4. Chapter 4
Jake
My alarm didn’t go off, and I was officially going to suffer through at least one-hundred weighted push-ups as punishment.
In my defense, having time away had been incredible this year.
I’d traveled more than I had in the last three seasons combined, bounced between beach towns, music festivals, and whatever city one of the guys happened to be in that week.
Somewhere along the way, I’d developed a dangerous habit of turning my phone to silent and forgetting the world existed until about midday.
Usually, I woke up naturally sometime around when normal people started considering lunch, which worked out great during the off-season when no one expected anything from me except the occasional appearance at a sponsor event and maybe remembering to answer my phone when Connor blew it up.
Unfortunately, Coach Knox believed in discipline, punctuality, and other concepts that felt deeply unnecessary before eight in the morning.
Which was how I found myself jogging through the Solterra stadium twenty minutes late, with my hair still damp from a half-assed shower and a protein bar clenched between my teeth.
The gym already sounded alive beyond the foyer doors, with weights clanging and music thumping low through the speakers.
Bobby’s laugh was loud and unmistakable as always.
Home sweet home.
That deeply content feeling washed over me, knowing that this was the closest thing to a family I’d ever had.
I pushed the door open, stepping into the familiar smell of rubber mats, chalk, and sweat.
Connor, the captain himself, was exactly where I expected him to be, taping his wrist near the squat rack.
Neither of the guys looked surprised to see me turn up late, which probably said a lot about my reputation.
Connor glanced at the clock mounted high on the wall, and then slowly turned his head toward me.
“Morning, Ledger.”
“Morning, Captain,” I replied easily, tossing my bag down near the mirrors.
“Nate not here yet?” I asked.
Connor shook his head but didn’t elaborate. Guess I wasn’t the only one tardy.
I’d just started to think maybe the morning might pass without too much humiliation when the gym doors swung open again and Coach Knox walked in, carrying with him the kind of quiet authority that made conversations die down without him needing to raise his voice.
His eyes swept across the room before settling on me still standing there beside the bench.
“Well,” he said evenly, looking pointedly at his wristwatch and then back at me again, “look who decided to join us.”
Connor didn’t bother hiding a smile. Bobby actually laughed out loud. Both told me immediately I wasn’t about to receive any sympathy from the peanut gallery.
I lifted my hands in surrender and pushed the protein bar the rest of the way into my mouth before answering. “Morning, Coach.”
Knox’s gaze lingered on me for a moment longer, and there was something almost thoughtful in the way he studied me, as though he were calculating exactly how much suffering would be appropriate for my lateness.
“How many?” he asked.
Connor answered before I could even swallow my mouthful. “One hundred weighted push-ups.”
“That’s right,” Knox confirmed.
I exhaled through my nose because, honestly, there was no point arguing with a man who could probably bench press the entire front row if he felt like it. Swallowing the remainder of my rushed breakfast, I prayed it didn’t make an appearance after this.
As soon as my knees and palms hit the mat, a heavy plate landed across my upper back that had to be at least 150 pounds.
“Just making sure you learn your lesson,” Bobby said, clapping his hands together before stepping away.
“Asshole,” I muttered as I lowered into the first rep.
The gym settled back into its normal rhythm around me while I worked through the push-ups. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it also wasn’t the worst punishment I’d ever endured, and the steady burn in my shoulders and biceps was familiar enough that I could let my mind drift while I worked.
“You haven’t bragged about your busy weekend yet,” Bobby said. “Was your bed a revolving door of hot women?”
I laughed. “Not this weekend, dude. I canceled the date I had lined up.”
“You canceled?”
“Wasn’t feeling it.” I tried to focus on the burn in my muscles, but there was this constant tick in my brain since meeting that woman at the coffee shop. “You ever met someone and regret not getting their number?”
Bobby laughed. “Is the great Jake Ledger losing his edge?”
“Don’t spread that shit around,” I hissed. “I’m just saying, I met this woman at the coffee shop last week, and I should’ve got her number. She was so hot. Had a cute kid too.”
“Wait.” Bobby shook his head. “You want to date a mom?”
Air expelled harshly from my lungs as I moved. “I’m not opposed to it. She was gorgeous.”
Bobby went quiet as I continued my reps. “How many am I on now?”
“I stopped counting right after you just blew my mind.”
“Don’t be a fuck.” I coughed. “It’s not a big deal. I’m never going to see her again, so it is what it is. I just hate regretting things.”
“I guess,” he said. “I just didn’t think you’d give up so easily.”
I wasn’t about to tell him that I swung by the coffee shop this morning with no luck, because his focus shifted to his phone, and I didn’t need to bare my inner thoughts here while sweating my ass off.
“You suck at spotting me,” I said.
I was somewhere around thirty reps, when the doors burst open and Nate walked in.
He was late too, and I grinned to myself knowing he’d have to suffer with me. But when he spoke to Coach, he didn’t yell or give him any number of pushups. He tapped his shoulder and smiled. What the fuck?
I paused, holding myself in plank position. “Why doesn’t Nate get push-up penalty?”
“He was with his sister this morning,” Connor said, and my ears perked right the fuck up. She’s in town? Well, well, well. My day just got infinitely better.
Nate had mentioned his sister only a handful of times in all the years I’d known him.
She never visited. All I knew was that a couple of years ago, she was in college, so I’m estimating she’s around twenty-three or twenty-four.
She might’ve existed behind locked doors since she had no social media.
I’d checked, and Nate had installed a ‘beware of the dog’ sign around her, I was sure of it.
I loved talking about her, because Nate’s forehead vein got all hot and bulging whenever I did.
“Has anyone seen her? Is she here?” I asked, lowering and pushing back up.
Connor huffed. “Jake, man, you know how pissed he gets when you do this.”
I grinned. “Isn’t it fun?”
My captain grumbled something under his breath that sounded like a string of Irish curses, just as Nate came over.
“Morning,” he grumbled.
“Morning, sleeping beauty,” I said, pushing through a couple of reps. “No punishment for your tardiness today?”
“Don’t start,” Nate scoffed.
“I’m doing my punishment like a model professional.” I lowered, the plate biting into my back. “I’m an inspiration.”
“That plate looks too light. Need me to add more?”
Light, my ass. “Maybe spending time with your sister made you cranky. Family time can be overstimulating, I hear.”
Connor made a low warning noise. “Jake.”
“What?” I paused, turning my head to see that vein on Nate’s head. “A little birdy told me she’s in town.”
“No,” Nate growled.
“I didn’t even ask anything.”
“The answer is no, regardless.”
Well, that was rude. “I’m your best friend. After all we’ve been through, the shared ice baths, the pizza dates? I’m hurt.”
Nate crouched low enough so I could see his face better.
His expression was calm, which was probably worse than him being angry.
“Firstly, you’d be lucky to share an ice bath with me.
” He placed a hand on the plate on my back, adding a little pressure, but I held still.
“Secondly, Seren is joining the Valkyries this week, and you’re not going to interfere, right, Jake?
” Another hand added to the weight, and my lungs collapsed a little.
I was sure that the next move would be him sitting on me, depending on what came out of my mouth.
“Uh,” Connor interrupted. “Remember that we need him for the season.”
“He’s good,” Nate said coolly. “Right, man?”
My face was purple from holding the plank for so long, lungs on fire, muscles twitching from pressure, but yep. “Good,” I forced out. He let up, and I collapsed to the mat, just as I felt someone remove the plate.
I rolled onto my back, coughing. “Did you say she’s a Valkyrie?”
Nate loomed over me, tatted arms crossed, scowl intense. “I did.”
“As in, our Valkyries?” I asked, because apparently my brain needed him to confirm that his mysterious, guarded, probably-kept-in-a-tower sister was now going to be spending five days a week on the same training ground as me and not just visiting.
Connor groaned. “Oh, for feck’s sake.”
Bobby looked between us with the bright-eyed interest of a man watching a sporting event.
“Seren’s a pretty name,” I said, pulling myself upright.
“You’re not funny,” Nate said.
“I disagree. He’s annoying, but he is funny,” Bobby chimed in.
“Thank you.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “Recognition from my peers means everything.”
Nate ignored him, keeping that death stare on my face. If he could burn me alive with his eyeballs he would. “Seren is here to play rugby. She’s here to train, work, and build a career for herself. She doesn’t need you sniffing around because it amuses you to piss me off.”
Maybe the way he’d said that, with emotion I rarely heard from him, was the reason I paused. I knew he was protective of her, but I guess I always just thought it was jokes. So, for once in my life, I wasn’t going to push it. “Alright.” I sighed. “I’ll behave.”
“You will?” Connor said, pausing his rep.
I surrendered my hands. “I’ll show restraint.”
Bobby coughed a laugh. “You might not have anything to worry about, Nate, because Jake’s currently obsessing over the woman he met at the coffee shop, anyway. He won’t even think about Seren past this session.”
Right, exactly. He wasn’t wrong.
Nate watched me for a beat, searching my face, waiting for me to probably say something else stupid. But I didn’t. I grabbed the water bottle from my bag and took a long drink, letting the cold hit my throat. His eyes narrowed before turning toward the weights.
I wasn’t going to deny I was curious; I’d spent the last year getting under his skin about her.
I had nothing to go on, no idea what she looked like, or if she was funny, smart—I was clueless.
He mentioned her as often as he talked about his feelings, and that was never.
So, I always pounced when he brought her up.
Now she was here in this building. Which meant I was going to have to become some kind of super-spy to see her here and not make a big deal of it. A man could be curious. Curiosity was natural and healthy. I was basically supporting my own cognitive development.
I could also ask Evie; she’d be my best bet. She was a chatterbox and probably already knew her nickname, coffee order, and deepest childhood wound in the time it took most people to tie their laces. She’d be my ally.
Still, there was a difference between curiosity and stupidity, and despite what my captain might believe, I did know where that line was. Most of the time.
I picked up my towel, shook out the burn in my arms, rotated my back, and told myself I wouldn’t bombard Evie today, or go hunting for Seren. I wouldn’t sneak around like a man with a death wish. Definitely wasn’t going to make Nate regret trusting me for all of thirty seconds.
Seren Davis would remain a mystery within my reach for now, and I could return to manifesting the coffee shop woman.
I only wish the name hadn’t planted itself in my head, off-limits and impossible to ignore.