5. Alice #2
Outside of Kelli, no one on my college team knew who Ryder was. At the beginning of freshman year, what they thought was that I had gone through a horrible breakup. I didn’t bother correcting them or explaining. I also never told them his name.
“It seems,” Ryder draws out to answer her question, “that Danica here thought filming us working out together would be some good content.”
“Why?” I ask Danica. “This isn’t one of the assigned get-togethers.”
“What?” Rebecca asks.
Kelli leans toward Rebecca. “I’ll explain later.”
“Good, because someone should,” she says.
“Gretchen didn’t think you would mind.” Danica smiles to try to defuse the air.
“In the future, I mind,” I tell her, without any bite to my tone. This situation isn’t her fault. He has to be here. It’s in his contract. As for me, I’m not getting paid for this extra content opportunity.
“Come on, let’s warm up,” I tell Kelli and Rebecca.
He may have a list for us, but I never skip a warm-up.
Together, we set up near the mirrors, and each begins our own routine.
I roll through my shoulder sequence with the focused efficiency I’ve spent years building.
Ryder lasts about four minutes before he interrupts me.
“How long do you plan on doing this?” He waves toward the dumbbells. “They want you to do these exercises.” He lifts a piece of paper, but I barely bother to look up.
“It’s called a warm-up. Maybe you’ve heard of it.”
“Right,” he says, irritation bouncing off the end of the word. Behind me, the sound of weight plates sliding onto a bar. “Just figured someone who does this for a living, who’s already been at practice for two hours, would be warmed up and moving a little faster.”
There it is.
I set the dumbbells down with a deliberate clink and turn to face him. He’s loading the squat bar with what is an unreasonable amount of weight for my size, looking supremely unbothered.
“Someone who does what for a living?” I challenge.
He shrugs one shoulder. “Work out. Look good. Wave at crowds.”
Look good? At the moment, I know I look terrible. I’ve sweated off almost all of my makeup, my hair is damp and limp hanging down my back, and suddenly, I feel self-conscious.
Kelli comes to stand next to me. “You know, this tracks,” she says as she looks him over.
“What does?” he asks, widening his stance and crossing his arms over his chest. I hate that I’m a sweaty mess and he isn’t. He looks as fresh as a daisy. Dry clothes. Dry hair. And no dark circles under his eyes, which means he’s rested.
“Your stupidity. I always knew you were stupid, but wow.”
Red flushes into his cheeks, down his neck, and Danica has finally had enough. Another one of the players wanders over, too. Chase Sullivan, otherwise known as Sully. He’s a legend on the team, and I feel a little starstruck.
“All good over here?” he asks. He glances at Ryder and then zeros in on Danica’s expression. She’s annoyed, which in turn has him standing a little taller.
“No,” Kelli tells him. “Someone needs to teach this Neanderthal some manners.”
God, I love her. But sometimes she needs to keep her mouth shut. The last thing we need is to call attention to ourselves.
“Rookie?” He pins Ryder with a glare that I would not want to be on the other side of.
Ryder says nothing, but stares right back at him.
“Sully, it’s fine,” Danica tells him, putting her hand on his arm. “I’m going to get a few recordings of Ryder and Alice working out together, him handing her a water, stuff like that, and then we’re done.”
Sully looks back and forth between us again, and I drop my gaze. I’m not a confrontational person.
“Do you want to film someone else? I’m certain Rico would eat this up,” he asks her, his tone softening.
“No, it has to be them.” She lets out a deep breath.
I wonder if the marketing team has talked about us?
Did Gretchen say something to all of them about our less-than-friendly vibe toward each other?
Has the rest of the team picked up on this too?
Suddenly, I’m extremely embarrassed. How unprofessional.
This is not how I want to be known or perceived on this team.
Sully’s brows shoot up and then smooth out. If he’s surprised by this, he doesn’t say anything, and he doesn’t ask any more questions.
“We’re good,” I tell him. “Ryder already showed us the list.” He hasn’t. “He’s going to spot me on three of them, and then we’re done.” Why I suddenly feel like I have to defend us, I don’t know. But I’m not going to have his teammate cause any problems for him or for me.
I turn to face Ryder. “That’s a little too much weight for me. Can you set it for about one ten?”
“Got it,” he tells me, ignoring the others.
Danica lifts her phone to record him as he reloads the weights, but just as he reaches them, he turns back around and grabs a sealed water bottle I didn’t notice off the ground and hands it to me.
“Hydrate. Water is important for muscle function and recovery.”
I do as I’m told and take a sip.
He pulls a hand towel from his shoulder, steps into my personal space, and gently wipes my forehead. I guess old habits die hard. It’s tender. It’s unexpected. It becomes a moment that lasts a tad too long.
I can feel all of them watching us, but all I can do is watch him. His once familiar coffee-colored eyes scan over my features. Is he looking for changes in me like I’m looking for ones in him? What does he see when he looks at me?
It’s then that he blinks and remembers where we are.
He takes a step back, and his hand drops along with his thoughtful expression. Now he’s just scowling.
I’ve been around him three times. He’s hot, he’s cold, he’s mean, he’s nice. It’s like rolling dice, and you never know which side is going to land face up.
Sully lets out a deep sigh, and Ryder frowns even more as he faces him.
“Danica, I’ll catch you later,” he says, friendly. “Rookie.” His voice turns sharp as he starts to walk off. “Handbook.”