Page 15 of Hearts on the Table
“You’ll have to catch us first, team Will!” I called back.Oohssounded at my back, along with a few other catcalls from team Sam. I glanced back at my attending. “We have to win, now.”
I got one of those slow blinks. For a split-second, I felt silly.
“Then you’d best get started, Carmichael.” He nodded to the track around the perimeter of the room. “Give me ten. Smoke ‘em.”
Behind me, Meery whooped and started jogging. The rest of our group followed suit, calling out good-natured jibes to the other teams across the room. Reese gestured with his chin for me to follow them. A challenge.
I grinned, throwing a backwards glance at my attending as I fell in with the group. His eyes tracked me as he set his clipboard on a bench and followed.
???
As far as competitions went, this one was sketchy on the rules. Will and Connor started yelling ridiculous estimations of their teams’ accomplishments, including an exaggerated count of their group’s burpees and a highly inaccurate average speed for laps. Reese was a little more specific.
“Eight thousand pounds?! You’re full of it!” Will crowed while his team sprinted past. Reese didn’t bother responding, but the figure checked out with some quick mental math.
“We had…at least...nine thousand!” Connor huffed from the burpee corner.
“Another set!” a girl in my group cheered. Forty-five minutes into the most competitive workout of my life, I would have expected groans and denials from the rest of the team. Instead, we rallied. Next to me, Tess huffed, smiling, as she hefted the five-pound weight Reese handed her.
Another set, then another. My butt was killing me. All around, my teammates dropped like flies. Meery was dowsing herself in water from her bottle. A man in a blue shirt sprawled on the mats with his discarded kettle bell. I wasn’t far behind him.
“Give me three more.”
Reese’s voice came out of nowhere, rumbling right next to my ear. I jerked, kettlebell swinging wildly. When had he snuck up behind me?
“You got it. Keep your core engaged.” His chest radiated warmth to my back.
My whole freakin’ bodyengagedwhen his fingertips pressed lightly on my ribcage. I chanced a glance behind my shoulder to find him peering down at my form. My body moved without my permission. Maybe I was just used to following his direction. Maybe that gruff, assured command was so different from his gentle recommendations in the OR, Iwantedto do as he said. I gulped a breath on my way down, forcing my mind away from that particular train of thought.
Reese followed me down, keeping that light, steady pressure on my ribs.
“Good.”
I squatted again, squeezing my eyes shut against the sudden flutter his praise sent ricocheting through me.
“One more.”
Breath burst from my lips at the feeling of his chest brushing against my back. I was sweaty and panting and about to fall over from exhaustion. I shouldn’t have had the capacity to get turned on right now. Yet…
“Perfect,” he murmured in my ear as I rose from my final rep. Those fingertips pressed ever-so-slightly where they rested against my ribcage before he released me to walk back to his clipboard. A shudder vibrated through my body that had nothing to do with muscle fatigue.
“Well, damn. How do I get a hands-on assist like that?” Meery sidled up next to me, toweling off. Tess raised her brows. All I could do was gulp down my water, still not completely sure what had just happened. When they turned away, my hand ghosted over the ridges of my ribs, still feeling the heat from where his fingers had rested.
I had an inkling that I’d be able to feel it for a very, very long time.
Chapter 7
Sam
“I guess I didn’t realize we were competing over who could get the most gropey during class today.”
The glare I sent my brother should have shut him up for the next week. Will was still on thin ice. Instead, he kept grinning.
“Yeah, this is a nice place, Sammy. We’ll lose our customers if you start feeling everyone up,” Conner chimed in.
Most of the class was packing up or already heading towards the doors and Lainey had disappeared into the locker room a few minutes ago. Thank fuck. When Will and Connor started riffing off each other, they were insufferable. Especially when it was directed at me.
“I didn’t grope her.”
