Chapter 5
Tanner
I fucked up. I know I did. I shouldn’t have let myself get near her. I knew better. Lindsey was Brian’s little sister. What the hell had I been thinking! It was a onetime thing, I promised myself. I wouldn’t let it happen again. I wanted it to happen again.
I canceled practice yesterday because I didn’t trust myself to be around her. It didn’t help our interactions always involved us being nearly half-dressed. I had taken the coward’s way out and sent her a text saying I couldn’t make it. Her one-word answer “fine” spoke volumes. I had fucked her and then walked away. Classy. Typical of me, but not how I would ever want Lindsey to be treated. Brian would kick a dude’s ass for treating her like that. I would too. I owed her an apology. I just had to figure out how to man-up and do it.
I couldn’t cancel today. Her training was too important, and I would not be the one to hold her back. I would have to figure out a way to keep my hands to myself, and hopefully it wouldn’t be completely awkward. I hadn’t been able to get her out of my mind since that night. Thank God Brian had decided to leave Tuesday afternoon after our lunch. I don’t think I could have faced him. It felt like my guilt was written all over my face, and he would see right through me. He would know.
I had tried to get the woman out of my head for the past twenty-four hours, but it was pointless. She was under my skin. I’d fucked her, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t right. I wanted her but not like one of the women I screwed and left in my wake. I wanted to worship her body. I wanted to spend time learning every inch. Every crevice. Our pool time had been too fast, and I didn’t get to really enjoy that sweet body of hers. I was left craving more because, though I’d had only a little taste, I wanted it all.
Snap out of it, man!
My phone beeped.
Are you going to show up?
It was a text from Lindsey. It was slightly bitchy, but I couldn’t blame her.
Yes. See you at 6.
I didn’t have a choice. I was a professional trainer and couldn’t ditch clients on a whim. It was going to be difficult and awkward, but we were both adults. Or at least I was pretending to be, even though I felt like a horny teenager.
I let myself into the high school pool, trying not to think about the last time we’d been here. There was another young kid with whom I assumed was his private trainer. The kid couldn’t have been more than twelve. It was amazing to see kids that age with such dedication. Lindsey had been like that, and now all her hard work was about to pay off.
When she came strolling through the side door, her long legs covered in a pair of sweats, my heart jumped. Her red suit clung to her body. My mind instantly thought back to my mouth on her breasts, sucking and teasing. They weren’t too big or too small. They were perfect, just like the rest of her.
“Hi,” I said, doing my best not to sound like a complete idiot.
“I’m ready to get started,” she answered, clearly not in the mood for small talk.
She was pissed. I wasn’t sure if it was because I canceled the day before or because we had sex, and I had left without so much as a thank-you.
I nodded. “Let’s get to it, then.”
She peeled off the sweats, and I had to look away. Images of her legs wrapped around me came flooding back. I walked toward the east wall and casually adjusted my dick, which was growing hard. I doubted the kid and his trainer would appreciate me walking around with a hard-on. Not now.
When I turned back around, she was watching me. Her cheeks were flushed. She knew. That only made my semierection grow bigger. Her eyes drifted down before meeting mine again. I stared back, not caring that she knew the effect she had on me. Let her see. I pulled off my shirt, knowing it would distract her. I hadn’t been the only one in the pool that night. She had been more than ready and willing. I wanted her aroused, and I wasn’t stupid. I knew she wanted me.
I watched her gaze drop to my chest, so I flexed. She was staring, and I was loving it.
“Get in,” I demanded.
Her eyes met mine. I could see the passion.
“Get in, Lindsey,” I said, my tone firm.
She rolled her eyes, the passion gone. I thought she would tell me to go to hell, but she did as I said.
We managed to get through the practice, but it was incredibly weird. When I normally would have jumped in the pool to demonstrate what I wanted, I didn’t. I couldn’t get close to her. The last time had ended with both of us naked.
“I think we’re good,” I said about five minutes before nine. I couldn’t take the tension between us a minute longer. I was either going to rip that suit off her and fuck her on that poolside chair like I had been fantasizing about, or she was going to fire me. The sexual tension between us was palpable, so thick you could reach out and touch it. I had to get away before we made another huge mistake.
“Yeah, I agree. I have homework,” she said, climbing the ladder out of the pool. Water dripped down her legs and arms and between her breasts tucked away in the suit. I imagined lapping at the rivulets of water, tasting her skin. I wanted her body stretched out, wet, inside and out, with me over the top of her.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked, before leaving.
“Yeah, I have a meet Saturday, but I can still train tomorrow night,” she said, pulling on the sweats over her wet swimsuit.
“Okay, well, uh, see ya,” I said, walking past her and out the door.
I needed a beer or five. The air had been so sexually charged, I thought for sure it would ignite. I wondered if the other trainer and his student could feel it. They had left after an hour or so, leaving Lindsey and I alone in the pool area. I’d maintained a safe distance, which had been taxing. Now I needed to unwind.
I started with a shot of tequila, followed by another, and then another. I chased each shot with an ice-cold Corona. The buzz hit me the second I jumped off my stool to go to the bathroom. Shit. I was going to have to call an Uber and leave my truck.
Once in the door of my one-bedroom apartment that I paid way too much for, I stumbled to the couch and debated whether to grab another beer from the fridge. The fridge was too far. Fuck it. My phone was pressing into my ass. I didn’t want to crack the screen. I rolled over and fished it out of my pocket, holding it in my hand, trying to remember why I had it in the first place.
I stared at the screen, ran my thumb over it and unlocked it with practiced ease. Last number called was Lindsey. Her name and the tiny picture of the left side of her face stared back at me. Don’t do it. Don’t you dare do it.
My head fell back on the couch, my mouth hung open, and I let the alcohol do its trick. I floated away, enjoying the blissful oblivion that the copious amounts of alcohol had blessed me with.
It was the screeching of a distant alarm clock that woke me up. My head felt foggy, and there was an annoying pounding making me very irritable. I blinked several times, trying to figure out why my neck was killing me. I was staring at the ceiling in my apartment. It was then the night before came flooding back.
I jerked forward, pulling the strained muscles in my neck and felt around on the couch for my phone. I found it and brought it up, staring at the screen, willing my eyes to focus. Last number dialed was Lindsey’s. I checked the time stamp. Shit. I did call her last night. I checked the call log and realized I’d talked with her for twenty long minutes. I had no recollection of what may have been said.
I groaned, doing my best to remember, walking through each step I’d taken after coming through the apartment door. Nothing was coming back. I slowly sat up and then stood, the room spinning a few times before righting itself. I needed coffee. And water. After getting both, I slowly made my way into the shower and let the hot water run down my face. No matter how hard I tried, I could not remember what I’d said to her last night.
Our training session was going to be loads of fun.