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Sidelined 3
Addison
The leg press gives me a perfect view of Eric bench pressing.
I know the weight isn’t challenging for him, but the way his muscles ripple under the surface of his skin as he lifts and lowers the bar has my nether regions throbbing. I could watch this all night. He doesn’t oblige, racking the bar and sitting up to face me.
“You gonna share or is your plan to make me wait on you all night?”
Yes, please. “I suppose I can share, seeing as how it’s technically your weight room.”
He gets up and comes toward me, his stomach muscles flexing ever so slightly as he stalks forward. All I can do is watch as he closes the distance. He stops about a foot away, towering over my seated frame, and rests his hands on his hips. I feel suddenly tiny, looking up at him in a machine that has me laying halfway to horizontal.
“Why are you really here on a Friday night?” His skeptical gaze makes me feel even smaller.
“Why are you?”
His jaw tenses a fraction. “Parties won’t get me back on the field.”
“Movies won’t get me on the women’s national team.”
His frown dissolves as my words register. “You use rom coms as your cover story to sneak out and go to the gym?”
“Maybe?” I squeak.
“Brilliant.” He chuckles amid a tiny puff of air. I don’t think I’m supposed to hear that admission, but I do.
“I thought so, too. Nothing guarantees my privacy like the dreaded rom com.” I smile sweetly up at him.
“I always thought the rom coms were an odd preference,” he mumbles under his breath.
“I never said those are my preference, I just know they aren’t Alex’s. Or yours.”
“You think you know my preferences?” He arches a brow as he shifts to lean a hip against the weight stack, taunting me.
“Tinkerbell comes to mind.”
“Tinkerbell?” The frown is back.
“You know, Peter Pan’s sidekick.”
“Why on earth would you think I like fairies?”
“Ooh, I like that. I usually refer to them as miniature Barbies myself, but fairies has a nice ring to it.” I bite my lip to stifle my grin.
Eric rises to his full height and crosses his arms defensively. “I never said that was my type.”
“Twenty, twenty.” I tap the corner of my eye with my pointer finger.
“I didn’t realize you were paying such close attention.” A mischievous gleam spreads across his blue eyes.
“I wasn’t. I’m not.” Heat engulfs my cheeks. “My brother has a loud mouth.” He so doesn’t.
“Uh huh.” Eric almost cracks a smile before gesturing for me to get off the machine. I place my hands by my hips to hoist myself up, but there’s no graceful way to get off the leg press, and I’m not in the mood to degrade myself by trying. I swivel to the side and put my feet on the ground, then hold out my hand. Eric studies it for a moment, almost like he’s debating if he’ll catch something from touching me. Then, with a prolonged exhale, he takes my hand and pulls me up.
The power of his movement sends me crashing into him, and we both stumble, forcing Eric to wrap his arms around me so we don’t fall to the ground.
Pinned against his torso, I’m too nervous to breathe. I put my palms on his chest, intending to push away before embarrassing myself further, but the second my skin connects with his, he inhales sharply and tightens his grip, fusing us together.
