Pass Interference

by Cami Checketts

  “I can’t do that to you. I’ll hire a caretaker to stay with her and you can just come visit to enjoy her.”

  Allie’s face drooped. She’d lost a best friend as much as Hyde had lost a mother. She pasted a smile back on and lowered her voice conspiratorially, “So is this trainer a hot one?”

  Hyde’s eyes widened. Oh, Allie. He thought of Lily and smiled. “Yeah, you could say that.”

  “Oh, good. Go have her work your buns off then you ask her out for tofu veggie sandwiches or whatever crap you’re eating now. If she’s a fitness freak like you she might not think you’re too strange only eating sugar and dairy one day a week.” She tsked. “I love ya, but that’s just unnatural boy.”

  Hyde laughed. He didn’t eat as crazy as his mom and aunt assumed. He avoided sugar, processed food, and some dairy, but besides that he ate a lot and he ate well.

  “Well, are you going to ask her out?”

  “She’s my trainer, Auntie, not my date.”

  “Hmm. Give her a chance, I’ll bet she would be both.”

  Hyde could have cussed Allie for planting these ideas in his head. He gave her one last squeeze, winced as he went down the garage steps, then climbed into his Lexus GX460. He couldn’t quite cuss Allie when he’d had similar thoughts about Lily all throughout the day yesterday. He liked her being his trainer and it wouldn’t take a ton of persuasion for him to like her being his date.

  Lily always got to the gym before six, but today she was there at five, excited to see what the day had to bring. I get to train Hyde Metcalf, she’d been singing over and over again in her head. Even though he was an ultra-athlete, he was going to be sore today. Two hours of nonstop weights, plyometrics, and sprints on an incline would make anyone’s muscles ache. She’d told him to take a bath, right? She giggled, remembering he’d said that real men don’t take baths. Ha. Her dad had loved a bath after being out in the mountains all day with the Forest Service.

  “What are you laughing to yourself about?” Malee asked, her beautiful slanted eyes increasing to an even higher angle. Most women who came into the gym were jealous of Malee’s exotic look.

  “Hyde.” Lily bit at her lip, not ashamed to admit it.

  “He’s really something, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Malee took a swing at her. “Hey, are you going to be able to keep this professional?”

  Lily bit at her lip. “Yes. There’s a lot riding on this for me.” She bowed her head and admitted, “My family could really use that money.” She would do anything she could to guarantee that her siblings had a better childhood and teenagerhood than she had.

  “What’s the deal with you getting Hyde Metcalf’s training?” Ike strutted into the office like he owned the place. Typical. He had the blond, blue-eyed surfer look, but his build was incredible. He regularly competed in body building competitions. Lily appreciated how hard he worked, but didn’t find him as attractive as the rest of the female population at the gym seemed to.

  “I’m just that good.” She thrust a hand on her hip and tossed her long hair, daring him to contradict her.

  “I believe it.” Ike came closer. “You want to show me how good sometime?”

  “Keep it professional, Ike,” Malee demanded.

  “Sure thing, boss.” But Ike stayed much too close to Lily and looked her up and down. “That’s pretty cool Hyde Metcalf came asking for you. Congrats.”

  Lily managed a smile. Malee obviously hadn’t revealed to anyone else that she’d set up Lily’s slam dunk and Lily wasn’t going to share anything with Ike. “Thank you.”

  Ike gave her a smile before turning and strutting back out of the office.

  Lily turned to Malee and smiled weakly.

  “Don’t worry,” Malee said. “You are the best and exactly what Hyde needs right now. I wouldn’t have given him to you if I had any doubts.” She nodded encouragingly. “Oh, and in other good news, last night after you left you had twenty new clients book training packages, and I have moved your base rate to a hundred per hour, even though you already revealed to Hyde that wasn’t your normal base.”

  “Wow.” Lily always had a decent clientele, but it was hard to keep busy even forty hours a week as a trainer. She taught the boot camp classes to bring in a little extra money. She loved her job and would be happy to work well over forty hours if she could.

  Imagining that ten thousand dollar bonus from Hyde at the end of two months had her salivating. After the gym took twenty percent, she’d put a thousand in savings then the rest would go to her mom and dad no matter how they complained. With six children still at home and living on a Forest Service salary things were tight. She could just imagine Mary and Trudy wearing new clothes instead of hand-me-downs from Lily and Sariah that were years old and hadn’t been in style when Lily was in high school six years ago. Maybe Caleb could play on the competitive lacrosse team he’d been begging for or Brandon could actually take a piano lesson. The boy was a music prodigy, but some training would bring him to the next level. The really huge thing was helping Sariah get started at the massage therapy school. Her eighteen-year-old sister lived at home and drove up to Blackhawk to clean hotel rooms at the casinos every day, trying to save money for tuition. This money would be enough with what Sariah already had saved to pay her tuition. She could still work on the weekends for spending cash and gas money. She’d have to live at home, but it wasn’t a horrible drive down the mountain.

  Lily’s mom would balk about the money like she always did, but she’d take it and either gently inform her dad or hide it from him. Lily didn’t want to cause secrets between her parents, but her siblings needed help and she would give it, dang her father’s pride.

  “I guess word spread that you were training Hyde pretty quick,” Malee said.

  Lily’s chest expanded. “Thanks, Malee.”

  Malee shrugged. They were friends but not besties. Malee was still her boss. “It was the right fit. Thank me by kicking him into shape so we get that bonus.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  Malee rolled her eyes. “Don’t go all Ike on me.”

  Lily laughed and went to prep for the morning boot camp class. As soon as the class was over, she hurried downstairs to meet Hyde. At seven sharp he walked in, looking every inch the elite athlete he was in a fitted Under Armour shirt and knee-length silky shorts. His chest and arms would make most women sigh, but she reminded herself she wasn’t most women. She worked around and with fit people every day. She was a professional and wasn’t going to let his ultra-fit body affect her. His arm flexed as he grabbed the door and held it open for an older lady. Okay, it shouldn’t affect her. He turned Lily’s way and smiled. Yeah, that was going to affect her.

  She almost did her Hyde Metcalf dance again.

  Legs weak, she started toward him. “How you feeling?”

  “The hot tub didn’t help much. I’m walking like an old man.”

  “Means I did my job.”

  “You don’t have to do it quite so effectively.” He grinned and she knew he was teasing.

  “Up for a little run to get warm?”

  His eyebrows arched. She walked toward the door, and even with his legs sore, he beat her to it and swung it open. They walked out into the crisp morning. Lily loved Colorado. The mountains, the rivers, air so clean you could taste it. Not that she’d ever gone anywhere else, but still she knew her home state was special.

  They started at a slow jog to warm up, cruising through the streets of Golden. Within minutes, they were running past the Colorado School of Mines and had increased to a comfortable eight-minute mile.

  “I like this campus,” Hyde broke the silence.

  “Did you go to school here?”

  “Um, no.” He half-laughed. “I went to Oregon.”

  “Oh, dumb. I knew that.” She was being really dumb. She knew his stats from University of Oregon. “Two-time Pac Ten offensive player of the year, right?”

  He glanced
at her askance, his eyes a little suspicious. “You seem to know a lot about me.”

  “Didn’t I already tell you that I’m your biggest fan?” Oh, crap. Now she looked like a stalker. Honestly, she kind of was, but it was just because she loved football so much. That was her excuse at least. “Does that weird you out?”

  He shrugged and focused on the tree-lined streets, well-maintained open spaces, and beautiful campus buildings around them. “I guess it’s something to get used to. Most people either act awestruck around me or they grovel for attention. The women who pretend they don’t know who I am and think I’m going to chase them because they act dumb are the really odd ones.”

  He took a long breath and Lily worried about his oxygen capacity for a second, but she wanted to hear what he had to say, so she didn’t interrupt.

  “It’s so easy to see through, but they think playing hard to get will be attractive, I guess. Then when I ignore them they go overboard the other way all gushy and embarrassing.” His cheeks colored and he gasped in some more air. “Sorry, I’m rambling, but I’d take someone who’s honest about knowing my stats, like a ten-year old boy, any day.”

  “Great. You just compared me to a ten-year old boy.”

  He chuckled. “You’re shaped a lot different than a ten-year old boy.”

  Lily’s eyes widened and she had no good comeback for that. “Um … Are your legs loosening up a little bit?”

  “Yeah. It’s going to kill when we stop though.”

  She smiled at him, knowing she could keep this up for hours. She’d never run an actual marathon because of how expensive they were, but she regularly ran twenty plus milers on Saturday mornings. “Let’s not stop then.”

  They upped their pace as they reached the trail south of Main Street. It took them along the river and past the Clear Creek R.V. Park. Then they hit the hill above the city water supply and they were both too out of breath to talk. They pounded over the bridge crossing the highway then up one more hill and there was a park she liked to take a break at.

  “Let’s grab a drink,” Lily managed, impressed with his stamina after being hospitalized. She’d never had pneumonia, but coming back from a cold was hard sometimes.

  “Okay.” He waited for her to get a drink out of the fountain first. As he took his turn, she couldn’t help but admire his build again.

  “It’s fun to train someone who’s built like you.”

  He grinned, wiping moisture from his upper lip. “Why do I feel like I’m a test subject instead of a human being?”

  “I can tell you’re human.” Lily bit at her lip. Oh, could she tell.

  He laughed. “Such a compliment.”

  “I told you I was your biggest fan, right?”

  “Yep, and now I’m a test subject and only my stats matter. You probably want me to wear my helmet to work out,” he teased.

  “No. I like to see your face.” She ducked her head. Hyde Metcalf was seriously flirting with her. Right? No. She was insane and dreaming that he was being cute with her. She didn’t know enough about what he liked in a woman. She’d seen plenty of pictures of him with beautiful women all dolled up in formal wear, some of them well-known in their own right. Was he a flirt and just teasing her? Probably. She had to keep it light, especially so she didn’t offend him and lose this money train. “Your stats and fitness level are the most impressive thing to me though.”

  His eyebrows shot up and then he laughed. “Good to know.”

  She turned and ran toward the jogging trail. Hyde caught her quickly and they continued up the hills through a beautiful neighborhood where the trail ended and they ran on the road.

  “That road’s a dead end,” Hyde said as she turned onto a tree-lined street.

  “Oh?” How did he know that? There was usually a no outlet sign if a road was a dead end, but it was missing. “Let’s run to the end then turn around and head back,” she decided. “I’d like to focus on some more core and speed training today.”

  “Didn’t we do enough planks and incline sprints yesterday?”

  “Never enough.” She winked and took off at a near sprint. “Keep up, Metcalf,” she barked.

  He groaned, but followed her up the street, pulling ahead of her about halfway through the block. Lily gave it her all, but she couldn’t catch him. He was Hyde Metcalf and last year had been clocked running over twenty-one miles per hour. What did she expect?

  Lily slowed to a walk, catching her breath and admiring the lovely homes. At the end of the cul-de-sac was a huge two-story brick home. Lily loved the dormer windows decorating the second story and the high pitched roof. They must’ve added on a huge apartment above the garage, but it flowed nicely with the original house. The main floor had so many windows she could see straight through the house. So cool. The yard was fabulous too with landscaped flower beds and grass that belonged on a golf course.

  Two older ladies were out pruning rose bushes. The women turned to look at them and the blonde lady dropped her shears.

  “Good morning,” Lily called to them.

  “Hyde Metcalf, you get your buns over here and introduce us to your girl,” the lady with classy slate gray hair called to them.

  Lily stared at Hyde, whose naturally dark skin seemed to be turning darker. Who were these ladies and how did they know him?

  “She’s not really my girl,” he muttered then turned to face her. “I’m sorry. This is my mom and aunt, well sort of an adopted aunt, my mom’s best friend. Do you mind if we stop and say hi?”

  Her eyebrows arched. This beautiful house was his? “I’d love to meet them.”

  “You say that now.”

  The women were crossing the expansive yard toward them. This was a nice neighborhood with large houses, but this one dwarfed all of them. Built on the corner lot it had more yard, but it also had the large second story were most of the homes were ramblers.

  “Give me a hug,” the dark-haired lady demanded. Hyde complied and she shrieked. “You’re all sweaty!”

  Hyde chuckled. “That’s what happens when you work out.”

  “Which is why we don’t participate in said activity.” She arched an eyebrow. “So… who’s this pretty young thing?”

  Lily stuck out her hand. “Lily Udy. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You also. I’m Auntie Allie and this is Hyde’s momma, Teresa.”

  Allie gave her a hearty shake but Teresa’s grasp was more of a limp noodle. Lily could’ve sworn his mom was glaring at her, but hopefully she was imagining things.

  “Gorgeous morning to be with a gorgeous girl.” Allie winked at Hyde.

  “Better morning to be alone,” Teresa muttered.

  Lily started, but Hyde and Allie didn’t comment or flinch.

  “Auntie, she’s my trainer,” Hyde said.

  “Does that mean you can’t date her? I never get all your rules.”

  Lily felt her face flush. If Hyde Metcalf had any interest in dating her, after he’d paid her the ten-thousand dollar bonus and their contract was done, she would be in heaven. It was never going to happen. He dated women with perfectly-plucked eyebrows, surgery-enhanced curves, and designer clothes, not personal trainers who lived in spandex.

  “We’re going to run away now,” Hyde said. “Thanks for the embarrassment.”

  “Anytime. Come see us again,” Allie directed toward Lily. “I live to embarrass this cute boy.”

  The cute boy was all man, but it was fun to see him redden with embarrassment. She’d heard that his mom had revealed some embarrassing secrets to the press, but his mom was too quiet throughout the conversation and his aunt seemed more the type to reveal secrets.

  They waved their goodbyes and jogged back down the street. The run back to the gym was almost all downhill so it was pleasant to enjoy the morning and be by Hyde’s side.

  “Does your aunt cause media trouble for you?”

  “Naw, that’s all my mom. Allie teases because she likes to embarrass me, but she would never do m
e harm like my mom does.” He sucked in a breath and glanced at her. “That sounded awful. My mom doesn’t mean to cause trouble. She’s been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s so she forgets a lot and says things she shouldn’t. But even before her diagnosis, she never liked any of the woman I dated,” he sort of muttered.

  Lily didn’t want to touch that one, but she hadn’t felt any warm fuzzies from his mom’s glances or her underhanded comment about being alone, that was for sure. “How do the press get her to comment?”

  “She spends most of her time outside and refuses to shut the blinds in the house. You noticed all the windows. She used to say she was a ‘creature of light’.” He smiled as if remembering. “She used to be really with it and funny. Now Allie has to talk and joke for both of them.”

  “That’s a great friend.”

  “Been best friends for years. Raised their families next door. Allie is amazing. It’s hard for me to watch Mom deteriorate like this and my dad … he’s gone so, you know.”

  “I’m so sorry about your dad.” She hadn’t known his dad had died. When had that happened?

  Hyde looked confused. “Yeah, he’s kind of a loser.”

  “Oh.” Whoa. That was harsh to say about a dead man. She’d be a mess if her dad died. Hyde didn’t seem to have much of a family. “Do you have any other family?”

  “My sister lives in upstate New York with her two girls. Wait. I thought you knew all about me.”

  “All about your footballs stats. I don’t really keep up on the publicity magazines mega-stud scoop.” Had she just slipped and called him a mega-stud? That was one of those phrases she should’ve kept to herself.

  “What?” He glanced at her. “A mega-stud?”

  “Oh, you know.” She studied the asphalt flowing under their feet. “Someone like you—handsome, famous, talented.”

  “A mega-stud.” He laughed. “So you idolize me for my stats but not my photo shoots with no shirt on?”

  “You’ve done photo shoots with no shirt on?” Her voice squeaked.

  He laughed louder then started coughing and couldn’t stop. They slowed their pace to a walk while he caught a breath.