I study Livia’s face carefully, wondering if what I’m going to say will scare her or intrigue her. “I say, ‘I expected this and this from you this session. We were doing so well until you decided not to meet the expectations we both set for you. Everyone here is working hard, and it’s disappointing to me that you couldn’t bring the same commitment to your own workout.’” To Livia, I’d want to say, It’s disappointing to daddy.
Livia winces. “Ouch, that’s excruciating. What happens then?”
“I tell my trainee apologize to everyone in the room for the disruption, then to me, and then finally to themselves.”
“Does that work? I mean, does it get the workout back on track?”
“It depends on the person.” On a brat, the attention is like a hit of sugar and only makes them worse. Brats get cold showers and time alone to think about what they did. On people like Livia? God, does it work. I can tell she’s a good girl who likes rules and hates causing trouble. I would only use it as a last resort though, because as she said, it’s excruciating.
Livia does another squat and then looks up at me curiously. “Would it work on me?”
I smile at her slowly. “Why, do you want to give it a go?”
“No! Oh, my god. I would die.”
“Then you’d better behave yourself, bunny rabbit.”
Livia’s eyes grow round. “Bunny rabbit?”
I cross my arms over the clipboard against my chest. Goddamn it, she was being so cute and receptive that I forgot we hadn’t agreed on what we’d call each other. “Sorry. I mean Livia.”
She hesitates, adjusting her grip on the weights. “I’ve never had a cute nickname before. Didn’t the rules say we could choose what we call each other?”
I look at her in surprise. Never? What have her ex-boyfriends called her? A deep throb of jealously and anger is making me want to ask about the worthless P and what he did to her. “What would you like me to call you?”
Is it my imagination, or does Livia’s gaze drift to my mouth for a moment? “Livia’s fine,” she murmurs, though I could swear she’s imagining me calling her other things.
As she goes through her cooldown on the mats, I talk her through a vegan eating program and how to go about slowly making the switch to plant-based foods.
“What do you think about the exercise and eating plan we’ve talked about? Do you think you can stick to it for da—me?” I stop before I call myself daddy. The way her eyes catch mine makes me think she knew what I was going to say anyway.
My heart thumps painfully as I gaze down into her beautiful, flushed face. Having Livia as my trainee and not my sub is going to be torture.
Chapter Five
Livia
After my workout, we book my next session and Trey walks me out through the barriers. “That was a fantastic workout. You did great today.”
He looks deep into my eyes like he did at the club, and I feel the same urge to put my arms around him and have him hold me close.
“Thank you,” I whisper, hating to leave him but knowing I have to go. He’s my personal trainer, not my boyfriend. This is what I asked for.
“Start introducing one or two plant-based meals a day, and we’ll check in about how it’s making you feel next time. Bye.” He smiles and waves and heads back into the gym, professional once more.
At home, I throw out the milk, cheese and processed meats that are in my fridge. Then I go out and buy oat milk, avocados and jars of cashew butter. For dinner I eat linguine with vegan pesto and a sprinkling of nut-based cheese, and it’s surprisingly delicious. I feel buoyant, and better than I have in months.
The memory of Trey’s smile is giving me a boost, too. Who knew a personal trainer could be so sweet and so focused at the same time? He obviously enjoys his job. He even sounded like he enjoyed the punishment side of Dom Fitness, too, and the lectures. Everyone here is working hard, and it’s disappointing to me that you couldn’t bring the same commitment to your own workout.
I wonder what he looks like when he talks like that. I wonder how it would feel if he talked like that to me, and I was sitting at his feet receiving a stern lecture. A warm, buzzing sensation cascades through me. Piers told me what to do all the time and I hated it. Trey makes it seem alluring.
I eat avocado on toast with sliced tomato for breakfast, and buy a salad of sweet potato and tahini from a café next to work for lunch. I’m surprised how much vegan food there is everywhere now that I’m looking for it.