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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

BRASHE

Ellie got back to work, pressing deeper into my adductor muscle. The pressure built until I had to focus on breathing to get through it.

“I need to do more soft tissue work,” she said after a few minutes. “It’s going to hurt more than anything so far.”

“Alright.”

“I need you to trust me.”

“I do.”

She paused, her hands going still on my thigh. “Do you?”

“With this? Yeah.” I swallowed. “With everything else? I’m working on it.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m trying not to be the orc who fucked things up at the picnic.”

She went very still. “We won’t be talking about that.”

“Maybe we should.”

“Not while I’m elbow-deep in your adductor, we’re not.”

The pressure was brutal. Not quite a sharp pain, but deep and relentless, like she was digging into a place I’d been protecting for too long.

“Breathe,” she said.

I was. Through my tusks, but still.

“I mean actually breathe, Brashe. You’re holding your breath.”

“I’m trying to be tough.”

“I don’t need you to be tough. I need you to relax.”

“I can’t do both.”

“Yes, you can. Trust your body.”

“My body is what got me into this mess.”

“No.” Her hands kept working. “Your brain did. Your body was trying to keep up and couldn’t.”

I exhaled.

And something in the muscle released.

She worked deeper, her thumbs pressing into the adhesions with controlled force. It hurt, but differently now, like the pain had a purpose.

“You could’ve dumped me on Patty,” I said. “Why didn’t you?”

Her hands didn’t stop. “Because you’d just do something stupid again, and I’d feel responsible.” She pressed harder. “And because Patty’s child has the flu, and I’m not a monster.”

“That’s the only reason?”