Page 187 of Steeling Her
He shakes his head from side to side before he opens his mouth to say, “The only way you could help is to . . .” He pauses for a moment and squeezes his eyes shut. “Not be around me.” I take my hands off him as soon as he mentions that and step back.
“Then why did you come here?” I ask him, irritated and hurt by his words. I was already embarrassed about the weekend, and now he doesn’t want to be around me?
Why is he here? Is this a joke to him?
“Your team has a very capable physical therapist that you can use and won’t make you so tense, Nick. Use them if ’you want, it’s free of charge and one of the best in the country. I don’t know why you even bothered to come here unless it was to see your fuck buddy in the next room.” I push my trolley away that I was going to use to help him out with. I had the straps cut and ready to go since the appointment before lunch got canceled at a short notice. I took another person instead.
“Because I want the best. That’s why I came here, you’re the best at this, and I trust you.” He leaps off the bed and follows me. “It came out wrong, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. You make me so nervous,” he blurts out. It looks like he shouldn’t have, but he changes the topic again. “I just—I don’t know the physical therapists who work for the team. I know you—” I cut him off and stare back at him over my desk.
“No, you don’t. I’m completely different. I’m not the same pushover I once was—”
“I never thought of you as a pushover, Carter.” He sighs and runs his hands through his hair but winces a little in pain. This makes me rush to his side and touch his shoulder again.
“Sit down,” I order him again. He retakes his position on the bed and waits patiently for me to attend to him. “Can you do that again?” I ask him to run his hand through his hair once again and he does, giving me the same reaction. I dig my fingers to the spot I think that’s hurting him the most, and he curses under his breath then later apologizes for it. “Pull your arm back like this. Slowly,” I order him and guide his arm back. He bites on his lower lip, making my mind go into overdrive. I pull myself back before I lose my thoughts completely. This is harder than I thought.
“I can’t feel anything. Lift it back down then bend your elbow at ninety degrees for me. Keep that elbow as close to your side as you can. This might hurt a little again, but I’m going to push my hand against yours and you’re going to push back, okay?” I instruct him on how to do the resistance test and hope I can get something from it. He should be resting from now until the next game. There isn’t much time but he should be alright to play by that point. He may feel some pain but if someone straps him up correctly, it will be minimized.
As I push against his hand, I feel our fingers intertwine with one another as he does the same. My breath gets stuck in my throat as I miss the feeling of him holding my hand. His callous hands in mine makes mine seem smaller than they actually are. I quickly put my hand flat against his again and push to carry on with my work, slowly increasing the resistance to take my mind off what just happened. It happens too easily between us.
His face scrunches up in some pain but not enough for him to be completely uncomfortable. I ’most likely know what is going on with him.
“I think you might have rotator cuff tendinitis. I’ll give you a list of exercises you can do to help it. I’m assuming it comes and goes a lot,” I inform him as I move over to my computer to print him the exercises.
“Yeah, this time is very sore though,” he confesses and I nod, knowing how painful it can be.
“You should really get a second opinion from your team therapist. They might have better exercises to give you instead with the equipment in the gym they have. I don’t know what they have to offer.” He shakes his head as I wait for the sheets to print.
“I prefer you. As I said, I trust you,” he repeats himself. I can feel my cheeks starting to blush, making him smile. I remember him relishing in the fact that he could make me do that. He had that power over me.
“If it gets worse, you need to get an MRI scan, but these should help.” I lift the sheets off the printer and hand them over. He skims through them. “Try to avoid reaching overhead and lifting heavy things for the next three weeks. I know you have a game coming up, but you need to rest it until then.” I got the date mixed up for their home game, I thought it was yesterday when in fact it’s next Sunday. “Don’t use any slings, it’ll only make things worse. Use an ice pack to reduce the inflammation, get a light massage if you want. Stretch it every so often to prevent stiffness and please, please, for the love of God, do these exercises.” I place my two hands together, telling him he needs to stick to these or it won’t help him in the long run.
He smirks and chuckles back, staring down at the pictures of the cartoons carrying out the exercises he’s supposed to do. “I promise I will.” He puts them away and smiles down at me, making my heart leap into my mouth. I step away, afraid of what I might do. He might trust me, but I don’t trust myself. Not when he’s around.
“Okay, well, is that everything?” I ask and walk near the door to open once I see him nod. He gathers his phone and the shirt he took off so I could see his shoulder a little better and slings it over his other shoulder.
He follows me out the door as I walk him out to the reception area. I spin around quickly, ’not realizing how close he was to me. I can see some of my colleagues hovering around, wanting to see him again. I am about to turn my head and wave them off for gawking at him. It’s like they’re kids in school and want to see the new kid. He’s just a client.He’s also Nick ’ackson, Carter.
But I am stopped by the softness of his lips on my cheek. A harsh pulse rips through my entire body as I stand stock still. I can feel my traitor of a body leaning in for more until he pulls back. “Thanks, Carter.” He smiles, biting on his lower lip. I had to wipe my mind of the sinful thoughts that I was envisioning with his lips.
Pull yourself together, Carter.
“No problem . . .” My voice is weak.
“Could I book another time with you while I’m here?” he asks and I nod, pushing myself away and nearly stumbling over the Sydney’s chair. I didn’t want to look up and see if he saw that, but I could feel the heat radiating off my cheeks as I wave the mouse over the screen and click on the appointment calendar. “When would you recommend?” he asks and I flick through my schedule that she has access to.
“Um, three weeks from now? At twelve?” I offer as I stare up at him leaning over the desk with his bulging arms showcasing his strength and athleticism. He confirms that the time and date is fine.
“Perfect. I’ll see you then! You have the same number right?” he asks and I clear my throat out of habit and confirm that I still have the same number I used back in college. I could see the hint of hurt in his eyes when I confirmed that I still used my same number, the one he used to send texts to me with when he dumped me.
He knows I purposely ignored him, but I was hurting and he needs to understand that. I still am, and I know I shouldn’t be.
Nodding once more, he waves to the woman eavesdropping in the hallway with Ross hovering too for some eye candy. “Bye.” He smiles at them and Dallas, my manager. Each of them wave him off with hearts in their eyes.
I stand up, ready to leave the reception area and fix myself as I watch him leave. I run my hands along my thighs to stop them from sweating so much. He stops when he opens the door and turns back to face me.
“Bye, little one!” He leaves on that, and I stop breathing.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
