Page 31 of Nailing Heat
“Thank you,” I say quietly to him.
He holds his fist out and I bump it. “I got you. Anything you need to know that is soccer-related, let me know.”
“Appreciate it, man. I’m doing my best to learn it all.”
“It’ll come,” he assures me.
We make our way back to the training room in silence to prepare for the first round of evaluations. I spent a lot of time straightening up the training room, so that it makes sense and has a flow. It has some order. I placed the four beds in the back center of the room. All the supplies are organized and placed in the large cabinets that start at the back of the room and border it all the way to the front.
The line of backs is at the entrance. I like how quickly they all assembled and seem to be accepting that assessments will be done again. The girls are giving each other space so that we can all talk privately.
I can see Amelia is in the back of the line, my line. I didn’t choose the backs on purpose, but I’m glad that I get to talk to her.
“Hi, I’m Carrie,” the first girl in my line says to me.
“Nice to meet you, Carrie.” I extend my hand, and she shakes it. “I’m Dexter Langley, but please call me Dex.”
She nods and we go through the motions. I check her heart rate to get a baseline. I spend more time checking on her strength, checking for weaknesses and imbalances. She looks pretty solid.
“Thanks, Carrie, you seem to be in great shape. Any weaknesses, pain or previous injuries that I should know about?” I see the hesitation in her eyes. The way she draws her lower lip in and bites on it tells me that she’s either struggling with an injury or she has in the past. “What’s bothering you or has? I can’t help if, I don’t know.”
I shoot her a reassuring smile, and I see her flush a bit. I knew thiscouldhappen. August told me to make sure I didn’t show the girls “too much sparkle and shine” when I met with them. I guess that was too much sparkle.
“My calves have been really bothering me. They’ve been tight and the foam rolling isn’t helping them,” Carrie admits.
“I can give you some stretches for that.” I give her right calf aquick squeeze and she winces. “Okay, you’re okay. Let me give you a paper for stretches that will help you, and we can talk through them too.”
I finish up with Carrie, and I think by the time she leaves, there is some relief in her eyes. I’m also pretty sure she checked me out a few more dozen times. Nonetheless, I get through the other backs, and it was time for Amelia to walk through my door.
As if right on cue, there she stands, leaning against the doorframe, arms across her chest. She is looking at me with those chocolate brown eyes that stare into my soul.
“Well, hello there, trainer Dex,” she teases me.
I shake my head, laughing, “I knew I should have taken the mids and left Lucas with the backs.”
She laughs along with me. “Yeah, you probably should have.”
I pat the table in front of me. “Come on, hop up and we can get this party started.”
She grins and heads on into the room. She is dressed brightly in the training clothes that most of the girls are wearing, but there’s something about how the brightly colored shorts seem to accentuate her curvy legs and hips.
“Where are we starting?” she asks me as I lower myself onto the rolling stool that’s in front of her. I’m staring up at her, looking over her toned midsection, ample bosom pushing against the shirt, all the way up those full lips that are begging for attention. “Dex?” She says my name, and it snaps me out of my inspection.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. Let’s get your heart rate and pulse. Then we can check out your range of motion and flexibility if that works for you,” I trip over my own words and I can tell she’s noticed. It’s in the way she grins at me and pulls that bottom lip between her teeth.
“You know, this is why you shouldn’t leave home so early when you have a long day. It makes you loopy, and I don’t need youloopy when you are signing off on my health check,” Amelia teases me.
“I didn’t leave that early.” Rising from the stool, I place my fingers at the pulse point in her neck and wait.
“You left early,” she counters.
I shake my head, “Shh” is all I reply, but she doesn’t stop talking.
“Did you even get coffee?”
I crouch down a bit so that we’re eye to eye. “Amelia,” I say to her sternly. “I don’t want to offend you because, you know, you’re my roommate and all, but shut up. I need you silent for this part. And still.”
I look down at her foot that is bouncing against the side of the table. It’s not making a noise, but the sheer motion of it could mess with her pulse. “Think you can do that for me?”
