Page 39 of Pressure Point

Flexing his hand, he fought back the urge to grab ahold of Avery and pull her into him. That was what he really wanted—what would really improve his mood. The feel of her and her soft body against him. But he’d already crossed the line earlier by reaching over and squeezing her knee under the table. He’d done it without even thinking about it. It was his body’s automatic reaction to the overload of cuteness she’d been. But he’d felt her tense up underneath his touch, and that had hurt more than he wanted to admit. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again now.

“Oh my God!” she said, her eyes glued to the screen.

“Oh, I should have warned you, this one starts with a bang. Literally.”

Avery let out a gasp, hands flying to cover her mouth as the action played out on screen. Her eyes widened with each new whizz and pop of the explosions, making Liam’s hands ache to hold her even more. Making himself focus on the screen, he tried to ignore the sharp intakes of breath coming from the other side of the couch. Everything in him was telling him to hold her. To wrap his arms around her, kiss the top of her head, and hold her close. His mind, however, was telling him to stay away, that she didn’t want him and that listening to his dick would only ruin their friendship.

“Ow! Ow, ow, ow,” Avery cried.

“He’s wearing a vest, you’ll see. He’s fine,” Liam said, keeping his eyes trained on Robert Downey Jr. bleeding through his shirt on screen.

“Oh, fuck, owwwww,” she cried again.

Liam whipped his head around to face Avery, his heart starting to race. He’d never heard her swear and couldn’t imagine why this scene would have her so worked up. They’d watched two other movies in the series already, both of which had scenes that were a lot more intense than this one. Avery looked up at him, meeting his gaze, grasping at the back of her right thigh. Her brows were furrowed and her lips were drawn into her mouth, pain clear as day in her eyes.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, not bothering to stop the movie.

“Charley horse,” she whimpered.

Ouch…

“Oh, shit, what can I do?”

“I need help stretching it,” she said, her hand still trying to work at the muscle. “But I’m not sure I can stand.”

“I got you.”

He popped up off the couch, closing the gap between them and scooping her up. Almost immediately, his body reacted to the feel of her in his arms, and he knew he needed to put her down before he did something he would regret. Easing her down, he placed her feet on the ground, gently letting go. Avery’s leg buckled underneath her, and Liam reached out, catching her, pulling her in to him. The warmth radiating off of her made him catch his breath, praying she didn’t notice.

“I need out of these pants,” she said.

What did she just say?!

“Come again?” he asked. There was no way he heard that correctly.

“It’s a charley horse—my hamstring is involuntary contracting. So I need to stretch it out. But I won’t be able to do that with these pants on.” She gestured to her standard match day attire, khaki pants paired with a team polo. The pants hugged her legs and small behind, leaving very little to Liam’s imagination as it was. Now he needed to take them off of her? “I need you to help me.”

“Help you remove your pants?” She had to be kidding.

“And probably massage my hamstring.”

Liam let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. It’s not that he didn’t want to help her out of her pants—oh boy, did he want to—he just wasn't sure what kind of line this crossed. Looking her in the eye after they’d almost kissed the other day in the dressing room was hard enough. After literally undressing her, it was going to be even harder. Just like his dick was getting harder the more he thought about it.

“I know this is weird, but please,” she begged. The pain was still in her eyes, and she was doing that lip-biting thing that drove him insane. There was no way he could say no to her.

“Arms on my shoulders,” he told her. Avery gladly complied, gripping onto him like her life depended on it. Reaching for the button on her pants, he made quick work of getting it undone, pulling down the zipper, and moving his hands to her hips to start working his way down.

He could feel his hands starting to shake as he inched the fabric down her legs, more and more of her smooth skin starting to show. His pulse kicked up another notch, and he swallowed hard, trying not to focus on the light pink cotton panties she was wearing. It was all he could do to keep his composure and not try and pull them down with his teeth. He’d pictured this moment plenty, wondering what it would be like to undress her. None of those moments in his head, however, had ever involved a leg cramp.

Without another word, he stood back up, slipping his arm behind her knees and scooping her up again, then lowering himself to his knees and gently placing her on the ground. Avery let out another whimper and Liam’s heart squeezed. He shifted himself so that he was kneeling over her, placing the cramped leg over his shoulder.

“Oh, that already feels better,” she said, exhaling loudly. “Now just push forward gently and hold for about thirty seconds.”

“I do know how to stretch a hammy. Professional athlete, remember?”

“Sorry,” she giggled. “It’s the PT in me. I can’t help it.”

Liam laughed, shaking his head. She was too cute for words, and he wished like hell he could tell her that. Instead, he ran his hands down either side of her leg, feeling her soft skin underneath his fingertips. When he reached her thigh, he kneaded his thumbs gently into the back of it, slowly stroking the muscle, helping it relax. Avery moaned from his efforts, wiggling her hips slightly. It sent a jolt straight to his already rock-hard dick. If only she were making those noises from some other kind of massage.