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Drake, Sebastian’s personal food assistant, walks up and hands him a foil box with a white cardboard lid. Sebastian thanks him and then goes back to staring me down.
I laugh. “Are you kidding me right now? Oakley is—” I think. “She’s a trainer. She makes a living torturing athletes. I get triggered when I’m around her. Too many memories of the good old days in the Wolves rehab room.” I make a gagging noise. That’s what thinking of those days and weeks after my injury does to me. Makes me sick.
He ignores this. “Whatever. I’m just wondering about the wisdom of her staying with you.” He unlocks the conference room door and pushes it open.
I’m relieved we’ve reached the room so I can rest my knee a bit. “It’s only temporary. How much longer until you get those smoke-damaged rooms back up and running?”
He snorts. “I’m on it. Trust me. But Britta keeps reminding me these things always take a lot longer than we think they should.”
I claim the nearest chair and stretch out my leg. There’s something else bothering me, and I might as well say it while we’re being short with each other anyway. “What’s this about catering to injured athletes? You really want to do that?”
Sebastian’s mouth turns down in a frown and he sits across from me. “Instinct, Alec. I’ve seen how hard this has been for you.”
At my protest, Sebastian lifts a hand and glares at me. “It’s been the worst few years of your life. It’s not like you were super happy when you were playing on the professional level, but I get why being forced to quit all that hasn’t been easy.” He scratches at a finger. “There are a lot of people out there who need a place like Longdale—like our resort. We’ll welcome and cater to anyone who wants to come, of course. But we have a state-of-the-art gym. Why not offer some extras for the people who have injuries?”
“First of all, I loved playing football. Forgive me if I was depressed about Callie!” The tick, tick, tick of a vein in my neck threatens to increase in speed.
“You lovefootball,” Sebastian amends. “But I wasn’t ever convinced you loved playing professionally.”
“You don’t know anything about me.” A cold sensation oozes inside my chest and out through my limbs. How could he say that?
Sebastian’s expression hardens, his glance goes hollow as he stands. “The housekeeping staff is having a team meeting in here, so I’d find somewhere else to be if I were you.” Sebastian strides out of the room, but I wait a moment longer out of respect for my gimp leg.
And because my mind is reeling. How could he think I wasn’t happy playing for the Wolves? It was my biggest dream, and I’d reached it.
Chapter 17
Oakley
“Nice. Watch the heels on the way down.”
I have three people in my group this morning, and Saundra, a woman I trained yesterday, is performing free weight squats. Ever since the resort started advertising last week for free personal training for guests, things have steadily increased. But am I busy? Not by any stretch of the imagination.
Do I mind?
Well. It’s weird for me to think this, but, not really?
And yes, there is a question in my brain because I never thought I’d enjoy working with non-athletes on basic strength-training tasks.
Don’t get me wrong. If an NFL team came knocking, I’d be so out of here. I’d have to be. But they haven’t and, I don’t know, I don’t have a sense of urgency to find something.
Strangely, I’m good with teaching two morning fitness classes and being available for free personal training for guests.
It’s a sweet gig. Not nearly as lucrative or challenging as my job before but oddly enough, it’s okay. For the moment.
As the session is winding down, the door opens and everything in me perks up. I can’t help the slight deflate when I realize it’s not Alec, but Sophie, Oliver’s girlfriend. She’s wearing a yellow t-shirt and charcoal jean shorts. She lifts her hand to wave, then settles in the corner to wait.
Once the clients leave, she approaches. “We just got back into town, so I wanted to say hi.” She tilts her head as she smiles, her long, dark curls bouncing. She’s gorgeous and reminds me a little of Zooey Deschanel.
“How was Denver?”
“Amazing. If you ever get a chance to go see the Tate’s estate there, you should totally do it. It’s fancy.” Sophie’s laugh is an extension of her speech—so natural. “I’m glad you’re going to be working here! How’s it going so far?”
“I’ve got a fairly steady stream of clients coming and going now. It’s been a lot of fun. Restorative, actually.” My gaze narrows and as I’m saying the words, I’m realizing they’re true.
Sophie surveys the room and giggles like we’re sharing a secret. “Good to hear. When I heard they’d scored a real, NFL trainer, I didn’t know whether to be impressed by or scared of Sebastian and Oliver’s powers of persuasion.”
“Well, I like it here.” I shunt out a breath. Thinking of my past has me feeling itchy. “I was ready for a break from working with professional teams.”
