Jason walked around to one side of the weight rack. In doing so, he had to sidestep William, who was laden down with Lauren's big gym bag, with her exercise towel conveniently hung on her neck. William didn't make too much of an effort to move out of Jason's way, and Jason found himself getting a little irritated. What the hell was this guy's deal, anyway? He briefly remembered back to the conversation he and Eve had had a few weeks before, about how William was openly submissive to Lauren in their relationship, but as Jason sidestepped him, he couldn't help but feel a sense of revulsion at William's open and unabashed submission. He looked ridiculous in his oversized clothes that hung on his skinny body, making him look even smaller than he was. The fact that Lauren's oversize gym bag was over half as big as he was only contributed to his weak, frail, and diminutive appearance. Lauren's towel around his neck was just icing on the cake -- he was basically her slave, her object to use however she saw fit.
Jason couldn't understand how a guy could possibly be ok with this kind of treatment. And not only be ok with it, but shamelessly embrace it! Didn't William know what a bitch he looked like? How weak he seemed!? It was like he was...like he was less than a man. That was it -- he wasn't a man at all! He had the body, and the general disposition, of a shy, quiet, subservient early adolescent who's used to doing whatever his overbearing, domineering mother tells him to do. Except that William was acting that way towards Lauren, someone his age, who nonetheless looked and acted ten years older than him. It was almost like watching some kind of weird fucked-up incestuous mother-son relationship. All of this flashed through Jason's mind in a second or two as he maneuvered past William, making his way over to the weight rack. Jason took a quick breath in through his nostrils as he forced down his feelings of disgust and repulsion at William. He didn't want to have Lauren feel like she had a kind of leg up on him in any way. Besides, he had to focus on putting Lauren in her place! He felt the warm anticipation of victory spread through his limbs as he put his hand on the racked weights, throwing Lauren a haughty smile.
"So," he said, delighting that his casually playful voice betrayed nothing of the few moments of disgust he had just experienced, "how much do you wanna start with, Lauren? Your call."
"Hmmm, well let's both do a couple warm-up reps with 135, why don't we?" said Lauren, who met his confident smile with one of her own. "It's a bad idea to lift heavy without warming up."
"Oooo, did you hear that on an exercise video on youtube?" snickered Jason, ignoring his flash of irritation at his perception that Lauren was talking down to him.
"No, I learned it from my father, who played college football at a Division I school," said Lauren drily. Jason felt his heart rate pick up. Boy, Lauren sure did know when to be playful and when to be flat. It was so frustrating how she managed to control the cadence of the conversation.
"Oh," was all Jason could manage in response. He quickly started racking the weight bar -- he was about to slide a 45-pound plate onto the end when Lauren stepped in.
"Hold up," she said, raising her hand, "I think we need to adjust the bar height. It's fine for me, but I think it's a little tall for you."
Jason looked blankly at the bar's height, which he had not bothered to pay attention to before. He quickly saw that Lauren was right. But, in a flash of action that seemed to come from some irrational, hidden place, Jason put down the plate and walked under the bar.
"Uh, n-no, no I think it's fine," he said. And as if to show, he stood on his tip-toes and was able to get the bar off the rack. He took a couple steps back, holding the empty bar on his shoulders behind his neck. "See?"
"Ahaha, no, I don't think so," laughed Lauren. "Come on Jason, what are you trying to prove? That we're the same height? I've been taller than you for years. Here, just hold the bar there while I adjust the pegs here."
Lauren walked over and made the adjustments, with Jason just standing there stupidly with the empty bar on his back. What had he been trying to prove there? He knew Lauren was 5'10, and that he was only 5'8. So why had he tried to act like they were the same? He was frustrated with himself, and irritated with Lauren for acting so cool and casual as she altered the pegs on the weight rack to fit his height.
"There," she said, stepping back and allowing him to rack the bar. "Now we can both easily take the bar." She looked slightly down on him and smiled deviously, giving him a little shake of her head, as if to say, "Sheesh, dude!"
"Ok," grumbled Jason, wanting to get on with the contest. "So 135 to start."
A few minutes later, both of them had done a set of 5 with 135 pounds. Neither seemed to be tired at all. Jason couldn't help noticing how Lauren had to bend to get the bar on her back...and he also couldn't help noticing how her thick thighs swelled impressively as she went up and down, lifting the weight effortlessly with perfect form.
"So...a bit heavier now?" asked Lauren, smiling expectantly.
"Yeah...yeah, how about we slap another 45 on each side?" proposed Jason. He wanted to end this contest quickly. William was creeping him out, just standing there, watching silently.
"Straight to 225, huh?" said Lauren, nodding her head up and down slowly, stroking her chin. "Cutting to the chase. I like it. Sets of three now!"
Jason promptly banged out his set, barely breaking a sweat. 225 was heavy, but he had no problems. Lauren watching him with a grin on her face, enjoying the power dynamics at play. She had challenged Jason, and not the other way around. And now she was getting to enjoy the effort he was making due to her challenge.
"Very nice," she said appreciatively, applauding humorously as Jason racked the weight.
"Oh thank you very much Lauren, thank you, thank you," said Jason mockingly, taking a series of bows. "It means so much."
"Now get ready, hoss," said Lauren, ignoring Jason's sarcasm as she walked up to the bar. "I can tell you think I can't do this. Well, how about this?"