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He sends me a questioning look. “Duh. I’m coasting downhill.”
I bark out a laugh and Murphy and Darius join me, but Ryder somehow keeps his expression serious. He provides a lot of comedic moments for our team and is often the subject of the most entertaining moments. He’s the team’s biggest ladies’ man and he’s open to sharing details about his exploits. Sometimes those details are things no one would ever want to know.
“How’s beach life?” Murphy asks, still running on the treadmill. “You’ve got a tan going on there.”
“Beach life is good.”
Murphy scratches his chin. “I wouldn’t know. If only I knew someone with a beach house.”
I smile. “You guys know you’re welcome to come over anytime.”
“How about this weekend?” Ryder asks.
“Saturday’s open,” I say.
“Why not Sunday?” Murphy jumps in.
“I have company coming over.”
“We’re friendly guys. We get along with everyone,” Murphy adds.
“I know you do, but it still has to be Saturday.”
“What’s the deal, Cap?” Darius asks, smirking. “You got a new girl you’re keeping a secret?”
“No, she’s not my girl—yet.”
“Ooh, Cap’s putting the moves on some unsuspecting woman,” Murphy says.
“I’ve known her for a long time and we bumped into each other last weekend.”
“How long had it been since you’d seen each other?” Darius asks.
“Twelve years.”
Darius pulls his head back, physically reacting to my reply. “Damn. That’s a long time.”
“Yeah. I didn’t recognize her at first.”
“Where were you?” Ryder asks.
“I was walking into a convenience store and saw a jogger dive out of the way of a car that ran a red light. I went over to help the woman and it was Rori.”
“Aww, how sweet,” Murphy says, placing his hands over his heart in a mocking manner.
“You’re literally her hero,” Darius says, chuckling.
“What happened after you went over? Was it love at first sight?” Ryder puckers his lips like a kissing fish.
I tap the face on my watch. “I’d tell you but it’s time to get started.”
“No big deal, you can give usallthe details after we finish working out,” Murphy says.
I can’t fucking wait.
Darius climbs onto the empty bike next to the one Ryder’s using and I take the treadmill next to Murphy’s. We start with twenty minutes of cardio. The first five are the warm up, the middle ten are intense, and the final five are about cooling down. After we finish, we do twenty minutes of body weight exercises and then move into each of us doing a medicine ball routine. Everything we do on the days we get together like this are meant to strengthen our bodies without adding stress to our joints. That doesn’t mean I don’t lift weights. But being the oldest player on our team, I’m careful to keep it to twice a week during the off season. And during the season, I follow the plan our trainers recommend for me.
The last fifteen minutes of our workout is spent gently stretching. When we’re finally finished, I fall onto the mats and force myself to drink my water slowly, instead of guzzling it all down like I want to.
