Page 38 of Wild Love
Oh fuck, this is going to hurt.
Jack huffs a laugh. “You made a friend. That’s more than he’s said to me all day.”
Hercules doesn’t respond, but one corner of his mouth tilts in amusement.
The giant trainer may not say a lot of words, but he doesn’t need to. I finish one set, he adds more weight, and then waves a hand, basically telling me to get a move on.
Jack finally takes pity on me after an hour of sweating out the pound of sugar I inhaled this morning. I’m killing myself trying to keep up with everything Hercules throws at me.
He tosses me a towel. “All right, Herc. You’ve had enough fun with the new guy.For now.” He looks at me. “Tomorrow, nine o’clock.”
“I’ll be here. I might not be able to leave. I’m not sure I can walk. My legs are dunzo.” I lie on my back in the middle of the floor. Everything hurts, and I’m dying. I’ve got a lot of work to do. Less beer, less pizza, and way more weight training are in my future.
He crouches down and offers me his hand. “You need to meet Elsa.”
“Elsa?”
“Trust me.”
I take his hand, and he pulls me to my feet. Wowser, my thighs burn, but I follow him into another room to a waiting ice bath.
“Seven minutes with Elsa, and you’ll be good as new.” He slaps me on the back, and I stumble forward on wobbly legs. “See you tomorrow, Rookie.”
While Elsa isn’t the magic cure, I do feel better after a soak. I find Hercules still in the workout room and ask him to create a plan for me this summer. He grins, and I regret it immediately. Lastly, I have a meeting with Coach, and then somehow the day is over, and it’s five o’clock. I head upstairs to the main offices, looking for Dakota. I have no idea where she sits, but I see lots of other people I assume are interns and wander until I spot her red hair. She stands outside of an office, shoulder leaning against the wall.
“What are you doing here?” She looks around.
“Picking you up from work. Let’s go to dinner.” Now that I’m not in so much pain or in threat of puking up breakfast, I’m starving. I’m going to need to get my nutrition on lock to survive training with Hercules.
“I’m waiting for Blythe. What are you doing here?”
“I work here.” I wink.
“Right. I meant—”
“I know what you meant.” I lean against the wall next to her. “I worked out with the guys and then spent seven minutes in heaven with Elsa.”
Dakota’s brows lift, and she pops a hip. “Do I even want to know?”
“Ice bath.” I shift and hold out my arm. Standing still makes me realize how weak my legs are. I should have spent more time with Elsa. Or less with Hercules. “Ready to rock?”
She wakes the screen of her phone and checks the time. “Blythe is running late. She has the boxes and all the details for the endorsement. I still don’t know which hockey player I’m working with. The suspense is killing me!” Her beautiful eyes light up.
My gut twists. I should have told her, I know, but then she might not have come to Minnesota.
“Can’t you get it tomorrow?” One more day of ignorant bliss.
“Yes.” Her shoulders slump forward. “I guess so.”
“Great.” I move my legs as fast as possible, which isn’t all that fast right now, to get us out of dodge before Blythe returns.
When we’re outside, I breathe a sigh of relief. “Where do you want to go?”
“I was planning on cooking. We did just buy a ton of groceries.”
“Yeah, but I already ate all the good stuff.” Man, I’d love another donut right now.
“I think I’m going to bake some tilapia and make a nice salad.”
