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“You better not be saying that to appease me. Calista is the salt of the earth. She’s a good girl and way out of your league.”
“She’ll soon be aGoodegirl,” Murphy says, stoking the fire.
Darius looks at our goalie. “Stay out of this.”
Murphy raises his hands in front of himself. “Okay, no more jokes.”
Darius’s gaze returns to me. “I’m dead serious, Ryder. Keep your hands to yourself.”
“It’s not his hands you should be worried about,” Murphy drolls. “Ba dum tss.” He air drums.
“Are you done now?” Darius barks at Murphy, and Murphy nods. I’ve never seen our winger so worked up before. He’s usually one of the calmer heads on our team.
“Can we get busy working out? I haven’t stepped foot in a gym since before we won the Cup. I need to get back into the grind before I decide to retire for good,” Kaiden says.
“Yeah, let’s do it,” Darius agrees. Turning his head, he sends a questioning look my way, as if to ask,are we good?
Nodding, I let him know, his words have been taken to heart.
“Just so you know, Cap, you’re not allowed to retire. At least not until we win another championship,” Murphy says.
“I agree with that statement,” I back him up.
“Then I suggest we win the next one, because there’s a good chance this coming season will be my final one. Obviously, I’m not sharing this information with anyone else on our team, but it’s an assumption they’re most likely making on their own.”
Moving across the room to the treadmill, I place my feet on the outer edges as I punch the keys on the pad. When the running deck starts moving, I step onto the black surface and walk at an accelerated pace.
Murphy gets busy on the treadmill beside mine and Kaiden and Darius climb on the stationary bikes.
“Are we doing fifteen minutes?” I ask.
“Sounds good,” Kaiden replies.
I up the speed until I’m jogging at a steady pace. My thoughts stray to Calista and I ponder what she’s doing at this very moment. I picture her in my kitchen like she was when I left.God, she’s stunning. But her brother’s right. She’s out of my league and deserving of a far better man than me.
We’re all unusually quiet as we slog through the initial warm up. I return to a walk for the last two minutes to cool down, and when that’s done, I shut down the treadmill. When I step off onto the matted floor, my legs are unusually tired. Kaiden’s not the only one who’s been slacking on the gym front. Today is sure to be a painful reminder I need to get back on track.
My ears are met with pain-filled groans as my friends finish up. I guess I’m not the only one who’s already hurting.
“Maybe we should do some stretching before we get into the weights,” Murphy suggests.
“As much as I hate stretching, I’m game,” I say.
Kaiden twists from side to side, wincing. “My entire body is tight.”
“Okay, then. Let’s start with touching our toes and holding the position,” Murphy says. He’s the most flexible of the bunch. Being a goalie means being limber so you can make those hard saves in clutch moments. And that’s something he excels at. “Bend your knees and straighten. Again, bend and straighten.”
Darius releases a drawn out sigh. “That feels better already.”
“Your left hand goes to the outer ankle on your right foot. Extend your right arm straight up behind you, turn your head and look at your hand.”
We hold the move until Murphy directs us to do the same on the other side. When we’re finished he lowers to the mat, sitting with the soles of his feet together in front of him. The three of us mimic the position before he instructs us to bend forward.
“Darius, are you excited for your bachelor party?” Murphy asks with his forehead resting on the mat. He’s one flexible fucker.
“I’m not having one,” he grunts out his reply.
“We’re going to a cigar bar,” Kaiden interjects. As the best man, I guess he knows. Until now, all we’ve been told is to keep that night open but no concrete details were given out.
