Page 25

Chapter 25

GAbrIEL

I f April’s kiss was nicotine, having sex with her had been cocaine. What had she said, ‘We just needed to get that out of our system?’

Bullshit. It was much worse now.

Before, I had only imagined how good it would be with her. Now, I knew . And the last thing I wanted was to stop.

After a difficult workout, I’d reward myself with a shower and thoughts of her. But my hand didn’t come close. I needed her moans, her gasps, her ass, the way she bit that bottom lip, how she clenched around me when I made her come.

But that couldn’t happen again.

The first time I saw her after our trip was in the weight room of the rec. She stood at the squat rack, positioned and ready. I thought about leaving. I could do my swim first, but I stopped myself. If we were planning on being normal with each other—remaining friends—I couldn’t run and hide every time I saw her. We could be civil. We had to be. I had an Ironman to coach her through .

Then she did a squat. The fabric stretched over her ass, effectively transporting me back to our hotel room. She’d been so tight and started out so tense. The last thing I’d wanted was to hurt her. It had been a war against instinct to go slow and shallow, but I managed. Up until she’d pushed that ass against me, burying me deeper inside her.

?Ella me vuelve loco!

At that moment, burning need replaced every logical thought, and standing in the gym, I felt that same animalistic desire snaking its way through my chest.

Remain just friends? Whose dumbass idea was that?

A guy on the pull-up bar hung, openly staring at April’s perky ass. A weird, protective wave washed over me, even though I was engaged in the same creepy act as him. I positioned myself right behind April, blocking the view.

Oblivious, she went down for another squat, and I waited until she came back up to say, “Great form, Baird.”

She staggered, her eyes wide as they landed on my reflection in the mirror. I threw my hands out to spot her, but she recovered on her own, racking it safely before whipping around to face me.

Something sparkled in her hazel eyes, and her mouth widened to a ridiculously cute smile before she tamped her expression. “Hey, Coach.”

It had only been a few days since I last saw her, but it was like coming off a three-day fast and seeing chocolate cake.

She’s not dessert.

She’s my athlete.

“Where are you in the workout?” I asked.

“I was just finishing up the squats.” She wiped her forehead, retrieved her phone from the floor, and gave it to me for inspection. She had hip thrusters next. The idea made me sweat. I would not survive watching her do a set of those.

“And how do you feel?” I asked, my voice gravelly.

She considered that. “Strong.” Then she smiled as if surprised by her own answer.

I nodded. “You looked strong.” I handed her back the phone. “Which is why you’re going to add more weight.”

Her face fell. “I walked right into your trap.”

I took the liberty to add ten pounds to each side. “When I said I wasn’t going to go easy on you, this is what I meant.” I leveled a look at her.

A blush deepened on her already pink cheeks as she tried to wrestle a smile back into submission. It was no use, and she finally positioned herself in front of the bar, smile and all.

“Go for five,” I said, standing close, ready to spot her. She went down with it, nice and steady, but grunted on the way back up.

“You’ve got it,” I said, and she did. She breezed through the next three, then slowed on what she thought was the last squat.

“You’re doing one more,” I said.

She made a choking sound. “You said five.”

“And now I’m saying six.” I met her eyes in the mirror. “You can take it.”

A small voice in my head tried to warn me that I sounded more like a narrator for one of April’s audiobooks than her coach. However, that voice was muffled by the sound of my own thrumming pulse.

Her delicious, plump lips parted, making any and all internal chastising worth it. It dawned on me that April liked dirty talk. I thought back to her audiobook; it was my turn to fight a smile.

She brought the bar up, legs quaking. “You can do it. Come on,” I encouraged. When she got it to the top, I helped guide the bar back into position. She was flushed and panting, but she’d done it. I stayed in her space until her eyes met mine in the mirror. “That’s my good girl.”

She gasped, and I forced my feet to walk away before I could cause any more irrevocable damage.