Page 10 of Down to Puck

“Squats?” I follow her past rows of workout and rehab gear. “I can do those all day.”

Yasmín steps up to the power rack and adds weight plates to either side of the bar. She’s wearing a pair of workout tights and a cropped tee, her shiny black hair piled onto the top of her head in a haphazard bun. The snug workout attire only flames the desperate arousal burning through my body.

“Don’t overdo it, Stone.” She tosses a warning look over her shoulder at me. “I didn’t bring my suture kit with me, so try not to break anything. Can’t have you skewing my stats as team doctor.”

There’s a flash of bravado in her dark eyes as Yasmín steps back to watch me step into the squat cage. Her silky hands and smooth voice are bad enough, but I’m convinced Yas is trying to get a rise out of me now. She’s picking her words purposefully, playing at the competitive athletic core in me.

It’s working.

The gym is quiet except for the rhythmic clang of the squat rack as I work my way through three sets. The Nest has a dedicated physiotherapy center, separate from the workout and training centers. The intensity of her gaze in the empty room might as well be another pair of weight plates as I work through an intense program. The first time I saw her eyes, I was convinced Yasmín was an Angel.

My opinion hasn’t changed.

“How was that, doc?” I set the bar back onto the rack with a smirk. “Seen enough, or should I start from the top?”

Cocky? Maybe. But even uninjured, half the guys on my team couldn’t do what I just did. They get by on size and natural talent. I’ve always had to work twice as hard for half as much recognition.

“It was alright,” Yasmín concedes with a small shrug. “I’ve seen better from you, though.”

She’s all business today and I like the challenge. It gets me fired up, motivated to push harder.

It’s also sexy as hell. Everything Yasmín does makes me want her more. I’m trying to ignore it— scrambling to keep a professional distance between us. Nothing good can come from getting mixed up with the team doc. But logic has no place in my feelings for her. Ignoring the chemistry between us is impossible.

I might as well be trying to skate with no blades.

“Bullshit, doc.” I grin, daring her to disagree. “My form was perfect and you know it.”

Yasmín’s eyes flash. Gold sparks light up her dark chocolate eyes and for a moment I can almost taste her mouth again. Despite what she may think, neither of our first two kisses was an accident.

The next one won’t be either.

“It was good,” Yasmín fires back. “For a guy with stitches in his head and both knees blown out.”

Her tongue is as quick and sharp as her mind.

There is nothing sexier than a smart girl who isn’t afraid to flaunt what she knows. Too often, women are conditioned into hiding who they really are. They learn to make themselves smaller as the men around them eat up all the room.

Yasmín is unapologetic about what she knows.

“Why don’t you show me what it’s supposed to look like, then?” I shoot back.

The smoldering heat in her eyes tells me that Yas is onto me. But she only squares her shoulders, determined not to break first.

“Fine,” she huffs. “I thought I knew what stubbornness was. You’ve really blown the curve there too, Emerson.”

Yasmín’s words might be sharp, but her tone is anything but. Her body language is speaking loud and clear as she saunters over to take my place at the bar. She’s enjoying this just as much as I am.

I move to adjust the weight, and Yas slaps my hand away.

“Yasmín,” I shake my head. “You’re demonstrating proper form, not training for the Stanley Cup. You don’t have to kill yourself to impress me.”

Yas rolls her eyes before planting her heels squarely into the floor. She lowers her body slowly, blowing out a slow exhale before straightening again. Her form is just as perfect as everything else she does. But it’s the thick curve of her ass in those leggings that has me mesmerized.

I know she can see me watching her in the mirrors. Hell, she can probably feel them moving all over her.

“See something you like?” She steps away from the machine.

Her bottom lip is caught between her teeth when she meets my eyes again.

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