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“Fine.” His mouth twitched though I could tell he wanted to argue with me.
With my other hand, I cupped the injured shoulder to feel the muscles move beneath my palm.
The private solitude on the veranda came upon me then. It was just me and Matty.
Along with the bubbling sounds coming from the hot tub, birds chirped in the trees, and the soft breeze wafted the scent of wildflowers into the yard. In the distance, the soothing cadence of ocean waves created a secluded cocoon. Though that didn’t mean someone from within the house couldn’t see us.
I kept a close eye on his facial expressions. I watched his breathing, the way he’d suck in a breath now and again, or how I’d hear a low hiss.
When the grimace began, I’d reverse movement or guide his arm in a different direction, either straight out or across his chest.
I wanted to save the overhead part until the end since I knew that’d be the worst of it. With the gentlest of movements, I lifted his arm in tiny increments and made a mental note when pain spread across his face, reversing course when it happened. There was no point in extending the arm higher as that would only cause significantly more pain without any benefit.
I only needed to know where in the range of motion the pain began.
“Sorry,” I whispered when I did the same movement but from a slightly different angle. “All right,” I said, my voice almost breathless, as I guided his arm back down into the water. “Can I place light pressure in and around the shoulder? Same promise as before.”
“Okay,” Matty said. His eyes were shut tight and I worried I was making things worse. I smoothed a hand over the outer bicep, over his shoulder, to the back of his neck. I mirrored the action on his good, non-injured side. “Why are you doing that?” Matty asked.
There was no mistaking the dreamy quality to his voice. His chest expanded with each breath.
My hope was he was relaxed enough to not tense up his muscles.
Did I like touching him? Yes.
But this was medical. Scientific.
Or at least that’s what I told myself.
“To feel for swelling in your shoulders.”
“Oh.”
“Does it hurt?” I asked again.
Leaning over, but still behind him, I placed both hands flat against the upper part of his muscular chest, my fingertips brushing against the dark smattering of his chest hair. Applying soft pressure, I pressed into the muscle. I glided upward, over the collarbone, then outward over the pecs where they met the shoulders, in one fluid motion. From there, I traced around the deltoids, over the top of his shoulders, and all the way to where his shoulder blades met.
“Define hurt?” Matty asked after letting out a very long breath. His head relaxed back against the edge of the hot tub in an almost open invitation for me to keep touching him.
“Am I causing pain?” I clarified as my fingers lightly probed both shoulders. His injured shoulder was definitely inflamed and swollen.
Positioned like we were, it felt safe to study Matty’s face with his head back and his eyes closed. I wanted to smooth down his thick eyebrows, and his eyelashes were noteworthy for being long and dark, which highlighted the tired lines under his eyes. Several days’ worth of growth coated his jaw. It made him look older than twenty-one.
“No, you are not causing pain, Ciaran.”
But Matty was affected. Something like victory swelled in my chest. Matty was reacting to me. Reacting to my touch.
My mind went in a carnal direction. I wanted to say something like, Can I probe another muscle? or, Anything else need attention? I didn’t have much experience but I was sure I could fumble my way through it.
But I didn’t want to ruin the moment.
A second later, though, the outside world intruded when Matty’s phone started buzzing frantically. He sat forward, breaking contact, which gave me the perfect opportunity to actually apply the KT Tape.
Matty cleared his throat before he said, “The team will be here shortly. They’re at the gate now.”
I made quick work of drying his shoulder. I collected the KT Tape, ripping off several pieces, and strategically placed them on either side of his deltoid, with the length of it ending at the bicep. I placed another long strip from the middle part of his trapezoid down to the flat of his shoulder blade.
“Do you mean your swim team?” I asked, rubbing my hand swiftly over the applied therapeutic tape. If done properly, it’d adhere to the skin for up to seven days.
