Page 13 of Lavender and Linebackers

He looks taller. His shoulders are definitely broader. He has more muscles layering his frame, but his face looks lean, and his jaw is chiseled. He looks good, better than good, and with this realization my heart thumps hard with a painful ache. Painful for what? I’m not sure.

“All right, ladies, go ahead and drop your things, then split up into groups of three. One of the players or the staff will join you and walk you through a series of recommended lifting and body weight movements. Dancers and cheerleaders who lift weights have longer careers. By being consistent in the weight room, you are building a body that prevents injury, improves endurance, makes your movements more powerful and explosive, and, well, what we all love: the aesthetic benefits.”

Everyone breaks to do as they’re told. Kelli moves to stand next to me, along with our friend Rebecca. She cheered with us in college too and is new this year too. Out of the corner of my eye, Ryder and Danica make their way over. The three of us fall silent.

“Cheerleader,” he says by way of greeting. Not my name, just my job title, as if that’s enough to sum up who I am.

“Football player,” I return flatly.

“Asshole,” Kelli says, just loud enough for our group to hear, disgust pouring out of her eyes.

Rebecca gasps, and Danica’s gaze goes wide as it bounces between the three of us.

Ryder slides his eyes off me and over to Kelli. He tilts his head a little. “You must be the replacement friend.”

“By that you mean upgrade,” she states back.

“What is happening?” Rebecca whispers.

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.”