I am reposting this blog post from a few years ago for anyone who hasn’t read this heartwarming, real-life romance in the making account told by my friend and fellow author, Cynthia Sax.
***
Forget reality TV dating shows where it is all most likely staged, scripted, and dramatized for ratings.
Pull up a chair, sip on your favorite beverage and read an eyewitness account of a “real romance in the making.”
Please join me in welcoming USA Today Bestselling Author Cynthia Sax to my blog as she regales a true story about a couple’s blossoming romance she observed at her local gym.
Curvy Girl & Super Shy Hunky Guy
by Cynthia Sax
Like many writers, I’m an introvert. I prefer to be stationed outside of a crowd, looking in, watching. I often share my observations on Facebook, hoping they’ll inspire other writers and give reading buddies a smile.
Some Background
I’m a curvy girl happily married to a fit, good-looking man (the Dear Wonderful Hubby). Readers sometimes think the Dear Wonderful Hubby is the exception, that no other gorgeous guy would find a curvy girl attractive.
Usually, I work out on my recumbent bike at home, but the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I traveled and decided to use an outside gym for two weeks. Being positioned on the recumbent bike for an hour a day gave me plenty of time to observe the couple. However, I was too far away to hear what they said. All I could do was watch their body language (which was a great exercise for me as a writer).
First Post
I’ve been watching a real-life romance between a super shy hunky guy and an oblivious curvy girl at the gym every day.
Hunky Guy runs on the treadmill daily, watching the business news as he works out.
Girls give him the eye (I admit to checking him out too – he’s no Dear Wonderful Hubby, but he is REALLY good-looking).
He pays them no attention.
Then this girl walks by. She’s a curvy girl, brown hair up in a ponytail, glasses, no make-up, wearing an oversized T-shirt, leggings, and black goth-like running shoes.
He almost gets whiplash, watching her pass him.
The next day, he changes his schedule, and gets there later.
She’s already walking on a treadmill.
He’s looking quite wolfish as he passes her, hungry.
Most of the treadmills are busy.
He has to take one positioned five treadmills away from her.
He runs, watching the business news.
The treadmill beside him, closer to Curvy Girl, frees up.
He moves.
The next treadmill frees up.
He moves again.
Eventually, he claims the treadmill beside her. He has a bounce in his step, happy like anything. He glances at her. She doesn’t notice him. He takes his earbuds out. She doesn’t notice him. He slows his super-fast pace to match her leisurely walk. She’s still oblivious. He changes his channel to watch the same TV show (The Big Bang Theory). Still no response from Curvy Girl.
She finally leaves. He watches her go, his mouth opening and closing, no words coming out.
He’s been doing this for three workouts thus far, always moving until he gets the treadmill next to her, never able to get up the nerve to talk to her.
If you’re a curvy girl and a hunk has been working out next to you for several days in a row, please give him a smile.
Additional Thoughts
I had observed them for a week, and Super Shy Hunky Guy hadn’t yet spoken to Curvy Girl. From how he reacted the first day he saw her, I got the impression he knew her (that’s why I call him Super Shy Hunky Guy). But I didn’t expect anything to happen.
And the next day, I was right.
Second Post
Went to the gym today.
Curvy Girl wasn’t there (it IS Sunday, so maybe she took the day off or worked out at a different time).
Super Shy Hunky Guy was looking for her. Every once in a while, he’d glance at the treadmill Curvy Girl normally uses.
Additional Thoughts
I really felt for Super Shy Hunky Guy. He clearly liked Curvy Girl but did she like him? Was she ignoring him because she was insecure about herself or because she didn’t like him?
Third Post
I arrived at the gym a little late yesterday.
Super Shy Hunky Guy was already running beside Curvy Girl (she was walking at her usual leisurely speed), and they were TALKING.
More specifically, she was talking.
I couldn’t hear what she was saying. I was too far away, and the music was loud. But she would talk quickly for a while. Then he’d say a few words. And she’d start talking again.
She seemed super nervous, and kept giving him half smiles.
He seemed happy. There was a bounce in his step.
He helped her wipe down her machine after her workout.
She went to the change rooms.
He lifted weights.
The problem with these real-life romances is I never get to see or hear the full story.
But I did get the impression that the attraction was mutual.
Yay for Curvy Girl!
Additional Thoughts
I could feel the magic in the air, the physical attraction, the way their gazes held a little too long, and how they’d lean slightly into each other.
Here were two people who could very well be falling in love.
But I could also sense how nervous they were. The first few moments in a relationship are so very fragile. I was afraid something would happen or be said to damage it.
Unfortunately, I missed their workout time slot for a couple of days.
Final Post
It was my last day in the gym today. I’ll be returning to working out at home.
When I arrived, Curvy Girl was walking on the treadmill.
There was a lady working out beside her.
The next treadmill was free.
Super Shy Hunky Guy walked past Curvy Girl to get to the free treadmill.
Curvy Girl watched him pass her, and she looked so disappointed—her body slumping.
About ten minutes later, the treadmill between them freed up.
Super Shy Hunky Guy moved beside Curvy Girl.
She said something (I couldn’t hear her) and beamed at him, her smile wide.
Super Shy Hunky Guy gazed at her as though she was some wondrous mythical being.
A slow sexy smile spread across his face.
(And I absolutely melted. There’s no doubt in my mind that he adores her.)
She’d talk. He’d say a sentence or two. She’d talk some more, acting less nervous and happier.
They finished working out at the same time.
He helped her wipe down her machine and then walked her to the change room, his head held high, proud as anything before he entered the guy’s change room.
If I were a betting gal, I’d put money on Super Shy Hunky Guy and Curvy Girl having a date of sorts after their workout.
(My Dear Wonderful Hubby is also very fit, and he loves me—a curvy girl.)
Additional Thoughts
Did I watch two people fall in love? I believe I did. These are the things romance writers (and often readers) live for.
Many reading buddies have asked me to write a fictional account of their story.
I doubt that I will. This was a magical experience for me, and I don’t want to do anything to change it. I want to keep it as a very special memory.
I DO often write about curvy girls and their hunky heroes. My next story, ONE AND DONE features a 30-year-old curvy gal and a smooth talking club owner. Smoke looks at Jenella the same way Super Shy Hunky Guy looked at Curvy Girl.
On release day, I can guarantee that someone will write me, telling me that type of romance would never happen in real life, that a hunky guy would never fall for a curvy girl.
You and I know it could and HAS happened.
ONE AND DONE
by Cynthia Sax
He wants one night. I want forever.
Hit it and quit it—that’s Smoke Sheridan’s relationship philosophy. The tall, dark, and dangerous club owner never spends more than one night with any woman. He seduces the broken-hearted, leaving them with smiles on their faces and sexual confidence other men can’t resist.
I need his services.
My boyfriend of four years dumped me because I’m a lousy lay. Smoke can help me win him back, teach me how to make my man writhe in ecstasy. I’ll show him such bliss; he’ll bellow my name in the dark of the night, want me with an all-consuming desire.
This sounds like a great plan. Except I see the loneliness in Smoke’s eyes, feel the wistfulness in his touch, experience the wanting in his embrace. The player isn’t as shallow as he appears.
And I’ve never been good at letting go.
ONE AND DONE contains inappropriate humor, very bad pickup lines, a BBW heroine who doesn’t know what she’s doing, and a player who thinks he does.
This is a standalone story.
Buy Now
Amazon US
Amazon UK
ARe
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
About Cynthia Sax
USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes contemporary, SciFi and paranormal erotic romances. Her stories have been featured in Star Magazine, Real Time With Bill Maher, and numerous best of erotic romance top ten lists.
Sign up for her dirty-joke-filled release day newsletter and visit her online:
Selena Robins, Author 
Let’s chat