“It’s complicated.” She walked to the window. The rain hadn’t let up any.
“We do have some time to kill.” Although I could think of other ways to pass the stormy afternoon that didn’t involve talking.
“You should ask Eric.”
“What does Eric have to do with it?”
“Let’s take the ice off.” She spun toward me and reached for my knee.
“Wait. What the hell does it have to do with Eric? You know him?” It didn’t make sense but I suddenly had an instinct to stake some kind of claim over her as if my coach were the competition.
She continued unwrapping the bandage and removed the ice gel pack she had made.
I thought back to the brief exchange they had on the beach. I had been distracted by her, but I noticed the way she bristled when Eric appeared.
“It looks swollen, but better.” She placed the gel back in the freezer. “Can you relax why I work on your knee?”
“If you tell me what the deal is between you and my coach.”
As soon as her fingers sunk into the skin on the side of my leg, I took a deep breath. “Shit.”
“Does that hurt?” She smoothed the side of the muscle then worked her fingers up toward my hip.
Every nerve in my body tensed. Whatever she was doing was causing the pain in my knee to subside, but everything else felt awakened.
“Yes. No.” I didn’t know what it felt like. There weren’t really words. She was working pressure points and nerve endings. I tried to breathe through it.
“Try to relax.” Her palms rested on my hipbone.
I took another sizeable breath. “What’s the deal with Eric?”
The tips of her fingers dug into my hipbone and I winced. “Shit.”
“Oh, sorry.” But I saw the smirk on her face. “Maybe less pressure.”
“Maybe.” I tried to adjust myself on her bed, but she had a firm grip on my right side. For a petite girl, she was strong as hell.
“How does it feel when I do this?” She held my hip steady while she folded my leg, letting my knee bend.
“Not good,” I admitted.
“And this?” She continued the steady hold, while she stretched my leg forward and pressed downward on my knee.
“Much better. Actually really good.” I couldn’t believe she had switched the pain to something soothing with just the change in pressure.
“Ok. It’s not a tear. I’m pretty sure at least. I think you have a meniscus strain. I’m going to keep working this exercise and then we’ll go back to ice. Are you ok with that?”
At this point I’d lie in her bed as long as she kept her hands on me. She was some kind of magical temptress the way she treated my muscles. I floated between pain and pleasure, wanting them both, and wanting her to be the one to give them to me.
I nodded. “I told you I’m not going anywhere.”
I glanced up while her eyes focused on the line from my waist to my knee. Her fingers continuously wiggled back and forth with certain speed and agility. Her blond hair fell in front of her eyes and I had a sudden urge to reach up and tuck it behind her ear so I could watch her gaze. Before I could touch the strands she pulled them away from her face.
There was a peel of thunder as it split through the sky and lightly shook the building. Sierra jumped.
“Scared of storms?” I teased.
“No. It startled me.”