“Me?” Jo asked, just as a man brushed past her with the gym’s assistant manager trailing behind him.
“Sir, sir!” the assistant manager called out, but the man kept on going. Despite the sign on the front door that made it clear that Furious Fitness was a women-only environment, they would still get the occasional male visitor. It was hard for some men to understand there were places in the world where they weren’t wanted.
“Excuse me,” Jo told Nessa. “I’ll be right back.”
She caught up to her employee and gave her a sign that she’d take over from there. Then she stood her ground and waited. Most of the men who made their way into Furious were there to leer. This one appeared to be on a mission. His head swiveled from side to side on his thick neck as though he were searching for someone. He wasn’t a giant, but he was powerfully built. He looked like a man whose muscles might be his meal ticket.
Jo watched as he hit the back wall of the ground floor and came marching out again toward the stairs to the second floor.
“May I help you?”
The man would have stormed right past if Jo hadn’t blocked the way with a hand held out in front of her. His momentum came to a halt when he made contact with her palm. He glanced down at her hand in surprise before meeting her eyes. Jo held his gaze without blinking until he looked away. She felt the energy streaming down the arteries of her arm toward her fingers. The gym went silent, aside from the pop music piped over the speakers. Her clients had paused their workouts to watch. Their faces glowed, their eyes sparkled, and the corners of their mouths twitched with glee. They wanted to see the man taken down. Jo wished she felt as confident as her clients. She’d only used her power twice before—both times by accident. She still wasn’t convinced that either incident had been more than a fluke.
“I’m sure my colleague informed you this gym is for women only,” Jo said.
“I did!” the furious assistant manager confirmed. “I told him five times!”
“I’m looking for someone,” the man said, his eyes now everywhere in the room but her face. He wanted her to know their conversation was beneath him.
“Who?” Jo demanded. Whoever it was, Jo would want to warn her.
The man didn’t see any need to respond. She was nothing to him but a momentary inconvenience. He’d barged into her business, ignoring Jo’s signs and insulting her employee. They were just women, after all, and he owed them nothing, least of all his respect.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to go,” Jo informed the man, hoping he’d leave without a fight.
“I’ll finish looking,” he told her. “Then I’ll go.”
A blast of red-hot rage shot through her veins and left her cells boiling. “I’m sorry. Maybe you didn’t understand. By leave, I mean get the fuck out of here. Now.”
“Step out of the way,” the man ordered. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Jo glanced back at Nessa, who already had her phone to her ear.
“I hope you’re dialing an ambulance,” another client called out from a treadmill, “’cause if that motherfucker touches Jo, he’s going to need one.”
Before Jo could turn back around, he came at her with his shoulder dropped slightly, as though breaking down a door. The force sent Jo stumbling back a few steps. Then she surged forward, her body acting of its own volition. She smashed the heel of her hand into his face, grabbed his arm, and effortlessly flipped him over her back. He landed faceup on the floor, his head pinned to the mat by the heel of Jo’s Nike trainer on his neck. Blood gushed from his nose and ran in rivulets down the sides of his face. Rage and fear coursed through Jo’s body. Every part of her vibrated with energy. The muscles of her raised thigh shook with it. She could destroy him. And she wanted to. When she pressed down harder with her sneaker, the release felt almost orgasmic.