by Janae Keyes
“As long as you keep ‘em in your pants, I’m cool, man. That dick of yours gets you into trouble” JC laughed.
He wasn’t lying. Zeus had stirred up plenty of trouble. I was one for fucking girls in club bathrooms only to find their boyfriends ready to fight. Girls were obsessed with me, practically stalking me, wanting more. Zeus was an addiction in himself to the girls he’d come across, and for once, I only wanted one girl to crave him. And that was Lia.
“You know the Team USA practice center is only like forty minutes or so from here,” JC mentioned, changing the subject. “Tom mentioned a visit. When you’re back in skates we can head down and show him what you’ve got.”
“We’ll see, man.” I shrugged. I didn’t want to stress about it now, it wasn’t the right time for it.
“All right, fucker, I’m going to head back to Colorado Springs. I’ve got a flight tomorrow afternoon out of Denver back to San Jose. Also, I have a shit ton of meetings and have to make sure your bills are paid.” JC stood and stretched. I followed suit with a tingle of pain gliding up my leg.
“Fuck,” I grunted as I dug into my pocket for my pills and threw one back.
My eyes landed on Lia. Her eyes were on me. There was a frown on her face as she watched me. I tore my eyes away, not wanting to maintain contact. If I were to do anything, I would listen to myself. Lia was the worst distraction, and I had plans to get back into the game. She’d stolen my focus though she gave me a new outlook at the same time. Lia had been the one to give me an attitude adjustment. I sighed at my conundrum.
The sweetness that constantly enticed me was my biggest obstacle. The desire I had for Lia’s body would hold me from my potential. But the more distance I put between us, the greater my desire to be near her grew.
7
Lia
My nerves were on edge as I waited patiently in the doctor’s office. I’d spent my morning in tests and x-rays to determine my fate. There was the possibility that I would need additional surgeries. That would not only keep me from the World Championships in March, but the Olympics as well.
My hands trembled as they cupped my knees. I only wanted one person and one thing. I needed the calming spirit of Max, his hand holding mine keeping me in that moment of clarity as he’d done with me my first time back on the ice.
The door to the small office opened and the Willows Center’s medical chief of staff strolled into the room holding a large envelope containing my x-rays. He went straight to the light screen on the wall and flicked it on before he pulled the black and white photos from the envelope and hung them up.
I saw my entire foot on display along with a closer shot of my ankle and the bones that I’d once seen shattered. Those bones were now intact and heeled with the aid of pins.
“I have good news,” the gray-haired man announced as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and offered me a smile. “I don’t think more surgery is needed. Your ankle looks good. It looks even better than when you arrived over three weeks ago. I do think you will need more than the predicted eight weeks here, but you’ll be out before the World Championships, and at the rate you’re progressing in therapy, you’ll be good.”
With his news, I could have jumped up from the chair and done a dance. It was even better news than I’d expected. However, I hadn’t expected to spend more time at the center, though. That was the only disappointment, but it wouldn’t end the world.
“How much longer do you think I’ll need to be here?” I asked him anxiously.
“An extra two to four weeks possibly, but I’ve heard from your physical therapist and ice skating coaches that you are making strides. I’ll approve for your personal coach to come in, and you have been cleared to begin competition practice under our supervision. I’ll still be doing x-rays periodically to keep an eye on your bones, but you should feel incredibly accomplished.”
“Oh, I do,” I squealed incredibly anxious to call my mom and Bev to give them the news.
I bounced out of the medical center. I was still processing the news. I knew a huge smile was plastered on my face because my cheeks were hurting. I ripped my phone from my jeans pocket as I moved. Then I dialed my mom’s number.
I came in contact with something hard and warm. I bounced back only to have my body grabbed by large hands. My eyes bore into those steel gray eyes that haunted my dreams.
“Watch where you’re going there, Princess,” he said sweetly, his hands still holding me, rubbing down my sides before settling on my hips.
My breathing was shallow and my chest heaved as I leaned into his magnetic touch that I’d craved so much. The way he held me was like I was his; his personal prized possession. His hands were gripping my hips as though he didn’t want to let me to go.
I inhaled his scent and relaxed in his embrace.
“What has you so happy, Princess?” he asked.
My eyes watched his mouth until I shook myself from the trance he’d put me in. “I just left the doctor, and I can start practicing for competition again. I was just about to call my mom and my coach to give them the good news,” I announced, nearly bouncing with pure elation running through my body.
A smile graced his lips. That very smile sent the butterflies in my stomach into an erratic frenzy. Max Madden was sexy as fuck. The most attractive part about it was that he knew it. Biting down hard on my lip, I slipped my hands onto his and removed them from my body. I wanted to stay in his arms, but I knew there were eyes on me and on us. Plus I needed to break his spell or the jinx he’d put on me that dragged me into his aura.
“I should go and make those phone calls,” I suggested softly.
“Yeah, get to that. I’ll see you around,” Max agreed.
My eyes gave him a final look over. I loved his tattoos, I wanted to know the stories behind them as well as the story of Max Madden. He wasn’t the talkative kind, but I knew he had a story. We all had one. I had grown up in a single parent house with a mom who had given up everything for me. I wondered about his family and upbringing.
Max took a step back from me. I offered him a smile in return. It hurt to know I’d be leaving his presence. It also hurt to forbid myself from succumbing to the will of my raging hormones, but I had things to do. The real work was about to start. My road to the Olympics was set before me and I would be in the driver’s seat.
It was time to earn my gold medal and show the world that I was a champion. Everyone would know that my accident could not and would not hold me back. My time wasn’t over and I wasn’t ready to retire. The ice was my life and I would allow it to let me breath again.
Finishing the Biellmann spin, I turned to the redhead woman only feet from me who stood on the ice, her arms folded. I swallowed. I knew when she was pleased and I knew when she wasn’t. Because there was zero emotion on her face, I knew she wasn’t pleased.
Beverly Zimmer was known for being the best and she was. The woman didn’t take bullshit from anyone, not even me. She was firm and knew the ice skating world inside and out. I was a fifteen-year-old girl with a lot of potential when my mom first hired her. A year later, I was at the Olympics winning my first gold medal. Chick knew what she was doing.
“That was sloppy,” she spat.
I let out an exhausted huff at her criticism. She had been drilling me for over an hour on every single move and whenever a move did not meet her expectations, I was forced to do it all over again.
Today we had the rink to ourselves. Before arriving, Bev had reserved it for my first real practice with her since before my injury.
“You’re better than this, Lia. Show me that you are better than this,” she growled as I took off to do another spin.
Pulling in all my concentration, I went into the spin. My leg pulled up tight as I twirled around. I came to a stop, lowered my leg, and turned to Beverly for her approval. It wasn’t perfect, but I could see a sliver of a smile on her lips.
“I want an Axel from you,” she announced.
M
y mouth flew open. I hadn’t attempted any jumps whatsoever since being back on the ice, yet she wanted me to go straight to an Axel with no real warm up.
“Bev, I don’t know about—”
“Do an Axel, a double is fine. Show me that you can do this. I’m here all day with you for you to show me your healing. We’ve got the World Championships coming up and the Olympics. Make these moments count,” she lectured.
I hated to admit it, but she was right. Beverly wouldn’t be with me every day, so I had to show her that I could do it and that I would make the few practices I was able to have with her in the center count toward something substantial.
“Show me now, Lia.”
I swallowed as I took off across the rink to gain some speed. I took a breath as I went into the very jump that had landed me at the center; the one that had shattered the bones in my ankle. My heart pounded in my ears as I tried to block out my doubts. I tried to imagine with allure and the awe of the crowd that I always felt whenever I went into a jump. Moments before I made my decision, I heard my name and his voice.
“Go, Lia!” Max cheered, making a grin come to my face the moment I jumped and took off into the air.
The jump only lasted mere seconds, but upon my landing, I felt relieved that I had done it. I’d managed it with the cheering of my single fan. My heart was bursting with pride as I swiveled to face Max.
“It was sloppy, and your timing was terrible,” Beverly grunted before she turned her attention to Max. “This is a closed practice.”
“No, it’s fine. He can stay,” I said quickly. “He’s my friend.”
“He’s a distraction,” she spat at me before skating toward the stands where Max stood cheering for me. My heart pounded in my ears as I heard her fussing and insisting that he leave.
I had turned away, afraid to look. My fears came to light when I heard the sound of the doors open and close. She’d forced Max away.
“Now that he is gone, I want another Axel,” Bev demanded. “And do not be sloppy!”
The life that had come to my every limb with Max’s presence had dissipated into nothing because he was gone. Swallowing down my disappointment, I started off again as I’d done before, but this time I didn’t have his cheers or the sound of his voice echoing through the room.
Flying into another Axel, it wasn’t going to be a good one. I knew from the moment I took off. I ended the jump early and stopped in the middle of the ice, catching my breath and my emotions. I was angry at myself and also at my coach for pushing me although it was her job.
“What was that?” she asked angrily.
“I can’t,” I said softly.
“What did you say?” she asked, skating toward me.
I stood up straight, tears flowing from my eyes. I’d never been the girl to cry in practice. I always kept my tears for the shower afterwards. But after over an hour of Bev pushing and the incident with Max, I couldn’t hold them back. I knew I had work ahead of me. I’d known that from day one. I had worked my ass off, but it was too much all at once.
“Are you seriously crying? We don’t cry on the ice unless we are winning. Right now, you are way far from winning. I’ve never seen you fail so hard. Do you not want this?” She was berating me, fussing at me, driving me towards the edge.
“I do fucking want it!” I shouted over her. “But I can’t right now, damn it!”
I skated away and left the ice behind. I burst through the doors into the hall and there he was. His eyes met mine and I could tell he knew what I needed. His arms pulled me in tight, his nose in my hair. He didn’t speak any words because I only needed his care and protection. I’d never felt so vulnerable in my life. Tears flowed freely from my eyes as I sobbed onto his shirt. Max yanked me in closer, his arms holding me tight.
“Ssshhh, it’s okay, baby,” he whispered softly, the vibrations of his deep voice causing me to shiver.
Could I ever admit to myself the need I had for him?
8
Max
As Lia cried in my arms, I tried my hardest to keep my urges at bay. The first urge I had was to punch her bitch of a coach in her face. I wasn’t the type of guy to hit a woman, but that lady needed to learn something. She had come up to me like she knew me and could tell me what to do. I’d seen the embarrassment on Lia’s face so I’d only left to spare her more.
My second urge was to kiss Lia’s plump and vulnerable lips. It was strange the way I felt her emotions flowing through my body. She wasn’t just vulnerable, but she was also needy and desperate for validation. I wanted to be the one to give it all to her. She was wonderful and she needed to be told in every way possible.
“I’m sorry. I think I got snot on your shirt,” Lia said with a slightly embarrassed giggle. She pulled her face from my shirt that was wet from her sobs.
I laughed because there were other things for her to be concerned about, but the fact she’d possibly gotten snot on my shirt was the first thing she thought of.
I peered down at the beautiful woman in my arms before taking my fingers and tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She hadn’t worn her usual braid. Her hair was all pulled into a tight bun on the back of her head.
My thumbs wiped her tears away. Seeing Lia cry was something I never wanted to see again. It hurt my heart. I only needed her smile and her laughter.
“Want to get some air?” I asked as we stood in the empty hall together.
“Air would be nice, but first let me get out of these skates,” she said as she looked down at the white skates on her feet. They made her quite a few inches taller than normal. Although I liked how short she was in comparison to me, it was cute. She was compact sized, especially made for me.
Damn, chill the fuck out, Madden. I silently told myself that plenty of times whenever I was around her, but I only ended up wound up more. Then later I’d be forced to take Zeus on a date with my hand to relieve the tension she built inside me.
It didn’t take her long to change from her skates into a pair of knee-high boots. We grabbed our coats from the main lodge and escaped out into the fresh mountain air. The cool wind filled my lungs as we strolled down the path that was coated with a fresh dusting of snow.
“I love the snow,” Lia said, her sweet voice filling me.
“I fucking hate it,” I responded as I thought of my childhood in Minnesota with all that damn snow. My favorite part of living in California was that I didn’t have to deal with shoveling that shit out of my driveway.
“It might be because I didn’t grow up with any. Now, when I get the chance to be in snow, I take it in,” she explained as we continued walking side to side.
“Where did you grow up? Fucking Hawaii?”
Lia burst into laughter. Damn I could hear that all day and never get tired of it. “Is that the only option? What about Arizona or New Mexico or Texas? No, I’m from California—Oakland to be exact. I live in San Francisco now.”
“No shit! I live in Mountain View.” I peered down at Lia.
She wasn’t short, but compared to my 6’3” height, she was compact enough. My guess was that she was around 5’7” or so.
“You aren’t far from me at all. I love the Bay. I’d never give up living there, but being able to escape into the snow is nice,” she said as we came to a small bridge over a stream.
We stood in silence, both watching the moving water as it flowed through the snow-filled valley. Honestly, it was beautiful out there. It was calm and soothing. It almost felt like there were no cares in the world, even in this moment.
“I feel like I can’t do it,” Lia confessed.
I glanced down at her, but her eyes remained on the water.
“These past weeks I was energized for a comeback. I felt I had it in my grasp, but that changed today after practice with Bev. Nothing was going right in there and she pushed me past my breaking point. What if I can’t do it?”
“Who says you can’t?” I asked.
“Me.”
&nbs
p; “Don’t believe that shit. Those are your doubts. I know them well, but this girl I know who’s pretty good at giving pep talks taught me how to think positive and look past the negative. I think she needs her own words right now.”
Lia’s eyes shot up to mine, and I saw the realization in them that she knew I’d been talking about her. I would have left the center from the beginning if it hadn’t been for her.
I’d been this jerk, but she saw past it. She saw this potential in me. It was time for her to see that potential in herself.
“Did I really do that for you?” she asked in her sweet voice soft.
I nodded without saying a word. I put an arm around her. I needed to touch her and keep her close to me, inhaling her scent. Just having her near comforted me in a way I’d never felt before. Lia was something special and I wanted to know more about her. For once, it wasn’t about fucking her, but it was about getting to know the girl behind that infectious spirit.
“I need to talk to Bev. She and I have a rule about communication, so I need to talk to her about how I’m feeling. Maybe she will let up on me. I can do this, but I can’t be forced into it. It has to come naturally.” She needed to work past her roadblocks, the same way I’d worked past mine, thanks to her.
The afternoon flew by too fast. Lia and I walked around the campus before retreating to the warmth of the main lodge where she went off to find her coach. When she left me, it was like everything inside me went with her. I craved her presence because it kept me whole and alive. I was frustrated. I’d never let any girl make me feel like that. It was as if without her, I was only a shell of myself. Hitting up the gym, I ached to force those feelings away. With every lift of the weights, I tried to break the chains, but they only grew tighter, almost suffocating me.
The gym was a bust. Maybe a hot shower would work. At least I thought it would. I let the hot water trickle down my body, my hand wrapped around my dick. I stroked it as I envisioned Lia. I saw her voluptuous body walking toward me, those hips swinging as she moved.
