Thrown by a Curve by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page B

fan of the Rivers. I understand you’re doing some shoulder therapy. I hope it gets you back on the mound soon.”
    “Me, too.”
    He was handed a clipboard and a form that basically said if he fell to his death, it wasn’t their fault, along with some other information about safety. He filled it out and signed it.
    “Right this way,” Dave said.
    Garrett walked behind as Alicia and Dave stayed close together talking. Or rather—Dave talked. Alicia tilted her head back and laughed. And Garrett felt like a third wheel, though he had no idea why. It wasn’t like Dave and Alicia were on some kind of date.
    As far as he knew, anyway. He didn’t know anything about her personal life. Dave could be her boyfriend, and he was helping her with Garrett’s therapy.
    Lucky guy if that was the case. Out of those loose-fitting team uniforms, she had one hell of a body. Tight workout pants and a tank top hugged her body in a way the team uniforms never had.
    She was slender but not skinny. The woman had muscle tone like she worked out and curves in all the right places.
    “Okay, Garrett, let’s get you in a harness,” Dave said, and proceeded to hook him up. Alicia seemed to know what she was doing as she climbed into the gear herself then headed over to him.
    “You’re climbing with me?” Garrett asked.
    Alicia grinned. “Of course. I’ll be right next to you the entire time. I need to watch your form and make sure you don’t injure your shoulder.”
    She led him to one of the walls and leaned against it, raising her arms. “We’ll stretch out first.”
    After they stretched, she put her foot on one of the rocks. “Just follow along next to me. We’ll go easy at first.”
    He tilted his head back and stared up at the top of the wall, his shoulder aching at the thought of how much work it was going to take to get there.
    Alicia laid her hand on his shoulder. “We’ll only go as far as you think you can handle—and as far as I think you can take—no farther, okay?”
    He studied the top, then slipped on his gloves and grabbed the rope. “Don’t sweat it. I can handle this.”
    The first ten feet or so were pretty easy, a stretch that felt pretty good to his shoulder. And he had to admit this was much more fun than doing repetitive exercises at the training facility. By the time they were halfway up the wall, though, he was drenched in sweat, and his shoulder felt like it was about to pop right out of the socket.
    Alicia, on the other hand, sailed up the wall like a spider on the run. She made it look easy and wasn’t even winded. Right now she was above him, dangling by holding on to a rock one-handed as she looked down at him.
    “How’s it going?” she asked.
    He gritted his teeth. “Great.”
    “Any pain?”
    He swiped at his brow with the back of his arm. “I’m fine.”
    She climbed down until she was level with him. “Garrett. If you’re in pain, I need to know. We’re not doing this for fun, you know.”
    “Really? I thought we
were
doing this for fun.”
    She cocked her head to the side. “Seriously. How do you feel?”
    “My shoulder hurts.”
    She frowned. “Hurts really bad, hurts a little, or something in between?”
    “It’s tolerable. Not that bad.”
    She reached over and put her hand on the back of his shoulder, gave it a squeeze. “Muscles aren’t too tight. Are you sure you want to go on?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Okay. Let me know if it gets to be too much.”
    “Let’s just keep moving.”
    Her lips curved. “I think you like the challenge.”
    “Do you want to hang here and talk, or do you want to get to the top of this wall?”
    “Let’s get climbing.”
    He had to admit, watching her butt was a good distraction, and since she was above him, he had a pretty-damn-good view of her fine ass and her legs as she swung from one rock to the other. She had a tank top on that showcased the muscles of her back.
    He’d like to get her naked and see what her body really looked