Page 157 of Slap Shot

“Nope. I’m not going to name names, but Grant’s face turns bright red when he’s sobbing.”

“You know what?” Her grin is lethal. “I’m in the mood to watch Lexi make a grown man cry. Are you heading out soon?”

“In ten minutes, but I’ll wait for you. Leggings are fine. At least that’s what Lexi wears when she puts us in our place.”

“Good thing that’s half my wardrobe. How long of a class is this? Please don’t say more than an hour.”

“It’s only an hour, and half of it might be spent with my head between my legs while I catch my breath.”

“Really?” She wraps her arms around my neck, and I give her ass a squeeze. “You’re really selling this workout. I’m excited.”

“Wait until you’re doing Hundreds on the reformer. We’ll see how excited you are.”

“Sounds like a torture device.” Madeline grin and heads for her room to grab a chance of clothes. “I’m in.”

“I fucking hate this.”Liam rubs his thighs during a stretching break and glares at Lexi at the front of the studio. If looks could kill, Lexi would be a goner. “My ass hurts. My toes hurt. My fucking calves hurt. This is all your fault, Hayes.”

“Whoa. Don’t blame me.” I wipe my forehead with the small towel next to my water bottle. “Besides, it’s good for us. It’s training muscles we don’t normally use, and we’re getting stronger.”

“Why do we have to train muscles we don’t use?” Grant groans and hangs off his machine. “Isn’t that the point of not using them?”

“Y’all complain too much. Do you know how lucky we are to be here and doing this?” I ask. “It’s only going to make us better athletes.”

“Easy for you to say.” Ethan puts his hands on his knees and dry heaves. “You’ve been looking at Madeline’s ass the last thirty minutes. If I had that kind of motivation, I’d be showing off too. Clark Kent wouldn’t be able to take me down.”

“Fuck you.” I laugh, but my eyes dart over to her.

How could they not?

Ethan’s not totally wrong—her ass really does look amazing in her black leggings.

They’re different from the pairs she wears around the condo. Tighter and more fitted around her hips and thighs, when she did the Elephant exercise on her machine, I had to bite my fist because her curves were so goddamn distracting.

I’ve even caught my teammates glancing her, and I don’t even care.

They can look at her all they want, but she’s coming home with me.

“All right, kids. Back on the machines,” Lexi calls out, and Riley whimpers next to me.

“I can’t do it, man,” he says, dropping his voice low. In the second row, Madeline tosses her ponytail over her shoulder and stretches her arms above her head while she chats with Emmy and Piper. I’m imagining getting her in front of a mirror while I peel her clothes off. Making her watch while I go down on her and asking her to return the favor. “Are you even listening to me complain, Huddy Boy?”

“What?” I shake my head and clear the thoughts away. “No. What’s up?”

“I was saying if I had to spend every day with Lexi and her training plans, I’d probably turn into the fucking Hulk.” Riley grimaces and shoves his glasses up his nose. “How do people enjoy this?”

“It’s not that bad.” I lunge down into a Warrior 2 pose and let out a breath. “You have to center yourself.”

“Fuck your centering, Hayes,” Liam says before he topples over.

“Come on, boys,” Piper teases. I’m not sure she’s even sweating. “Weren’t you saying this should be easy sincegirlscan do it?”

“Father Lord, I repent for my sins.” Grant closes his eyes and clasps his palms together. “I vow to never make a joke like that again if you can take away the pain.”

“Guess the saying is true: anything they can do, we can do better.” Emmy gives us a sharp smirk in the mirror. “Maybe if you all smiled more you’d have more fun.”

Madeline turns to look at me with a wry smile. “I think we can up the intensity, Lexi,” she says, and Grant lets out an honest-to-god wail. “Just a smidge, don’t you think?”

“Game on, Galloway,” I say, grimacing when Lexi comes over and pushes on my shoulders, helping me get deeper. My knees shake and my shirt is drenched with sweat, but watching Madeline excel at something is fun. “Want to see who can hold this position the longest?”

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