My eyes narrow at the nickname that keeps making a comeback. “Don’t call me that.”
“Whatever you say, Sweetheart. You know you like it,” he winks.
Looking down at my lap so he can’t see the way my face is absolutely blushing, I reluctantly admit to myself that yes, I think I might enjoy it.
Probably morethan I should.
Chapter 21
Jamie
Jesus… oh fuck,” I groan, a bead of sweat running down my forehead. The bed creaks from my weight as I’m pushed farther into the cushion. “Oh my god, yes. Right there.”
“Alright, please stop with the sex noises,” Jared pleads, causing me to laugh hysterically.
“I’m laughing through the pain, Jared. If I don’t, I’m gonna start cussing and throwing fists. Neither of us want that.”
“You already are cussing.”
“Yeah, but not at you,” I point out.
“Yeah, well not yet anyway. You might be in a second though. Getup. Time for—”
I sit up quickly, giving him a desperate look. “Not the bands…”
Jared nods, a sinister smile forming on his face, probably because he knows these are my least favorite thing to do. They hurt like a bitch, and that’s crazy for me because it’s something that used to be so easy. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
“Yes, the bands. Now get your ass up and on the mat,” he points to black yoga mat on the floor.
Groaning exaggeratedly, I reluctantly move from the bed to the mat. Jared hands me the bands and directs me on what to do with them.
I count the reps in my head the way I used to count shifts.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
The resistance band bites into my quad as I extend my leg, sweat slicking the back of my neck despite the rooms aggressive air-conditioning. I push through the searing pain in my knee, trying to picture anything else in my mind to keep me from thinking about how much it hurts.
“Don’t rush it,” Jared tells me for the third time.
I exhale through my nose and slow the movement, my jaw tight. My knee burns, but my need to get back on the ice is hotter.
As I huff and puff, I stare up at the ceiling.
And of course, like she’s a freaking beacon of light, Ellie’s face is there. All gorgeous with her pink lips and green eyes and perfect smile. Fuck, the way she was talking to me the other day, all demandingand straight to business. The way she smiled when the details finally came into place. Shit, I had to jack off in the shower as soon as I got home. She’s a goddamn vision, and I don’t understand what my eighteen-year-old self was thinking. Cleary he wasn’t considering I left quite possibly the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on. I had her. I had her and I fucked it all up. Now, I have to work like hell to try and get her back.
Jesus Christ, this hurts.
I finish the set and let my leg flop down on the mat.
“What were you thinking about?” Jared asks, curiously.
“How much I wanted to punch you for making me do that again,” I say with a straight face. He chuckles.
