Gray Iron

I lean on the side of a press and watch Victoria doing kettle weights.

The way she moves without effort lifting the fat chunk of steel from the floor up above her head with first one hand, then the other. Almost dancing. I follow the play of her muscles under the tight T-shirt. The way her shorts hug her ass as she maintains her balance. I glance up into the large mirror in front of her and our eyes meet.

"If your rested enough to be checking out my ass, Dean, you can get over here and start." She tells me without breaking her rhythm.

The padded handle of the weight is soon my worst enemy. That and her in the reflection. I can not for the life of me understand why the sight of her moves me the way it does. She is old enough to be my mom and a fucking tyrant, but damn it...I love the way she make it all look so effortless. The weight she lifts over her head is the same as the one I'm using. It's brutalizing me. She's making it look like it's made of marshmallow.

"Higher!" she barks at me. Her bark is a lot deeper than the poodles and a lot less friendly. "Higher, or go up five more pounds!"

I lift the kettle weight to the full extension of my arm.

"Are you not listening Dean?" she asks.

I stretch out onto my toes as I send the hunk of iron out as high as I can.

"Is she worth it?"

Oh god here we go with this crap. I wish for the hundredth time that I had never told Victoria about the girl at the beach.

"You're going to have to be in shape to please her hot little body! Come on. Higher!"

My toes leave the mat! I stretch the weight up, bring it down, switch hands and repeat.

"Put a twist in it. Get those hips going. Side to side, side to side. More! Just think she's on her knees in front of you."

Fucking tyrannical bitch! That is not an image I need in my head.

My eyes flicker to Victoria and I watch her breasts move under the shirt as she makes it look like nothing. Her nipples are as steel hard as the rest of her.

As the club starts to fill up behind us we keep it going. I hear the music come up as Stacy arrives and starts setting out towels and chalk. I watch her walking around behind us. I see her eyes go to me. That snickering look. It's been there since day one.

I drop the kettle weight to the mat and step over to the rack. I grab up one five pounds heavier. I all but try to touch the ceiling with it.

"That's it Dean! Come on." Victoria copies me. I see some of the regulars enter behind me. They watch us. A few smile at my back. I'm still the fattest person at the club...but?

I don't hear laughter.

"Break!"

I set the kettle next to the first one and grab up my towel from the floor. I wipe it across my face and hang it across the back of my head as I lean down trying to breathe.

I feel Victoria's powerful hand come to rest on my shoulder blade.

"Good job, Dean."

I slip the towel off my head and around my neck. I look up at her in near shock.

It's one of the few times she's ever given me praise.

She grins. It makes her face drop five years. Her blue eyes sparkle.

"Take you five, then go do a few miles on a bike." She tells me.

Fuck, the bitch isn't even sweating!

I just nod.

I sip some water then go ride a bike to no where for the next hour. I watch the others in the gym. It's my pass time. The ladies who look perfect and come in every morning to try and stay that way. Running out an hour on a treadmill with their little white wires just a bouncing.

I look over to big Mike at the weights. A bouncer on his way home from the nightclub, he stops here every morning. I'm still in awe of him. He holds the lift record for the Gym, despite the best attempts by Tony and Russ. Mike's just taking it easy this morning. There's more weight on one end of his bar than I can lift on both ends of mine.

I watch as Steve comes over and takes one of the bikes. He's a local sheriff. Not big muscled, but can run for hours at a pace that would kill me in minutes.

"Morning Dean." He tells me then turns on the video screen in front of him when he starts peddling.

"Morning."

"Getting warmer, probably gonna have a hot summer. As warm as this years starting out." He says, then gets into the video track he's riding on.

I think of the tight ass girl from the beach. I still don't know her name, but she makes snooty Stacy look like a dog. The jogging music heads look like Plain Jane.

"God I hope so." I say softly.

"Come on Dean. It's play time." I hear Victoria say as she walks past me towards the weights. "Oh come on Mike put some Iron on that bar. You look like a girl!"

* * *

The lights go off behind me as I step through the door. I drape the smelly towel over my shoulder not noticing the smell. Every thing I'm wearing has the same scent.

I hear the glass door click as Victoria locks up behind me.

"You did good today Dean." She tells me as she falls into stride beside me as we walk towards her truck.

I know I did. That's why I hurt so badly.

"Thanks." I say softly. I don't feel like I have the energy to speak any louder.

Victoria gives me a tired grin of her own. She's paced me more often than not through out the day while still seeing to five other people and running the whole gym.

"How's the diet? Still getting use to it, or what?" she asks tossing her bag into the back of her truck.

"It getting easier. I don't even want the foods I smell Mom cooked. Hell most nights I'm so tired I don't even want to eat." I confess.

She smiles and nods.

"I been there, but don't skip those meals. Your body needs the fuel. Family still on you about it?"

"Mom is. She thinks I'm not getting enough to eat." I flex my toes in my shoes. I've just tightened the laces.

"Mom's are like that. Clean your plate, want another helping?" She grins "Would you like more sugar on your sugar smacks? Rest of the family ok now though?"

"Hell my brother loves it. It means more for him." I say looking at the lights over head that block out the stars.

"Try to talk to him about that. You know where the road he's walking is going to lead him, Dean." She says leaning back against her truck.

"I tried. He thinks I'm an idiot." I put a foot on the top of one of her tires and stretch out my calf. Then the next one.

"Well give him a few more years. Soon he'll figure out that girls have tits and the better he looks the more of them will be willing to let him play with them. Hell look what that's done for you."

I chuckle.

"How much are you down?" she asks looking me over.

"About almost thirty pounds." I tell her. The number seems absurdly small for the amount of effort I've put in...and yet I haven't been this small in five years.

"You've also put on about twenty pounds of muscle. Starting to look good Dean." She looks up at the night sky. "It's getting warm enough lets see some skin from now own. Leave the sweats in the laundry. Tank top and shorts."

I nod.

"Work with Russ tomorrow. I won't be here till around noon. Tell him I said chest and shoulders."

"Sure."

"See you tomorrow, Dean Martin" she grins at me.

I watch her taillights as she pulls out the parking lot.

Taking the ends of the towel in my hands I start the long walk home.

* * * *

The light coat of sweat feels wonderful as the wind rushes past me. I sprint the last hundred yards into the parking lot then skid to a halt. My breathing is a controlled effort, but I'm not winded. Before me is the weirdest sight I've seen in the three months I've been coming to 'Victory Gym'.

"What the fuck?" I whisper to myself.

I watch as Tony and Russ come walking out carrying one of the big weight benches. It does my ego some good to see they at least took the weights off it first. As I watch they load it into the back of Victoria's truck.

"Don't stand around just holding your dick Dean, come grab some iron." Victoria comes walking out carrying four empty weight bars over her shoulders.

Confused I walk past her through the side doors of the gym and look around. Several of the weight racks are unloaded.

"Either grab some weights or grab a rack." Says Victoria walking back in behind me.

I turn and my eyes go to the dark points standing up from her white T-shirt. When my eyes pop up she's looking at me with a cold look.

"Don't even fucking think about it. Not that kind of rack! Come on move your ass, I don't pay you to stand around looking at my tits."

Reaching down I grab up as much iron as I can carry.

"Victoria you don't pay me. I pay you." I walk past her and out to where Russ and Tony are strapping down the weight bench.

"That's a good thing. I would fire your slacker ass!" I hear her call out from inside behind me.

Tony is grinning at me like a shark as I hand him the weights. He sticks them in the front of the truck bed.

"I would have grabbed the rack." He says to me chuckling.

"And I would have kicked your ass too. Dean... more weights. What, you need coffee to get you moving this morning?"

Shaking my head I go back inside and start making trips. The fifty-pound weights soon have my arms burning.

"What are we doing again?" I ask Russ as I hand up the weights.

"It's Saturday." He tells me like that will explain everything.

"Ok that's enough on my truck your going to break my axles. Load the other racks into Mikes bus when he shows up and you two get the rest of the weight into the back of yours. Dean hop in my truck were going for a ride." Victoria walks past me and opens her door.

I stand like I've had a weight bar hit me in the head.

Victoria is carrying a purse!

"Dean!"

I'm barely into the cab when she pulls off.

I look back over my shoulder at the load on the truck.

"Were the weights getting musty? Do you take them for a ride to let them air out?" I ask, the confusion of the morning getting the better of my manners.

Victoria chuckles then gives me a look.

"Just because your named after a comedian doesn't mean you should quit your day job Dean. It's Saturday."

I look at her for a second, expecting more.

"So Russ told me. I'm still not sure what that has to do with the price of peacocks in Australia."

She chuckles again.

"Better. I thought I told you about Saturday? Well after it warms up we get the weights and go to the beach every Saturday. At least when it's not suppose to rain. All the local Gym owners do it. The business is slowed down enough at this time of year, hell every one else is going to the beach we might as well."

"So you close the gym every Saturday?" I ask confused.

"Oh hell no. I would lose a lot of money if I did that. No Stacy runs the shop. It's mostly the girls coming in to run the tread mills. Most of the weight lifters come down and play with us near the sand."

I look out the window and see my car in the drive way go past. A few moment's latter the ranch house with the poodle slips behind us.

"Were going to the beach I just ran from?" I ask watching the familiar road signs go by.

"Know another one around here?" she looks at me and smiles. "There is only the one ocean, nearby"

As she pulls into the parking lot and shuts off her truck I can see my footsteps still in the sand from my morning run.

"Every Saturday?" I ask slowly turning to look at her.

"Unless it rains." She grins at me. "Come on lets get it unloaded before the others get here. Up and out, I'm not paying you to sit on your ass."

"Victoria you don't pay me!" I tell her as I step out the truck.

"The hell I don't. Here I'll show you." She steps around to my side the side of the truck. My eyes again drop to the dark quarter size places showing through her white shirt. Her hands come up quickly and she thumps both of her nipples. They instantly perk up another half inch.

"There you just got a raise. Now come on the other will be here soon. Help me with the rack."

I look from her face back down to her nipples. They're now standing tall out from her breast.

"Don't even think about it." She tells me with a grin.

Chuckling I start to undo the straps holding down the weight bench.

I soon come to love Saturday. The work out is more often than not harder, and some of the other Gym owners can be a bit much to take a lesson from.

But on that day... Victoria...she's just fun to be around.

* * *

"Come on Dean!" Russ calls from the side.

"You got it, man." says Mike looming beside Russ.

"You good?" asks Tony standing over me spotting. His body blocking the sun.

"Yea." I grunt out the word as I push the bar up off my chest for the sixth time. I can feel the trembling start, as I need the top of the lift. I see Tony get ready to take the weight.

"Yes!" I feel my elbows lock at full out.

"Good job." Say Tony helping me slip the weight back onto the stand.

Sitting up I turn and look at the weight on the bar. I shake out my hands. It's the most I've ever lifted.

It's the amount I weighed when I first walked into the gym five months ago

I hear a metal clang behind me. Turning I see Victoria walk around Tony and slip another ten on this side

"You in my chair." She tells me looking down.

I hop up and step back from the bench.

"Spot for me Dean." Victoria calls out as she slides into place, under the bar.

I walk around past Tony and stand behind the bar my knees near her head. I watch her chalk white hands take a firm grip on the bar. Mine hover over the middle ready.

The bar lifts smooth off the stand and she brings it out over her chest with barely a tremble in her arms. I watch the muscles of her chest push her breasts up and into the middle as she brings the bar down. When it touches her nipples I see the strain in her face. It comes back up with a smooth return. Then down and up, down and up.

I watch Victoria cleanly press the bar for a full ten reps. Even on the last one I can only see the begins of a strain starting to form. I help her guide the bar back into place.

"Dude you just got out done by someone with tits!" says one of the guys nearby over the applause.

Victoria stands up and looks at the guy. She dusts off her hands with a clap and grabs the bottom of her shirt.

"Don't you know boy? Tits always win." She grins.

The quick flash of her chest sends whoops and wolf whistles across our corner of the beach.

I catch only a second of the display, then her shirt is back down hiding the dark aurora and the tight points from my eyes. I hand Victoria her towel with a grin.

"If you little people are done playing I need my dumbbell back." Says Mike in his deep rumble. He doesn't quite lift the three hundred and twenty off the stand one handed, but it isn't far from it either. I watch with a shake of my head as it totes it like a toy back to where he was lifting.

I look at Victoria's smiling face.

"Good job Dean, I'm proud of you." She tells me just loud enough for me to hear. "Come do some curls with me."

I follow her over to the corner of the parking lot that we've turned into a little Muscle Beach for the weekend. Looking over at the white sand and the people lying in the sun, I feel its heat on my bare back. It's been such a warm year, even here in May; it's hot enough to get a good tan. I know. I have the beginnings of a very good one.

I pick out a bar with a low weight and start doing curls. I don't really bother to keep count. With this little on the bar I'll do them till I can't.

I look over at Victoria; she has half again the weight I have and is making it look effortless.

"Damn you make it look so easy." I tell her with a shake of my head.

"Well thank you." She smiles. "I've been doing this since before you were even in your cradle though. I should be making it look that way. Besides helping you has gotten me back into better shape."

I look up at a car as it pulls into the lot a little ways away from us. I see the door open and I was right. The flash of blond hair was who I thought. I don't notice I've stopped till I hear Victoria.

"Is that her?"

I glance at her, then back towards the car. I watch the other girls get out and the group of them take off down the beach with baskets and blankets.

"Yea that's her." I say softly watching my dream girl's ass in the tiny blue bikini.

"You have good tastes. She looks very nice." I hear her say through a slight grunt.

Seeing Victoria curling her bar I go back to doing the same with mine. Part of me wishes I had more weight on mine now in case the girl looks over our way.

"You going to go talk to her?"

I look away from the woman of my dreams and fantasies. I start pulling the bar to me with more effort.

"No." I pull the bar up hard, lifting my chin out the way. "Not yet."

"Why not?"

"I'm not ready yet." I tell her. I sit this bar down and pick up one with as much weight as she has. I almost instantly feel the burn as I start to curl it to my chest.

"You're a hell of a long way from where you were." She tells me. She stops and lets her bar rest at her waist. I watch her one hand at a time shift her grip. "The love handles are long gone, hell you got the beginnings of a six pack starting. Pecks look well-defined, shoulders good. Waist trim, thighs lean. You're not bad at all Dean. Six more months and a bit more intensity and you could compete if you had a mind too."

I watch Victoria's chest move as she brings the bar up to her chin with the new grip. I copy her and do the same.

"I want to look my best. First impressions and all that." I grunt through the effort of curling the bar.

"Well don't wait so long you let her get away. Tight piece of ass like that gonna have a lot of swinging dicks after it." Her face splits into a grin. "Speaking of which, Dean if your going to be spotting, you need to either wear underwear, or tighter shorts."

I turn to her my jaw dropping open. I see her grinning at me like the cat that eat the canary.

Her bar drops and dents the asphalt.

"Fuck all this. I do this for a living. I'm going to go get my suit on and go for a swim."

I watch her walk away, as I slowly mange to close my mouth.

"You coming in with me? " She asks looking back over her shoulder. "It can't be that cold."

I nod.

Sitting down the curled bar, I walk over to my car. I grab out a larger drink and gulp some down. I feel like it almost runs out my pores second after I swallow it.

"Mike I don't care how much weight you want to lift put my truck down." I hear her call out.

I laugh with the rest as I grab my towel. Looking over at her I hear another round of wolf whistles as she pull off her shirt and fishes out her bikini top from inside her truck.

"Oh shut up! Half of you guys have bigger tits than I do!"

I watch her tie together the small bits of floss she calls a bikini top and step out of her shorts. What she's wearing is just this side of legal for the state.

In a strip club maybe.

I walk with her down to the water feeling the eyes of the whole beach coming to rest on her and by proxy myself. I glance over at the blond I want so badly and see her looking at Victoria. I shift my eyes away when she looks towards me.

Victoria drops her towel and steps out of her sandals. With a whoop of joy I've never hear the likes of from her she runs the last few steps into the surf and dives under the waves.

I see her short gray topped head pop out the water ten feet out as I'm stepping out my shoes.

"Come on you wimp the waters great!"

Even as warm as it's been May is a little early to be in the water here. The sound I make as I hit the frigid saltwater is closer to agony.

I swim out to where she is floating maybe twenty feet off the shore. She pops up and looks me in the eyes as I get near.

" Dean I have a new thing for you to start doing." she tells me treading water.

I inwardly groan, but don't let it show on my face.

Not to her.