Chapter 294
Francesca stood in a circle of men gathered around the weight bench. She’d met everyone but remembered only a few names. She couldn’t believe how sexy every one of these men were. It was a female’s dream. But her eyes were fixed on Theo.
She felt a bump on her hip, and another woman edged her way next to Francesca.
“Hi, I’m Kelsy. I’m an EMT with the ambulance service. It’s good to see another female face around here. I get tired of looking at all these ugly males.”
The guys around them groaned.
“I’m Francesca. I’m here with Theo.” She nodded toward him among two other Adonises, half naked. “What’s this Shape Up Ship Out thing?” she asked.
Kelsy rolled her eyes. “It’s when too much testosterone builds up and needs to be released. Though I can’t complain too much. It’s great eye candy.” She turned to the action in the circle’s middle. “They battle to see who can press the most. It’s a bit childish, but like I said, eye candy.”
The men slapped chalk on their hands. The white powder floated in the air, giving a surreal feel with the fading sun’s rays cutting through like lasers. The three guys bounced around on their toes like boxers in a ring. But all Francesca noticed was how the muscles streamlined down each of her man’s legs—cut from the hardest of stone.
Kelsy shook her head. “I must say, Red may be a bit of a country bumpkin, but damn, he’s got a nice ass. Curved just right for squeezing.”
Francesca studied Theo. “You got it. Just right for squeezing. Both sides, actually.”
“One thousand pounds!” Red hollered.
“Holy shit,” Francesca said. “Isn’t that a lot?”
Kelsy shrugged. “Humans on ‘roids have done that much before. For shifters, it’s average.”
Men scurried around, lifting round weights and sliding them onto the end of a silver bar. Red lay on the bench, wrapped his hands around the bar, lifted it, pumped it twice, and set the bar back in the cradle. Cheers went up. Theo and the third man repeated the process.
Francesca blew him a kiss when he sneaked a look at her.
“Thirteen hundred!” Red called. While men scattered to find the round weights to add to the ends of the bar, the three men consorted with their designated “trainer” for the competition. The crowd eased back. Chief Hinton made his way to Francesca.
“It is nice to see you, Miss Virgata,” he said.
“Please, call me Francesca, Chief,” she responded.
“Thank you, young lady. Are you by chance related to Steve Virgata? Tiger pride, I believe.”
That was surprising. “He’s my uncle, brother to my mom. You know him?” she questioned.
“I do. We went to school together. Good family, the Virgatas. How’s Steve doing these days?”
“He’s great. After a scare with a heart attack, he took up karate to regulate his blood pressure and exercise his human form. He teaches a couple classes a week. I call him sensei more than I do uncle.”
The chief laughed. “I would’ve never seen that coming. But there were a lot of things none of us kids figured on growing up.”
That sounded cryptic, but she also understood where he was going with that. Things had changed a lot for her since graduating and being on her own.
“Did anyone ever tell you how your uncle got that scar on his face?”
The question startled her. This man really did know her uncle, not just an acquaintance. “No. I always wondered, but never asked. You know?”
“I know firsthand. I was there.”
He had her full attention. “What happened?”
The chief settled into his stance, seeming to lose himself in memory. “Back in the summer of our senior year of high school, a group of us had gone out to Townford’s lake for the day. Just being kids. Girls were on floats, and the guys were finding it exceptionally fun to dunk them.
“Anyways, me and Evie, that’s my mate, we snuck ourselves through the cattails for a little alone time. It seemed it was more than just me and her, though. A gator had wandered into the lake and decided it was hungry and wanted a piece of me.”
Francesca gasped. She had no experience with those animals, but they scared the shit out of her when they showed them on TV.
“The critter,” the chief continued, “got a hold of my leg and dragged me from the bank into the water. Evie set to hollering, unable to do anything as I wrestled the animal best I could. Being rolled and unable to see in the muddy water, my wolf couldn’t even save me.
“Long story short, if it weren’t for your uncle showing up out of nowhere and gutting that monster with his claws, I wouldn’t be here.”
He lifted a pant leg to show her the grizzly damage to his leg.
“My muscle was so badly shredded that even a shift couldn’t heal it all the way,” he finished.
“How did my uncle get the scar on his head?” Francesca asked.
“When he first dove in after me, he tried to free my leg from the gator’s mouth. In all the thrashing and water splashing, the animal clawed him in the face with a foot. Almost took his eye and gouged out a row of flesh. But we both made it through.”
He stood quietly, probably recalling the terror and happiness at being alive. He lightly slapped a hand on her shoulder. “Yes, good family, the Virgatas.”
He turned toward the inside area. “Been a long time. I need to see him again. For old time’s sake.”
The man walked away, and she noticed a slight limp she hadn’t before. Wow, her uncle was a hero. Why hadn’t anyone ever told her that story? She’d get onto her uncle at the next practice for the oversight.
The crowd gathered for the next round of the Shape Up. The weight had been raised to thirteen hundred pounds. Red and Theo rolled through, but the last guy couldn’t get the second lift the full height. Down to Red and her man. Her man? Was he?
“Fifteen hundred pounds!” was yelled from the crowd. That was half the weight of a car. Impossible! The throng chanted, “Fifteen, fifteen, fifteen!” Red looked at Theo, and he shrugged. “Why not? There’s always a first.”
The group went wild. Men dashed away to reset the bar, others spreading the word of the record weight being attempted.
She made her way to Theo, concern surging through her. “Theo,” she said, getting close to him, “don’t hurt yourself. Don’t do this to impress me. You don’t need to. I don’t want you injured because of me.”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her. Whistles erupted from the onlookers. “Don’t worry about me, babe. I know when to stop,” he smiled. “Even if I don’t appear mature. This is completely a guy thing. That’s why you don’t get it.” He kissed the top of her head.
He could say that again. She sighed and stepped back to let him and Red prepare.
Kelsy somehow found her again. “You two have been together a long?” the woman asked.
“No, we just met about five days ago,” she replied.
“Well, just so you know, you picked a good one with Theo.”
“Yeah?” Francesca wondered how much this woman knew about him. Did they know each other intimately? A spark of jealousy lit her insides, and she squelched it as quickly as she could.
“No worries from me,” Kelsy said. “The guys here really love Theo, though they wouldn’t put it quite that way. But each of these men would give everything for the other. Once, Smitty tried to hook Theo up with his sister. She won the local queen pageant. Drop-dead gorgeous. Make you sick just looking at her. She was so pretty.
“He took her on a date so he wouldn’t hurt Smitty’s feelings, but he had her home before midnight with a kiss on the cheek. When I talked to her about the date, she said he was a pure gentleman, which bummed her out. She would’ve loved to get her hands on him.”
Both ladies laughed.
“I know what she means,” Francesca said.
“He’s a great guy. He’ll do anything for you. Even though he comes across like a total guy-idiot occasionally. But I bet once his heart is set, it will forever be.”
Francesca turned to the EMT. “Thank you for telling me. That’s great to hear.”
“Sure.” Kelsy shrugged. “Now let’s see if he can kick Red’s ass or not.”
Suddenly, a loud alarm echoed through the garage. Groans erupted along with it. Kelsy sprinted away with the rest of the crowd.
Francesca looked around, dazed by the controlled chaos. “What’s happening?”
Theo appeared at her side. “That’s a call, baby doll. We gotta go. Can you wait, or need to go?”
“I should be getting home. I’ve been gone since this morning. I’ll Uber it to my car. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Go.”
He kissed her, then headed for the locker room.
“Wait,” she said. He stopped and looked back at her.
“You would’ve kicked Red’s butt, you know.”
He smiled. “Yeah, but that’s not the point, love. It's comradery.”
He zipped away. Seconds later, one of the trucks pulled out, sirens wailing. The ambulance was close behind. It was a majestic and powerful feeling watching these men and women going out to risk their lives to save others.
She saw Theo jump in the back of one of the bigger trucks. He blew her a kiss and was gone.