Page 19 of Out of Bounds

No, stop. He is the coach, and you are going to be team president. No touching. Just get him out of the tub and be done with it.

“Like what you see?” he asked, a cocky smile spreading across his face.

“No,” she spat. She could feel the flush start to creep up her neck, and just prayed to God he didn’t notice it. “Okay, let’s get you out.”

Gunnar held up his arm and she took it, giving it a hard pull. When his body didn’t budge, she tried again, this time placing her feet one in front of the other, like she was getting in position for a track start. Gripping his arm tighter, she yanked again, this time with all her strength. Just as she started to think she was getting somewhere, the sopping wet bathmat under her foot slipped, sending her straight to her ass. She landed with a thud, narrowly missing hitting her head on the toilet.

“Ow!”

“You alright over there?” Gunnar asked.

“Fine,” she answered. “My ass just may be a little bruised.”

“I’ll rub it and make it feel better,” he remarked, that sly smile still on his face.

“You will get nowhere near my ass, thank you very much.” Standing back up, she grabbed one of the dry towels from the rack and threw it on the floor, hoping it would help soak up some of the water.

Looking around for something—anything—to help wedge him out, she finally reached for her toiletry bag, pulling out the small jar of coconut oil she always carried with her. Scooping some out, she coated her hands in the oil and turned back to Gunnar, who by this point was scowling at her.

“What are you doing?”

“Coconut oil—it’s slippery. If I can get some of it between you and the tub walls, maybe we can get you out.”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

“Like this,” she snarked, reaching into the tub and rubbing her oily hands up and down his thighs. His skin was hot, still slightly damp from the bath water. Felicity had to fight the urge once again to let her hands wander all over his body, feeling the ridges of skin over muscle as she massaged the oil into his skin. She felt him react to her touch, like a jolt from an electric fence, but he didn’t try to push her away or tense up under her attention. Careful to avoid contact with his already hard dick, she continued to work her hands closer and closer to the tub wall, trying to get his skin as slick as possible.

Glancing up at him, her eyes met his. Felicity sucked in a breath, feeling how her body came alive with the fire that she saw there. Gunnar licked his lips, never taking his gaze off of her, like she was the only thing he cared about right now. Heat washed over her, her hands still stroking his thighs as they stared at each other.

After what seemed like hours but was probably less than a minute, Felicity felt Gunnar’s leg shift underneath her.

“Try now,” she said, breaking their eye contact. Her heart sank for a moment, disappointed to lose that connection with him. For as brief of a moment as it was, it seemed like he saw her, the real her. That was equally exciting and terrifying.

Gunnar pushed himself up into a normal sitting position and then up and out of the tub in what seemed like one swift motion. Felicity watched as he shook loose, no doubt tense from being stuck like that for so long.

“Ahhh! Damn, it feels good to stand up!” he said.

“Good,” she remarked, grabbing another towel from the rack. “Now cover up!”

“Why, Effie, I didn’t take you for a prude.”

“Stop calling me that! And I’m not a prude. Just don’t want to give little Gunnar any ideas,” she snarked.

“First off, he’s not little. I know you know this because I caught you staring. And second, he’s already got plenty of ideas, Effie.”

“Ugh,” she groaned, storming out of the bathroom.

They spent the next hour in silence, neither one seeming to know what to say after that. What did you say after helping someone get unstuck from the bathtub? She was already embarrassed enough that he’d noticed her staring at him. But she couldn’t help it. He was just so fucking beautiful.

Climbing into bed that night, she pulled the covers up over her, ready to put this day behind her. Tomorrow was the sponsorship meeting, and she needed to be at her best. To prove to these guys she belonged here. Snuggling down into the sheets, she felt the covers lift off of her and a wave of cool air hitting her as Gunnar climbed into the bed.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she asked, rolling over to look at him. He looked just as sexy as he did earlier getting out of the tub, in just a pair of black boxer briefs, his skin still shiny from the coconut oil.

“I’m not sleeping on that couch. My back is killing me—that’s why I was in the tub. So you have two choices here, Effie, you can either share the bed, or you can sleep on the couch.”

“This is my half, that’s yours. Cross the line and die,” she huffed, rolling back over. Like hell was she sleeping on that couch. This was a king size bed; they could find a way to make this work. Right? “And stop calling me Effie!”

“Sweet dreams…Effie.”