27. Lucia
twenty-seven
Lucia
“Hey, babe!” Ella chimes from the other end of the phone. “Feeling any better now?”
I lay back against my pillows, pressing the phone up to my ear. “I was feeling fine this morning. I didn’t drink much yesterday.”
I can hear her sigh. “I guess I just assumed that you did.”
“I’m not going to let Matt get to me,” I lie. “He’s not worth that.”
“Luc, it’s okay if it upset you to see him yesterday.”
“I wasn’t upset,” I reply quickly. “I don’t think about him.”
“Okay,” Ella relents, sensing that I don’t want to delve into this topic. “Anything exciting coming up?”
“I have a work meeting tomorrow,” I chuckle. “I get to go see my favorite co-worker kiss our physician’s ass.”
“I fucking hate Logan,” she seethes. “He’s such a prick.”
“Preaching to the choir, babe,” I laugh. “But meeting with Dr. Coltrain tomorrow should help get an idea of what to do this season. I’m not letting Logan Dawson become the Head Trainer over me.”
“You’re more qualified and better at your job.”
“He’s just as qualified and just as good,” I sigh. “The only things he lacks are tact and empathy.”
“Which makes you better at your job.” I can almost hear her smile through the phone. “He’s good with what he learned in college, as are you, but you have skills developed outside of that as well. You’re a shoo-in.”
Ella makes some excellent points.
I excel in treating the players with compassion and understanding.
I don’t think Logan has a compassionate bone in his entire body.
“Not a shoo-in, but I’ve got a damn good chance,” I assert, smiling brightly.
“That’s my girl!” she says happily. “Lucia Torres never lets anything stand in her way.”
My smile falters a bit.
The facade I’ve put up for myself is so successful that even my best friends seem to think nothing can faze me.
But pretending to always be strong is so fucking exhausting.
I can feel the fractures it’s creating, and in time, I’ll shatter completely.
Ella changes the subject now. “Ari seemed like he was being nice to you yesterday.”
“We’re getting along,” I shrug.
“We’ve always told you he’s a good guy.”
“I hate being wrong, but yeah, he really is. I took a breather yesterday after I talked to Anna and Matt at the reception, and after I left, Ari came to see that I was okay.”
“He came to check on you?!” she shrieks like this is the start of some epic love story.
“He hates Matt just as much as I do.”
“Why?” Ella asks.
I have the urge to tell her, to open up about the stupid reason Ari and I never got along. But is it really even important anymore? We’re past that, letting bygones be bygones.
“It doesn’t matter,” I answer. “What does matter is that we're getting along now.”
She lets that go and now shifts in a different direction. “You jump back on that yet?”
I bark out a laugh. “The ever eloquent Ella. You’re just as blunt as I am.”
“I’m not hearing a denial, Torres,” she prods, and I give in.
“Some more things have happened,” I admit.
“Seriously?!” she yells excitedly.
“Chill, girl,” I chuckle. “But yes. I might have blown him in the hallway when he checked on me yesterday and told him to come up to my room again last night.”
“Holy shit, Luc! You slept with him again!”
“Yeah… we’re still doing it. We’ve struck up a roommates-with-benefits kinda thing.”
“So you’re going to keep fucking him?”
“Yes, Ella,” I laugh. “We’re living together, so it’s easy to hook up whenever we want. And we’re going to try new things together to see what we like.”
Ella literally squeals, and I have to pull the phone away from my ear for a moment. “Is the sex really that good that you went back for more?”
I mull this one over. “The first time was fine, but last night was incredible, Ell. Fuck, Ari knows what he’s doing.”
“How’s his dick?”
I can’t control my laughter. This girl was a virgin before she met Josh, but you’d never know that with her obsession with getting every dirty detail from me and the girls.
“He’s got a very good dick,” I smirk. “He’s bigger than Matt, and his piercings feel amazing.”
“Piercings?!” she yells. “Ari has a pierced dick?!”
“He does?” I hear Josh ask because, of course, this is when he tunes into our conversation.
“Shouldn’t you already know that?” I ask. “You guys literally all shower together.”
“I don’t stare at my friends’ dicks, Lucia. You sure he’s pierced?”
I groan. “Considering I put his dick in my mouth, yeah, I’m sure.”
“And she likes his dick, Joshy.”
Josh lets out a laugh. “So much for not liking each other, eh, Lucia?”
“Yeah, I’m going to bed. I don’t want to delve into my sex life with my best friend’s husband.”
“I want details when I see you next, bitch!”
“Josh, tame your wife. She’s insane.”
Ella and Josh laugh before we all say our goodbyes and disconnect the call.
Well, they both know now that Ari and I are going to keep hooking up.
Which means that the rest of our friends will know in approximately ten minutes.
Tomorrow should be fun…
After my morning shower, I get myself ready for the day. I blow-dry my hair, fan it out over my shoulders, and add a light bit of makeup before getting dressed in a pair of jeans, a navy long-sleeve T-shirt, and an unbuttoned Stars jersey on top of it.
I did wake up to some texts from the girls—minus Harlow since she’s on her honeymoon—because Ella obviously spilled last night, but I haven’t responded yet. That’s a problem for later.
Right now, I need to get to the stadium for our first meeting of the season.
Traffic is a nightmare, as usual, but I manage to get to the conference room with five minutes to spare. Dr. Coltrain is already in here with Logan, Dave, and a couple of other new trainers.
Even though I’m early, I’m still the last to arrive.
Awesome.
“Welcome, Lucia,” Dr. Coltrain says, gesturing for me to sit down across from him, right next to Logan.
I sit down, and he continues. “Since we’re all here, I’ll just get this started.
I won’t take up too much of your time today, but I wanted to make sure I spoke with everyone before we head down for Spring Training next month.
“I want us to focus more on injury prevention this season,” he states, glancing at all of us around the table.
“We saw more injury time last season than we usually do. We lost Okada for the final three months with a torn rotator cuff. Rivas and Dailey both missed time with Achilles sprains. Even Spencer missed a few games when his old hamstring injury started bothering him again. These are all things we should be able to help prevent.”
“I think you’re right, Dr. Coltrain,” Logan states, kissing ass as per usual. “We could certainly do better.”
“We all have the knowledge and capabilities to help with that,” I add.
“Happy to hear you both agree,” Dr. Coltrain smiles.
“I’d like to see all of you working with Dave to help our athletes stay on the field as long as possible.
” He sighs now. “As you all know by now, though, Dave will be retiring after this season. That means the Head Trainer position is going to need to be filled at the end of the season.” Logan and I both perk up.
“Who are you considering for the position?” Logan asks, smirking like the job is already his.
“I’d like to think I’m open to all of the team,” Dr. Coltrain replies, and I love watching Logan deflate a bit.
“Nathan and Greg”— He gestures to our two new trainers.
—“seem to show promise, so I don’t want to exclude them from consideration.
As of right now, though, I’m keeping an eye on both you and Lucia, Logan.
You’ve both been with us for nearly a decade.
I think either of you would be able to take on the Head Trainer role seamlessly. ”
“Right,” Logan mutters. “Of course.”
Prick absolutely can’t stand me being included with him because how could a woman ever keep up with a man? It’s not helped by the fact that I’m the only woman around here.
We need more fucking women in sports.
I’m tired of all these men thinking we don’t belong.
“Thank you for the consideration, Dr. Coltrain,” I state.
“No need to thank me,” he chuckles. “You’re both great at what you do. Logan is meticulous with his paperwork, and the players adore you, Lucia. You both have strengths, and I’ll be watching you through the season to see what you do.”
I already knew that Logan and I were both gunning for the Head Trainer position, but hearing from Dr. Coltrain that we’re basically the top two choices feels so good.
Logan will try to undermine me at every opportunity, but I’m not playing his games.
We’re in our thirties; I’d like to act like it.
I’ll focus only on helping the players and our training staff. Through that, I’ll make sure Dr. Coltrain sees that I’m perfect for the position.
You can’t deny that Head Trainer Lucia Torres has a nice ring to it.
Now, all I have to do is make it mine.
It’s been too long since I’ve really spent time cooking in the kitchen. I don’t do it as often as I should.
But I’m in such a good mood right now that I’m dancing around while I work on my dish, my favorite Spanish artist pumping through my Bose speaker.
I sing along off-key as I stir the vegetables in my pan. Now, I just need to add my water and let this simmer for an hour.
Once I have that ready, I let it go and lose myself in the music. I know I grew up in California, but Spanish music always makes me feel more at home. My parents always made sure I knew my culture, so I’ve spent my entire life learning about where I come from.
I close my eyes and start swaying, still singing and enjoying myself.
“Ooh, dinner and a show,” Ari chuckles, startling me just like he always does.
“Cabrón,” I mutter under my breath. “Stop sneaking up on me, Ari!”
He rears his head back and laughs. “It’s so easy to do, though.”
“You’re annoying,” I huff, crossing my arms.
“So you’ve told me,” he smirks, and I hate that he looks sexy doing it. But his look quickly changes. “Another jersey?”
My turn to smirk now. “Well, I did have a meeting today. Figured I’d get into my baseball spirit.” I turn around and show off Brooks with the number 15 stretched across my back.
Ari says something in Korean that I don’t understand, but he sounds annoyed, so it’s still working.
“What are you making?” he asks, changing the subject.
“Valencian paella,” I reply. “One of my favorite Spanish dishes.”
“I think I’ve heard of paella. That has seafood, doesn’t it?”
I shake my head. “Not in Valencia. I’m using chicken. We usually use rabbit, too, but it’s a little hard to find, and I’m not quite sure how you feel about eating that.”
His face scrunches in disgust. “I’ll try a lot of things, but I’m not going to eat a bunny.”
“I’m just using chicken, Ari,” I reply, hands on my hips. “There’s also rice, garlic, tomatoes, butter beans, peas, green beans, and spices. I promise it’s good.”
“It smells good,” he says, leaning against the wall, hands in the pockets of his gray sweatpants.
Gray fucking sweatpants.
I’m pretty sure he’s trying to tease me right now, and I hate that it’s working.
“Well, it has to simmer for a while before I can add the rice. It’s still going to be about an hour and a half before it’s finished.”
“Is that why you were dancing when I walked in?” Ari moves closer to me, and one whiff of his musky cologne has me ready to climb him like a fucking tree.
“Yes,” I shrug.
“Who are you listening to?”
“Enrique Iglesias. My favorite artist.”
“Is he from Spain?” he asks.
“Madrid,” I answer. “He’s been my favorite artist basically my entire life. Though my parents wouldn’t let me listen to a lot of his music until I was in high school. Man loves to sing about sex,” I laugh.
Ari licks his lips as I say the word.
Goddamn him.
“What song is this?”
“Bailando. One of my absolute favorites.” I start dancing around again, and Ari won’t take his eyes off me.
When I shake my hips, he loses any control he has, pushing me back against the counter with his lips hovering over mine. “How long does this need to simmer, Spitfire?”
“Another fifty minutes,” I breathe. “Why?”
The heat emanating from his eyes is scalding. “Because I picked up some fun things for us, sweetheart, and I’m fucking dying to handcuff you to your bed. Right fucking now.”
I lick my lips. “We have time for that.”
“Thank fuck,” Ari mutters before crashing his mouth against mine, grabbing the bag he dropped on the floor, and leading us backward to my bedroom.