Page 127 of Caught from Behind

“Watching hot hockey guys?”

I nod. “Do we do anything else?”

A wink. “Not if I can help it.”

“I’ll meet you at Nova’s,” he says. “I want to change and my clothes are at my new apartment.”

I wrinkle my nose. “I hate this for you.”

“Why?” he asks. “You finally helped me find my wings so I can fly.” He grins. “Plus, I need to make a pit stop to pick up those special dog treats. I’m determined to get Steve to love me the mostest.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “That’s not even a word.”

A shrug. “You’re just worried you might lose your top dog spot.”

“Puns.” I sniff. “You’re hilarious.”

“Yup.”He hugs me tight. “I love you.”

My heart rolls over in my chest and I hug him back. “Thank you for forgiving me.”

“Always.”

Then he presses a kiss to my cheek and strides out the door.

And…

I’ve finally started to breathe again.

I can do this.

I really think I can.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Riggs

“Push, Patches,” Ivy says as I squat. The bar resting on my shoulders isn’t loaded with the maximum amount of weight I can lift, but it’s heavy enough and add in the fact that Ivy is relentless, and I’ve lost count of the reps. “Engage your core, push through your whole foot, and get that fucking bar in the air,” she snaps.

“You are the fucking worst,” I grunt as, legs shaking, quads on fucking fire, I straighten.

“Yup,” she says cheerfully. “Now, give me three more.”

Christ.

But I grit my teeth and manage to push through the trio of reps, each harder than the last, and I can’t lie, I’m relieved when she helps me rerack the bar.

“Stretch,” she orders, nodding toward Lake, Leo, Storm, and Bear, all of who’ve been equally tortured and are “stretching” on the mat behind me.

And by stretching I mean they’ve become prone piles of men who’ve lost all will to live.

I join them, flopping down and making a half-hearted attempt at a figure four.

Thankfully, Ivy has turned her attention to other matters?—

Or matter, singular.

Knox is working on some sort of combination squat—his back leg in a resistance band that’s been hung from a chin-up bar, a dumbbell in both hands as he curls his leg behind him and descends, slowly enough that I can see almost every muscle in his body working.

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