Hard & Deep: A Football Romance

“Unfortunately, I don't think I can do any more training with you after today,” he said, with a sigh.

Elsie's eyes widened. “What?”

“Do you remember, Nikki?” he asked, leaning against a piece of exercise equipment and crossing his arms. “The one who interviewed you.”

“Yes, how could I forget?”

“She stopped by this morning,” he said, his eyes watching her.

“And?” Elsie asked, urging him to continue.

“She came by to tell me that I have to go back to California,” he replied. Elsie felt like she might be sick.

“When?” Elsie took a seat on the weight bench and Ollie sat next to her.

“She wanted me to leave today, but I told her there was no way I could do that,” he explained, and Elsie could see sadness in his eyes. “But Coach wants me back by next week. I have to go home.”

Elsie's heart sank. She knew it was coming, but she didn't think it would be here so soon. She had always realized that her time with Oliver would be coming to an end at some point, but didn't think it would be so soon and happen so suddenly. She still needed a few more weeks with him. She wanted months.

“I'm not done with your recovery work, though,” she said. “I had more things planned for you.”

Oliver shrugged. “I'm not sure that I have much of a choice. Coach needs me and so does my team. They've been without me for months and they want me back. Nikki said that if I'm not able to start training with the team next week, then Coach may not want to put me in as a starting quarterback. If that happens, I can be pretty sure that I'll lose most of my endorsements.”

She was silent as she listened to him. It was tough news to hear. Oliver going home was heart breaking. It wasn't just the loss of a good patient either. It was the loss of a very good friend. He'd become her confidant. In just a handful of weeks, she grown more fond of him than she was of most people.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You're not saying anything.”

“Yeah, I'm fine.” Elsie nodded, swallowing down her emotion. “I just didn't expect to hear this today. Kind of caught me off guard is all.”

Oliver placed his hand onto the top of her knee. His touch send a pleasurable tingle through her body, causing her to take a quick breath. She was going to miss that.

“It took me off guard as well,” he told her, his voice soft. “I had no clue that Nikki was going to show up today.”

“So, that's that then?” Elsie asked. She sighed looking around the gym where they'd spent so many hours together. “I guess we're done with therapy?”

Oliver nodded. “I guess so. I've got to be honest, I didn't think I'd fear leaving this town as much as I do now. When I got here, I thought it was the last place on earth I'd ever like. But I was wrong. It's grown on me quite a bit.”

“It's the Thai chili pizza, isn't it?” Elsie said, with a wink. “It does that to everyone.”

Oliver laughed. “Yeah, that might be part of it. But it's certainly not all of it.”

His gaze was locked with hers and she knew what he meant. She knew that there was mutual attraction between them. That had been confirmed when he had tried to kiss her that night she'd come over to his place, the same night she'd dyed his hair.

She'd made sure to stay as professional as possible for the weeks after that. No touching unless it was clinically needed. They'd still talked, though. She knew him better than she knew several of her closest friends.

But there was still that physical connection that thrummed through her bones whenever he looked at her. He made her vibrate with just a simple touch and she found herself dreaming of him nearly every night and waking up in a pleasant sweat.

Is it possible that he wants this as badly as I do? She asked herself.

It was as if Ollie had heard her thoughts. He scooted close, bringing his hand to the side of her face. His fingers gently touched her cheek as he gazed at her. His beautiful blue eyes caused her to melt into the weight bench.

He's going to try to kiss me again. I want this, but I shouldn't. I shouldn't... her thoughts trailed off as Oliver leaned in. He brought his lips to hers, before she could even consider turning away. There was a brief moment of hesitation, where Elsie wondered if she should allow this to happen.

This kiss was definitely crossing the patient barrier, but the feelings it filled her with seemed to trump all of her doubt about the situation. Still, though, she only allowed herself a moment to enjoy it before she pulled away.

Wide eyed and trying not to smile, she gently pushed her hand against Ollie's shoulder. “You can't do that. I'm your provider and you're my patient!”

Oliver simply shrugged and flashed a relaxed smile. “Technically, not any more. As of now, we are just two regular people. I'm not a patient at all.”