EIGHT
Alicia
Work was hard, but I knew it was only going to get harder as time went on. Why had I gone to a morning class when there were plenty of opportunities for ones later in the day after work? My clients were relying on me, and I had to work the entire day, even though I felt like at any point my body was going to give out on me. My legs were weak, screaming at me so they could give up and no longer work. I spent any time I could sitting down, taking quick breaks in between patients. As per usual, Tammy had noticed the change in how I carried myself. She was quick to point it out as she raised her eyes over the edges of her glasses.
“What did you get up to last night?”
“Nothing, Tammy. I went home and worked.”
“If you went home and worked you wouldn’t be walking like that. What
did you actually do? It wasn’t that !ghter, was it?”
“NoL TammyL NoL I went to a Muay Thai class this morning. That was
allL”
“That’s the wrong kind of cardio, xeash. Are you sure you didn’t have
an eHtra round or two in the ring with him afterwards?”
“TammyL Ce’s a fucking clientL Rut it outL”
CADK ON7ROS 9Y
“jou’ve never been this defensive about anyone else before.” “I’ve never done a class with anyone else before.”
“AhaL” Tammy leapt forward like a caged lion, pouncing on the !rst bit
of prey that it had received in its cage after being starved for weeks. “See, I knew it, I knew there was something about himL”
“I Bust wanted to see what it was all about, nothing more, Tammy.”
“No, you want to fuck RainL Kon’t lie to me, Alicia. xet me guess, he invited you in the ring with him to work pads?”
I gulped, but tried not to show anything that would give it away. Cow the fuck did she know what Rain had taken me through in the class? This late in the afternoon meant that I had little patience for Tammy, especially if she was going to go down this path. She had brought it up before and was going to keep hammering the fact home. jes, she was correct, but I did not want to hear it from her. I held up my hand towards her, telling her to speak to the hand.
“I’m not interested in this right now, Tammy. I’ve got work to do.”
“This is very important for your health and wellbeing, Alicia.”
“TammyL”
I raised my voice and Tammy knew that I was getting serious. This was now her time to run away. I loved the little chaos gremlin queen, but she was too much sometimes. Tammy ducked out of the oJce and headed back towards the reception area where I could hear her talking to what I thought was my neHt appointment.
“Send him through, TammyL”
Sure enough, I heard Tammy, talking to the neHt patient, and within a moment, Erad Smithers appeared. Ce was an elderly man with only a few tufts of grey hair left on his head. I enBoyed his wit and his banter, and he was always a character to be around. I was treating his shoulder that had come with a lifelong trauma behind it, given his history as a labourer. Erad was a quick and easy client and always left a smile on my face. 8ust what I needed to end the afternoon.
-z M.A. KADO0, MATT M0M0MAD7
With the clinic starting to wind down for the afternoon, there were still a few clients left with other physios that were getting work done. I left in a hurry, saying goodbye to them, before Tammy could encircle me once again. She was not what I needed to deal with today. I got into my car and took o4, seeing Tammy waving at me from the reception area. She knew what she had done. I would talk to her tomorrow. I needed rest and to recover from whatever trauma I had put my body through.
Come was not far from the clinic, but Bust far enough away so that I could have my own space without thinking about it in proHimity. I pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door. Waiting for it to slide open as it groaned was the most anHiety driving force I felt in my dayFtoFday life. I needed to stop being la1y and put some WK2z into it so that it would work.
7nce the door was open the whole way, I drove in and parked the car. I was grateful to be home, but now I had a new problem. Kespite only having stopped moving for !fteen minutes, my body had fro1en up and I was struggling to get out of the car. My hips were not moving, and I clawed at the ceiling of the car, trying to keep myself up. I groaned as I hobbled inside. I shut the garage door with a press of the remote and threw my keys and bag down on the kitchen counter. I would deal with it later once I had recovered. 3or now, I needed a taste of my own therapy.
The !rst thing I did was move up the stairs. 0verything was a struggle as my hips Bust refused to open. I stumbled into the bathroom and removed my work uniform as I turned the shower on. This was only the !rst step. There was all hot and no cold water coming through the tap and I stood in front of the mirror naked for Bust a moment before the shower was warm enough for me to enter.
The moment I entered the shower, the steam began to !ll it, the hot water scorching my skin. As it ran up to the ceiling, it made the whole bathroom feel smaller and softer and I collapsed into my own thoughts. The world did not eHist around me. I braced my palm against the tile wall
CADK ON7ROS -5
and let the hot water pour over me, down my shoulders, over my chest, tracing every inch of skin. It was all burning now, but my body had been humming since I left the gym.
As I relaHed into the shower, I could still see him. Rain stood barefoot on the mats, and sweat was shining across his back. I enBoyed watching the way his muscles coiled before he threw a kick. 0very aspect of Rain was controlled, lethal, and beautiful. The crack of his shin against the pad still echoed in my head, but it was my shin because I had been the one that was doing the kicking. 0ven though I had been terrible, it did not matter. I could still see Rain in his entirety.
I dragged my !ngers through my wet hair and closed my eyes. No matter what I did, I could not get Rain out of my head. It was not Bust the fact that he was built like a weapon. 0very aspect of him was lethal. Ce was lean and carved from repetition. I could only imagine the number of times that he had hit the numerous bags around the gym or how many pad rounds he had done.
0ven having been in the ring for him without him doing any work, I could see Bust how powerful his thighs were. Cis shoulders were broad, and they allowed his tattoos to shift with every movement. It was the way he focused. And that look he gave me between rounds, that hit me to the core. It was dark, assessing, and he held my ga1e a heartbeat too long. Ce was hungry, and if I was not careful, I was going to be dinner.
Water slid down my collarbone, between my breasts, and kept going lower. I shivered, though it was not from the temperature of the water. As more water continued to run down my body, my breath grew heavier as I leaned into the spray.
I was caught. I was imagining Rain close, but he was not under the bright lights of the gym or even in a !ght with a crowd watching. It was Bust the two of us. Cis breath felt warm against my neck. Cis voice was low and rough, stripped of command as he whispered things into my ear. Ce was still heavy with control. I had only seen what he was like when he
-G M.A. KADO0, MATT M0M0MAD7
was !ghting or being treated by me. Eut what was he like outside of those situations?
My pulse quickened at the thought. There was something about him, something that was mysterious and I was drawn to it. I slid my palm down my side, aware of every sensation that the water was heightening. My skin felt alive and electric. My thighs pressed together without me thinking about it, as if my body had already decided what my mind was still pretending not to admit about how I felt about Rain. This was ridiculous. I barely knew him and to make matters worse, he was a fucking client.
Eut I knew the way he moved and the way he had watched me whilst I had been training. Ce would not have paid such close attention to any other random !rst timer. The steam of the shower kept wrapping around me like his presence, but I wished that he was here. Ce was heavy, and consuming. I tilted my head back and let the water cascade over my face, my chest, my stomach, imagining what it would feel like to be held by someone that strong. I wanted to be wanted with that same intensity that he brought to every aspect of his life.
My !ngers started to trail lower on my body. They were slow and unhurF ried. There was nothing frantic, it was Bust curiosity. I was busy eHploring the heat that he had been making me feel in my body all day. My mouth opened and I wanted him here.
“Rain.”
3or a moment, in the hush of water and my breath as it rose up in the shower, I let myself imagine that he was thinking about me too. I closed my eyes, and when I reopened them, I could see Rain standing in front of me. Cow had he Bust appeared? What in the everFloving fuck?
Rain stood Bust beyond the spray. Cis !gure !lled the rest of the bathF room, both solid and unmistakable, like he had Bust stepped straight out of the thoughts that I had been drowning in. Water beads ran along his shoulders, tracing the lines of muscle I watched move like a wellFoiled weapon only hours ago. Cis hair was damp, darker, curling slightly at the
CADK ON7ROS -P
edges. Cis chest rose, controlled as he always was. Eut his eyes? They were another problem and they meant that I was fucked. Cis eyes were not controlled. They were locked onto me and despite the hot water pouring over my body, I felt a cold chill run down my spine once again.
3or a second, I could not breathe. My !ngers fro1e where they rested against my skin. The world narrowed to the space between us. It was thick with nothing more than steam, and tension. I could only stare at Rain, unable to believe that he was standing in my shower with me. Ce murmured at me, his voice rough and as coarse as gravel.
“jou keep saying my name like that, so I !gured I should answer you, Alicia.”