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Madison
The bell over the entrance to the doctor’s office jingled. As Maddy cleaned her room after the last appointment, she could hear Cathy, the receptionist, checking the patient in. Maddy changed the face paper, sprayed the table with disinfectant, and then straightened up her work station before strolling to the back room. She grabbed a few baby carrots, and decided to snatch a bite of her sandwich before Matt got here. Her stomach rumbled, but she’d have to forgo lunch today. It wasn’t the first time she’d skipped lunch, and it wouldn’t be the last.
A conversation was happening at the reception desk between Cathy and someone who sounded like Matt. The other two therapists had already left for lunch, and Dr. Murray would be headed out soon. The office was technically closed for the next hour or so, and she couldn’t think of a better time to work on Matt.
Madison knew she was the only therapist Matt would see, and she always made time for him. She preferred it that way. Something pinched in her heart at the thought of the other therapists admiring him, er, working on him. It was simply known that he was her patient, and she never said otherwise.
After that display yesterday from Mary and Liz, her gut told her she was right to be protective of him—for Matt’s benefit, of course. It was, as she pointed out to him yesterday, a doctor’s office.
Matt was a good guy, and yes, Madison had heard all the stories about his ex and his troubles. Over the course of their friendship, he’d divulged some of the more personal details about his marriage breakup, so she knew where he was coming from. The last thing he needed was some fangirl trying to get with him. As far as she knew, he’d finally moved past the puck-bunny phase of his life, and selfishly, she hoped to keep it that way. In addition, his only wanting to see her for his therapy made her feel special.
Ever since he’d briefly kissed her on their last night together in Wilkes-Barre, she got butterflies in her stomach when she thought about him. That wasn’t supposed to happen. They were friends, and he’d never given her any reason to think he would like them to be more. Until that night.
She couldn’t stop thinking about the way he’d looked into her eyes and held her tight to him. And the way his body heated hers was burned into her senses. It made her wonder, what if they took a chance and—
Cathy popped her head into the break room. “Matt’s here. I told him to go right in to your room.” Cathy shyly lowered her eyes to the floor and then looked up at Madison again. “So, um, I was wondering... Is he still with Lindsay?”
Oh, for goodness sake! Why do all the girls in this office go into fangirl mode when he walks in?
Maddy hated answering these questions. Not to mention that her memories from that fateful night were interrupted by this inquiry. She resisted the urge to cross her arms and was barely able to keep her tone pleasant. “No, they’re not together anymore.”
This is a medical office, not a dating website. He is coming here for therapy. He doesn’t need to be bombarded with fangirls.
“Oh?” Cathy’s eyes grew wide, and she batted her eyelids.
Cathy was younger than Madison, but simple. Where Madison had long, blonde hair with beach-waves and a curvy figure, Cathy had straight hair and wore long flowing skirts, hiding whatever body type was under there. Cathy was cute in her own way, but Madison grew easily annoyed when the girls asked her about Matt’s relationship status.
“Yeah, he’s been going through a rough spot, and unfortunately, their marriage didn’t work out. That’s all public knowledge, and I’m sure if you want to know more, there’s plenty more gossip on the internet.” She tapped at her watch. “Speaking of him, I better get in there.”
Madison didn’t like the hopeful look on Cathy’s face when she had asked about Matt. An odd, territorial, almost jealous feeling washed over her. Her feeling protective of him wasn’t exactly new, but the jealousy was a little surprising.
Madison knocked quietly before opening the door. Poking her head into the dimly lit room, she saw Matt was already lying face down on her massage table. Her music was playing low, helping to keep the mood relaxed and calm.
Another unusual feeling made her stomach do little flips. His shirt was off, his muscles defined, and old scars and a few new bruises showed across his skin. He was a professional ice hockey player, so this was nothing she hadn’t seen before. But the flutter in her stomach certainly was.
“Hey, tough guy. Glad that you listened to me.”
“Hey there, sugar. Did I really have a choice?” Matt mumbled.
Madison took a deep breath. It was normal to notice a guy in such great physical shape, and she tried her best to be professional. “Of course, you didn’t. What seems to be the trouble? The shoulder again? Or is it a new injury?”
“Yeah, it’s the fucking shoulder again. Morris shoved me into the boards at practice this morning and jacked it up. I’ve iced it to reduce the inflammation, but it’s the same fucking story.” His words sounded garbled as he spoke, due to his face being mashed into the face rest. Yet, somehow, she understood every one.
“Okay, let’s see what we can do about it.” Maddy set her timer for fifteen minutes.
“Sugar, you think I can get a half hour? I’m really hurting, and Coach Walker is on my ass to get this shoulder shit under control. Tell the doc he can bill me.”
Looking at her clock, she knew she was certainly going to miss her lunch hour now. “For you, absolutely.” She changed the timer to a half hour, just as her stomach rumbled.
“Since I’m messing up your lunch, how about I come back after your day is over and buy you dinner? It’s the least I can do.”
The thought of a good dinner made her mouth water. Otherwise, she would just end up heading home to reheat leftover meatloaf. Alone. Not to mention, at this point, she’d be nibbling on her sandwich between her next few clients. “That’s really nice of you to offer, but you don’t have to do that. I’m sure you’re busy.”
She pushed on his shoulder, searching for the point of his pain. It only took her two guesses to find it. She held his wrist. “Relax your arm.”
“Why?”
“Shh. Just let me do what I do. Now relax your arm.” Once he complied, she gently bent his arm to stretch the muscles in his shoulder.
Matt couldn’t cover his wincing up, but she continued to stretch his arm for a few minutes. Then she slid her hands down his back, alternating pushing her thumbs to his skin. She watched closely to how her fingers glided over his body, as she did her best to loosen all his muscles. “Boy, you are so tense.”
She squirted gel onto his back and turned on the ultrasound machine.
“I never understood what that ultrasound thing does. It doesn’t feel like anything, unless you count the ice-cold gel that I try to be macho and not flinch at.”
“Didn’t I tell you to hush? You’re supposed to be relaxing. We’ve been over this before.” As she ran the wand over his shoulders, she couldn’t help but look at how much definition he had. He was all muscle. There was no fat on his body, regardless of how old he complained that he was. Madison chalked her ogling his body up to her profession and being able to appreciate the human body, but she knew that was a lie.
“Yeah, I know, but when you talk, it helps relax me, so explain it again. Please? Plus, I’ve taken so many hits to the head, you know? I’m sure I lost that info somewhere down the line. This old brain is like swiss cheese now.”
“You’re not that old. And aren’t you the one throwing most of the punches?” Matt was an enforcer, so he fought—a lot. But he wasn’t wrong about the hits to the head. As she rubbed the ultrasound wand along his back, she could see his muscles tense. They looked like rocks, but she’d find out soon if they were as tense as they looked. “As long as you relax. The ultrasound therapy is used to lessen muscle pain and help with movement. It uses sound waves to deliver deep heat into the tissue. It reduces stiffness, swelling, and pain, and it helps circulation.” She finished her explanation, just as the ultrasound machine beeped and shut off. “Time’s up, anyway.”
Maddy wiped the gel from his back with a towel, then prepped her hands and Matt’s back with the massage lotion. Starting at his lower back, she set about loosening him up a bit before working on his shoulders. Her fingers dug into his muscles, but the muscle tissue fought back with rock-like consistency.
“Deep breaths, Matt. You sure do need a good rub down. Maybe you should come in for an hour massage next? Or I can always come to your house, if it’s easier.” Less fangirls that way, too.
“Yeah,” he agreed with a chuckle. “I sure do need a good rub down. Interested?”
Ignoring his dirty sense of humor, even if today it did make certain parts tingle, she continued to work out his back muscles. Madison dug a little deeper around his hip on purpose and silently chuckled when Matt flinched. It was one area in which he was always pretty sore. The massage therapy helped, but she knew the pressure always started out painful before it felt better.
As she worked, her thoughts centered around Matt. He was a good guy deep down, but rough around the exterior. She had never fangirled over him, even though he was very good looking. He was a little older, his features a bit more chiseled than most of the Renegades. Then again, she never went for the pretty boys.
But today something was unsettled in her, although not in a bad way. The memories of that night, that kiss, were fresh in her mind. Then spending yesterday together, mock flirting, and when he held her hand—feelings had been stirred up that she was having a hard time pushing down. As well, his scars and bruises hit her somewhere deep inside, a place she normally hid.
Shaking her head, she caught herself in a daze, staring at his large, rippling arm and back muscles. The waist of his jeans hung loosely around his sculpted waist. Get your mind out of the gutter; he’s a client and friend. But no pep talk was strong enough to stop the feelings that were already let loose.
That kiss had been an unusual departure from their normal, mutual friend-zone. And as brief as it was, it had sent her hormones into a flurry. And what about the hand holding? Was that a friend thing, or did it mean something more? The lines had suddenly become blurry, and she wasn’t sure what that meant for either of them.
“You should’ve taken me up on my invite to stop in last night after the movie. Mister Whiskers would’ve loved to see you.” Her cat was now almost ten, and he was her longest relationship.
“Mister Whiskers. Ha! I still think that cat needs a nickname. Something manly. We should call him Rocky or something.” Matt laughed, before he winced in pain. “Ow! Hey, watch it. I like those magic fingers and all, but take it easy on the weary bones.”
“Sorry.” She grinned, knowing he couldn’t see her. Why did it feel so good that he said “we” when talking about her cat, as though he belonged in her life? “You have a serious knot in your shoulder here. It needs to be worked out.”
She concentrated on the general area, trying to get the muscles to relax. Taking his arm in her hands, she again stretched him out. Bracing her thigh against his arm to help the stretch, her stomach fluttered at the warmth that radiated off him. There’re those feelings again.
This reaction never happened when she worked on a client. But he wasn’t just any client. Trying to ignore the odd feelings being stirred inside her, she moved her fingers down his spine. Slowly, she worked out the tension in his sculpted lower back, then, unhurriedly, moved up his back towards his shoulders, where she got to work on his actual problem area.
“Did you do anything fun last night?” Madison asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.
“No, Maddy. Nothing fun, and I didn’t go to the bar, if that’s what you’re asking. Do you really think I’d choose a beer over you?”
“I didn’t mean...” Madison laughed a nervous laugh. She sounded like a jealous girlfriend, and her gut was telling her to cut it out. This is why you don’t mix friendship and lust. She pushed a little harder on his back than necessary, as she mulled over his comment about if he would choose beer over her. Feeling him tense, she had to hold back a laugh. “Beer is gross, anyway.”
Matt’s body shook as he chuckled.
Maddy made no secret that she hated beer. She couldn’t stand the smell of it and detested the taste of it. Nothing good ever came out of drinking it, at least none that she had ever been witness to, and maybe that was why Matt’s drinking bothered her so much.
“I don’t drink that much,” Matt retorted. “At least, not as much as I was before.”
Maybe he didn’t drink as much as he used to, but she still would’ve liked to see him settle down. Although he’d tried to mask it, she’d caught glimpses of sadness in him whenever he spoke about his friends’ happy marriages and their growing families. She would bet her money on his yearning for that, too.
Madison focused on the feel of the muscle tissue and the music in the background. But as her hands traveled over his hard body, her own body heated up. The small fan in her room was not doing much to cool her down.
“Ugh, that’s tender.” Matt squirmed under her touch when she pushed on his side. “And it’s not funny.”
“I wasn’t laughing.” She poked at the spot again, just to get a rise out of him, because to her, it was kind of funny.
“Stop it, and I know you were.”
“Sorry, couldn’t resist.” She moved her hands slowly down to his hip. “Like always, tell me where the pain is.” Her eyes went to a few scars on his back as she focused her energy on his trigger points. “You never got any tattoos to cover these scars up?” Matt had talked about doing so a few months back.
“Nah. Changed my mind. I have too many to worry about. Did you ever get that tattoo you were talking about?”
“The pink carnation tattoo? No.”
“I still think if you’re going to get one, that’s the one. Refresh this beaten up old memory as to why that’s special to you?”
Madison chuckled at his poor attempt at humor. “Pink carnations were my Grandma’s favorite flower. Every time my Grandfather would bring her flowers, they were always pink carnations.”
“And I bet your house is always filled with pink carnations?”
“No. It’s not something that I buy myself. Now shush and let me do my work.”
She moved her fingers around his shoulder. As he squirmed, his jeans hung lower on his hips, exposing him more.
Once he identified the sore spots, she slowly worked them out, running her fingers along the muscle till his body relaxed and the muscles softened, a sure signal the pain was subsiding. Repeating her movements, the low groan that escaped him each time stirred that feeling in her stomach more.
“God Madison, I love your magic fingers...” Matt moaned.
His tone and unfortunate suggestive word choice turned her insides to jelly. Just to be safe and keep from turning into a fangirl, she stayed quiet the rest of the half hour, but the grunts and groans from Matt made Madison’s toes curl.
When the timer went off, she silenced it and continued to rub down his spine. She wanted him to be as relaxed as possible when he left. “Feel better?”
“Much. Thanks, sugar.” Matt slowly sat up on the therapy table, his face red from being smooshed in the face rest.
“No problem.” Her eyes were out of control, her gaze gliding down over his chest and abs before becoming trained on his unbuttoned jeans that may or may not fall lower if he stood up. Her stomach rumbled, breaking her trance. She cleared the huskiness out of her throat before speaking. “See you out front after you get yourself together.”
She pulled the door behind her, not missing his devilish smirk before the door clicked closed. Her stomach rumbled again. After washing her hands, she nibbled at some of her sandwich as she walked to the front desk.
“Thanks again, sugar.” Matt nodded to the last piece of sandwich that she popped into her mouth. “Told you that I ruined your lunch hour. Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you. See you at seven.”
About a half hour after Matt left, a delivery guy showed up at the front desk with a surprise delivery of sandwiches for the whole office. Courtesy of Matt.