Page 12 of The Wildest One

“And you think I’m a man who only seeks perfection?” I shook my head. “Shit, I’m far from that, Jolie. Listen to me. We all have real moments. Athletes especially. We’re under a microscope, and some of our most vulnerable experiences are caught on camera and blasted all over the internet.”

“You mean like the meme that exploded last week, showing you stretching on the ice?” She smiled.

I whistled out some air. “Like that, yeah.”

“You know the ladies were dying over that meme, right?”

“That’s what I heard.”

She moved her face back as though she wanted a better look at me. “How many hundreds of thousands of new followers did you gain from that?”

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t manage my social media. I stay far away from those apps. If someone wants to say something to me, they can come say it to my face. I don’t need to see their comments—not when they wouldn’t have the balls to voice any of that unless they were behind a screen of protection, like their phone or computer.”

“The comments weren’t bad—at least not the ones I saw. They were quite the opposite actually. That one move you made turned on thousands and thousands of women.” She giggled.

“I get that some could find it hot. It does look like I’m trying to fuck the ice when I stretch. But what those women don’t see or understand is the pain we get in our hips and groin and how those stretches are necessary—and while we look like we’re fucking, we’re actually groaning at how badly it hurts.”

She lifted her shoulders. “I think I’d rather have that than throwing up on the bench, or having a bat in the cave, or havinga questionable crumb on your cheek during a conference. Those are shiver-worthy situations.”

“But instances like those have happened too, I promise. They just haven’t gotten airtime.”

And hers had while she was in school, the bullying causing her to stay in her head, her thoughts eating away at her.

My sister, Eden, was the same way for entirely different reasons.

“Tell me something, Jolie. Were you one of those women who got turned on while you watched me stretch?”

Her face instantly became red.

I brought my mouth closer to hers, but I didn’t kiss her. “Answer me.”

“Yes, I was.”

I chuckled. “What did you think about when you saw that meme?”

Her shyness was showing. Her innocence.

I liked that.

“The same thing everyone else was thinking …”

Generic.

I needed her to use her words.

“Which was?” I pressed.

She bit her lip while she stared at me. “What it would feel like to be beneath you while you were doing that.”

I smiled. “You’re about to find out.” I turned my head toward the curb, seeing that the SUV had pulled up. “But that’s not the only answer you’re going to get. After these three nights, you’re going to know just what my body is capable of.” My fingers, now on her sides, stretched toward the top of her ribs, her back arching from my touch. “And how I’m going to make your body feel and all the different ways I’m going to make you scream—ways that will go far beyond ice-humping.”

Her chest rose.

“Are you ready for that?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“You’re sure?”