I didn’t know it then, but tonight would be the first step into a world I’d only fantasized about.

  It was the night my world would change, and I’d cross the line I’d been dancing around for years.

  I hesitated at the entrance of the college gym. I had been putting off going to the gym for years because I was always too embarrassed.

  I wasn’t just walking into a gym, I was walking into a world full of strong and powerful people.

  "Just go in there," I said to myself as I pushed against the door.

  I was lucky a gym membership was included in my tuition. I wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise. The joys of being an ex-foster kid, I guess.

  It was te, almost 11 PM. I chose this time, hoping the pce would be deserted. The st thing I wanted was an audience as I fumbled around with weights.

  Stepping inside, my gsses fogged up and I gnced around. At 5’6”, I practically had to go on my tiptoes to see above the weight racks.

  Everything here felt too big for me, like I didn’t belong. But maybe that was part of why I was drawn to it.

  To my relief, the gym was pretty much empty. Just one older guy grabbing his gym bag as he walked past me.

  I returned the closed-lip smile he gave me as he headed out the exit.

  I moved to the nearest set of weights and picked up a dumbbell with no idea what to do next. Lift it, sure, but... like there’s a right and wrong way to do it.

  And I would obviously find the wrong way to do it.

  As I struggled with the 15lb dumbbell, I heard low, rhythmic cnging coming from the back of the gym, like distant church bells.

  I turned around and almost dropped the weight on my foot.

  Conrad Lee, the star of the wrestling team, was in the far corner, benching three or four ptes like it was nothing.

  Conrad was a campus celebrity with over 100,000 followers and a legion of admirers.

  To everyone else, he was untouchable. But I fantasized about being noticed, being close to him. Just to be in his shadow would be enough.

  At 6'2" and 230 pounds of muscle, he was the epitome of masculinity. His dark, curly hair framed his ruggedly stubbled face so perfectly it was intimidating.

  There was something about the way he stood, legs pnted wide, shoulders back, like he was ready for battle at any moment.

  His past was like a rumor, something students and faculty passed around in hushed voices. But whatever they whispered about him barely scratched the surface of who he really was.

  The whole military thing? It just added to the mystique. He was older than other students, more experienced, in life and how he carried himself.

  Everyone was in awe of him, but for me… it was something else.

  It was no secret that Conrad was packing a huge amount of heat. It’s hard not to notice when he’s wearing a tight spandex wrestling singlet in front of a crowd.

  I watched every home match. Seeing Conrad overpower every opponent with ease was a problem for me. I’d get hard watching his matches.

  The amount of times I wished I was the one on the mat he was pinning down, twisting into a pretzel, or just possessing complete control over, and being at his mercy, is hard to count.

  Now that the season was over, I thought I was limited to drooling over his Instagram posts.

  I followed Conrad on Instagram before I enrolled, liking every post. It’s stupid but liking made me feel closer to him, even though he didn’t know I existed.

  I wanted him to hold and protect me. I wanted him to crush me. Fuck, I wanted him to own me.

  Weights rattled as he reracked, and I quickly turned back to the rack of dumbbells and watched Conrad move from one exercise to the next through the floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

  Just knowing he was so close made me feel nervous and exhirated.

  He didn’t walk. He moved like he owned the pce.

  I stole another gnce. Even under his oversized hoodie, it was easy to see his 'sleeper build' fill out the material.

  I couldn’t help but imagine his thick thighs, shoulder boulders, huge biceps, and massive pecs. Hairy muscle I’d seen online and drooled over thousands of times.

  The sound of the barbell metal sliding through the hole of a 40lb pte broke me from my trance. I watched as Conrad loaded weights onto the squat rack barbell.

  Each pte he stacked seemed effortless, his powerful arms and broad shoulders flexing with a sheer dispy of strength.

  When he stepped under the bar and began his squats, I watched as his thighs bulged under his loose-fitting sweatpants and his glutes tightened with each deep descent, ending each rep with a hip flex.

  Damn, he’s strong, I thought. Just another reason the gym had always intimidated me, a world of cocky jocks that I would never be a part of.

  But my eyes kept drifting back, drawn to Conrad like a magnet.

  He was all muscle and focus, completely absorbed in whatever set he was working through, and I couldn’t stop staring. It wasn’t just his size, though God, he was massive.

  It was the way he held himself, like he didn’t have to try to command respect. It was just who he was.

  I would never know what that kind of power felt like. I was a follower. Conrad led.

  Watching him, I felt so small, so insignificant, but there was something almost comforting in that. Like this was how things were supposed to be.

  I was lost in the rhythm of his movements, finishing a set. As he reracked, his eyes scanned the room. He was always assessing, always aware. Ready to take control of any situation at a moment’s notice.

  His eyes locked onto mine.

  He pulled out his earbud and looked at me through the mirror.

  "You new here?" Conrad asked, his voice smooth and commanding.

  I froze. Conrad had caught me staring. I couldn’t make my body move as he stalked over to me. With each step, he seemed bigger and more intimidating.