“How’s the shoulder?” I ask, trying to distract myself from the feel of his hand in mine. As we step into my office, I turn and finally get a good look at his face. His tired eyes stare forward as the exhaustion washes off him and I reluctantly let go of his hand. I almost immediately regret the loss as I grab the remote off the desk and turn the TV volume down.
“It’s fine.” His eye twitches and I know he’s lying through his teeth. He had the same expression when he told reporters the same thing. To prove my point, I turn back to the television and rewind, stopping at the beginning of his interview, where you can clearly see that it was iced.
“I call bullshit.” A small smile crosses his face as he lets out an uneven breath.
“Touché, Miss Stevens,” he says, making his way toward me.
My breathing becomes shallow the closer he comes and my mind races, my skin flushing at the thought of what it would be like to just give in to everything I’ve been dreaming about. Everything I’ve wanted these past few days.
“You know, a massage might help loosen it up…” I blurt out and automatically cringe because of course he already knows that. He has professionals around him at all times that would have already told him that. “Don’t mind me, that was a stupid thing to say. Your medical team probably already did that after the game.”
When my eyes chance a glance at Josh, his sly grin is all I can see, and I breathe a sigh of relief. He steps closer and closer until his body is flush with mine and for a split second, I think he’s going to kiss me and for the life of me I can’t figure out a good reason not to kiss him back. But instead, he leans in, his lips against my ear as his breath cascades down my neck as my nerves go into overdrive.
“Show me,” he demands as his lips lightly brush against the side of my neck, sending arousal coursing through my entire body.
I know I need to step away, I know this can’t amount to anything good or helpful, but fuck, the feel of his lips against my skin is addictive. He’s like a drug and I’m a recovering addict, needing to feel that high once more. I wordlessly agree as he slowly steps away and I take a deep breath as he lifts his shirt over his head in that sexy way that men do—pulling it from behind and lifting it right off in one fluid motion.
“What are you—” I stutter because holy. Shit. All I see are abs. His abs and his tanned skin that I knew were there hidden under his clothes, I mean, he’s a pro athlete. If he didn’t look like this, I would question him, but seriously? He has those V-shaped indents at his hips.
Who the fuck has those in real life?
My tongue darts out as I lick my bottom lip, savoring the view. My legs clench at the thought of what that body could do to someone like me, and what that tanned skin would feel like flush against mine…
A groan comes from Josh’s direction as my head whips up as his eyes soak me in. I shake my head, getting myself out of my daydream and turn around.
“You can sit there.” I motion to the chair opposite my desk.
He sits, his back muscles flexing as he does and again, my whole body responds to the point where I have to wait a few seconds before I put my hands on him.
His entire body tenses when my fingers lightly touch his injured shoulder. The heat coming off his skin fills my palms and it takes so much self-control not to start caressing his entire upper body like a madwoman.
“You’re tense,” I say matter-of-factly as I work his muscles beneath my palms. I’m trying to remember what I learned in school, but at this point, I don’t think that matters. I don’t think either of us are expecting what I’m doing to have any kind of lasting effect on his muscles.
“You could say that,” he says, almost low enough that I don’t hear him. His breath hitches as my thumb grazes the side of his neck and I soak up his reaction to my touch. It feels incredibly empowering.
“I assume you let the trainer look at this after the game?”
He nods before wincing when I hit a nerve.
“I did, they’re definitely not my favorite people in the organization, so I try and get out of there as fast as possible.”
I laugh, feeling Josh’s shoulders shake beneath my fingers when he joins me. As much as I hate to admit it, I love the sound of his laugh and I mentally slap myself for wanting to hear it more and more.
“It feels like you have a knot in your shoulders, probably from all the tension you’re holding here.” I squeeze both shoulders before walking around the front of the chair and stand in front of him. I try not to notice the bulge in his pants, but the illicit thrill that runs through me when my eyes cast down tells me I’ve failed miserably.
“That’s the text I got from Josie, my trainer, when I left. She told me to rest it as much as possible and she’ll re-examine me before practice tomorrow.”
I say nothing, stepping closer as his cologne invades all of my senses.
“There’s one more thing I want to try.” I gently push him back into the chair, bending over and placing both my hands on his shoulder once more. His sharp intake of breath hits me as his eyes roam around the room, looking anywhere but me. As I work his muscle more intently, a groan erupts from his chest and when I look down, his eyes are trained on my chest. Or more importantly, my
