Coaching the Nerd (Nerds Vs Jocks #2) - Eli Easton Page 0,13

to do something really bad, but as I rubbed his leg with light but firm pressure, his eyes closed. “Ohhhh.”

Since his head dropped back down, he couldn’t see me smiling. “So have you ever had a massage before?”

“No.” I got to his foot, and at first, he giggled, but then sighed. “It really feels good though. You’re very capable.”

“Well, I’ve got strong hands, and I have to understand the parts of the body for school, so I know my way around a gluteus maximus, you might say.” I gave his butt a little smack through the towel and chuckled.

He gave me a quick startled look over his shoulder but settled back down. “Are you premed?”

“Me? Oh hell no. I could never do that. My major’s phys ed, but we study a lot of anatomy and physiology of exercise.” I’d reached his back, so I uncovered it. “I don’t have time to be real thorough today, so I want to get at the muscles and glands in your upper body. This will hurt a little, but tell me if it’s too much.” I stroked along his back with a light touch to stimulate the lymph and actually sucked a little air because his skin startled me it was so soft. Silkier than most girls I’d touched. It was milky white except for a smattering of freckles across his shoulders. Nice.

Sean said, “Why couldn’t you be premed? Because of the length and cost of the program?”

I barked a laugh. “Maybe those would come up as problems for some people, but for me it’s lots simpler. I’m just too dumb for premed.” I shrugged. “Otherwise, I would have gone for PT.”

His head popped up. “What’s PT, and why do you say you’re dumb?”

I shoved his head down. “You’re supposed to be relaxing.”

“I can’t relax when you say things which are patently absurd.”

I wasn’t quite sure what he meant, so I answered the part I knew. “PT is physical therapy.”

“Oh, of course. Kinesiology and such. What do you like about physical therapy?”

I shook my head. Too many thoughts. “Well, I figure if I train people, I’ll be helping them. You know, like get healthier and stronger and better at life. But imagine being able to help people who can’t walk or move an arm because of an illness or accident or something. If I could really rehabilitate people, that’d be so lit.” He jumped, and I realized I’d dug in too far. “Sorry.”

The tight muscles in his back and shoulders were loosening a little in the heat, and I let my fingertips explore. Funny, his muscle tone was for shit, but the way his body went together, what my teachers would have called his structure, was really good. He had surprisingly wide shoulders, and even though his middle was soft, it wasn’t flabby, just not toned. His butt, probably because he walked all over the Madison campus, stuck up round and bubbly. Cute. “Ya know what? I think you’ve got potential to really develop your body.”

“You do?” His head popped way up this time. He stared at me, eyes narrowed, like he didn’t believe me.

“Seriously. Two, three months of training, and you’ll be—” Hot? That seemed weird to say. “Uh, kinda buff.”

“That would be amazing. Then I could achieve my goals prior to graduation.” He lay back down, smiling.

I turned his head to the side and stretched his neck. His hair was damp and curly from the steam and kind of a dark-carrot color. It was neat how unusual it was. My own hair was just a plain dark brown. “I think it’s really great that a guy like you has a major goal to get physically fit. I mean, once you get out of school and into the work world, it gets much harder. It really pays to start out in good shape.”

“What do you mean a guy like me?” Sometimes, he had bristles like a hedgehog.

I turned his head the other way and stroked the tendons in his neck. “You know, a super smart dude with a big future. You could easily just rest on your brains, but having a fit body is part of keeping your brain healthy.” I tapped his back. “Sit up and let me get at your shoulders from a different angle.”

What happened next would’ve had me rolling on the freaking steam room floor if I didn’t have a bunch of self-control. Sean shifted his soggy towels up, down and sideways, placing one while he grabbed another one