Page 39 of The Bright Side of Brooding
This kind of thinking could get under an athlete’s skin fast, especially someone new like Rob. He was here as an amateur, and his military ambitions would ensure he didn’t go far, but in typical Rob fashion, he’d wanted to push himself to get to the competition, and here he was.
Rob gave a chagrined smile. “No comparing. Do your own workout, do your own work.”
I nodded.
“Don’t forgetI can’t do this workout for you.That one always really motivates me.”
Alicia gave me a playfully annoyed look, and I shook my head. One of the first times she’d worked out with me, I’d said that, and I could tell it had irritated her. Of course she didn’t want me to do the workout for her—the woman was a beast. She had a drive no one I’d ever trained or trained with had, and I couldn’t respect her more. But she’d showed her hand with that one, so I used it when needed.
Out of the corner of my eye, Summer stifled a laugh.
“Ah, yeah. That’s a good one because it’s stupid obvious and also doesn’t really make sense. But it’s okay, Coach—we still love you. Someday, you’ll have a whole packed gym full of adoring little workout nerds, and we can say we were your first.” Art patted my shoulder before helping himself to another large serving of the hearty salad that came with dinner.
“Yeah, where do you want to retire, Masters? Where do I need to haul my old, decrepit body to workout with you once I leave Uncle Sam?” Rob asked like he didn’t know, and I wondered if it was for Summer’s sake.
“Back home. I hit twenty and I’m done. Coming right up.”
Man, was it. Not soon enough, and yet terrifyingly soon. I couldn’t say whether the feeling I got when I thought about life after the Army was an even mix of anticipation and dread, or just dread highlighted by inevitability. Whatever the case, thus far LTC Wolfe and Sergeant Major Allen’s efforts to get me to stay in had been futile.
“You’re old enough to retire?”
Summer’s voice drew my attention back to where she sat across from me.
I nodded. “Just about.”
“Huh.”
That was all she said, as though that wouldn’t haunt me all night. What did that mean?
Alicia snickered. “Surprising, right?”
Summer’s eyes cut to her. “Yes.”
“I thought the same thing.”
“What’s this? What are you saying?” Art demanded.
I thanked God for his pushy insistence on clarity in that moment, because I certainly couldn’t ask.
Alicia finished chewing, and Summer kept her eyes on her plate, sliding around the few last items left. Finally, Alicia spoke.
“You just don’t look old enough to be ready to retire, is all, Coach. Don’t stress it.”
“It’s your pretty face, Masters. It’s just aging too well to tell your secrets.” Rob gave me a giant grin.
I blinked slowly back at him. I may not have looked thirty-seven, though I thought I looked right about that and was perfectly happy for that to be the case because Iwasthirty-seven. I’d joined the Army right after finishing high school. When you enlist at eighteen, sure enough, twenty years fly by and you hit retirement age at thirty-eight.
“I’ve got to go start my sleep prep or I’ll be a zombie. I’ll see you guys bright and early.” Art stacked his dishes and got to work on them in the sink.
No dishwasher, but we’d make do. Art and Alicia both had very specific evening routines, and all the more the night before competing. Rob’s was less specific, but all three of them needed to get to bed in the next few hours.
“I’ll take care of the dishes. You guys go do your thing. See you at seven.” I waved them off and took a load into the kitchen. Rob and Alicia wandered away withgood nightsand Art let me take over his scrubbing after my reassurance that I didn’t mind.
I didn’t. The energy a competition day like tomorrow took was exponentially more than what a normal day of working out at home did. The adrenaline hit the moment you woke up if you weren’t careful, and it wouldn’t flag until long after the events had ended. The biggest challenge would be day two, but in the meantime, we could get them all set up for a good day one.
Summer moved quietly into the kitchen and set down a pile of containers. She silently placed lids on the few that still held food and put them in the fridge. When she came to stand next to me and held out a hand for the sudsy plate I’d just scrubbed, I had to speak up.
“You too, Summer. You go relax. I’ve got this.”
