Page 52 of Everything's Better With You
Joe rolled his eyes and then gestured for Terrell to go first. Terrell did a perfect handstand and then proceeded to walk on his hands the length of the mat. The players whooped and hollered. Joe followed Terrell knowing that his handstand was definitely not as steady but grateful he made it the length of the mat. At the other end, Terrell did a back walkover and then continued doing them back across the mat.Fuck. Not one of Joe’s favorites, but he wasn’t about to admit his back was hamburger meat. He followed Terrell and made it most of the way across the mat.
“You warmed up?” Joe asked him and he nodded. “Then try a couple of tumbling runs.”
Terrell nodded, rubbed his hands together, and then pushed off his toes. He did a roundoff, two back handsprings, and then a back tuck. That got a whole series of cheers and applause from the entire gym. He tried to hide his smile but Joe saw the pride in his eyes.
“How the fuck do you do that?”
“How do you stay in a straight line? I’d be on my ass.”
“Can you do that, coach?”
Fucking fuck.“That’s the plan,” Joe said, and the players all laughed. Joe glanced over at the twins who were watching him with terror ontheir faces. Probably Leslie made them promise to get Joe through the practice in one piece.
Here goes nothing.Joe took off at a jog and then hit his roundoff and prayed he had enough momentum to carry him through two fulls and two back handsprings, ending with a twist. He landed hard and his left knee spoke up a bit, but he was just damn glad he didn't end up on his ass.
“Holy shit! Where did you learn to do that?”
“Trial and error,” Joe admitted. “Truly. Once I joined the cheer squad here, there were a few girls on the squad who had been gymnasts and I made them teach me.”
“I want to learn how to do that!”
“Me too!”
The guys were all clamoring for lessons and Joe had to raise his voice.
“Come on, come on, chill out. Look, your bodies have been through it already and we have a couple more drills to do. I tell you what. I’ll be having tumbling clinics for the cheer squad, and any of you that are serious about learning can come and join us. But beware, if you show up and you’re any good, I might conscript you for our competition squad.”
“But…football?”
“Competition is separate than the games. We’d have to talk to Coach Payton, though. He might not allow moonlighting.”
Joe glanced at Randy and Sandy, who were shaking their heads.Huh, Joe thought.He might do it for me.
They spent the next hour doing jumping drills and Joe taught them dive rolls to help them get to their feet faster from a fall. Terrell was the hero when he did standing back tucks and a standing full twist. Some of the players started to do parkour and Joe knew it was time to end practice before someone really did get hurt.
“All right, let’s do a cool-down exercise.”
They all lined up and he led them in some slow stretches and breathing techniques. At the end of the two hours, the attitudes seemed to be gone. Joe wanted to believe they were gone. As he packed up his things, he heard some of the guys inviting Terrell to hang out with themlater and it made him smile. He wanted Terrell to have a great college experience and not have to deal with the bullshit he had.
Joe dealt with homophobic bullshit for his first two years, but after they won their first championship, it got a little easier, and he learned to avoid situations where it would be bad, like when the football players were in the gym en masse, or the locker rooms. If it was a couple of them, they left him alone. But when they had an audience…
“Nice job,” Sandy said, squeezing his shoulder. “That was definitely different than anything I’ve ever done with them and they are going to hurt in ways that I’d never dreamed to inflict on them.”
Joe laughed. “Thanks? Happy to help out.”
The twins stood staring at him and Joe began to be concerned.
“Is there something else?”
Sandy cleared his throat. “Brother Leslie is really glad you’re here.”
Joe stood a little straighter.Oh boy.
“Yeah. Me, too.”
They continued to stare. It was eerie having identical eyes gazing at you, especially when they were taller than you. They weren’t as big as Leslie, maybe a couple inches shorter and not as muscular, but they were a tad intimidating, or they would be if Joe didn’t know Leslie would literally murder them for fucking with him.
“Like, he’sreallyglad. It means a lot to him.”
