Page 15 of Desperate Pucker
“Again,” she says.
I sprint across the ice, stop, then head back over.
“Again.”
I bite down before taking off again. Fuck, if she says that word one more time, I’m gonna scream.
“Again.”
I take off once more. I’m soaked with sweat, my knee and ankle throbbing.
When I make over to her, I rest my hands on my hips and catch my breath.
Those stormy gray eyes are hard as she looks up at me. “I want you to run suicides next.”
I hold up a hand. “No way.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, the look in her eyes taunting. “No?”
“I can’t. My knee and my ankle can’t take any more.”
She tilts her head at me. “Really?”
“Really.”
She’s quiet for a second as she stares at me. “Then maybe we should stop for today.”
I nod, wincing as I stretch out my leg.
“And maybe you should have listened to me when I told you that you needed more time before training. Because maybe I know what I’m talking about. Maybe I’m actually good at this, and maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t write me off because of who my dad is.”
She skates off. I watch her disappear down the tunnel. I stand there, my entire left leg throbbing, feeling like the biggest dipshit on the planet.
Because she’s right. I should have listened to her. I should have rested for longer before jumping back into training. I should have listened to her when she insisted she knew what she was doing. She really does. She was able to pinpoint my weaknesses right off the bat and fix them quickly.
I tug a hand through my sweat-soaked hair, knowing exactly what I need to do—even though it’s the last thing in the world I want.
I need to keep training with her.
Chapter 7
Ryker
“Damn, man. Your muscles are insanely tight. What the hell did you do?”
My physiotherapist, Eric, digs into the muscle just above my left knee.
I grit my teeth at the sharp pain.
“Don’t tense up,” he says. “You gotta breathe, remember?”
I take a breath in, then out. Slowly, the muscle starts to loosen.
“I had a training session with my skating coach,” I say, wincing.
“She must have kicked the crap out of you.” Eric chuckles before digging his fingers into the muscle and massaging harder.
“She definitely did,” I mutter.
