Top Dog Training
ells knew Coach Stone was serious the second the whistle did not blow.
That was the first warning.
Coach usually made an entrance with sound — a barked order, a whistle, the clap of his hands, something sharp enough to make every man in the gym stand taller and pull himself together.
But today, Coach Stone just stood in the doorway.
Silent.
Watching.
The gym lights gleamed off the black shine of what he was wearing: a tight, glossy black singlet that hugged every inch of his heavy, powerful frame, black wristbands, a backward black cap with COACH across the front in gold lettering, and black-and-white trainers planted solidly on the rubber floor.
He looked less like a fitness instructor and more like judgment in human form.
Wells stopped laughing immediately.
Alton did not.
“Bro, I’m just saying,” Alton said, leaning against the rack with far too much confidence, “if we were out dancing half the night, that absolutely counts as cardio.”
Wells closed his eyes.
He was dressed in shimmering metallic gold spandex compression shorts, a matching metallic gold spandex compression tank top, black-and-gold socks, and gold-and-black trainers. Sweat already made the gold shine even brighter. Beside him, Alton was dressed nearly the same way, the same metallic gold compression shorts, matching gold tank, black-and-gold socks, and gold-and-black trainers, but somehow on Alton the outfit looked more like a dare.
Wells muttered, “Alton.”
“What?” Alton smirked. “It’s true.”
Coach stepped fully into the room.
Every other conversation died.
Wells straightened at once.
Alton noticed that. He always noticed that.
Because whatever existed between Wells and Coach Stone, whatever quiet understanding, whatever tension, whatever unlabeled thing lived between them — it was always visible in little moments like this. Wells knew when to joke. He knew when to push. But more importantly, he knew when to listen.
Coach’s gaze moved from Wells to Alton.
“Dancing counts as cardio?” Coach asked.
Alton grinned wider. “That’s my professional opinion.”
Coach nodded once. “Good. Then your lungs are warmed up.”
Wells exhaled slowly. “You did this to yourself.”
Alton frowned. “Wait, what does that mean?”
Coach pointed to the center of the floor.
“Partner circuit. Now.”
The punishment started with medicine-ball squats.
Then deeper squats.
Then squat holds with chest passes.
Then walking lunges across the floor.
Then more.
Wells moved with disciplined precision, jaw tight, sweat running down his arms and over the gleaming gold of his tank top. Alton tried to keep his smirk for as long as possible, but the deeper Coach pushed them, the harder it became.
“This feels personal,” Alton muttered, catching the ball against his chest.
Coach paced slowly in front of them. “It is.”
Wells nearly laughed.
Alton shot him a glare. “You’re enjoying this.”
“I’m enjoying the part where I warned you.”
Coach heard that.
“Talking?” he asked calmly.
Alton straightened. “Just motivating my partner, Coach.”
Coach’s mouth twitched. “Then motivate him through twenty more.”
The circuit only got worse from there.
Pushups.
Plank holds.
Shoulder taps.
Bear crawls.
Partner resistance drills.
When Wells and Alton were ordered into shuttle sprints with the weighted sled, the metallic gold compression shorts flashed under the lights with every turn, every stride, every exhausted stop. Their socks were damp, their trainers squeaking slightly against the floor, and their matching gold tanks clung tighter and tighter as the sweat built.
Alton was still foolish enough to keep talking.
“Honestly,” he said between breaths, “I still think I look great doing this.”
Wells, hands on his knees, looked over at him. “That is not the point.”
Coach’s voice cut in.
“Drop.”
They both dropped into pushup position.
Alton groaned. “For confidence?”
“For attitude.”
Wells kept his eyes on the floor. That was safer.
But Alton, half gasping and still reckless, lifted his head and smirked toward Coach.
“So what, Coach? You punishing us because we skipped drills, or because Wells here didn’t tell you where we were?”
The gym went very quiet.
Wells froze.
Not for long. Just long enough.
Coach stepped closer.
Wells kept his eyes down.
Alton looked between them, suddenly realizing he had touched something real.
Coach’s voice dropped low.
“Wells knows when to listen.”
His gaze stayed locked on Alton.
“You’re about to learn.”
The next stretch of training was brutal.
Partner carries.
Wall sits.
Alternating burpees.
Weighted sled pushes.
Every time Alton talked back, Coach added something else.
Every time he got cocky, Coach made him prove how much energy he still had.
Wells said nothing. He just worked. Sweat ran down his chest and soaked the waistband of his metallic shorts. His gold tank was plastered to him, and eventually Coach ordered both of them to strip the tanks off and keep going.
That, somehow, made it worse.
Now Wells and Alton were shirtless, gleaming with sweat under the lights, still in their metallic gold compression shorts, black-and-gold socks, and gold-and-black trainers, with Coach Stone stalking around them in that glossy black singlet like he owned the air they were breathing.
By the end of it, Alton was bent over, hands on his thighs, chest heaving.
Wells stood beside him, breathing hard but upright.
Coach folded his arms.
“So,” he said. “Still think you’ve been training enough?”
Alton wiped his face with the back of his hand. “No, Coach.”
“Still think dancing until three in the morning fixes skipped workouts?”
“No, Coach.”
Coach tilted his head. “Still think you’re top dog?”
That got Wells’ attention.
Alton tried to smirk, but there was no strength behind it now. “Depends who’s asking.”
Wells muttered, “Oh my God.”
Coach’s expression did not change, but his eyes sharpened.
“Clean up the floor,” he said. “Return every piece of equipment. Wipe the benches. Then locker room.”
The public part was over.
Wells knew that immediately.
Alton, unfortunately, did not.
They put the gym back in order in tired silence. Medicine balls returned. Towels tossed in the bin. Benches wiped down. When the last sled plate was stacked away, Wells grabbed his discarded gold tank but did not put it back on. Neither did Alton.
They followed Coach out of the main gym and into the adjoining locker room.
The shift was immediate.
The bright noise of the gym faded behind them. The locker room was warm, quieter, lined with polished wooden lockers and long wooden benches. The air smelled faintly of soap, sweat, and steam from the showers beyond.
Wells dropped down onto a bench shirtless, still shining with sweat, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. Alton leaned against a row of lockers, equally stripped down, chest heaving, metallic gold shorts catching the warm light.
Coach stepped in last.
The locker room door shut behind him with a soft but very final click.
Alton looked up.
“Oh,” he said.
Wells gave a tired, knowing smile.
“Yeah,” he said. “That sound means we’re not done.”
Coach walked toward them slowly, the black singlet gleaming under the locker room lights, his cap still backward, wrists braced, expression unreadable.
“You spent a lot of time acting like top dog out there,” Coach said.
Alton lifted his chin. “Maybe I am.”
Wells laughed under his breath.
Coach looked at Alton for a long moment.
“Cute,” he said.
Alton blinked. “Cute?”
“Loud,” Coach said. “Confident. Pretty. Mouthy. But top dog?”
He shook his head once.
“Not here.”
Wells leaned back on his hands, watching.
Coach turned slightly, glancing at Wells.
“And Wells,” he said, “at least knows the difference between showing off and showing respect.”
Alton’s eyes flicked between them again.
There it was.
That current.
That quiet thing.
That unspoken understanding that made it very clear Wells had access to a side of Coach Stone other people only guessed at.
Coach stepped closer to Alton.
“In my gym,” he said, “you train when I say train.”
Another step.
“You stop when I say stop.”
Another.
“And if you want to keep acting like the biggest thing in the room…”
He let the sentence hang.
Alton swallowed.
Wells smiled, just a little.
Coach finished it softly.
“Then I’ll keep reminding you who’s actually in charge.”
Alton’s smirk came back, weaker now, but still there. “And what if I need the lesson repeated?”
Coach’s mouth curved.
“Oh, I think you do.”
Wells laughed openly at that.
Coach turned his head toward him. “You think this is funny?”
Wells, still shirtless on the bench in his gold compression shorts and black-and-gold socks, gave him that dangerous, teasing smile.
“A little.”
Coach held his gaze.
Then he said, “Good. You can help demonstrate.”
Alton stared at both of them.
“Oh,” he said slowly. “So that’s how this works.”
Wells stood, rolling his shoulders back. Shirtless, sweat-bright, and completely unbothered, he looked over at Alton with a smug little grin.
“You really do catch on late.”
Coach folded his arms across the glossy black front of his singlet.
“At my place,” he said, voice low and steady, “there are fewer spectators and more focus.”
Alton looked from Coach to Wells.
“Your place?” he repeated.
Wells’ expression went wicked.
Coach did not look away from Alton.
“If this attitude needs more work,” he said, “we can continue in private.”
Alton tried to laugh it off, but the sound came out thinner than he wanted.
“And what exactly would continue?”
Coach stepped close enough that Alton had to straighten instinctively.
“The lesson,” Coach said.
Wells moved to stand beside Coach, not behind him, not beneath him, beside him. Familiar. Comfortable. Claimed, in the quiet way that mattered.
Coach noticed Alton noticing.
“At my place,” Coach said, “you wouldn’t be top dog there either.”
Alton’s expression shifted.
Not offended.
Interested.
Wells folded his arms. “Honestly, that part should not surprise you.”
Coach added, calm and absolute, “If you came along, you’d listen. You’d follow direction. And you’d stop acting like the one in charge.”
Alton raised an eyebrow, trying to reclaim a little swagger.
“And who would be?”
Coach glanced at Wells.
Wells smiled.
Coach looked back at Alton.
“We would.”
That landed exactly the way it was supposed to.
Alton let out a slow breath. “Wow.”
Wells grinned. “You asked.”
Coach pointed toward the showers. “Rinse off.”
Wells moved first, because Wells knew better.
Alton stayed where he was for half a second longer.
Coach caught him with one quiet look.
“One more thing,” Coach said.
Alton swallowed. “Yeah?”
Coach’s tone stayed measured.
“Leave the top-dog act in this locker room.”
Wells looked back over his shoulder, smiling like he already knew the answer.
Alton finally nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “Okay.”
Coach stepped aside to let him pass.
“Good boy.”
Wells laughed all the way toward the showers.
Alton stood frozen for one stunned second, then muttered, “I hate both of you.”
Coach’s mouth curved into a satisfied smile.
“No,” he said. “You’re learning.”
And with sore legs, a wrecked ego, and far too much to think about, Alton followed Wells and Coach deeper into the steam, knowing perfectly well that the workout had ended…
…but the lesson definitely had not.
Every bro thinks he’s top dog until Coach starts counting reps. Not every lesson ends on the gym floor. Step closer, train harder, and let the Gold Standard take over. Join the Golden Army. Contact: @alton-gold77, @polo-drone-125
Featuring: @alton-gold77
