That night I was back in my athletic injury class, watching yet another video on taping as we waited for the athletes to get there for us to practice on. I knew Ciara and Madison and several other basketball players from the women’s and men’s teams were coming, but what Coach Nolan had failed to mention was he was also bringing in volunteers from the wrestling team since they were in season too. Yeah. I didn’t find this out until the door opened and several muscular guys walked in.
And when Ryker walked in with them my eyes just about popped out of my head.
What the hell? The wrestlers had had a meet today too but I guessed it was now over.
“Fuck,” I mumbled.
“What?” Taylor, my partner from Monday, asked.
“Tell you later,” I whispered, leaning my head to her and rolling my eyes.
I got brave and took another look at Ryker in all his brooding intensity. And holy shit, he was hot!
His dark caramel-colored hair was still wet from the shower he’d just taken and the gray compression shirt he wore stretched across his sculpted chest clinging to his stomach to where if I wanted, I could probably count every ab muscle he had. All eight of them.
Damn.
His eyes immediately met mine and the smirk he gave me had me frowning. I frowned even harder when he made a beeline right to me.
When he came to my table, I sputtered, “Y-you aren’t who I’m working with,” which made him grin.
“Coach Nolan?” he hollered. “I’m with Francesca. You good with that?”
“I’m good, Ryker. Tell her you’re a groin strain,” Coach N called back as he walked around the room assigning athletes to everyone.
Groin strain? What! Was he serious? Oh, my God.
“This is so not cool,” I hissed, glaring at Ryker who was already getting up on the table with a huge shit-eating grin on his face.
“So, gorgeous, you want me to drop trou or just hike my shorts up?” he asked, and believe it or not, his grin got even bigger.
“I hate you,” I muttered as I bent under the table to grab some KT tape out of the caddie.
He burst out laughing. “Didn’t hate me last Saturday when I made you come so many times you were speakin’ in fuckin’ tongues.”
I stood up slowly and gave him the most hateful look I could. “That was before I knew you were an asshole.” This made him snort. “And a manwhore.”
He threw his head back and barked out a laugh and I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the most attractive thing I’d ever seen. Ugh.
“You didn’t seem to mind my ‘manwhore’ skills the other night, darlin’,” he said still chuckling.
I set the tape on the table and turned to him. “Here’s the deal. I’ll do this but you have to shut up.”
“I’ll try,” he answered, a half smirk now gracing his beautiful face.
“Whatever,” I mumbled as I looked down at the tape knowing I’d have to measure it. When my eyes came up I saw his dancing with amusement because he knew my dilemma. God! “Hang on.”
I opened my book to the page that illustrated taping groins and cringed. Okay. I could do this. Blowing out a breath, I grabbed the tape and moved toward him.
“I need you to bend your knee to create a stretch in the, uh, the groin area.” He pulled his knee up slightly on the leg farther from me hanging the one close to me off the table. I licked my lips as I tried figuring out how to do this without having to touch him. “Okay, I need to measure. Keep quiet.” I lifted my eyes and watched as with sheer glee on his face, he lifted a hand, put it to his mouth as if he had a key in it, turned it and threw the “key” away. Ass.
Moving in between his legs, I held the end of the tape putting it on the inside of his leg a few inches above the back of his knee stretching it up and over his muscular thigh toward his crotch. Gah! I next quickly stepped away letting go of the tape as I grabbed the scissors. This, of course, made me lose my measurement, so gritting my teeth I glanced up at him and held the tape out toward him as if it was all his fault.
“I’ve got to get the right amount or it won’t work,” I accused, inwardly rolling my eyes because of course it wasn’t his fault he was so distracting. It was mine for being so mesmerized by such a jerk.
“You need me to give you something long to measure it by?”
Just when I thought he couldn’t get any more disconcerting... but now I snickered because this shit had to end. I was tired of being in a constant flustered state when I was near him.
“What?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Nothing. Just, thanks for the offer but I need something more than six inches to go by.”
Another barked laugh. “Baby, you know you need to double that if we’re being totally honest here.”
I huffed out a humorless chuckle at that, but the bad thing was he wasn’t totally wrong, having only exaggerated by maybe three inches. Cocky jerk.
“Whatever,” I murmured as I went in to measure once more.
“Whoa there, cara,” he said, suddenly grabbing my hand making me look up at him with a frown. “You need to set those scissors down first before getting close to Ryker, Jr.”
I laughed despite the fact that he’d just called me precious in Italian which was what my grandpa had always called me, and I knew Ryker probably had no clue what it meant anyway. Setting the scissors down (and quelling any Lorena Bobbitt jokes I may have had), I gave him an am I good now look and at his nod, I proceeded to measure the tape again.
“You don’t even know what cara means,” I challenged trying to divert my attention away from the fact that I was mere inches from his glorious cock.
Before I could move back, he wrapped an arm around my waist pulling me to him and as he looked deep into my eyes, he answered, “It means precious.”
My eyes got big as I stared at him, shocked as hell that he’d known.
“Um, yeah,” was all I could squeak out before I pulled away making him let me go. Lord. Why was I so attracted to this guy? I mean, besides the obvious, of course. But I knew he was a player. Knew he only wanted to sleep with me because, hell, he slept with everyone. And remembering that pissed me off, so after cutting the tape, I tried announcing indifferently, “You’re going to have to pull your shorts leg up,” but I’m sure my voice cracked.
“Sure you don’t want me to just take them off?” he asked, his lip curling up on one side.
I found myself sighing yet again as I looked back at him. He really was beautiful. Too bad he had no depth of character when it came to relationships.
“Just pull it up,” I directed with an annoyed look, feeling as if I were talking to one of the first graders I’d helped coach today.
Sticking the end of the tape to the back of his knee and stretching it up was the most tedious thing ever since I knew where it’d end. But, by golly, I did it and couldn’t help the triumphant look I gave him.
“Good job, Mangenelli,” Coach N said as he walked by. He added over his shoulder, “Now add another piece just like that just above it and you’ll be done.”
“Shit,” I mumbled beneath my breath.
“What was that?” Ryker asked with a snort.
I gave him my evil death glare as I grabbed the KT tape to cut a new piece. Once measured and cut, I stepped between his legs once again to apply it
“I’m thinking I should pay you for the cock massage when you’re finished,” he smarted off.
Now, I’ve always had somewhat of a bad temper—it’s the Italian in me—which at that moment I regretfully demonstrated, and immediately felt horrible afterward.
“What the fuck?” Ryker shouted when I ripped the second piece of tape off his leg after having smoothed it down, pulling off lots of leg hair with it, I was sure.
But now I had to own it. Giving him a sheepish look, I said remorselessly, “Sorry.” I smoothed the tape back down as best I could and was finished, thank God.
His voice dropped to a menacingly low level. “Gonna make you pay for that one, Mangenelli.”
My eyes came up to his as I bit my lip actually feeling bad that I’d hurt him. “I said I was sorry.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You owe me now. After class, you’re coming home with me to kiss this shit all better.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Right. And after I’m finished I’ll blow you to show how deeply apologetic I am.” I rolled my eyes.
His mouth was slightly open and askew and I watched in fascination as his tongue touched the molars on the bottom left. “I’d love nothing more than to have that smartassed mouth of yours wrapped around my cock again.” He was glaring at me but it was kind of sexy. Can glaring even be sexy? And I thought I figured out that the tongue thing he did was him being mad and probably trying to keep from yelling at me, kind of like gritting his teeth, I guessed. But even that was sexy. Argh!
Trying to act annoyed, I retorted, “That’ll be happening never.”
“It will. And after it does, I’m gonna spank your heart-shaped ass for being a bad girl tonight,” he said low.
My mouth dropped open as I ignored the womb dip and subsequent gush of wetness between my legs at his threat. “You’re kidding, right?” I declared with a frown.
He shook his head slowly as his eyes burned into mine. “Thing is, I know you’d like it too.”
My frown got even, well, frownier. “I highly doubt it,” I scoffed.
He leaned in closer, his fingers encircling my wrist as he pulled me toward him. “Wanna know why I know?”
I couldn’t help it. I was under his spell and therefore nodded.
“When I said I’d spank you, your breathing sped up, your eyes dilated and you suddenly looked flushed. Bet if I stuck my hand in your panties right now I’d find you’re dripping wet.” He put his mouth to my ear and whispered, “Am I right, Francesca?”
Holy hell.
“Stop calling me that,” I replied shakily, flustered beyond all measure. No one called me by my full name except Mrs. Bertolini and Grandma and Grandpa Mangenelli, and it was unsettling to hear Ryker call me it because he made it sound so dirty coming off his lips.
He let my wrist go and pulled back, a smirk gracing his gorgeous face as if he’d found out a deep, dark secret.
“All right! Students, put your materials away and I’ll come by to grade you,” Coach Nolan called.
I watched as Ryker smoothed the tape down and saw that there actually was quite a bit of hair stuck to it that was making the end curl up. God. I was a horrible person.
“I’m really sorry I did that,” I whispered genuinely feeling bad for what I’d done.
He looked up at me, eyes narrowed. “Don’t worry. You’ll pay, babe.”
That’s what I was afraid of.