by Nana Malone
“Stay. She only has about two miles left of this run. Shouldn’t take her longer than fifteen minutes, if she keeps up this rate,” he remarked.
“Which she will,” Jen said, as a matter of course. She removed her jacket, and took a seat on a low padded table they used to stretch out Echo’s cramps.
“Hmm,” Cole grunted in response.
“Listen Cole, about that night.”
Apparently, thinking about it had brought it to the forefront. He shook his head. “Forget it.”
She sighed. “You want to blame someone, blame me. Echo didn’t plan on that night, and she’s just as stressed about it as you are.”
He shrugged. “Who’s stressed? Not me.”
“Okay. Good. It’s nice to meet you, officially.”
“Yeah. You, too.”
Once she finished, Echo hopped off the treadmill and paced a bit, pausing to bounce on her toes every now and then like she was ready to keep going.
“You ready for lunch?” Jen asked. “You must’ve worked up an appetite.”
“I’m going to head over to the locker room and clean up a bit first,” Echo informed them. “I’ll meet the two of you up there though, yeah?”
“You should have your girls’ time together.” No way Cole was having girl chat with these two. And the last thing he wanted was to be stuck at a table alone with Jen while they waited for Echo. Things just felt awkward.
“Are you sure?” Echo asked with a furrow in her brow. “You’re more than welcome to join us.”
“I’m good,” he insisted. Echo headed to the locker room, and he grabbed a pair of ten-pound dumbbells and began doing squats. While he was here, he might as well get a workout in. He didn’t realize that Jen had stayed behind when Echo left, until she spoke and he jumped.
“She really liked you, you know.”
“Fuck,” he said, whipping around.
“That night, going out like that, it was my idea, not Echo’s,” Jen explained. “She was having a tough time of it with her parents, and I thought she should do something for herself. She didn’t know who you were, and pretending to be someone else… I think you should know that it wasn’t anything personal.”
Fuck. He couldn’t deal with that right now. Not when he was just getting used to not touching Echo.
“I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”
She just glared at him. “You’ve been an ass about the whole thing, and you know it.” She said, apparently refusing to back down. “You liked her too, but you hate being at the Coulters’ beck and call, so you take it out on Echo. She doesn’t deserve it and you know it.”
“Did she ask you to say something?”
“Of course not. If she knew I was saying something now she’d freak. And have you seen Echo do the fast-talking-not-taking-a-breath thing? Not pretty.”
He did not need to feel sorry for little miss princess. “You should go,” he told her. “She doesn’t take that long to clean up, and she’ll be wondering where you are.”
“Fine. Just… She gets enough shit from her family. She doesn’t need it from you, too.” She left without another word.
“Fuck,” he muttered as the guilt crept in. He had been riding her hard. Damn it. Even his thoughts couldn’t behave. Jen’s words were hard to escape. And there was a part of him that didn’t want to escape. It was the part of him that fell asleep every night to the way she looked as she came around him. Yeah, real helpful. Focus on the job. It was the only way they’d both survive this.
He knew he was pushing her harder and nagging her more often than he normally would have. She might not be as bad as some of her family, but every time her grandfather showed up unannounced, or when her parents texted her about picking up her brother or running an errand for them, and she had to cut off training early, she was the one who was there for him to snap at and punish for the way they made him feel.
Jen was right. Echo didn’t deserve as much crap as he gave her. She didn’t let him get away with all of it, though. She fought him on some things. But when it came to her family, she caved every time. And they took full advantage.
Maybe she didn’t know how to be strong with them. But she needed to learn, or she’d collapse under the pressure. And he wasn’t helping. He was her coach. He was supposed to be in her corner. Time to start acting like it, asshole.
Thirteen
They were fine. Just fine. This was fine.
Except Cole had left every single practice for the last week since his conversation with Jen vibrating with anger. For starters, it didn’t seem to matter what Echo said to her grandfather, the old man continued to show up at practices. Second, for whatever reason, Echo was distracted as fuck. Third, he couldn’t get what Jen said out of his head. He wasn’t taking his anger out on her…not much, anyway.
He forced his brain to focus as Echo ran the first corner of the quarter mile. Again, she’d gone way too fast out of the gate and could barely finish the lap. “Echo, what part of 75 percent did you not understand?”
She brushed her hair off her face. “Can you just ease off, Cole? I’m tired.”
“Yeah, no shit, you’re tired. You didn’t listen. Now we need to waste time cooling you off so you can go again.”
She grimaced. “Fuck, Cole. Just shut it, okay? I get it. You’re frustrated.”
Frustrated? She didn’t fucking know the half of it. For the last week and a half, he’d been unable to sleep. At least not until he’d had a very long shower and uh…worked out some of his Echo frustration. But that didn’t usually help for long, because after an hour or two of sleep his subconscious would lead him right back to the place he did not want to go, and he’d wake up hard…again. Lather, rinse, repeat. “You have no fucking idea.”
She got in his face and winced. “You think I want this? Every day, with you? The first guy—” She stopped herself. “And fucking Gramps. And you obviously hating me. And my damn parents.” She winced again.
He frowned. There was something she said that he wanted to get back to. The first guy to what? But right now, she was wincing. “Where do you hurt?”
She frowned at him. “I’m fine, just tight. I slept like shit.”
“Of course you did. Head out to another bar, did you?”
She winced again, then her lip quivered. “Screw you.”
Shit. She wasn’t going to cry, was she? So far, whenever he got in her face, she’d pushed right back. But today, something was wrong. “Okay, look, we can scream at each other later. Right now you’re obviously in pain; where do you hurt?”
She slid her gaze away as she sniffed. “Left hamstring.”
“Okay, lie down on the grass.”
“Cole—”
He put up a hand to stop her. “I might not like you, and maybe vice versa. But my job is to look out for you. Push you, yes, but you’re no good to anybody hurt, and I want your body in top form.” Shit. “That sounded…” He sighed. “I mean, I want you feeling good—” Damn it. “I mean—”
“I know what you mean.” She lay down in the grass, and flung a hand over her eyes to keep the sun out. From the corner of his eye, Cole saw her grandfather heading their way, and he held up a hand to stop him. There was no way she was going to relax with him in her face.
“How long have you been tight?”
“Couple days. It’s spasming, but not full-blown Charlie horse.”
“Okay, we’re gonna pull back on the quarter mile and the sprint workouts the rest of the week, and have you do some heart-rate runs to work on endurance and strength. In the meantime, I want you drinking coconut water. The cold-pressed stuff. And up your banana and kale intake.” Before she could complain, he added, “You don’t have to do the smoothies, but you need to up the intake, okay?”
She nodded.
Cole leaned over her, lifting her left leg and placing on his shoulder. At the skin-to-skin contact, Echo’s gaze snapped to his, then she immediately looked away. Yeah well, it’s no picnic fo
r me either, sister.
As he pushed her leg back, his thumb traced over the pulse point on her ankle. Touching her at all was a bad idea. But tracing his thumb over that soft skin… Rookie mistake, because all he could think about was where else she was soft. Which obviously led to how she tasted, and then onto…other things. He had to stop.
“Okay, push back against me. How do you feel?”
She wasn’t wincing anymore, but she was still frowning. “Hurts less, but it’s still pretty tight.”
“Okay.” He then lifted her leg and gently straightened it, then eased her leg back by centimeters. He didn’t want to push her too much, but he kneaded until the tension eased. “How’s that? Better?” Why did his voice sound so husky?
Echo was looking at him again, her bright-blue eyes boring into his soul. Damn it, why did she have to look at him like that? Equal parts annoyance and…arousal. That’s the last shit he needed. She needed. They needed. Her soft gasp made him frown. He knew what hurt, and he knew how to make it better. Problem was, it meant touching Echo.
At that spot where those impossibly short shorts met hamstring…just mere inches from where his fingers had played some weeks ago… Sweat popped out on his brow.
“I’m going to help massage this out, but you’ll need to use the foam roller when you get home.”
She pursed her lips. He knew she hated the foam roller, but there was really no choice. “Okay.”
Right. Okay, then. All he had to do was massage her ass now. Okay, not her ass, her hamstring. He could do this. He’d be fine.
When his hands smoothed over her leg, she hitched a breath, and he tried to ignore it. He did, he swore he did. But the low groan she made when he pressed his palms along the spot where glute met hamstring was too much. He was only human. He could keep it together, despite his cock twitching in protest. He had to.
He massaged out the muscle, kneading and soothing until her body relaxed under his ministrations. With every pass of his hand, he bit back the moan. His brain might not want her, but his body…his body remembered every minute they’d spent in his bed and out of it. The hottest night of his life. It was seared onto his memory, so no matter what he did, there’d be no ignoring her completely. He was too aware, too close. And she still smelled like fucking coconut and vanilla, and it made him insane.
After a minute, she fully relaxed, and a tiny moan escaped her lips. Cole’s hands stilled immediately.
“It’s, uh, little better.”
“Okay, we’ll do a couple more stretches, then we’ll have to do a good cool-down job, okay?”
She nodded, but didn’t look away from him. When she licked her lips, he was barely able to bite back his groan. She was so damn beautiful. So damn sexy. And so damn off limits.
When the frown on her forehead relaxed, he eased back on her leg. She flexed and pointed her toes. “That’s better, thank you.”
“And Echo?”
“Yeah?”
“Remember, we’re on the same side, so when you’re tight, tell me. We can work more consistent massage in with your needs. Daily, if we have to.”
He stood gingerly, careful of his knee, then reached a hand down to help her up. “Go on, give me a couple laps and head inside for weights. I don’t want you running hard on that today. I’ll tape you when we get inside.”
As she gingerly trotted off, Cole saw Rory Coulter approach. Shit, this was not shaping up to be his day at all.
“What’s wrong with Echo?”
Cole shook his head. “Nothing that getting some proper sleep and extra potassium won’t fix.”
The old man glared at him. “You think I don’t know what you’re doing?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Rory.” Cole deliberately didn’t call him sir or Mr. Coulter. This man was no better than him, and he wasn’t going to kowtow.
“That little stretching exercise you were doing with Echo. I know what you’re doing. I see you.”
“You mean coaching? It’s what Brent and Julia hired me for. I’m her coach. Occasionally, she’s going to need a stretch or massage.” Yeah, so maybe he didn’t have to add that last part, but it gave him a nice boost of satisfaction to see the old man’s face go bright red.
“M-massage,” he blustered. “Back when I was running, we didn’t get massages for some cramps. You stretched it out and you walked it off.”
“Well, I think we can both say that a lot has changed since then. I’m not sure what you’re implying, but I’m coaching Echo. I’m making sure we can get the best out of her when it counts. I’m not here for show, or as a puppet you and the rest of the family can pull around. I’m here for her.”
The old man glared at him. “I know your type. Talk smooth, throw around some new ideas. Dazzle her. It won’t work on Echo, and we’ll make sure of it. If you step a toe out of line, I promise you, you’ll regret that day.”
Already have. But no way he was telling Rory Coulter that. “I’m sorry you think I’d do anything to interfere with Echo’s coaching. You can feel free to talk to Brent and Julia and Echo about my style, if you don’t like it. Since they hired me, and Echo is my client.”
“Legacy Sports hired you, son.”
Cole drew himself up to his full height. At six foot two, he and the old man stood eye to eye, but Cole was leaner. And probably a whole hell of a lot meaner. “Actually, you might want to check with Brent on that. Have a good day Rory, we’re moving the session inside. Due to Echo’s cramps, she’ll only lift the rest of the day.” Cole gave him a wave and a dismissive smile.
“You keep acting like this and you won’t be around much longer.”
Cole just managed to keep his temper in check. “I guess we’ll see about that. Have a good day, Rory.”
Fourteen
After another long day with Echo, all Cole wanted was a beer, a hot shower, and a whole night without seeing Echo Coulter in his head. But no. The second he collapsed on the couch, his phone rang. He was so not in the mood for Dylan’s shit tonight.
“What?” he barked into the phone.
Alex chuckled. “Yo, working for Richie Rich has you in a bad mood, huh?”
Cole forced himself to relax and to shove aside the anger and annoyance. “Alex. Sorry man. Just a shitty day, how are you? How are classes? You doing okay?”
“Fine. Shitty, but fine, and yes. Stop worrying. You realize I don’t need a nursemaid right? I’m twenty-one.”
“Not yet, you’re not.”
“Fine—in two weeks, then. But I’m good. Okay, now what’s up with you?”
Cole was on the verge of unloading, then he thought better of it. Alex had other shit to focus on. “Nah, I’m good. Just a long day. Have you started running for the season, yet? Or training, rather?” His brother didn’t do the cross-country season, but he did do the indoor-track season at UVA, and it was getting to be that time.
“Yes, of course, coach. But I want to hear about you. You realize you never tell me about you.”
“That’s because I’m doing the adulting thing. That shit is boring.”
“No it’s not, and you realize you’re not my parent, right? You don’t have to shield me from shit. If something is going bad, I want to know.”
Why did that sting? Because he was right? For three years, Cole had taken on the parent role, but he was Alex’s brother, and sometimes needed to act like it. “It’s fine, Lex. Just some chick. We got our signals crossed, is all.”
“No way. Is she hot?”
As a volcano. “She’s all right. If you like that ice princess thing.”
“And clearly you do.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Alex laughed. “Missy, man. ’Member her? Beautiful girl, but couldn’t melt ice to save her life. Homegirl was frosty.”
Echo wasn’t frosty. She was actually sweet. No, dummy. Cece was sweet. “No, this one’s not cold. Just a liar.”
“Ouch. Want me to come out there and talk so
me sense into her?”
“You are not coming out here until you have fall break. Get over it.”
“Damn.”
Alex had been trying to come out ever since he moved. But Cole was holding off. He wanted to get settled in first, and he wanted Alex concentrating on school. “It’s fine. I just thought she was someone else.”
“You want some unsolicited advice from your little brother, who has way more game than you do?”
Cole laid his head back on the couch. “Oh, this’ll be good.”
“Whatever you think she did. Cut the girl some slack. Not everyone can live up to Cole Jackson’s code of moral ethics.”
Cole frowned. “What do you—?”
“Shit, sorry, gotta go. Emerson is here to run. I’ll check you later. You okay, though?”
When had they reversed roles? When had Alex started to be so grown up?
“Yeah, I’m good. You go. Take it easy on that ankle. Road running only.”
“Yes, coach. Later.”
He loved his brother, but Alex was a kid who knew nothing about relationships. There was no way Cole was cutting Echo any slack. He didn’t care why she’d done what she’d done. Honestly, the sooner he could be done with her the better.
Fifteen
“Would you relax, Echo? Have a drink. No one is here counting the calories.”
Echo had to laugh. Jen didn’t know Cole. “Oh, I promise, the coach from hell will know if I don’t eat to diet. He’d say something like, ‘You look bloated.’”
Jen’s eyes went wide. “Are you serious right now?”
Echo sighed. He wasn’t that much of an ass. Close, though. “No, he’d just point out that I’m running like shit.”
“God, I would have thought that you guys had mellowed. That day I came to meet you he seemed calmer.”
Echo shrugged. “I guess. But he’s all business. Zero play. He’s not fucking around at all. So it’s not like it’s playtime. Practices certainly aren’t fun.”