Leah and Kaden both laughed. “See why we wear safety goggles for this?”
Seth glared at her but let her step in and tell him what he did wrong and work with him again for a minute. He tried again solo. That time it felt more controlled even though he didn’t come close to hitting the target.
After twenty minutes he felt like his arm was going to fall off.
He handed the whip to Leah. “Can I take a break?”
“Not as easy as it looks, is it?”
“No. I’m going to be fucking sore tomorrow.”
“Get used to it,” Kaden said. “It takes a lot of practice. Lots of blisters, too. We need to get you some gloves.” He picked up another whip and took out the balloons on the target. Seth had managed to strike the target a total of three times but never hit one of the balloons. With each hit, the whip cracked.
“Show-off.”
“Think he’s had enough for tonight, honey?” Kaden asked Leah.
As crazy as this was, Seth felt almost like his friends were back, before the news—
kaden’sdying
—drop-kicked his world on its ear.
Leah smiled. “I think he’s had enough for his first lesson.”
In addition to a sore arm, he’d worked up a hell of a sweat. Maybe a swim would do him good. He helped Kaden return the target to the storage shed and changed clothes. When he returned to the lanai they were gone, probably in their bedroom. Seth turned on the pool light and slowly lapped the pool.
He didn’t bother counting, just took his time, his mind spinning. He rested for a few minutes at the shallow end, his eyes closed, head on his arms.
“How’s the arm?” Leah’s voice startled him.
“Jesus, hon, don’t do that.”
She sat near the steps, back in her T-shirt, feet in the water.
“Sorry.”
He flexed his arm. “Going to hurt like a sonofabitch in the morning.”
“Why don’t you let me fire up the hot tub? You can soak and I’ll rub it out for you.”
Danger, Will Robinson!
“That’s okay. I’ll take a couple of Tylenol.”
“Don’t be silly. I’ve given you neck rubs before.”
“Yeah but that was…”
Before.
His entire life would now be comprised of a series of benchmarks he’d rather not consider. Before and After Kaden told him he was dying.
Then Before and After Kaden died.
“Please?” She looked sad, nearly desperate.
He finally nodded. “You stay out of the hot tub though.”
She smiled. “You don’t trust me?”
“Oh, I trust you all right, to get my ass to a point where I can’t back out.” He dropped his voice. “I’m serious, Leah. I’m not ready to jump into this with both feet yet. I need more time to ease into this. I’ll get there, but you gotta let me dip my toe in and get used to the water.” God, that sounded lame.
“I’ll go get it ready.” She pulled the cover off and turned on the jets. She walked inside the house for a moment, and he quickly got out of the pool and transferred to the hot tub.
He sank into it, the perfect temperature for the warm night after the cool swim. Leah returned a moment later with a glass of water and two Tylenol. “Here.”
“Thanks.”
He relaxed as she sat on the edge of the hot tub and worked over his neck, arm, and shoulder, her skilled fingers knowing exactly how to soothe his muscles.
“God, that’s good, babe.”
“It’s supposed to be.”
“I guess you do this a lot, huh?”
She shrugged. “It won’t hurt so bad tomorrow morning. If you’ll not be stubborn, let me work on it for you when you get up.”
“We’ll see.”
That was apparently good enough for her. He closed his eyes and let her massage his sore muscles. He didn’t know how long she sat there with him when she gently patted his shoulder. “How’s that?”
He’d nearly fallen asleep. “Real good,” he mumbled.
She left her hand resting on his shoulder for a moment. Then he felt her place a tender, lingering kiss on the top of his head. “Thank you.”
He reached up and patted her hand. “Why don’t you go on to bed? I’ll be fine. I’ll turn the hot tub off when I get out.”
He finally heard her leave. He didn’t open his eyes until the sliders to their bedroom opened and shut. He didn’t want to watch her walk into that room.
I’m such a fucking dumbass. How the hell did I let myself get talked into this?
He already knew the answer to that one.
Chapter Seven
Seth groaned when he rolled over. His arm and shoulder felt nearly dead. Between assembling and moving the shelving units, then the whip practice, he was in serious. Fucking. Pain.
It was nearly eight o’clock. Fortunately he hurt too bad to wake up horny. He suspected he couldn’t have done anything about it anyway, unless he managed it southpaw.
He didn’t bother closing the bathroom door all the way. Sure enough, Leah showed up a few minutes after he climbed under the hot spray.
“Is it safe?”
“You’d better have Tylenol with that coffee.”
“I do.”
When he realized she’d left, he stuck his head out of the shower. Yes, there were two capsules lying on the counter next to his mug.
Day-amn.
When he finished he heard her outside the bathroom again. “Is it safe?”
He wrapped a towel around his hips. “I guess.”
She pushed the door all the way open. “Go lay down. Let me work on your shoulder.”
He wasn’t going to argue. She’d left the bedroom door open, which actually made him feel better.
Less like they were doing something they shouldn’t be doing. Which was stupid, because they were doing exactly what Kaden wanted them to do.
It didn’t make Seth feel any better.
Whatever she used to rub him with smelled like mint and burned like hell at first before warming up then cooling off. And it felt wonderful when combined with her talented fingers.
Fuck, there was his woody, making a late appearance.
At least he was lying on his stomach and she couldn’t see it.
He heard Kaden in the doorway. “You alive in there?”
“Yeah, you’re trying to kill me, all right.”
He leaned against the doorway and laughed. “The more you practice, the less it hurts. You should work up to four or more times a week, about an hour each. At that point you’ll be in good shape.”
Leah finished and patted Seth between the shoulders. “All done. That’ll help. Let me do it again at lunch. Between that and the Tylenol, it’ll be okay. I’ll get breakfast ready.”
It did feel a little better.
He waited until he heard the door close to move. He was alone.
It was tempting to roll over and jerk off, but he didn’t want to get caught in the act. He still had his dignity, at least.
“Son of a BITCH!” Seth hopped around and rubbed his inner thigh where the whip had stung him, even through his jeans. Missed his balls by mere inches.
Leah sat off to the side. “You tensed on the swing.”
He’d learned not only did he have to master throwing the damn thing but that there were different ways to throw it. In addition, depending on the type of whip and length, still more differences.
He glared at her and rubbed the sore place, then tried again. Every time he nailed himself with the fucking thing it made him tense even worse on the next throw. This time, however, he managed to hit the target, even though the throw was low and to the left.