Out of Bounds (The Summer Games #2)(39)

He was teasing me again and I was sick of it. I pushed away from the counter and turned for the door.

“Enough to recognize a bad one when I see him,” I snapped.

I flung the front door open so hard it slammed against the wall then I strode out into the chill.

“Go to bed, Brie. I don’t play with girls.”





Chapter Sixteen


Brie





I hated Erik with every fiber of my being. It’d been a few days since I’d stormed out of his house; I still wanted to rip his face off, but in my dreams—when I wasn’t in control—my mind morphed him into my darkest fantasy. No matter how hard I tried to resist him during my waking hours, the moment I closed my eyes, he was all I saw.

In my dreams, our time in his kitchen had played out differently. He’d tossed the fork into the sink and stalked around the kitchen counter, watching me like prey.

He’d asked me how many men I’d been with and then he’d caged me in, dropping his hands to the counter on either side of my body.

I felt his warm breath on my neck and a shiver ran down my spine.

“None,” I replied, truthfully.

He groaned and leaned closer, wrapping a hand around my waist until his chest was flush against my back. His lips hit my neck, dragging down slowly. I knew he could hear my breaths quickening. I knew he could feel how turned on I was.

“I want to bend you over this counter,” he said, forcing me forward so that I had no choice but to give.

My face hit the cold granite and his hands were on my waist, sliding my tank top up to expose my back. His palm ran along my spine, burning my skin.

“You’d let me wouldn’t you?” he asked with a dark tone as he pushed his hard cock against my ass. “You’d let me to take you like this.”

I was going to come from nothing more than his dark words whispered in my ears. I could feel my insides churning, growing, warming…

A pair of feet hit the ground beside me and I jerked awake. Molly stood beside my bed, reaching forward to hit snooze on our alarm. I blushed, hoping she wouldn’t look over at me; thankfully, she turned and headed into the bathroom. I sighed and glanced down to find my body fully covered by my blanket. Underneath, my legs were spread wide, my hand was down the front of my panties, and my fingers were touching my soft skin the way Dream Erik had been.

Embarrassed, I ripped my hand out from beneath my blanket just as Molly glanced over with her toothbrush in her mouth.

“Hurry or you’ll be late for practice,” she said, completely clueless of my nighttime escapade.

I was relieved; I didn’t want anyone to know the extent of my feelings for Erik. The feelings that were rioting in my chest were better left locked up. I knew I could force them to the side, tamp them down if only I kept trying. Lusting after my * coach wasn’t exactly why I’d traveled across the country. I’d all but depleted my bank account so I could train in Seattle. I was here to focus on gymnastics, to perfect my routines for Rio, and Erik was nothing but a distraction. He liked to rile me up, to pull my attention away from what was important, but I wouldn’t let him. I had a few weeks left before the Olympics and if I wanted to win gold, there was no room for Erik’s games.

In the gym that day, I tried to put my thoughts into action, but I was off all day. I stumbled on easy skills, losing balance over the simplest of moves. During my beam rotation, I didn’t land a single standing full and my ankle was hating me for it. My focus was nowhere near the gym, and Erik knew it.

“Brie, that’s the fourth Deltchev you’ve eaten shit on,” he said as I pushed myself up off the mat and tried to catch my breath.

We were working on uneven bars and it was going just as pitifully as my beam rotation had gone before it.

“You’re better than that,” he continued with an angry tone.

Like he needed to tell me. Like he needed to point it out in front of everyone. I was the one who’d missed the high bar and fallen flat on my face. I was the one whose air had been knocked from my chest. I was the one whose shoulders ached and whose hands were torn up and bloody beneath my grips. I was the one who had to compete in three weeks.

Fuck!

“You’re wimping out at the last second,” he continued with a dark tone as I got to my feet and brushed past him. “Trust your body and go for it!”

“I am!” I shouted back so loudly I felt the vibration in my chest.

The gym went silent.

Molly cleared her throat and Lexi tried her best to hide a snicker.

Erik jerked around to face me with enough fury in his eyes that I nearly cowered. My knees wobbled and I knew on another day, I could have collapsed down, gripped my hands together, and begged for his forgiveness. Instead, I held my ground and tilted my chin an inch higher. Couldn’t he see I was trying? Couldn’t he see I was having an off day? It wasn’t my fault.

“Excuse me?” he asked, his jaw tightened with anger.

I ripped my grips off my hands and winced at the pain of the rips opening up along the tops of my palms.

I glared at him, too riled up to back down. “I said, I am trusting my body. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

If I’d toed the line with disrespect with the first comment, my second comment had blazed past it. Even Lexi didn’t laugh then, too focused on whether or not Erik would kill me.