Untamed Power: Startup - Ch. 4 - Old Friends - Alpha

Alanah plopped on her butt, spraying sand on Tommy.

“Oops, sorry,” Alanah said, laughing and trying to wipe the gains off of him.

“It’s all right,” Tommy said, pulling on his shirt. “How was your day?”

“Eh, could have been better, could have been worse. It seems like every year gets busier.”

“Are you guys loving all the new traffic, then?”

“I sure as hell do. There’re finally some fun things to do around here. Did you see we have a mall now?”

“Yeah, I saw it on my way coming down the hill. There’s also a bowling alley?”

“I’d bet you’ll be excited to hear there’s a barcade now. You still like playing games, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I still do. That wasn’t a hobby you picked up while I was gone, was it?”

“Nah, I’ve never been able to get into it. I gave a couple of games a shot. Even bought a handheld a few years back, but it honestly just collected dust.”

“That’s a damn shame.”

Alanah shrugged. “I had other things to keep me busy.”

Tommy rolled to his side. “So tell me about this weight lifting you’ve gotten into? I’m not going to lie. When I first saw you, I was shocked. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Alanah’s smile quickly faded and her eyes glanced up at him. “Like shocked in a good way?”

Tommy pushed himself up on his butt and grinned. “Yeah, in a good way. You look fucking awesome. Why don’t you show me some of those guns?”

Without hesitation, Alanah sat up on her knees and took off her shirt. She was wearing a black sports bra with thick reinforced straps that was needed, given her size. With a wide pose, she curled both arms and flexed. With they didn’t have the finest definition, there was no denying her strength. They were thick and muscular that transitioned down to her square waist and tight abs that appeared when she flexed.

Not to be outdone, Tommy took off his shirt and flexed his arm near hers. His body was much more defined and toned than hers, his peaks much more prominent, but he wondered if she was at the point where she could out lift him. Since he’d torn his shoulder, he’d moved away from heavier weights and focused more on health, fitness, and bodybuilding.

A whistle from passersby caused the two to burst out in laughter. They both slipped their shirts back on before sitting back in the sand.

“I think I have you beat in size for arms,” Tommy said. “But your density is impressive. I mean, just look at how thick your legs are!”

“Yeah, strongman competitions are all about heaviest weight. Lots of deadlifts, squats, overhead presses. But it’s always got its variations. Like the last competition, we were deadlifting cars.”

Tommy’s jaw dropped. “What? You were deadlifting a car?”

“It’s a small car. They weld a frame to it and you lift it up at an angle. I think that one was around four hundred kilos.”

“Four hundred kilos is no joke. That’s close to what, nine hundred pounds?”

“Yeah, and it’s for reps.”

“Damn, how much did you do?”

“Ten.”

“Four hundred for ten?” Tommy asked, his voice peaked in astonishment. “What the fuck Alanah.”

“What?” the green-eyed girl asked, giggling and brushing her hair around her ears.

“That’s fucking awesome. I want to see you deadlift a car.”

“Well… you’ll have to come to my next competition, then.”

“When’s that?”

“In six weeks.”

“Well, count me in.”

Alanah’s face brightened up, and she leaned forward. “Are you really staying that long?”

Tommy rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m still not sure… but even if I’m not, I’ll still come to it.”

“It’s a few hours away, though. It’s in Frankfurt.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’d love to come cheer you on.”

Alanah’s green eyes sparkled brilliantly as she smiled. The two shared a moment, just enjoying each other’s presence. Severely beachgoers lit a fire to prepare for the sun dropping below the horizon.

When Tommy looked back at Alanah, he caught her glancing at him. She gave him a quick smile before turning back to the ocean. She wouldn’t stop fidgeting with her hands.

“You all right?” Tommy asked.

“Me? Yeah, I’m great. Why?”

“You’re fidgeting.”

“I am not.”

“Okay,” Tommy said, raising his hands. “Whatever helps you sleep better at night.” He smiled as he caught her glancing over at him, waiting for her to ask him the thing that was on her mind.

“Have you worked out today?” Alanah asked.

That was the question that bothered her so much, he wondered. “No. Actually, this would be the second day I haven’t worked if I didn’t. Haven’t really had a chance to.”

“Did your dad get rid of your equipment at the house?” She asked before gasping. “Is that why you two were fighting?”

Tommy shook his head and laughed. “No and no. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he did, either. I haven’t been to the house since I left for college.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, did you think I would come back here and not see you?”

“Honestly, yeah. I mean, we almost haven’t spoken that long.”

“Yeah… I’m sorry about that too. I didn’t mean for things to change, it’s just—”

“Life got in the way?” she asked with a soft smile.

“Exactly.”

“It’s not just your fault. I could have kept reaching out too.”

“It was definitely more of me. I’m sure you loved my one word replies..”

“Yeah, they were kind of a dick move.”

“My bad. Hopefully, I can make it up to you.”

“This is a good start,” Alanah said, punching Tommy in the arm.

“Ow, damn you are strong,” he said, rubbing his arm playfully.

“Don’t be a wuss. I barely hit you. If I meant to hurt you, you’d know it.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it. I’d be scared to make you mad now.”

“As you should be,” Alanah said with a slight grin. She jumped up to her feet and extended Tommy her hand. “So, are we doing this or what?”

Tommy grabbed her hand and slung his bag over her shoulder. “Whatever it is we’re doing, I’m down.”

She slapped her hand on her forehead. “That’s my bad. I got sidetracked. I wanted to know if you wanted to work out together. I could show you my gym.”

“You have your own gym?”

“It’s just a home gym. Dad converted part of our barn for me once I got serious about training.”

“Do you guys still have the farm?”

“Oh yeah. It’s just dad and the moms though. I’ve got my own place in town with a few roommates.”

“Oh, that’s awesome. I’d love to see it sometime.”

“Maybe.” She said, squinting at him. When he questioned the look, she just laughed and continued down the street. Tommy followed her to her car that was parked in the private lot behind Delilahs. He climbed in the passenger side and tossed his bookbag near the gym bag in the back.

On their ride to her family’s farm, Tommy complained the whole way about Alanah’s music taste while the cowgirl sang her favorite country songs. Torturing him was something that she loved to do, and all he could do was smile and laugh. It made him wonder how they became friends in the first place. They had so little in common, but they were inseparable as youngsters. A question he planned to ask later.

When Tommy saw the familiar rows of apple trees he grew up picking, he knew they’d arrived. After turning down a long gravel driveway that opened into a lot that filled between the main house and a nearby barn.

The main house was an all white brick two story with a black metal roof. The front had a covered porch with two black front doors. Large windows dotted every room to allow for plentiful natural light. A plethora of flowers that covered the entire rainbow wrapped around the front and side of the house.

Opposite across the driveway stood a massive two story red barn with white trim. Along the front nearly twenty-foot-tall garage door with closed external doors on the second floor to access the storage. Small windows dotted the exterior.

After Alanah parked the car in front of the barn door, she and Tommy grabbed their gear and got out. When Alanah headed for the barn, he stopped and pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “Shouldn’t we go say hi to your moms?”

Alanah smirked. “If we go inside, we’re never leaving. They’ll swarm you with banter until the sun comes back up.”

“Yeah, good point.”

“I’m sure you’ll see them another time.”

Tommy nodded and walked to the garage door. Alanah opened it with a garage opener she had in her pocket. Once it was open, she flipped on the lights and the two walked inside.

The far back half of the barn was full of tractors, machines, and storage containers used for processing their harvests. All the stuff he’d seen before. But what caused his jaw to drop was Alanah’s workout area.

The floor was completely covered in workout mats. Large concrete stones sat in a corner pile with white paint, showing their weight. An oversized squat rack sat against the wall, with various barbells leaning against the wall. Dozens of weights hung on wall mounted beams for easy access.

A small mini-fridge sat plugged into an outlet in the corner with colorful sealed tubs sitting on top of it. Tractor tires that were almost as tall as Tommy sat in the gap between the workout area and storage, with scratches along the surface from where she’d flipped it. There were dozens of metal bars and other devices mounted to the floor that Tommy was unfamiliar with, but was excited to learn their purpose.

“Wow… this place is crazy,” Tommy said, walking around examining everything. “There’s so much stuff here.”

“Yeah, a lot of it your dad helped make.”

“Really?” Tommy asked, leaning back. “He never told me he was making you lifting equipment.”

“Well, not me personally. Dad did a lot of it. But he was always with Frank down at the machine shop. I’m pretty sure my dad would pay him in food and produce.”

“That sounds like my dad.”

“Did you two not talk much?”

“I mean, we did, but we didn’t really spend a lot of time together. He’d come down and visit for a bit, but it was always while I was competing or training.”

“Oh, that sounds rough… Do you want to talk about it?”

Tommy’s eyes beamed as he looked around the room. “Not right now… right now I want to show me all of this stuff. Like what’s the deal with that tire over there and these stones and these metal bars with the grips on them?”

“Wow, you’re excited, aren’t you?”

“Hell yeah I am. This looks fun as hell.”

“I have a pretty strict plan, but instead we could just do a little bit of everything?”

“That sounds good to me. I really want to start with the tire. Do you drag it? I see the scratch marks on the concrete.”

“No, you actually flip it.”

“Like for reps?”

“Yeah, or sometimes time, if they have a track. Give me a second and I’ll show you.” Alanah bent don’t down and unzipped her bag. She pulled out two things of clothes and threw them on a nearby free bench. Without any warning, she pulled off her top and unbuttoned the front of her jeans.

“Woah,” Tommy said, spinning on a dime.

“Oh, don’t be a prude,” Alanah said. “You just saw me with my shirt off at the beach.”

“Yeah, your shirt. You’re taking your pants off.”

“So? What if I did the same thing while we were at the beach and had a bikini on? Would you say the same thing?”

“I guess not…”

Tommy felt Alanah’s hand on his shoulder and turned around. She was wearing a pink cropped tank top that exposed her stomach, with black athletic shorts that were tight around the top of her legs that he swore made her thighs look even bigger. Stability sleeves secured her elbows and knees.

“Besides,” Alanah continued. “We used to bathe together, anyway.”

“By our mothers when we were like five. That doesn’t count.”

Alanah shrugged and let out a hearty laugh as she walked over to the tire. Tommy dropped his back near hers and followed behind. When she reached, she squatted down and drove it to the middle of the barn, giving them plenty of space on both sides.

“Do you want to go first or should I?” Alanah asked.

“I can go first. Just tell me what I should do.”

Tommy got in front of it, bringing his shins to the front, and squatted down.

“Woah, okay, there’s your first mistake,” Alanah said, pointing down at him.

“But I haven’t even started,” Tommy said.

“I mean, if you want to hurt yourself, you can give it a shot.”

“No thanks. I’ve had enough lifting injuries. Is my form bad or something?”

Alanah pushed Tommy to the side and reproduced his form. “So what you were trying to do was deadlift it, right?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not a deadlift. If you do that, it’s going to put a lot of pressure on your biceps and back. This tire weighs about six hundred pounds. You’re going to burn yourself out after the first few. You played football in college—”

“Yeah, you were there,” Tommy said with a smirk.

Alanah rolled her eyes. “It was going to be a rhetorical question. But think of it in that sense. You have to step back from the tire, get down in a pseudo three-point stance, and drive with your legs and body, instead of your back.”

Tommy did as she instructed and got low to the ground.

“Okay, now push your hands underneath the edge of the bottom and drive your shoulder into it.

“Like this?”

“Yup, exactly. Now keep your arms straight. Don’t try to curl it. And drive your feet to the floor, shoulders into the tire. Think about that angle like you’re dropping low and pushing over a lineman. Now before you start, once your legs are extended, you’re going to bring one of them underneath, pop your hips up, and then push the tire over.”

“Wait, so are you bracing the weight with your leg?”

“Briefly, just to allow you to pop the tire with your hips and allow your hands to change position. But you want to have the majority of the movement to be all lower body.”

Tommy readied himself by taking in a deep breath and launched with his legs. As the tire came up, he continued to drive with his legs and the tire naturally rotated through his force and flipped over. The movement felt natural given his years of playing football.

“How was that?” Tommy asked with a big smile.

“It was pretty good. But it’s not quite as go, go, go with the legs. You were burning too much energy for that, in my opinion. Here, let me show you what I mean.”

Alanah got down in position. In one fluid motion, she pushed into the tire, lifted it, and flipped it over. She made it look effortless. He was awestruck by the size of her legs and her raw power. But seeing her do it allowed him to see where he went wrong. He was driving his legs using quick feet like he was pushing a lineman, when it should have been more of a single leg stride.

“Okay, I think I see where I went wrong. Let me try again.”

Tommy braced himself on the opposite side of the tire and drove with his legs. He was able to get his knee under it this time in one stride, and push the tire flat. The movement felt easier, and he used less energy, like Alanah said.

“Wow, that time was great!” Alanah said, extending her fist.

Tommy hit her knuckles and smiled. “That felt much easier, but you made it look way easier.”

“I’ve been doing this for years at this point. You do it a few times and you’ll get the hang of it.”

“So what made you get into strongwoman competitions?”

“I mean, to be honest, you did.”

Tommy cocked his brow. “How did I—”

“How do you think?” Alanah asked, crossing her arms. “I watched you on TV for years while you competed. I mean, damn near the whole town did. You’re basically a celebrity here.”

“I am?”

“At least mostly when we were smaller. But now that we’re getting a bunch of out-of-towners, not so much.”

“Huh, I never realized.”

Alanah playfully pushed Tommy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to keep you grounded.”

“Thanks boss.”

Alanah looked behind her and pointed over her shoulder. “So, do you want to keep going with the tire or try something new?”

“Let’s do a few more sets and then move on.”

Alanah grinned and nodded. Over the next hour and a half, the two moved from equipment to equipment, trying everything Tommy hadn’t worked with. They lifted stones, carried farmers’ handles, pushed sleds, and tossed sandbags. Once they finished, Alanah made them both protein drinks. She led them to the top bar doors, opened them, and sat on the edge.

“Damn, I’m going to feel that in the morning,” Tommy said. “I don’t think I’ve worked out that hard in a while.”

“That’s not a typical training session,” Alanah said, looking over at him. “You were just so excited and had to try everything.”

“Honestly, it’s been a long time since I had that much fun. Why just lift a bar when you can lift a car?”

Alanah laid back on the ground and stretched her arms behind her head. “Too true. It is a lot of fun. I’m glad you had a good time.”

Tommy laid down next to her and looked over at her. “Hey… um… thanks for making me feel so welcome back. I know I probably don’t deserve it. But it means a lot.”

“You’re right, you don’t,” she said playfully, pushing him. When the two stopped laughing, she looked over at him with her jade-like eyes. “I’m just glad to have my best friend back.”

“Are we still best friends?”

“If you want to be.”

Tommy smiled and nodded. “I do very much so.”

The two shared a smile and stared up at the stars. After a few minutes had passed, Alanah spoke up.

“So, do you want to tell me about what happened today?”

Tommy let out a heavy sigh and leaned up on his shoulder. “If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone. Not even your moms or dad.”

Alanah rolled to her side and furrowed her brow. “Of course.”

“Dad’s business has not been doing well. It’s been losing money for years. It’s only survived this long because of how well he did when he first started and his frugal nature. He made the mistake of doing his taxes himself the last few years rather than hiring an accountant and ended up getting audited.”

“Oh no, that can’t be good.”

“I don’t think the audit will be too bad. We just needed to get his affairs in order. That’s what I spent most of the day sorting all of his paperwork and settling his books the best I could.”

“Well, that’s good then.”

“That’s not the issue. With the losses he’s incurred, he’s going to have to sell. However, he wants me to buy it.”

Alanah pushed herself up. “Wait what? He wants you to buy his failing business? Why would he want to do that to you?”

“I don’t think he sees it that way. Dad owns the warehouse and property outright, so there’s a lot of value in that. At minimum, he’s willing to sell it to me cheap, and I could do what I want with it.”

“Oh… then it’s a good thing?”

“I don’t know if it’s a good thing, a bad thing, or what I would even do with it. It would force me to stay here. And I don’t even know if that’s the right call.”

Alanah crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “Yeah… since we’ve spent a day together, you might as well leave for another eight years.”

“Come on Alanah…”

The twin-horned girl smiled and pushed him. “Oh, you know I’m just giving you shit. But… seriously, if you do decide to stay, it would be cool to have you around.”

“I don’t know. If you keep jabbing at me like that, I may have to go.”

“Oh, you mean like this?” she said, poking him in the side.

“Ow, you asshole,” he said before rolling to his knees. Alanah let out a playful scream as Tommy lunged for her. The two interlocked their hands in a contest of strength. They playfully rolled up on the barn’s second floor. But when Alanah pushed him off of her and his upper back didn’t hit the plywood, his eyes went wide.

“Gotcha!” Alanah said, snatching his outreached hand and pulling him back into the barn and up to his feet. She quickly shut the top floor barn doors, allowing Tommy to catch his breath. Once they were closed, she rushed over to him and wrapped him in her arms before pulling away and looking down at him. “Are you okay?”

“Holy shit, that could have been bad.” Tommy said, laughing nervously. He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his chest. “Here, feel my heart.”

“It’s beating a million miles a minute. That was stupid for us to be doing that with the doors open.”

“It was fun though, and no one got hurt.”

The two stood close, looking deep into each other’s eyes. They held onto each other, growing warmer as they lingered in each other’s touch. Their heated breath lightly brushed along each other’s skin.

Tommy couldn’t help but glance from her eyes to her thick, pink lips. There was an internal conflict between his mind and body. His primal urges told him to do what he’d always done and savor her sweet taste. But at the same time, it felt wrong. They were friends and had been for years. She wasn’t just another number to him, and he didn’t want to compromise what he had with her.

Tommy pulled away and cleared his throat. “I should probably get home.”

“Yeah, it is getting late,” Alanah said with a forced laugh. “Oh, I brought you here, so I’ll have to take you.”

“Actually, if you don’t mind, Old Blue is at Jim’s.”

“That’s no problem at all.”

Tommy followed Alanah downstairs and grabbed his bag. After closing up the barn, they climbed into Alanah’s car and headed for the street. As they made their way down the gravel road, they passed Bernard and Betty. They honked and waved as they drove by.

The drive back to the mechanics was quiet, but Tommy couldn’t help his mind wander while he looked at his driver. Her physical changes paired with the same personality he grew up with obviously enamored him. But he questioned the sudden urges he now had for her.

Is this because we grew apart? he wondered. If I’d stayed in Harrisburg, would I be feeling the same way, or is it because I find her attractive now? If she found out, would she feel the same way? The way I’ve caught her glancing at me, and then how we held each other back at the barn. That can’t just be me, can it?

They pulled into the mechanic’s parking lot and in front of Tommy’s truck. He grabbed his backpack from the back seat and exited the passenger’s side. After he shut the door, he leaned through the open window.

“I had a lot of fun today,” Tommy said. “Thanks for showing me your workout barn.”

“Any time!” Alanah said, smiling. “If you ever want to work out together, I’m always down, as long as our schedules allow for it.”

“Well, right now I’m jobless and have a ton of free time.”

“Get a job, you bum!”

Tommy smiled and shook his head. “Just less time for us to hang out.”

“Okay, I was kidding! I swear!”

“All right, I’ll see you later.”

“Bye!” Alanah said, extenuating the sound.

Tommy walked over to his truck and unlocked his door. When he put his key in the ignition and turned it, the old machine roared to life. He flipped on his lights, only to see Alanah sticking her tongue out at him. He honked at her and she gave him the finger before driving away.

Spending the evening with her turned his entire day around. He was very thankful for her.