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Today, though…
Silence.
Every second light is off and the ones that remain on are dimmed so the room is cast in a gloomy haze. The padded floor is empty and the massage table has been pushed up along the wall of mirrors.
“Tyler…?” I try again, venturing further into the room.
If I wasn’t already the main character in an ongoing tragedy, I’d assume I was in a horror movie. I’m standing in the center of the studio, visions of a knife-wielding murderer streaking across the room in my direction, when I hear the door click closed behind me.
I whirl around too fast, my heart hammering in my chest and pain splintering down my leg, to see?—
“Arsen!” I exhale, the imminent threat of death more than enough of a cardio workout for today. “You scared the hell out of me.”
I’m so relieved it’s him and not some masked murderer that it takes me a second to clock the predatory quality in his eyes. His gaze is laser-focused.
That’s right—I almost forgot. In terms of kill count, Arsen probably has a hefty lead on all of the slasher movie villains.
I take an instinctive step away from him. “What are you doing here?”
I haven’t seen him since the night of the fundraiser. We sleep next to each other most nights, though the only reason I know that is because the woodsy scent of him is all over the sheets every morning. It’s not like I ever actually see him in bed with me.
Arsen bolts the studio door behind him. “I’m here for you.”
“For me?” I frown, looking around. “Do you do physical therapy here, too? Where’s Tyler?”
Arsen takes slow, purposeful steps towards me. He moves like a panther, steady and sure. “Tyler is at a coffee shop down theblock, under strict orders not to come back here for the next hour.”
“But my appointment…” I trail off, trying to make sense of what Arsen is doinghere. “I need?—”
“You don’t need him for anything,” he growls. “You don’t need him to touch you. You don’t need him to make you feel good. That’s what I’m here for.”
I laugh right in his face. “I had no idea you were a trained physical therapist. What about gynecology? Do you do pap smears? Or—oh wait, hey, how are you with dentistry? This molar has been bothering the hell out of me.”
His eyes flicker to the table by the corner. “Would you like to start with some light stretching or shall we begin with a massage?”
Just the mention of the word has me reliving the way his hands worked over my hip and down my thigh… and between my legs.
I squeeze my thighs together and plant my hands on my hips. Mostly to keep from wrapping them around Arsen’s thick neck. “Stop this. Send in Tyler.”
“Tyler is no longer allowed anywhere near you.”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“I don’t know why you’re laughing,roza.Watching another man touch my wife isn’t a joke to me.”
I take a deep breath and rub my fingertips on my temples. “You’re giving me a headache.”
“I can help you with that.”
“Are you a neurologist, too?” I snap.
It’s a crime for him to look this good in nothing but a white t-shirt and dark gray joggers. I wouldn’t even mind if he decided to lurk in the corner during my appointment so I could sneak glances at him while I’m stretching.
But that’s not the point, now, is it?
“Tyler is a professional. He touches me so that he can help me. There’s nothing remotely intimate about it.”
Especially since Tyler is the human equivalent of a foam roller, as far as my libido is concerned. He makes my hip feel better, but he does nothing for any other part of me.
