It’s so good to be home and to be able to sleep and wake up in my own bed.

If you grew up in a place where there were more cows than people, you remember the kind—tight jeans that hugged just right, boots scuffed from work, and sun-kissed shoulders that spent more time bare than covered. They didn’t have gym bodies, but the kind that came from throwing hay bales, fixing fences, and long days working the fields, tending their crops beneath the hot Southern sun. On weekends they were up before dawn to hunt, out fishing by midday, and sipping beer from a bottle or a red Solo cup by nightfall. Some wore cowboy hats, though in Alabama it was more likely a baseball cap. They smelled like sweat, soap, and summer air. Some were rowdy, some were sweet, but all had that quiet confidence that could make your heart skip. They were good ol’ country boys—the kind who worked hard, laughed easy, and lingered in your memory long after you left home, and if you’re honest, one of them was probably your first crush.

I’m still not able to work out at the gym because of the pinched nerves in my back—unless I stick to my physical therapy exercises, which don’t take very long—but I’m hoping to get back to it soon. I had really been enjoying my workouts, and not just because I liked my trainer. In the meantime, I’ll have to get my fitness fix another way—so enjoy these pics of men working out.

There’s just something about tanlines—those sharp contrasts etched by a summer of sun. Now that summer is over, the lines remain, like a secret reminder of long days, warm nights, and skin that still carries the memory of light. Sometimes what’s hidden makes the revealed all the more irresistible.