Page 44 of Rookie Season
A heavy lifting session with the guys is just what I need to clear my head and get away from Ally for a few hours. This way I won’t have to see her in her pink pajamas or watch her tiptoe around the loft dancer-style as she makes her morning coffee.
Both of my teammates’ bedroom doors open a momentlater, and Penn and Fisher stride out to the main area of the loft dressed and ready to lift. The sound of the doors has Harry jumping off my lap and skittering toward Ally’s room.
Fisher and Penn aren’t morning people, so this is the only time of day that our loft is actually quiet. They each grab a protein bar, and Fisher steps toward the front door. Penn shoots me a glance likeare you ready to work out?
Shaking my head at his bleary eyes, I stand to follow them out the door.
But then Ally pops out of her room, also dressed for a workout.
I hold back a sigh.
I was hoping we could get out of here without me having to see her and be reminded again of how it felt to hold her in my arms—which was everything I thought it would be and then some.
When I look at her, her gaze travels down the length of my body. Mine. Not Penn’s or Fisher’s, just mine.
Ally blinks, meeting my gaze. “Are you guys working out?” she asks, pulling one of her legs behind her back in a stretch. “It's such a beautiful morning, I thought I’d go for a run outside. Maybe we can all run together!” Ally releases her leg and looks at us, her eyes alight with excitement at the prospect.
She’s obviously never heard the stereotype about hockey players…we don’t run.
I bring a hand up to scratch the back of my head. “I’m not much of a runner.”
“Oh, okay.” She worries her bottom lip. “Maybe I’ll just run on the treadmill, then. I don’t really want to run outside alone.”
I open my mouth to tell her that would be best, but Fisher speaks first, his voice still raspy from just waking up. “Going for a run sounds cool; I never run. And it’s a beautiful day.”
“Sounds good to me.” Penn shrugs, not caring either way.
Ally pivots her head to look at me, awaiting my answer.
I really, really hate running, but the trepidation written across her face has me reconsidering my stance on the subject. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? I don’t know what it’s like to be a woman, but I imagine it must be scary to run alone, especially in a big city you’re unfamiliar with.
I sigh. “Okay, we can run.”
Ally jumps up and down, clapping her hands. “This is going to be so fun!”
Twenty minutes into running up an excruciating incline in San Fran, and I can confirm…this is not fun.
Penn, even though he’s the biggest of us three guys, has some kind of ungodly quad strength and ends up being the only one of us who’s able to keep up with Ally, who apparently has been training for sprinting a damn marathon because she’s barely broken a sweat. She and Penn are way ahead, running up the steep hill like it’s a flat plain.
What the hell.
Fisher and I fall back, both of us panting hard until we finally reach the top and continue on the running path, which is thankfully level the rest of the way. Once our breathing normalizes, we start up an easy conversation. I realize I haven’t actually spent much one on one time with Fisher. Penn and I were roommates throughout college, and I know everything about him. Even things I wish I didn't know.
But Fisher, despite being wildly extroverted, is still a mystery to me. He seems like an open book, but he only reveals things he chooses to bring you in on. There’s clearly a lot more to him than his reckless, flippant, playboy facade…I’m just not surewhat, exactly.
“So, what’s it like having your brother-in-law as your coach?” Fisher asks, risking a glance before turning back toward the path. His eyes are bright from exertion, and he’s wide awake now.
I think for a moment. “Great, aside from the shit it stirred up with Sandine. Mitch has always had a knack for coaching. He coached my youth league one season, actually. Before he and Andie were together.”
He huffs a laugh. “Is that how they met?”
I smile, thinking back to that first game he coached. “Yep. She hated him at first.”
Fisher guffaws. “That’s a story I need to hear sometime.”
I focus for a moment on Ally and Penn in front of us, they’re probably ten yards away, out of hearing. “So, how do you know Ally?”
Fisher shrugs. “She came to a party at my house once…” he trails off, like there’s more he wants to say but he’s holding back.
