Page 156 of Play Dirty

His expression told me he was battling a few demons of his own.

Eventually the training montage started. The guys leaned forward a little, even more invested.

“This is insane,” Sebastian said, as Rocky started sprinting through the snow.

“No,” I said. “This is peak performance.”

“He’s running up a mountain.”

“In Russia.”

“In the winter.”

“In the eighties,” Ares added sarcastically.

“Exactly,” I said.

They shook their heads.

“This is stupid,” said Ares.

“But he wins,” I pointed out.

“That doesn’t make it any less stupid.”

Sebastian pointed.

“No, no — look at this. He’s literally dragging logs.”

“Functional strength,” I said.

At long last, Grayson spoke. His voice was quiet.

“I knew.”

Everything stopped. The movie kept playing.

No one looked at it.

“What?” Sebastian asked.

Grayson didn’t move.

“I knew,” he repeated. “About Sutherland.”

The silence hit hard.

Ares turned slowly.

“You what?”

Grayson finally looked at him.

“I knew he was throwing games.”

The room shifted completely. It happened in the span of a heartbeat.

“You let this happen?” Ares demanded.