Page 78 of Run
She nods, her face cast down.
We descend again, and again I pull her up. “Am I doing too much? Am I supposed to make you do it yourself?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “This is hard enough. If you weren’t helping me. I’d be on the floor.”
“OK. No problem. I got you.”
“Just one last lunge on this side.”
“Alright, let’s do it.”
We dip back down, and again I pull her back up, but this time I feel her knee push into mine much harder, and I know she’s fighting like hell to get those legs working.
We do the other leg, and Ari has to stop to catch her breath. Seeing she’s a little shaky and sweaty, I grab a bottle of water from the fridge for her.
“Thanks. OK, next—”
“Don’t you want to rest for a minute?”
“No.” She re-caps the water and sets it aside. “If I stop I lose momentum.”
I nod in understanding, because I’m the same way.
“Now, we do squats. But this time I’m not going to use the bench, which means I need to sit back on you. Is that OK?”
“Yep. Just tell me what to do.”
“I’m going to hold on to the couch.” Ari turns to face the furniture. “And I need you to stand right behind me. Right up against me.” I walk up behind her and place my hands on her hips. “Closer. Like you’re Velcroed to me.”
I step closer, firmly grasping her hips and pulling her toward me. I have to dip a little bit to nestle her into me. Her shoulders and back are cradled into my chest, her ass rests against my groin, and the backs of her legs press right up against my thighs. A dry swallow snakes down my neck. “Like this?” I whisper, my lips at her ear.
“Yes, just like that.” She breathes, then clears her throat. “Now, I’m going to squat down while holding onto the couch, but just like the lunges, I can’t complete the movement on my own. So, I need you to squat with me and essentially let me sit down on you, and then push me back up as you stand yourself. Make sense?”
“Yeah. Let’s try it.”
My hands resting on her hips, I feel Ari push into me as she starts to sit, and I slowly begin my own descent until we are all the way down in a full squat, with Ari’s ass in my lap and her legs draped over mine. I pause for only a second, then push with my legs to bring us both back to a standing position.
“That good?” I ask in a strained voice.
“Yes, perfect.” Her voice is velvet soft.
“So, another?”
“Mmhmm.”
We do several more, and then on the final squat, when we stand, my hands slide up her hips a little, bringing her tank top up a few inches and exposing some of her skin—and I can’t help myself, I trail my fingertips along the surface.
With my face practically nestled into the crook of her neck, I hear her breathing pick up. My nose runs along the line of her shoulder and up her neck, and she sighs.
“Ari.” My breath skates over her skin and she whimpers.
“You’re giving me goosebumps.” Her voice is shaky.
I bring one hand up to her shoulder and slide it down her arm to feel them myself, chuckling as she shivers at my touch. I pull back slightly to look at the pale, exposed skin on her back that I’ve been tickling with my fingertips and freeze when I see a little grouping of scars.
I know exactly what those are. Those are fucking burn marks. Cigarette burn marks. My stomach drops to the floor and my teeth grind, and with all the willpower I can muster, I take a step away.
“Ethan?” Ari looks over her shoulder at me.
