while I'm ahead and leave now, but I've had such a shitty workout today I've totally wasted the gas it took to get here, and that's not exactly cheap, at least not cheap enough that the money I get from lifeguarding can comfortably cover it all. Maybe just one more exercise to make the drive here worth it, then I'll head out. Back extensions always make me feel strong, and that's exactly what I need after failing to stand up for myself with one guy or flirt with the other.
The equipment is on a forty-five-degree angle, so I lean on it and adjust the pads on my hips. Then I bend down over it so my head is close to the floor and my bottom is in the air and bring myself up with a straight back. Even though I'm a little sore, I decide to hold extra weights to really ramp up the intensity.
On rep six, I lift back up to peek at Mr. Blue Eyes. As if he feels my gaze, he looks in my direction. I dip back down to do another rep, and when I pull myself back up, I realize that he's not looking at me, he's looking at something behind me. When I go back down, I check to see what he's looking at, and even upside-down, I recognize Pervy Gym Guy with the lion tattoo behind me. Then there's a flash.