“It’s been quite a few weeks, Marc,” she said as she looked up from her clipboard while I entered, “but here we are, last session. I have to say, I’m impressed with your progress.”
“Like I said,” I remarked after dropping my bag and walking over to peer at her charts, “my body recovers fast. But you’ve been part of that. A big part.”
She glanced at me and smiled, but she quickly diverted her eyes as she stepped across the room to some exercise equipment. I frowned a little. I had moved to stand close to her, but her reaction had been instinctive.
“As you’re probably feeling at this point,” she went on, “your body is essentially in tip-top shape already. Think of today as a follow-up to make sure everything is acting the way it should be before I sign your papers as ‘officially healed.’ ”
“Glad to hear it,” I said, cracking my neck and following her. “There are a lot of things I’ve been missing out on to their full potential since the injury.” I smiled as our eyes met. “I’ll look forward to getting right back to them. Immediately.”
I noticed her chew on her lip a moment, but to my surprise, she simply gestured towards some of the exercise equipment without batting an eye. “I imagine so. I hear you’ve got a fight coming up before too much longer. Provided everything goes well today, there shouldn’t be an issue with you getting back into the ring and, well, doing what you do best. But for now, follow me. We’re going to be briefly tracing your steps from the past few weeks.”
Now her eyes weren’t on me as much as they had been before, and I noticed she was deliberately avoiding contact. Even when she was helping me with the exercise equipment, positioning me just the way she needed for her charts’ requirements, she seemed to subtly but noticeably avoid physical contact with me.
We went through the basics--some of the rubber band exercises and stretches, some calisthenics that worked out the muscles in my sides, and even some basic weightlifting. All the while, the more I tried to interject some small talk, the more focused on the training she seemed to become.
“How’s your sister been doing?”
“Oh, you know, busy with this and that. Now if you’ll just flex your pecs while you pull this back…”
As I lifted weights that got progressively heavier, while I pumped iron with ease, her eyes were fixated on her charts. It was infuriating and frustrating all at once, and I wanted to just ask what the fuck was going through her mind. After the last session, I really thought we were on the same page.
Finally, we reached the point at which I had to be physically inspected one last time, meaning that she had to check for pressure points and sources of tension all over my sides--the same points she’d used to retaliate against me during our first few sessions.
She seemed visibly stiff as her hands moved around my body, pushing and stroking different muscles, but even I couldn’t deny the look of desire in her eyes as she did.
“You know,” I said, “I gave you a hard time when we first started this, but I’ve got to say, Gemma, I’ve been impressed with how things have been going.”
She afforded me a quick smile, but otherwise kept her nose to the grindstone inspecting me. Nevertheless, I went on.
“My body is something that’s personal to me in a way most people don’t understand. It’s everything, and perfecting it has always been my life’s goal. The fact that you could step in and do what you could to it the way you did has been...well, it’s something not many people in the world could boast.”
When she didn’t respond, I looked down on her, watching her movements. She was as gorgeous as ever, even when she was icy towards me. Her bright eyes roved over my body, and the excitement being restrained in them was palpable. I knew what my body wanted. Why couldn’t she let hers have the same privileges?
“So how does it feel,” I finally asked, “going over all those muscles you were able to manipulate on me a few weeks ago, finding them in shape again? You used to be able to restrain me however you liked. Now, though…”
As she ran her hand up my side, I reached over and put my fingers under her chin, lifting her eyes to mine as my other hand took a gentle hold of her wrist. “There’s nothing stopping me from letting you see everything my body can do, unrestrained. It’s been in your eyes from the second I walked in, and fuck, Gemma, I want to take you right now, right here. Do you want that?”
There was a golden moment of silence between us as our eyes locked, but my heart roared inside me as she turned her head away, slipping out of my grasp as she clicked her pen and jotted a few things down in her charts. “We can’t do this, Marc,” she said softly, simply, and no amount of twisting or pulling she’d inflicted on me struck as hard as those words.
“Your physical checks out, Mr. Montoya,” she said immediately afterwards, her tone as professional and clear as the day I’d first walked in. “I’m happy to sign your papers stating you’re in peak physical condition once again.”
She tore the papers out of her clipboard and handed them to me. I just stared into her eyes a few moments, but they were unsearchable.
What the fuck happened, Gemma? was all that mine spoke back to her.
After a few long moments, I took the papers and nodded, flexing my other hand as I rolled my officially healed shoulder. “Thanks,” I said curtly. I wanted to say more, so much more, but I didn’t trust my mind not to speak itself too harshly, and I decided to head for the door, grabbing my bags along the way.
I turned my head, casting a final look at Gemma, and I caught her glancing up at me from her clipboard, a light blush on her face. Letting out a breath, I shook my head and pushed the door open, leaving her behind me.
There were storm clouds around my head as I made my way down the hallway, and I wanted to punch a wall as I went. Fuck, I almost wished I could run into Dante again and finish what we’d started earlier. No, I did wish that. I owed the guy a black eye from last time.
A voice called out to me as I made my way across the lobby, but it wasn’t his, to my disappointment. I looked over and saw the face of Trina sitting at one of the tables by the reception desk.
“Marc, hey,” she called, and her tone told me she could read my emotions as plain as day. That didn’t surprise me. I wasn’t the kind of person to be guarded - when I was happy, it was clear, and when I was pissed, the storm around me was as obvious as the one raging outside.
“Uh, hey,” I replied, a little confused. Trina and I knew each other vaguely, but we rarely talked. She nodded for me to come over, and I did so.
“You just got out of physio, yeah?” she asked, and I frowned, looking away as I crossed my arms.
“What about it?”
She held up her hands. “Hey, you’re a little on edge, I get that. Look, Marc, I just wanted to catch you before you headed out. Gemma, she…”
I looked at her with a careful eye as she thought about her words carefully. “I don’t know if she mentioned it, but Gemma and I talk, a lot. She’s kind of like my little sister in the way she is with her real little sister, you know? Look, I don’t know what went on in there, but I can take a few good guesses,” she said, looking me up and down, and I rolled my eyes.
“So what’s your point?” I asked, impatient.
She frowned. “Take it easy, I’m on your side, Marc. Or at least, I’m looking out for Gemma. I just want you to know that whatever happened in there wasn’t exactly out of the blue. She got a lot put on her plate just before you got here.”
I cocked my head, interested and concerned now. “What are you talking about?”
She gave me a meaningful look. “I mean you weren’t the only one to pay Gemma a visit this morning, Marc. And the last visitor wasn’t nearly as friendly as you.”
It took me a few moments as we stared at each other, then realization dawned, and I ran a hand through my hair as I sank into a chair next to Trina. “Fuck, Selena,” I said, and Trina’s face confirmed my suspicion.
“How bad was it?” I asked, a
nd Trina just shook her head.
“Man, I don’t know what the two of you went through, but she’s on the warpath.”
“I know what it’s about,” I said through a groan, “her career means everything to her, and this doesn’t look good.” I looked back at Trina and added suddenly, “she didn’t threaten her or anything, did she?”
Trina was quick to quench that fire building up inside me. “Marc, whatever was said, going after her isn’t going to help it. It’s Gemma who’s going to need a little time to process all this.”
“I need to go talk to her,” I said, starting to get up, but I felt Trina’s hand tugging me to sit back down.
“Hang on, cowboy,” she said firmly, and I considered pulling past her, but since this was a confidante of Gemma’s, I looked back to her questioningly. “I’m going to tell you as someone close to Gemma… storming in there and trying to ‘sort this out’ your way is the worst possible thing to do right now. She’s going to need a little time, and the best thing you can do is give her that.
I considered her words for a moment, still on the verge of ignoring them and bursting back into the room, but finally, I cursed, looking up at the ceiling.
“Fuck, you’re right.” There was a long pause between the two of us. “Alright,” I said, breaking the silence, “alright, I’ll...let her think things through. But if Selena comes back-”
“Let me worry about that,” Trina said with a smile, and I finally returned it.
“Fine.” I looked towards the hallway where Gemma’s room was, but then shook my head. “Thanks, Trina. Gemma’s got a good friend in you.”
“I know,” she said with a laugh. “Now stay dry, alright?”
I grunted, heading towards the doors and out into the rain. On the contrary, a shower sounded like the best thing in the world at that moment.
CHAPTER 16 - GEMMA
“How do you know it’s gonna look like crap if you haven’t even tried it on?” whined Alice, all but dragging me to the back of the shop toward the dressing rooms. It was the weekend after my last physio appointment with Marc, and I’d been in a really obvious slump ever since. Behind my back, Alice had been texting back and forth with Trina about it, about how much of a deflated balloon I’d been lately. The two of them had schemed together to hold me captive for a girl’s night in the hopes of lifting my spirits and distracting me from the Marc situation.
So here I was, stuck in a shopping mall with Alice and Trina, being carted around from shop to shop as they forced me to try on cute clothes. I felt like I was in a chick flick montage or something, like Cyndi Lauper should be playing in the background of my life. It wasn’t at all like me to wallow, and I really, truly appreciated my sister and my best friend for trying to cheer me up, but I just couldn’t seem to shake off the raincloud hovering over my head.
“Everything is gonna look like crap today,” I groaned. “Because I look like crap today.”
“No, you just feel icky because you’re stressed out about stuff,” Alice argued, “but you look fine and this dress is super cute. Just try it on, okay? For me?”
Trina appeared around the corner carrying a stack of more clothes. I sighed. They were determined to treat me like a mannequin today, it seemed. As if a pile of cute dresses and tops would really be enough to keep Marc off my mind. I was worlds away, trapped in a never-ending labyrinth of terrible outcomes and regretful wrong turns. I couldn’t believe that I’d allowed myself to fall so far, so fast. And the fact that both my little sister and my best friend and mentor knew all about it was almost worse.
I mean, it was kind of nice to have someone to talk to about all this. But I still felt like a huge failure, like I was letting them down. I didn’t like letting people see my weak spots, and it turned out that Marc Montoya was a massive, gaping weak spot of mine.
“Fine. But you guys can’t just lie and tell me it looks good because you want me to feel better, alright? Just be honest. I may be a little depressed, but I’m not a fragile little bird or anything,” I grumbled. They both nodded enthusiastically.
“You gotta promise to give this a shot, Gemma,” Trina said, walking over to put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. “I know you’re hurting, but try not to think about him.”
“At least for now,” Alice added.
I nodded and retreated into a dressing room to strip out of my clothes and stare blankly at my nearly-naked body in the full-length mirror. I realized then that I was wearing the same bra I wore the day Marc and I… slipped up. I gulped and tried to tear my eyes away, but I couldn’t. All I could see were the places on my body that he’d touched, the stretches of skin that he’d groped, caressed, kissed. I couldn’t stop myself from reliving it, even just for a fleeting moment.
God, what had I done?
“Hurry up in there! I wanna see the dress!” Alice exclaimed. Startled from my reverie, I quickly squeezed into the tight little white eyelet dress with a sweetheart neckline that they’d selected for me. I had to admit that it did suit me pretty well. The fresh white cotton against my pale, lightly freckled skin and rosy cheeks made me look like a windswept angel of sorts. And the neckline showed off my cleavage in a pleasant way. I was by no means overly busty, with my small frame evenly proportioned, and I normally wore clothes that reflected my athleticism rather than my sex appeal. I wanted to be lean and strong, not soft and feminine.
But this dress certainly highlighted the best of all those traits.
I stepped out of the dressing room to see Alice and Trina both gasp in delight. Trina clapped her hands and cooed, “Girl, you look fine. That dress is workin’ hard for you.”
“It’s perfect!” Alice exclaimed, beaming.
I blushed, looking down at the billowy skirt which fell to just above my knees. It did feel pretty good to try on something that boosted my self-esteem a little bit. Especially since my encounter with Selena had really landed a massive blow to my confidence. I winced inwardly, recalling the way she belittled me, calling me low-class. I would never be able to compete with her—not in her world. I was not a flashy model with endorsement deals, and I didn’t have a team of professional stylists to dress me in the latest fashions.
But I did have two best friends who went out of their way to brighten my mood. And that, I presumed, was something that Selena probably did not have in her life. I was sure she had an entourage of some kind, but I couldn’t imagine her ever deigning to share the spotlight with anyone else, and especially not another woman.
She’d made that totally clear.
“Yeah, yeah, but what’s the price?” I asked, turning around and searching for the price tag hanging off the back of the dress.
“Here, let me check,” Trina said, stepping forward to scrutinize the label.
“Okay, no matter the cost, you have to buy this dress,” Alice insisted.
“Alright, remember who pays for your food and shelter,” I quipped playfully. Alice was never the type to worry much about trivial things like money or success. She just wanted to be happy. That wasn’t to say that she was frivolous, just that she was less concerned with saving for a rainy day and more into the idea of making every day fun and memorable.
“Well, you’re in luck, because it’s on sale!” Trina said happily.
“Yay!” Alice giggled, poking me in the ribs. “Now you have to buy it.”
“Fine, fine!” I agreed, rolling my eyes. But I couldn’t deny that I was starting to feel a little better, after all. I was stubborn and didn’t want to admit that something so silly as a pretty dress could lift my mood that much, but it certainly didn’t hurt.
After we checked out, the three of us linked arms and strolled through the mall toward the exit. “Where are you taking me now?” I asked, a little warily. The shopping was only part one of the girls’ night adventure, apparently, and I was slightly concerned as to what else my enthusiastic little cheerleaders had planned.
“Relax, we’re not taking you to a strip club or anything crazy,�
� Alice assured me.
I turned to her with a horrified expression. “Alice! You’re not even supposed to know places like that exist. You’re a kid.”
“Yeah,” she said sarcastically, “a kid in Las Vegas. I know what a strip club is, Gem.”
“I knew we should’ve moved into that little cabin in the middle of Montana,” I murmured, only half-joking. Sometimes I did worry that living in Vegas would be detrimental to Alice’s development as a sane, functional adult. I tried my best to keep both of us out of the neon lights and seedy underbelly of the city, but I knew it was inevitable that some of the seductive shadows would sneak through. I just hoped I could shield her against the worst of it and raise her to be strong enough to handle herself.
Game On (A Bad Boy Sports Romance) Page 27