Page 27 of Unwritten Rules
Clearing my throat, I watch as Tatum snaps her head up to meet mine. Biting back a smile at the soft blush sweeping across her round cheeks, I step further into the room. “I hope I'm not late.”
Tatum pushes back from the desk and stands, eyes searching my face. “N-no, you're right on time.” Clearing her throat, she gestures to the table in the centre of the room. “Have a seat while I grab your recovery schedule.”
Following her instructions, I sit on the table, my attention following her movements as she shuffles around some loose papers on the desk. “No need. I have it memorised.”
Tatum blinks at me, soft lashes fanning over her cheekbones. “You... what?”
“Todd sent it to me yesterday morning after he approved it, and since then I've memorised that plan back to front.” I shrug, running a hand over my right quad. “I must admit, strawberry, that you do know what you’re doing because today is the first day since my injury that I'm not met with blinding pain.”
Tatum drags her bottom lip between her teeth, eyes searching my face. I keep mine passive, watching her, waiting. Her lips turn up in a half smile as she steps out from behind her desk. “Well, I guess I should take that as a compliment, right?”
“For now,” I muse, biting back a smile. “It’ll depend on how this session goes, and how well you work me.”
Tatum stops halfway across the room, blanching at my words. “Workyou? Sin, I?—”
“You have to help stretch me out, right?” I arch a brow at her, lips turned up in a smirk. God, it’s so easy to make this woman sweat. Tatum nods, swallowing hard. Lifting my shoulders in a shrug, I say, “Then it better be a good stretch. I’d hate to have to retract my earlier statement about the plan being great, and therefore you being the best physio I’ve come across.”
“But you didn’t say I was the best physio you have come across,” Tatum murmurs.
I grin. “Well,yet.”
Tatum holds my gaze, her cheeks a light shade of pink. I find myself wanting to always be the cause for her blushes and the sparkle in those eyes.
Get a grip, Sin. In and out. That’s the plan.
Clearing my throat, I gesture to my quad. “Shall we get started?”
Tatum exhales a sharp breath and nods, walking toward me. Her vanilla and floral perfume floats around my head as she passes by, and I fight the urge to drink her in. It’s as sweet as her.
“So, you said you started the plan yesterday. How’d it go?”
“Great,” I tell her. “The swelling had already started to go down before bed.”
Tatum places the plan down on the table behind her, eyes skimming the page. Her shoulders are tense, and her hands are tight around the edge of the table as if she’s fighting to keep herself upright.
That makes two of us.
My knuckles are bleached where they’re wrapped around the edge of the bed. Swallowing hard, I force my eyes down to my quad, skimming over the affected area.
“That’s a good sign, Sin.” Tatum spins on her heels and gestures for me to lie on my back. I do as I’m told, trying to keep my eyes off her face, instead focusing on the ceiling. “If you can keep the swelling down and continue to strengthen the muscle, you’ll start seeing the results you’re after. But it’s going to take time, and you have to be patient.”
“Time and patience aren’t in my vocabulary,” I grumble, folding my arms over my chest. “But I hear what you’re saying.”
“Good.”
My breath hitches when Tatum’s soft, warm hands caress my right thigh, probing the tight and tender muscles in my quad. I drag my bottom lip between my teeth, fighting the urge to watch what she’s doing. To see how she’s touching me.
“Now, shall we get started on that stretching you so delicately reminded me of?” The teasing in Tatum’s voice has me smiling like a fool.
“With pleasure, strawberry.”
I hate that I miss her touch the second she steps away.
Tatum gestures to the yoga mat laid out on the floor beside the bed. “We’re going to start with a pre-contraction stretch. It’ll help relax the muscles and increase muscle tone.”
Nodding, I hop off the table and lie on my back outstretched in front of me. My heart slams into my chest. I talked a big game when I was teasing her about working me out while stretching. Now that I’m faced with the prospect of having her hands on me and her body so close, knowing I can’t touch her in return, is going to be torture.
Tatum kneels beside me, her eyes on my leg rather than my face. “Okay, bend both of your legs so your feet are flat on thefloor.” When I’m in position, she turns her body so that she’s kneeling in front of my right leg, her hands flexing at her sides. “Now, extend your leg and rest your calf on my shoulder.”
