Standing before all of the PT gear clad instructors in the wee hours of the morning, we were led over to the pull-up bars. Dalton came up behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"You ready?" he asked with a smile that could have lit up the dusky, morning sky.

"I guess so," I responded, giving him my first genuine smile of the morning. He was about to say something more, when I heard the deep rumble of Sgt. Cruz's voice bellowing out to the crowd.

"Good morning, Radio and Data," he said, looking around the group and never once loosening the tense muscles that held the scowl on his face. "We are starting your morning out with your preliminary PFT. Males will go to the left, females to the right. You should all be aiming for a first class PFT today."

I watched the Adam's apple in his throat protrude with every word he spoke. Thoughts of running my tongue over and around it bombarded me, taking me away for a minute before I regained my focus.

"Males will be performing pull-ups, females will be performing the flexed arm hang. Males, you will start with your body at a dead hang, your chin must pass the bar, and you must come back down to a dead hang for each pull up to count. Aim to max out at twenty." He moved aside and out came a female instructor that I had not yet met.

"I am Corporal Collins, and I work in the Data section. Females, your flexed arm hang, unlike the male pull-ups, is timed. You are to start with your chin above the bar. The time will stop when your arms become fully extended. Aim to hold your body up for seventy seconds for maximum points."

As soon as she was finished speaking, Sgt. Jensen stepped out, giving the order for us to move to our respective sides. As I moved to the female line, Cruz's eyes landed on me, narrowing into dark little slits the longer we were eye locked on one another. Prickles began coating my arms, even though it was probably about eighty degrees out in the desert already. Castillo walked up behind him, tapping him on the shoulder, which effectively broke our stare. She whispered something to him, making him nod as he strode away. I looked back to find her eyes on me, inquisition laced throughout like she was trying to figure me out. The moment turned awkward in a heartbeat, so I turned my head back around and made my way into my line to start my PFT.

Angelica was one of the first to jump up onto the bar, hanging for a full minute before the weight of her own body gave way and her arms were fully extended. She let go of the bar, dropping to the ground yelling, "Shit!" as she angrily rubbed her moist hands on her t-shirt.

"Good job, Ruiz," Collins said to her, prompting Angelica to give a very tightened response of thank you.

After a few more females, it was finally my turn. I looked around before stating my rank and name, waiting to be given the all clear to get up on the bar. Just as Cpl. Collins gave the go ahead, I looked around and my eyes landed on Cruz, who was standing about fifty feet away, arms locked over his chest, eyes focused with his expressionless face fixated on me. My nerves began to jumble as I gripped the bar, trying hard to steady my weight when the weight of his gaze on me seemed like it was pressing me down.

Once I situated myself, and Collins gave the command to start, I tried hard to erase him and his intimidating, yet, alluring gaze from my mind. I began singing lyrics in my mind, but as I did that, the lyrics to Blurred Lines came rushing back to me, filling my head with his hands all over me, his cock stabbing into my ass. I was beginning to falter, losing the ability to focus on the task at hand. Luckily, I was able to hold tight to my grip, and I quickly moved on to singing a Marine Corps cadence that was taught to us in bootcamp, refocusing my attention to where it needed to be.

Before long, the sweat forming on my hands was beginning to make the bar slick, and the sweat trickling down my forehead was making my face itch. I didn't want to give up. I wanted a max score. Not only because I had yet to attain it but because I was also aware of a pair of devilish eyes that were hooked on me. My facial muscles contorted as I worked feverishly to keep myself up, not wanting to allow my arms to fully extend before time was called. I gritted my teeth and yelled, trying to do anything to combat the hurt expelling itself throughout my muscles as I worked tirelessly to hold my body weight up.

My arms began shaking as I felt my muscles begin to break down from the excessive weight. My body began lowering as I tried in vain to keep it up, but before I knew it, my arms had fully extended and Cpl. Collins was yelling, "Time."

"Sixty five seconds, Bennett. Good job!"

"Thank you, Cpl. Collins," I said through short, quick, breaths.

I pulled the neck of my t-shirt up to my face to wipe the excess sweat away. As I pulled it back down, my eyes met with Cruz. He sent a wicked smirk in my direction before turning and making his way back over to the male side of the field.

"Sixty five seconds. That's bad ass, Bennett," Dalton said, high-fiving me.

"It's my best yet. In bootcamp, the best I ever did was a full minute."

"Sweet. Before long, you'll hit seventy seconds and max out on points. Let me know if you want to work out with me. I'll get ya there."

"Will do."

Our conversation was broken up by death harrowing cries that came from none other than Allen leaving the pull-up bar. He had maxed out his twenty pull-ups and was celebrating his feat with caveman-like cries that seemed to garner the attention of everyone in attendance. Jensen walked up to him, patting him on the back while whispering something in his ear. He smiled and laughed before making his way over to the water station to hydrate. I had no desire to get tangled up with him again, so I quickly turned my head around before he could catch my stare.

Next was the crunches portion of the test. We were all herded to the grassy area not far from the pull-up station and instructed to grab a partner to count our pull-ups. Once again, Sgt. Cruz took the lead, barking out the directions.

"You will have two minutes to belt out as many crunches as possible. Remember, your arms must stay folded over your chest, your butt must stay in contact with the ground, your feet must remain in contact with the ground, and your elbows must touch your thighs and then back down to the ground in order for it to count. Partners, do not count them if they are not executed correctly. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, Sergeant!" we all yelled.

"Go!"

I partnered up with Angelica since she was near me. She seemed to be taking her frustrations from the bar out on her crunches because she was moving like a well-oiled machine. She worked fast and furiously, taking slight breaths with every upward motion that her body made. At the call of the end of two minutes, Angelica had easily knocked out one hundred, flawless crunches.

"Your turn," she said, grinning at me. I wasn't sure if she felt like she was in competition with me since I had lasted longer than she had on the bar, but honestly, my effort on that apparatus had nothing to do with her.

The call to begin was given by Sgt. Castillo and I got to work, pumping out crunch after crunch as easily as I breathed. This event was much less strenuous for me than the flexed arm hang had been, and shortly after beginning, I heard Castillo's voice call time. By my own count, I had matched Angelica with one hundred crunches.

When our scores were taken by the instructors walking through the row, I gave the one hundred count for Angelica, but when they turned to her to get my count, she called out, "ninety." My mouth hit the floor.