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I tried not to notice the way his Speedos were molded around the shape of his dick. “How do you feel?”

He folded his arms over his chest. “Wet and stupid and I still hate it, thanks for asking.”

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but you’re making progress.”

“If you say so,” he said, and I could tell by his tone that he thought I was full of shit.

But I’d been down this road before. “I want you to close your eyes and concentrate and really hear what your body’s saying to you. Then you can tell me I’m wrong.”

He rolled his eyes, but he did as I asked. When he opened his eyes again a few seconds later he tilted his head, considering. “I think it might have done something. Like, I could feel every muscle moving, you know?”

I got a flutter of excitement in my chest. The tank didn’t work for everyone, but I’d had high hopes with Luke and this was exactly what I’d been looking for. “Perfect. Now we’re gonna do it again, only shifted.”

Luke’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re being pretty generous in the use of the word ‘we’ there, don’t you think? Seeing as I’m the only one of us who can actually turn into a wolf.”

“But I’m the one watching the controls and making sure there isn’t a freak hydrotherapy treadmill accident,” I said, biting back a grin. “Very important work.”

Luke rolled his eyes again, but he was smiling when he said, “Fine.” He pulled off his Speedos and tossed them in my direction.

I caught them one-handed, and I would have had to be made of stone not to be distracted by Luke’s wet, naked figure. His hair was still damp and stray droplets of water dripped down onto his collarbone. The overhead lights reflected off the water on his chest and abs and made him almost glow. It was like watching a living statue.

“Enjoying the show?” he asked with a smirk. He ran a hand through his hair, licked his lips, and put one hand on a cocked hip, and it was clear he didn’t mind me looking.

Heat crept up my neck. I was a professional, dammit. I even had a piece of paper to prove it. I cleared my throat. “Sorry. I’ll let you change.”

I turned my back, my face burning, and waited until I heard the telltale creak and snap of tendons, followed by a low growl, before turning back around.

Luke was just as gorgeous as a wolf as he was in human form. He was massive, his bulk filling the hydrotherapy tank almost to the sides. He had a pale brown coat that blended to deep black all over, especially on the tips of his ears and around his face. Dark brown eyes observed me calmly, and even if I hadn’t known werewolves were a thing, the intelligence there would have had me wondering if this particular wolf knew something I didn’t.

Luke made a questioning noise, then lunged upward, resting his front paws on the edge of the tank for a split second—right before his back legs slipped on the treadmill and he fell backward into the water, sending a wave surging over the side. I stepped back, but I wasn’t quick enough to avoid getting drenched.

He scrambled to his feet and peered through the plexiglass, letting out a chuffing noise. And I wasn’t claiming to be a werewolf psychic, but I was one hundred percent certain he was saying, how do you like it, buddy?

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” I said.

Luke made that chuffing sound again. He was definitely laughing at me.

I grabbed the towel Luke had used earlier and patted myself dry, and then I started the treadmill.

Luke walked for all of two minutes, but as soon as I added an incline he was scrambling desperately to keep his footing, and in the end he just… didn’t. He sat down heavily on the treadmill and refused to budge. He maintained eye contact as he went gliding slowly backward, and I hit the stop button before his ass hit the door. He stood then, still holding my gaze as he let out a plaintive whine, and I’d worked with enough shifters to know that training was done for the day.

I hit the switch that started the water draining, and once the tank was empty, I unlocked the door. Luke stepped out and shook himself, soaking me again, and I wondered if it was petty revenge for adding that last incline.

But then again, he was new to this whole werewolf thing, so it was probably instinct.

Probably.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” I said and left the room so he could change.

He joined me a couple of minutes later with his head tilted to one side and his pinkie finger in his ear, wriggling it around to get the water out. He had a towel draped around his neck, and he was barefoot but otherwise fully dressed.

“Wolf decided you were done, huh?” I said.

“I would have kept going but after that last slip, my wolf took over the decision-making process. I guess you’re gonna tell me I should have pushed through, but I couldn’t.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, ducking his head, and his shoulders curled inward. “I know it sounds like a cop-out, but I promise it’s not.”

He looked so defeated that I instinctively wanted to make him feel better, and I found myself reaching out and placing a fingertip under his chin, tilting his head back until we were face-to-face. “Hey. You did great today. And if you ever need to stop, we stop.”

He shot me a disbelieving look. “I fucked up.”