#Chapter 12 If You Can’t Take the Heat

“I’ll teach you.”

I couldn’t find the words to object. Honestly, I didn’t want to, either.

“Okay. So, how do I start?” I said instead.

He motioned to the padded block at one end of the machine.

“Sit here.”

I obeyed.

“Put your feet here.”

I put my feet where he indicated and strapped them in.

Barnett bent over me and checked the straps on my feet. My heart fluttered at the smell of his sweat and the feel of his arms as they wrapped around me. This felt just like when Barnett coached me in hockey, except somehow more…intimate.

“Good. Nice and tight.”

Like the back support belt, I said in my mind.

“Now, I want you to grab this.”

He leaned over me and handed me what looked like a pole on an elastic string.

“And we’re going to turn this on to keep track of your progress.”

Again, he leaned over me to press some buttons on the monitor by my feet. I tried to pay attention to