Remember Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #3)(38)

“Abiodun and I have to have extra training, too,” Tyson said. “But we have powers, you know? Ryan was kind of a superstar football player at his college before he left. He’s never complained, but it must be hard to be the powerless, inexperienced new guy.”

“Plus, he probably needed to blow off some steam today.” Johnny G gave me a pointed look. “He’s talked about nothing but you for six months. It’s why we call him Romeo. He’s obsessed with his Juliet.” My face heated up despite how hard I tried not to blush. “The amnesia can’t be easy on him. To have you back, but not have you back—that’s got to be messing with the guy’s head.”

I sucked in a quiet breath. I’d thought that myself once or twice, but hearing Johnny G say it made it seem a million times worse. Ryan had been so wonderful up until now that it was easy to forget that this had to be as difficult for him as it was for me.

I didn’t respond, and no one else dared break the silence. Some things sucked and there was nothing you could do about it. Ryan’s and my messed-up situation was one of those things.

We all stayed quiet until we reached the training center. I didn’t know what to expect from the place. Everyone seemed oddly infatuated with it, and they’d really talked it up. As we walked down the hallway, one side of the boring corridor gave way to a wall of windows that allowed us to see inside the gym. I had to admit it was impressive.

I’d never been to a gym—none of the equipment would be of any use to me—but I had a feeling this one was state-of-the-art. There was every kind of machine a person could possibly need for working out their body, plus things like a huge lap pool, a boxing ring, and a climbing wall.

It would have been awesome if not for the overwhelming stench of human sweat that permeated the damp air. Ugh, okay, if I had to get rid of any one of my powers, the supersmell would be the first to go, and I wouldn’t miss it.

Thanks to each main room in the base being pretty much airtight with their own air filtration systems, I hadn’t noticed the stink until Major Wilks opened the door. The second I did, I staggered backward and gagged loud enough to gain the attention of my entourage and a soldier who was using a leg press nearby.

“Angel?” Major Wilks asked, coming to my side and taking me by the arm. “Are you all right? What’s the matter?”

“I’m good,” I choked out, forcing whatever was in my stomach to stay there. “Remember what I said about my heightened sense of smell? Ode de Sweaty Gym is not a flavor I’d bottle and sell as perfume, if you know what I mean.”

The major looked as if he didn’t know how to respond. He stared dumbfounded for a minute and then said, “I suppose we could kick up the air filtration in this room and maybe try some air fresheners? Or do those bother you, too?”

“Any strong odor gives me migraines if I’m exposed for too long, but I’d rather smell the nastiest potpourri in the world than a whole team of soldiers working up a sweat. The air filtration will help more than anything. If you expect me to spend any significant amount of time in here, I’d suggest you try that—though not much in here will do me any good. The pool and the rock wall, maybe, but that’s about it. Treadmills can’t keep up with me, and exercise machines never have enough weight.”

The soldier who’d been using a leg press near me gave me a skeptical look. “This machine goes up to five hundred pounds.”

Is that all they thought I was capable of? How insulting. I looked at his arms, which were as big as watermelons, and smirked. He was by far the largest ACE so far. I couldn’t tell how tall he was, but his shoulders were massive. I’m all for muscles, but you can overdo it. He was overdoing it. His pecs were nearly as big as my head. “Let me guess.” I pointed a finger at the soldier I’d not been introduced to yet. “Guns?”

Johnny G chuckled. “Close. That’s Smut.”

The guys all laughed, but I didn’t get the joke. “How is that close?”

“Because he’s built like the cover models on all those smutty romance novels,” Shortstop explained.

Okay, that was funny. “Nice.” I gave Smut another once-over, and he proudly sat there and let me look. “Have you ever actually considered posing for one of those books? I’m thinking the pirate ones would be your specialty. You’ve got the long, dark hair thing going for you. All you need is the boots and the billowing white shirt.”

“Oh! Captain Smut!” Johnny G howled while the other guys all fell apart with laughter. “Smut’s totally got a new nickname!”

“Thank you so much, Angel,” Smut said dryly.

I gave him a sweet smile that made him laugh. Shaking his head, he leaned forward and moved the pin in the stack of weights he’d been lifting to the very bottom of the pile. “You really think you can max out this machine?”

All the ACEs stopped laughing and leaned in, clearly wanting to see a show. I suppressed a sigh and pointed at the contraption he was still sitting on. “This machine?”

When he nodded, I reached down and picked the entire thing up, with him still on it. I bounced it lightly in one hand, testing its weight. “Sorry.” I smirked at all the gasps and shocked faces. “I really don’t think this would give me much of a workout.”

I set the machine back down and met the eyes of my gaping audience. “Any more questions?”