No Rep (Madd CrossFit #1) - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,38

still had to wait until I got to the number that was required, and we switched all over again.

This time with me having a very small lead.

A small lead that turned into a larger one when the weight jumped up.

See. That was the good thing about my legs.

They were well muscled and toned and could withstand just about anything that I put them through.

Like adding thirty more pounds.

My slow and steady approach wound up being the perfect thing to do, because when I finished, the girls that’d been ahead of me still had over half of their reps to do.

This time, Taos was smiling even wider, still sweating profusely, when we switched.

Just as I thought we were about to pass easily and switch positions, he stopped me with a swift kiss right to the lips.

The crowd around us started to titter.

I didn’t blame them. I was all tittering, too.

At least inside.

On the outside, I was doing burpees and cursing whoever invented them.

And when we switched again, with an even bigger lead, I felt like I was on top of the world.

Until I got to the first thruster and realized that it was hard.

Very hard.

The heavier weight made it to where I was doing them one rep at a time.

My arms were shaking from fatigue, my legs hated me, and I was fairly sure that my lungs were smoldering on the inside.

I was surprised that I wasn’t breathing smoke with how badly they were burning.

Just when I thought I couldn’t do another, Taos’ voice rang out, jolting me into doing the next rep.

And the next.

And the next one after that.

Until finally I was done.

We switched, and this time Taos’ hand slapped down on my ass. “Good job, baby. Keep going. We’re almost done.”

My face flaming, I flopped on the floor and did my first burpee.

I kept doing them until the judge screamed that I was done.

I blinked. Looked around. Then smiled huge.

Because we’d won.

We’d won by a lot.

I flopped over onto my back and felt my head whirl.

It whirled even more when I was hauled to my feet by big-grin-wearing Taos.

“You did it, baby.”

Then he picked me up by the waist and kissed me.

CHAPTER 14

If I pass out, write my time on the board.

-Coffee Cup

TAOS

It was way later that day when we finally made it home from the competition.

“I’d have sex with you,” she whispered. “But I don’t think that I could bend my legs and do anything right now even if I wanted to.”

I would’ve smiled, but even my cheek muscles hurt.

Instead of saying a word, I pulled her into my arms, then led her to the shower.

No foolery went on in that shower.

We barely had enough strength to make it to the bedroom before both of us collapsed.

“In just a minute, I’ll get dressed and leave,” she whispered.

I grunted as I rolled, not stopping until she was tight to my side.

After wrapping my arms around her, I said, “You’re not going anywhere.”

Her beautiful eyes opened and they glowed with mirth.

“I’m not?” she teased.

I shook my head. “No. You’re staying in bed with me.”

She closed her eyes and said one word, “Okay.”

Was it always that easy? Was that all I’d had to do this entire time? Tell her she wasn’t leaving?

As the woman fell asleep in my arms, I thought about how easy it was to get her to stay.

That meant that she’d wanted to.

Had she wanted to all this time, but forced herself to leave?

I didn’t quite know the answer to that, but what I did know was that I was more than willing to ask her to stay, all the damn time, if it was what it would take to get her to sleep in my arms every night.

I was just drifting off to sleep when my cell phone rang.

The particular tone belonged to the chief, and I knew without answering the phone that I wasn’t going to like whatever he had to say.

I was right.

“Hello?” I answered, sounding just as groggy and tired as I felt.

“We had another one.” He paused. “Well, technically, we had one a while ago, and we just found it.”

I felt my head throb with unease.

“What’s the problem?”

I moved to place my hand on the woman’s leg that was next to mine, but ended up placing it more on her ass, causing her to squirm.

I moved it upward toward her back, pulling her in closer for a quick kiss, before letting her go. “It’s the chief.”

She sighed against my lips, then let me