I melt into him, sifting my fingers through his hair.
God, he feels divine.
“I’ve been waiting all day to do this,” he rasps. His hands slide down to my waist, my hips, the back of my thighs until he hoists me up and pins me to the wall. His forehead rests against mine, warm fingers slipping beneath my sweater. Uncontrollable shivers rise beneath his touch. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing?”
“Is that your answer? I saw you pulling a weird face when I mentioned physiotherapy.” He gently brushes a strand away from my cheekbone.
I need to be careful around him. The fact he noticed that I got upset at the thought of him leaving is sweet, but I can’t be reckless. We agreed on not letting feelings get in the middle of this, so I have to work on not showing my emotions. On not laying my cards down so quickly.
A chill rushes over him when I lightly kiss his lips. My fingertips run down his chest. “Or maybe I was pulling a face because of how vile your guacamole is.”
He snorts at my lie. Featherlight kisses are pressed to my jaw, my neck, the dip of my throat. He groans, using a hand to unbutton my jeans and tear the zipper down. “You smell so fucking good, baby. But you’re getting punished for being so rude.”
“Oh, no,” I deadpan. The thrill of doing this here, with my best friend on the other side of the hall, makes molten heat pool in my core. “That’s terrible.”
His grin is entirely devilish and, as soon as he steals my breath away again, I forget about everything except the way he touches me as though he can’t get enough.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
DIEGO
“Three more.”
I keep my focus on a blank space on the wall across from me and listen to Dr Ellis as I jump off the box, land into a squat, rise, and push on my legs to mount the box again.
These kinds of sessions are my favorite, because he keeps me moving. The slower ones, where we stretch and massage my muscles, are equally beneficial for me, though.
“Alright. That was great,” he says, once I’m done. “How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good,” I answer honestly, turning to him. With his t-shirt pulled against his muscular physique, his salt-and-pepper hair, and his dark-framed glasses, he appears a bit older than he is, but, based on our casual interactions, I know he’s barely thirty-five, with a kid on the way. Truthfully, I kind of have a man-crush on him.
He nods. “Your knee? Not feeling any discomfort?”
“Nope.”
A grin spreads slowly across his face. “Looks like you keep progressing well. A few more sessions and you might be able to go back to training by the end of the month.”
¡A poco!
Motherfucker.
I’ve been feeling pretty self-assured about my recovery, but hearing it directly from Dr Ellis only emboldens my confidence.
Despite wanting to jump and scream, I stay composed and smile widely. “Cool. Any chance I could start riding again? Not at the snow park, I mean,” I quickly recover, when I notice the way his brows soar. “Just a quick, easy run at the resort. With an instructor to keep an eye on me, if that would make you and Coach feel better about it.”
He looks down at his iPad, on which he has been scribbling notes ever since we started working together. “Don’t get too excited. We’ll see about that next week.”
That’s not a no.
But maybe he knows that I’m lying about not feeling any discomfort. A light, barely-there pain shoots through my leg as I stand there, catching my breath, but I refuse to let him know. He needs to give me the green light.
The thing is that, as much as I am thankful for the Bradfords for helping me through these tough times, I’m still frustrated that things aren’t moving the way I’d expected. I’m insanely desperate to leave this town and find my snowboard again. The only way I can do that is by being dishonest. I don’t like lying by omission, but I don’t see another choice.
Dr Ellis walks past me and claps me on the shoulder. “Good job, though. Your movements are definitely more fluid. Take your time to stretch and then you’re good to go. Our next session will be more focused on relaxing your muscles, but I highly encourage you to continue working out on the side and doing all the exercises we’ve been working on.”
“Will do. Thanks, Doc.”
