Personal Trainer - Lydia Trains Zach Ch. 08

Connie and Lydia were alone in the office at the gym on Monday morning, and Lydia could not contain her enthusiasm to share about her experience on the perfect date with the perfect man only a couple of nights earlier.

"Sorry!" Lydia laughed. "I guess I am carrying on, huh?"

"Like good ol' Engine Number 9 barreling down the tracks at break-neck speed," Connie answered, nudging her friend.

They were at the little table against the wall, looking through the week's gym schedule and their own schedules with group or individual sessions. "Zach Brenner" was highlighted on Lydia's calendar.

"So it went well, Ms. Tanner?" Connie teased.

Lydia cast her a 'you smart-ass' look, but then she grinned. "Fantastic. Absolutely fan-fuckin'-tastic, Connie!"

"And so you think you might accept another date with Mr. Brenner?"

Another 'you smart-ass' look from Lydia let Connie know she was pushing her luck teasing her friend about this.

"Oh, Lydia, I'm so happy for you," she said sincerely. "You so completely deserve this kind of amazing man doing amazing things for you. All those years of struggle as a single mom, all the long hours, all the hard work, and so much of it without an obvious Mr. Right to ease the load. You deserve this, girl!"

Connie always knew what to say.

"I want this to continue more than anything, Connie. I mean, I really want this to continue." Lydia put down the highlighter she'd been using on her calendar and eased back into the cheap plastic chair the gym's owner had furnished the office with. "Zach is incredible. He's thoughtful, and he makes me feel so special."

"And he is definitely easy on the eyes," Connie interjected. "Do you know how many women would want to be in your shoes?"

Lydia sighed. "It almost makes me feel guilty." Then she grinned at Connie. "Almost, but not quite!"

Laughing, Connie said, "Well, I can tell you from personal experience what other women in this gym think about Zach Brenner. I've been asked several times who 'that guy' is when he comes in here the occasional nights for a run on the treadmills or to work on the ellipticals. One of them said, 'Well, that is one fine man.'"

A brief flash of jealously flickered across Lydia's mind, but she quickly dismissed it, knowing that Zach was hers — he confessed it at their last workout session. "And I agree completely with that young lady's estimation," she responded, smiling. "Zach is one very fine man."

Connie couldn't resist pushing a bit against the deal she'd agreed to with Lydia regarding her relationship with Zach, promising only normal girlfriend talk, and not getting into any of the insanely sexy things Lydia was doing with Zach during workout sessions. "And he remains a very fine man to see in his clothes . . . or out?"

Lydia furrowed her brow preparing to reply, at first casting a 'Be careful!' look at Connie, but then surrendering to the smile that forced itself on her face. "Once again, 'Zach is one very fine man.'"

Connie smacked her own highlighter down on the table and grinned broadly, pushing back in her chair to face Lydia and say, "Do tell!"

"Jeez, Connie," Lydia laughed, "you always push things, don't you?"

"How can I not? I'm best friends with the luckiest woman in the whole world!"

Lydia leaned in a bit and spoke more softly. No one but she and Connie was in the room, but the topic of the conversation naturally prompted the action. "Yes, I still see him naked at the start of our workout sessions."

Connie flopped back in her chair in an exaggerated response. "Oh, sweet Jesus! Momma's gonna have a good time tonight with the hubby."

Lydia laughed. "Good for you. I'm glad to get you wound up to make Bruce's night memorable." She paused. "And thanks, Connie, for not saying you'd be fantasizing about Zach."

"What's the female equivalent of 'bros before hoes?'" Connie grinned.

"'Sisters before misters,'" Lydia giggled. "But I couldn't blame any woman who wished she could see all of my man."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Connie said. "'My man,' huh?" As in, 'My future husband'? As in, 'I'll say yes when he asks?'"

Lydia ran her hands through her hair before answering softly, "Well, if that happens, I'll be thrilled to say yes."

"You have fallen hard for Zach," Connie said thoughtfully. "Is this a good thing? You haven't known him that long."

"That's what I've said to myself a thousand times," Lydia answered. "But, Connie, you have no idea how he makes me feel."

"Just looking out for my girl," Connie said.

She adjusted herself in her chair, mimicking Lydia's position, and said, "Good for you. Go for it."

"That date!" Lydia said. "I think I have a fairly decent jerk detector, and if Zach is a jerk, he deserves an Oscar. But, Connie, he's not. I know it. I've come to know Zach in so many ways, and then I learned more about him on our date. And never once so far across all the time I've known him has he registered on my jerk-o-meter."

"Apologies, Lydia, but I have to ask: Even when he's naked in front of you? You haven't said anything about subsequent workout sessions since we talked about this."

"I give up trying to evade your questions," Lydia said, throwing her hands in the air. "But it does feel good to unload about this. I have been agonizing about it, but mostly because I'm trying to figure my own self out." She looked at Connie and said, "No. He's never been even 1% a jerk. Even when he's completely naked with a hard-on for me."

"Oh, Mr. Bruce, you are gonna get happy tonight!" Connie exclaimed, again with exaggerated emphasis and pantomime, fanning herself with her hand. "Look out my husband, I need to rock your world when you get home!" she said, continuing with her goofy proclamation that Lydia's situation was revving her up. She looked at Lydia and said, "Completely naked — for you? With a hard-on? As in, you say, 'Get hard for me,' and he does?"

Lydia looked down briefly, trying to hide the grin Connie's question produced, but it was too much fun to let her friend see her response. "Well, the first time I just sort implied that's what I wanted to see. And I watched it happen."

Connie just stared at Lydia as the seconds ticked by, trying to process what Lydia had just shared, and trying not to let her mind wander to seeing her friend's guy in her imagination, naked, and-

"Oh, my god," Lydia said, snapping her friend out of the lascivious fantasy she was trying to avoid. "That first time was so incredible. I will never forget it."

Connie was slowly shaking her head. "Jesus, Lydia," she whispered. "I can't even imagine . . ." she said, trailing off.

"Yes you can, but don't you dare do it," Lydia admonished, wagging a finger at Connie. "Neither of us is allowed to fantasize about the other's guy — we've talked about this."

Connie looked guilty, and Lydia sighed.

"What you just said, Lydia. You know, about Zach getting hard in front of you. How could I not-"

She stopped herself. They looked at each other. Finally, both broke out in smiles.

"You know what I mean," Lydia said. "I know that other women may think about being with Zach when they see my gorgeous man, and that's okay. I've wondered about handsome men, too. Who hasn't?"

"Okay, okay," Connie said, faking a dejected sigh. "I'll try not to fantasize about Zach and the fun things you're doing with him."

"Thank you," Lydia said, taking in a slow, deep breath. "It must sound unbelievable what I'm doing, what's happening between Zach and me, I know. But, uh, well, I've kind of taken it to a new level recently."

"A new level?" Connie said. "How can, 'The Chronicles of Lydia Tanner, Personal Trainer to a Gorgeous Naked Man,' get to any higher level?" She cocked her head at Lydia. "And?"

"I'm not going into details, Connie, but he and I talked about it. I admitted that I love role-playing his in-control trainer who tells him to strip, and he admitted that while it makes him intensely embarrassed, it also excites him — a lot — and that he wants to do it for me to get me excited."

Seconds of silence passed, Connie waiting expectantly, before Lydia said, "And it does get me excited. So much that I can't stop thinking about it, about him. The fact that he's embarrassed about it and then does it anyway because he wants me to be excited and is willing to do whatever I want to be sexually aroused . . . Connie! How can I not think about Zach naked and hard for me because he wants me to be sexually aroused and enjoying myself? But then I think about him saying he wants to be with me because I'm a fantastic woman — that gets me excited, too, in a different way."

"Or maybe not in a different way, Lydia," Connie said. "Maybe these two things are the same for you. Zach is only one man, not two."

"I know, I know," Lydia answered, shaking her head slowly. "But is there only one Lydia?"

Connie's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I love role-playing Ms. Tanner, you know? I can really drop all my inhibitions when I'm Ms. Tanner around Zach. Does that mean I'm a split personality? Am I sex-crazy about Zach only when I'm Ms. Tanner?"

"I should slap you silly for that question," Connie snorted. "No, good grief, no! I can tell you right now," Connie began, giggling, "that you are Lydia Tanner, plain and simple, lusting and loving after Zach Brenner, plain and simple. Both of you are just humans who stumbled into a way to unlock their sexual fantasies and enjoy them."

Lydia didn't have to say anything in response. She and Connie knew that Connie's pronouncement was the truth.

"And you are enjoying your sexual fantasies a lot, right?" Connie grinned.

"Connie O'Mallory, don't you dare, EVER, tell anybody any of this!"

"I'm hurt," Connie play-pouted. "My best friend asks me such a question!"

Lydia reached a hand to put it on Connie's arm. "I know you won't, Connie, but even just hearing myself say this stuff out loud makes me wonder if I've fallen down some kind of rabbit hole, and I have no idea where it's going to take me."

"Here's what I think," Connie said, straightening. "It could take you directly to the altar, and you had better take that man down the aisle with all the joy you deserve in this life, Lydia."

"Or?" Lydia asked, worriedly, knowing there was more coming from her friend.

"Or you could discover a dark side of yourself that will push you and Zach beyond where either of you want to be."

"Let's stay positive," Lydia said. "But before we happily return to my wedding, what do you mean, 'some dark side'?"

Connie leaned toward Lydia, took her hands, and said, "Like BDSM stuff — unless that's where both of you want to go."

Lydia's quizzical expression coaxed more from Connie.

"Like you dominating him, or locking him in chastity, or-"

"Connie, what the hell are you talking about?"

Before Connie could answer, Lydia pre-empted a response by asking, "And if 'locking in chastity' is what it sounds like — locking on some kind of chastity device for a guy — why would I ever want to do that to Zach?"

"Hold on, hold on," Connie said. "I'm not saying you would ever want any of that. You yourself said you wondered if you'd fallen into a rabbit hole that might take you who knows where."

"So, explain," Lydia said. "Ask me, and let me answer. I have the feeling I'm going to hear questions I've never heard in my life."

Then, again, before Connie responded, Lydia interrupted. "Am I some kind of sheltered, inexperienced woman with no clue about what people do when they have sex?" She looked plaintively at her friend. "I admit it, Connie, I don't know much about 'male chastity.' Now I'm beginning to think I don't know a lot about kinky sex."

"And this coming from a woman who tells a handsome man to strip so she can look at him naked. With a hard-on," Connie said, leaning back to cross her arms in front of her.

Lydia couldn't tell if she were teasing or serious.

"Look," Connie began, "I just want to make sure that your enjoyment of Zach's nudity isn't sending him the wrong signals. It's not unreasonable to wonder about this, Lydia. Do you think he wants you to tie him up or have you go all fifty shades on him or something?"

"God, no," Lydia said. "What we do is fun for both of us, but I have never gotten even a hint that he wants me to tie him up or do anything other than what we're doing when I role-play his certain kind of personal trainer — me dressed, him naked."

"And you're sure he doesn't want you to dominate him?"

Lydia had never even thought about that. She honestly couldn't produce an answer to Connie's question.

Finally, she asked, "How would I know?"

Connie wasn't very helpful. "I have no clue. Maybe he's made some comment about submitting to your will or something like that?"

"Would, 'You're the boss,' qualify as that kind of comment," Lydia asked, worried.

"I'd say it's all in the context," Connie said.

"I've wondered if maybe it was a Freudian slip or something that indicates he wants more than what we're doing," Lydia said in a small voice.

"Or it could just be something he grew up with as a catch-phrase response to things," Connie said.

That sounded right to Lydia. She eased up on the knot in her stomach a bit. "Yeah, I'm certain that's it. He never says it any way other than just meaning that he realizes I know best about how to structure his workout routine or how to do some lift. Stuff like that."

"I shouldn't have even brought it up," Connie sighed. "I trust your judgment about Zach, and I can tell he means a lot to you and that he's been your perfect man since your first workout session." A smile came to Connie's face. "I mean, what man that strips naked to stand on his female trainer's scale isn't perfect?"

"Don't think you're going to get me to reveal more of what we do," Lydia said, knowing that's exactly what Connie wanted. To change the subject, she said, "And tell me if 'male chastity' is what I think it is."

Connie told her.

"Oh, my god, Connie. No! Never! I could never want anything to constrain my beautiful cock."

"Dammit, Lydia! There you go again: 'My man,' and now, 'my cock.' You seem pretty sure that Zach is as committed to you as you are to him."

"I was teasing, Connie!" Lydia protested. "I said, 'my cock,' because I knew it would press your buttons." She giggled. "And it did."

"But I bet it pressed your buttons, too," Connie said, laughing.

"Just tell me one thing, Lydia," Connie continued. "When I'm your maid of honor, and you and Zach are standing at the altar, will you have some magic potion I can take to wipe my memory about all this?"

"That's why I have to trust you completely with my confidence," Lydia answered. "You'll never be able to un-hear what I've shared. But you have no idea how big a relief it is to talk these things out. Sometimes I still think I'll go crazy trying to understand all of this, just like I said in our earlier conversation."

"So stop trying and enjoy the ride," Connie said.

Just then the gym owner arrived and settled at the larger desk in the room to start on some paperwork. Connie placed her index finger on her lips in a universal sign that she would tell no one anything they had talked about. Connie being Connie, though, she leaned close to Lydia and whispered, "But Bruce is definitely going to enjoy his evening."

It took a minute for both of them to lock down their giggles so the gym owner didn't hear, but then both resumed their highlighting. In a few minutes, the normal rhythm of the day took over, and the conversation was lost amid the busy-ness of working at the gym.

***

"Hi, Lydia," Zach said brightly, opening the door to his townhome. "Great to see you."

He was smiling broadly, almost like he couldn't not smile at her. It gave her a warm feeling. Lydia liked knowing that she made him happy.

"Me too," she replied. "I have to admit that I've been looking forward to seeing you again, especially after our date. Thank you again for such a wonderful evening!"

Delighted with the way this conversation was going, he answered, "Yes, it was so much fun." Closing the door behind her and inviting her in so they could begin climbing the stairs to his workout room, Zach didn't miss a beat with the conversation. "I'm glad the play was good and the restaurant meal was delicious," he said.

"And don't forget the start of the evening at Maxine's," Lydia said as they neared the top of the carpeted stairs. "That Max is a genuine soul, Zach. She thinks a lot of you, I can tell."

He laughed heartily, which was — as always — music to Lydia's ears. "I sometimes think Max believes I need a surrogate mother to pass judgment on whether I get enough to eat, whether I'm working too hard, and whether I'm taking time to have a social life."

"She's a gem," Lydia answered. "Did I measure up to her judgment?"

Standing at the top of the stairs, Zach turned to her and lifted her bag from her shoulder in a gesture of helpfulness. "I know the answer to that question," he said brightly. "She sauntered over to my table when I was there yesterday for a quick bite before heading to an afternoon meeting across town." He led Lydia into the workout room and deposited her bag in its usual place. "She said, and I quote, 'You are one lucky fella, Zachary Brenner. Ms. Lydia seems real nice.'"

"That's sweet," Lydia said, stepping to her bag.

"And I told Max that I agreed 100%," Zach answered, grinning at Lydia.

"So I guess I'm two for two," she answered, laughing. "My guy and his surrogate mother think I'm aces."

Zach's heart skipped a beat.

"My guy!"

Lydia's characterization touched his soul. He cleared his throat, fearing he would croak out something stupid. Better to take note of what she said and treasure that into the future.

She was reaching into her bag, pulling out the journal. "And on top of that, Miss Maxine is one hell of a chef," Lydia said. "I will be spreading the word about her place. It deserves way more recognition for the great atmosphere and incredible food."

Then she reached for her scale, pulled it from the bag, and put it in its place on the floor.

Both their stomachs did flip-flops, knowing what was coming.

Lydia strode purposefully to sit on the bench next to Zach as he was untying his shoes to take them and his socks off in the first step of getting nude for Ms. Tanner. "I've decided we'll need some extended time today before we launch you into what will be an intense workout, Mr. Brenner. But before I say why, let's get your readings, shall we?"

She remained seated, waiting through the next stages of Zach's disrobing. He finished with his shoes and socks, then stood to pull his workout tee over his head. Only inches from his abdomen as it came into view, Lydia placed one palm against those ripples as he was stretching up to pull off the tee.

"Good, Mr. Brenner. You've been a good pupil with your diet. You should be proud at how you look shirtless. Abs are all the rage right now with the girls who like to look."

She smiled up at him, her palm still on his stomach.

"And what girl wouldn't like to look?" she asked innocently before placing a second palm against his abs. "But what I need to see right now . . ." — and she moved her hands to the sides of his hips and hooked her fingers inside the waistbands of both his shorts and his briefs — ". . . is everything, Mr. Brenner."

Then Lydia began a tortuously slow de-pantsing of Mr. Brenner. Inch by inch she pulled his shorts and briefs down as she continued her comments, letting naughty-Lydia come out to play. "As we've discussed, you will be naked and erect for me for your readings on the scale." His shorts and briefs were now at the point of revealing that sexy V-taper down from his abs to his crotch. "One indicator of a man's overall health is his erection," she continued, her eyes glued to the crazysexy sight in front of her. "So, as your personal trainer, I must see your hard cock." Pausing for a beat with both her sexy talk and her maddeningly slow removal of the last pieces of clothing between her and Zach's total exposure, Lydia looked up into his eyes and said, "Your naked, hard, throbbing cock. I need to see that."