All I Want For Christmas Is You - Vi Keeland Page 0,52
have bruises after this.”
“There are bruises,” she agreed. “Rips of the skin on your hands from the bar. Sore muscles galore. When I first started, I was sixteen. I tell you what, I don’t have soft hands, and all the boys notice.”
I would’ve replied but then Johan picked up the barbell, was about to bring it to his shoulders, but couldn’t quite seem to get it and dropped it.
The sound of the barbell hitting from that high was deafening.
When it finally clattered loudly to a stop, Soren moved and then did his own ‘clean.’
Though, unlike his brother, he was able to lift it up to a ‘complete rep’ or whatever Sophia called it.
When he dropped it with a laugh, he gave his brother a high five and then turned to survey the group that was cheering for him.
That was when his eyes caught mine and my heart skipped a beat.
Establish dominance by putting glitter in Christmas Cards.
-Pro tip
Soren
“She’s here,” I said to Johan, my breath coming in fast pants.
“I saw.” Johan paused, his breathing just as heavy. “Did you also happen to see that she’s talking to the she-devil right now?”
The she-devil being Sophia, the owner’s daughter, who Johan liked to act like was a pain in his ass when obviously he wanted to be a pain in hers.
Literally.
“I saw,” I confirmed. “She is smiling, though, so I’ll allow it.”
“You’ll allow it.” Johan snorted.
“All right, everyone!” I heard Madden yell. “Time to partner up. One male, one female.”
We did as instructed, but I made sure to hurry over to the girl I invited, because there was no way in hell I was letting anyone else get near her.
Not when I had her exactly where I wanted her.
Just as I got to her, another man at the gym, Bane, got to her next.
I shook him off. “Mine.”
“I’m sorry, Ms….” Bane said, holding out his hand.
“Nola,” she said softly, looking at me, then at Bane, before carefully offering her hand. “Nola LeBlanc.”
“Package Girl.” I threw my arm around her shoulder and pulled her into my side, causing Bane to sigh.
“Can’t you at least give us some scraps?”
I shook my head. “No, I brought her here. She’s mine.”
Nola, wow, what a beautiful name, looked at me with a grin. “Technically, I brought myself here. And I got kind of worried when you weren’t here to welcome me.”
“That’s because I was just at a twenty-four-hour shift at the hospital,” I said. “Came straight from work.”
Her head tilted slightly, and the world disappeared around us. “Which hospital?”
“Central Mercy,” I answered immediately. “Why?”
Her lips turned up into a grin. “Because that’s where my practice is out of. Central Mercy. I’m an OB/GYN. What do you do there?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m an ER physician.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Really? You look…”
“Not like one?” I offered. “Why do you say that?”
She threw her head back and giggled. “Mainly, I would’ve pictured you as a rugby player, or a bodybuilder before I thought you were a physician. It’s nice to know that I know someone in the hospital now, though. I just moved here about six weeks ago, and it’s getting kind of pathetic with how little I do.”
I wanted to invite her to do me, but chose to remain respectful… at least for now, anyway.
“This game is different than what we normally do.” Madden paused, catching both of our attention. “Have y’all seen those viral videos going around where the woman climbs around a man using only her arms and legs, grip only, and then goes up and over the man’s shoulder and down his back before coming up between his legs to get back to their original positions?”
I had seen that.
I’d just never thought I’d be reenacting it.
But now that Madden brought it up, I was more than ready to give it a try.
Having Nola surrounding me? That definitely sounded like no hardship.
“Oh, boy,” Nola said, her frame freezing. “I have to tell you. I’m not very good at stuff like this.”
I gave her a squeeze. “It’s all fun, Doc. If we lose, we lose.”
She gave me a worried look. “It doesn’t appear that you lose very often.”
She had a point but…
“The only catch is the male cannot help the female at all. All work is to be done on the lady’s end!” Madden continued.
That’s when Nola’s eyes squeezed shut.
“You okay?” I asked teasingly.
She opened her mouth, then closed it as if she wanted to say something but didn’t think it was appropriate.