I walk over to the mats, and she follows, mirroring me as we begin to warm up.
“I just wanted to say thank you again for the other day. It was appreciated.” She turns, pulling her leg up behind her, and now I’m the one zoning in on her backside. I shake my head, I need to stop thinking like that—especially here.
“What are friends for?” I say and mean it. Molly is ridiculously cute and tenacious; so much like Rachel in her mannerisms. She turns, her eyes flashing with something I can’t decipher, then just as quick, it’s gone. “Nate came by to pick up your car. I was going to hold on to Molly’s car seat so I could offer to come pick you up, but he said he was loaning you a car.”
She drops her other leg having stretched enough. “You were?”
I nod. Damn if the rubescent colour creeping up her neck and over her cheeks doesn’t distract me. I clear my throat and clap my hands together. “Right, you ready?” She nods. “I want you to use some of the techniques I’ve taught you.” And I realise how gutted I’ll be when her class is over.
I circle her and grab her in a bear hug from behind. She wriggles, so I tighten my hold. Grunting, I whisper in her ear, “Come on, you’ve got this.”
Her whole body tenses. She peers at me over her shoulder, and I’m trapped. Her pupils dilate, she licks her bottom lip, and I’m a goner—my dick hardens.
Fuck.
Never has that happened to me before—not while doing this. “Sorry,” I say and pull away from her luscious body.
Then out of nowhere, she dips, hooking her ankle behind my leg, and I go down, pulling her with me. The air whooshes out of me with an oomph. “Shit!”
“Got you,” she says, half on top of me.
“Yeah, you do,” I say, swallowing hard, watching her eyes dance with satisfaction. I groan when her elbow digs into my ribs.
“Sorry, did I hurt you?”
“No, just wounded my pride. Well played, young Jedi.” She laughs, and I tighten my grip on her waist. I fuckinglovethat sound from her lips.
She rolls away from me. If I can’t keep my emotions in check, I need to get one of the other guys to finish her sessions for me. The thought riles me the wrong way.
I push myself up and hold my hand out to her; she waves it away and stands in front of me. Her scent is beginning to drive me crazy. Even when she’s sweating, she smells sweet, like vanilla icing sugar.
“Be right back,” I say and turn to rush for the changing room off to the side. Once in one of the cubicles, I lean my forehead against the cold tiled wall and close my eyes. She’s under my skin and has no bloody idea. I shake out my hands and count to ten.
Pulling myself together, I return to find her chatting to Meghan. “Hey, Smeggy,” I say as I approach them.
She swats my arm. “Are you not bored with that nickname yet?” she asks.
“Never,” I reply with a wink.
Rachel is staring between the two of us, an unspoken question on her face; she raises an eyebrow. I shake my head. Meghan bursts out laughing—we’ve known each other since secondary school.
“Olly and I go way back,” she tells Rachel, who nods but has gone quiet. “Anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I just wanted to see if you’d be up for sparring sometime?” she asks.
Rachel points to herself and shakes her head. “I wouldn’t even know where to start,” she says. Her ponytail whips back and forth, vanilla hits me again, and I let out a groan.
“I’ll give you some pointers,” I say, wanting to take it back immediately.
“You would?”
“It’s settled then,” Meghan says as she walks away.
I need to catch up with Meg. I’ve been distracted lately, but I’ve noticed she’s been acting strange, and I feel bad I haven’t had much time for her recently.
Chapter Nineteen
RACHEL
I thought things were on the up, but I should have known better. I’ve gone and broken the heel of my favourite boots—my only boots—and I can’t afford to replace them any time soon. Marcus is going to have to come up with some money for Molly. I usually don’t ask, but he’s living the life of a carefree single guy. He’s a father first—anything else second.
