by Ally Adams
“Then we won’t distract them of course,” she said, with almost an evil grin. “Besides, they should be focussing on the task at hand.”
“Agreed,” I said, expecting to get a cocktail party invitation anytime in the next few weeks. A little red sports car pulled up and Alice alighted, waving up to us.
“Hey,” she said to us as Mia buzzed her in down below. She was obviously on the gate VIP list since she’d driven straight through. She came upstairs in her business wear.
“Look at you two workout gals,” she said, eyeing off our sportswear. Alice gave Mia a kiss on the cheek and did the same for me, which was very sweet.
“How did you get an early mark from work?” Mia asked, narrowing her eyes, as she jumped up to grab a drink for Alice.
Alice slid onto a chair beside Mia and let out a long breath as she watched the guys run out of the surf. “Marvellous.”
I giggled beside her like I was part of a secret Saints watching club.
“The boss, Jim, is away today, so while the boss is away, the mice play,” she said, accepting the drink and thanking Mia. “Besides, I’ve done my share of weekend match days to steal back a few hours.”
The Saints were wet, their bathers were wet, their chests were wet and their tanned torsos gleaming.
I sighed. “So good.”
“So good,” Mia repeated and nodded.
“You could sell tickets to this,” Alice suggested to Mia.
“Enterprising,” she agreed. “But we’re going to have a girls’ cocktail party instead, right here, one training afternoon just for the WAGS. It was Carla’s suggestion.”
I shrugged. “I can’t take all the credit, I drew inspiration from out there.”
“You’re working wonders on The Russian,” Alice said, “he seems sort of calmer. Sasha has worked with him for much longer than me but she said he is definitely happier. She keeps dropping your name to get a reaction.”
“Really?” I grinned, pleased to be working some magic on him. “What sort of reaction?”
“He gets this lovey-dovey look on his face ... I think it is very sweet but you know how Sasha loves to stir him.”
“Ha, that’s funny,” I said, laughing. “But it’s early days yet, I’m sure he’ll go back to being his usual self in no time.”
I was pretty sure that Lucas hadn’t told The Russian I was up here with Mia, perhaps he thought The Russian would know I was coming over for physio, but I hadn’t spoken to him since I had left Tia’s concert this morning. I watched him with the team. He truly was a beautiful looking man.
The trainer ordered them to hit the sand, and the Saints players all lay on their backs; they seemed to know the routine.
“Here comes the abdominal core circuit,” Mia said.
“I remember it well,” I said, subliminally wincing and Mia grinned.
The countdown began and the guys began on the crunches. In between repetitions the trainers demanded the guys plank, I could feel the burn. Mia and I both groaned; Alice was more of a yoga girl. Watching The Russian plank was so sexy; his arm muscles just bulged and his core was so tight, even better when his body began to shudder with the pressure and he dropped his head to control his body ... so sexy.
Mia fanned herself, not taking her eyes off Lucas.
“We can always go for a cold swim after,” she suggested, with a glance towards the plunge pool in the corner.
“We might need to,” I agreed. Next came the push ups ... those arms, that tight butt ... and then the boys stood to begin sprints and The Russian grabbed a towel to wipe his face. So frigging sexy again. Lucas came up beside him to do the same and must have given me away because The Russian looked up towards the balcony and right at me. He gave a slightly discernible smile; we both knew it was best not to look too happy at training ... you’ll be worked harder. He kept his gaze on me as he reached for a bottle of water, drinking and spilling some of it over his chest ... fuck me now, seriously.
Then I swear he worked out even harder after that, like he was making sure I got the show of my life.
*****
Lucas ran up the sandy front yard of his beach mansion and into the house, coming up the internal stairs. On the beach out the front, the Saints had finished their session and were dispersing. He came out to us on the balcony and wrapped Mia in a bear hug.
“I’ve been sent up to get you girls for a swim. C’mon, surf’s up,” he said.
“Eww, get off me,” Mia tried to wriggle out of his grip. “You’re sweaty and awful.”
“You like me sweaty,” he said, kissing her as she wriggled.
Who wouldn’t like him sweaty? He was something else: his blue eyes looking so blue, and his pin-up boy looks.
“I only like you sweaty when I’m sweaty,” she grimaced. Lucas released her, pulling her up from the chair and tapping her butt.
“C’mon, orders from The Russian and Tomás, get your gear off and report to the beach.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” I said, rising from the seat into action. Lucas gave me a smile and raced back out of the house again.
“Do you need swimmers?” Mia asked me.
I shook my head. “No thanks, I’ve got swimming, running and gym bags in my car ... you never know.”
“I thought you would,” she said. “Alice?”
“Can I wear that red two-piece suit?” she said.
Mia rolled her eyes. “I’m giving it to you, as long as you leave it here so you’re always covered when you drop in. You always liked it more than me.”
“Yes!” Alice said, going to change. She gave me a grin. “I’m a bit partial to shopping.”
“It’s her middle name,” Mia said, following her to get the swimsuit.
When we were changed, we headed to the beach, where The Russian emerged long enough from the surf to drag me in with him. Sexy beast.
*****
Twenty minutes later, I came out of the surf before him and headed over to get my towel. I didn’t realize Lucas was behind me until he called my name.
“Hey,” I said, shaking the sand off my towel before it stuck to me.
“Can we talk a minute?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said, looking around. Mia and Alice were still in swimming. If Lucas was going to ask me not to distract his forward before a match, there was going to be trouble.
“I just wanted to check you were okay,” he said, toweling down.
“Oh,” I said, surprised. I wasn’t expecting that. “I’m fine, why?” I frowned at him.
Lucas cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. “The Russian told me what happened, sort of, between grunts and shrugs, you know,” he said, not doing much better than The Russian did I imagine. “He was really worried he blew it with you... he’s a good guy...”
“I know,” I said, cutting Lucas off. “I know he’s a good guy, and you’re a good friend to speak for him.”
I spread my towel out and sat down. He did the same with his towel and lowered himself beside me. I saw him glance quickly to the surf to see where The Russian was before continuing.
“I want to give you some context, but you never heard this from me and you can’t ever tell him you know, unless he shares it with you,” Lucas said.
I groaned.
Lucas frowned. “It’s important. If you understand what’s happened, you might cut him a break when he’s an idiot. Besides, it’s my job to look out for the guys ... well I’m trying to step up in that area.”
I grimaced. I can imagine it would be hard given most guys keep everything bottled up.
“I don’t think I want to know,” I said.
Lucas shrugged. “I just don’t want him to blow a good thing.” He looked uncomfortable using that term. “You know what I mean.”
“I do,” I said, and thought about it for a few moments. “Okay, thanks, best you tell me then.” I could feel my stomach clenching, not to mention my heart.
“It’ll stay strictly between us?” Lucas asked.
I nodded. “I promise.”
Lucas drew a breath and began. “Leesa has pretty much ruined his ability to trust in any relationship.”
“I know about Leesa,” I interrupted. I saw The Russian, Mia and Alice leaving the surface.
“Did you know she got pregnant, with The Russian’s kid?” Lucas didn’t stop. “Then she had a big night out when she was a fair way along and miscarried.”
“Crap.”
“It gets worse,” he said, hurrying up his story. “When The Russian left her, she tried to kill herself. Since then she’s been seeking security from every man she can, by the looks of it. It’s done his head in.”
I didn’t have time to take it all in or ask questions as the rest of our group dropped down beside us. I nodded my thanks to Lucas and looked over at my man. What was I supposed to do with that information? It did explain why he hadn’t just walked away from her sooner. In fact, it explained a lot; that would put me off having a relationship for a long time. Let’s not even begin on the trust issues.
I wondered if he would ever tell me. Wow, he had been through some pain. And I couldn’t mention a word of it to him.
Chapter 24
I might have been too smug too soon about beach training … my coach called to say since I was given the all-clear by Carlo to play in the last match of the season, I had better get more serious about my training, and the beach session was going to be one of the sessions. Wait until I tell The Russian, he’ll have one of those shit-eating grins on his face like I got what I deserved for watching him sweat it out. Nevertheless, I was kind of looking forward to getting back to training with the girls.
My new boss, Karen, was totally supportive of me leaving each day at four-thirty to get to training by five p.m., and when I entered on Tuesday, the Suns’ girls cheered. It felt great to be home again. I started slowly under the guidance of Carlo, but really enjoyed it, especially being with Steffi and Aimee again. And that was when I heard the news ... a joint beach session had been organized with the Saints!
When the coach announced it, everyone turned to look at me, but I was just as shocked.
“I didn’t do it!” I said.
“No, Maria in marketing has organized it,” Coach said, with a noticeable edge to her voice ... I don’t think Coach was particularly happy about it, but the Suns’ girls were.
“Are any of the Saints still single?” Aimee whispered in my ear.
I gave her a nod. “Three in the firsts and half a dozen in the reserves.” That brought a smile to her face.
Coach continued. “Anyway, we’ll have some media there and supposedly it’s good for both teams to promote our end of season games and next year’s membership campaign. Strike while the iron’s hot, apparently.” She handed over to Lenny, one of our trainers.
“Now, we won’t be trying to match them to the point of risking injury, will we?” Lenny asked.
“No,” we all said in unison, but we were all thinking we wanted to whip their butts.
“However ...” Lenny continued, “it’s a good opportunity to push yourself just that little bit harder and I’m sure they’ll be doing their best to look good. So, tomorrow, Laguna Beach at five, our usual time.”
“And be prepared for the usual training session,” Coach stepped in. “This is not a social visit, we will be training.”
“Sounds pretty social to me,” Lia said, nudging Aimee and me. “Are you sure you had nothing to do with it?” she narrowed her eyes at me.
“First I’ve heard about it,” I assured her. I caught the eye of the Suns’ marketing guru, Maria—she was sitting in the grandstand looking pretty happy with herself—and she gave me a nod. Hmm, I’d get to the bottom of this.
When training was over, I had a chat with Carlo about going a little harder next time and then I caught Maria before she left. I was about two feet taller than her, I swear, and she took a step up on the bleachers to talk to me eye-to-eye. She had short, cropped brown hair, and little features.
“I can’t take credit for the idea,” she said, before I had even opened my mouth.
“Ah, so it’s not necessarily taking advantage of The Russian and my situation?” I asked, tongue-in-cheek, not that I minded. All publicity was good publicity for sports clubs, especially if it encouraged people to play the game, buy a membership or attracted a sponsor.
“No, but that certainly helped the situation. The Atlanta Furies women’s team just did the same stunt with their opposite male team ... sure, they both play basketball, but I thought, why limit ourselves to that? Why not have the Saints versus the Suns – two local teams both heading into the finals?”
“Why not?” I agreed, with a smile.
“Sex sells, Carla,” she said, tapping her nose. “Anyway, must run, you’re looking good out there.”
“Thanks Maria,” I said. I was sure I was looking good if I could bring in a dollar ... but it was a small price to pay to give something back to the club.
*****
The next afternoon we arrived in our squad bus for the joint training session, and the Saints were already on the beach in their training gear. There was also a good smattering of media with cameras and photographic equipment, and I guess it was no surprise most of them were keen for that shot of The Russian and me training together ... no pressure!
The Suns’ girls were dressed in our training shorts and singlets with our swimsuits underneath. The Saints’ boys wore pretty much the same, except many of them had their singlets off already – show offs. The Russian still had his singlet on ... I’m sure it was for dramatic effect, so he could rip it off later and thrill me.
I spotted Mia; she was working with the physio guys, so not watching with a cocktail from her balcony. She gave me a return wave and smiled. Then the two coaches called the teams together and welcomed us, telling us they would take it in turn to run the drills. They suggested we paired up and The Russian grabbed me even though the team’s defender, Jackson, had cozied up next to me and asked if I wanted to partner. The look The Russian gave him could have frozen the ocean; Jackson grinned and quickly moved on. I noticed Aimee wasted no time partnering with him; he was single.
It truly was the battle of the sexes, but somewhat predictable. Given the size of The Russian and some of the lads, we were lighter and faster with the sit-ups, but the boys had more arm strength when it came to push-ups. The Suns’ girls were more flexible than the Saints’ boys, but the guys were pretty good on the cardio ... they had bigger chests and lungs and they used them against us. The planking was pretty even and no one wanted to give in first, but in the end the coach called it over ... thank the Lord for that; my stomach was caving in. I collapsed to the ground as soon as Coach called it over and groaned.
“You’re a pussy, Brooker,” The Russian teased me.
I glanced up at him from my flat out position with my cheek pressed to the sand and grimaced.
“I’ll give you pussy in a minute, Russian,” I threatened, then I realized what I had said.
The Russian grinned. “That’d be great.”
“I so walked right into that,” I groaned.
He pulled himself up, and me along with him. Snap, crackle, pop went the camera flashes. Lucas was getting a fair bit of attention too as he was partnered with our tallest and most athletic player Karley, and she wasn’t giving him an inch – Lucas so tall and fair, Karley so tall and dark ... rather beautiful they were. I glanced towards Mia, but she was totally unfazed, which was totally healthy.
Then the two physios from the Saints and Suns pulled Buzz and me out of training just to do some work on our injuries, which meant The Russian and Latoya—who had been partnered with Buzz—got together. I knew The Russian and Buzz had a history of mutual dislike—too much testosterone—but I didn’t realize that it would cause a problem. Buzz and I were lying next to each other on the tables, sharing a few laughs, and my physio Carlo, and the Saints’ physio, Andy, joined in. I then noticed The Russian was wat
ching me, and I swear his dark eyes had green in them. This was not good. Man, this guy was so insecure. I was lying face down, but I lifted myself up a bit and, ensuring I had his attention, I moved my hand to my heart. His brow furrowed as he realized what I was doing, and then he smiled at me. I thought we were okay. But no …
True to his reputation of being the club fight boy and stirrer, Buzz read The Russian like a book and began to act up on it. I could feel Buzz running his eyes over me and then he leaned over to make a joke, as though we were sharing an intimate secret. He placed his hand on my arm.
It was like the beach exploded; The Russian was pulling Buzz up from the physio bench by his throat and Buzz struck out, getting in a few good pummels to The Russian’s rib area.
The Suns’ girls screamed and huddled out of the way, and Saints’ players seemed to emerge on the two men from all sides. Lucas and Nik were at the core of the fight, trying to pull the two men apart without much success, while the physios and management were blocking the media to stop taking photos. I joined the Suns’ girls, scurrying away, keen not to be caught in the crossfire.
The players managed to contain the scene but not before the media had a few good shots, and you can guess the headline for that one.
“You’re a fucking stirrer, Buzz,” Lucas said, pushing him backward. Buzz grinned, not taking his eyes off The Russian.
“If I had one less ounce of self-control,” The Russian hissed at him.
“Yeah, what would have happened?” Buzz taunted him.
“Let’s just say your season would be over,” The Russian threatened.
Several of the Saint’s boys continued to stand between them. I could tell their coach was seething.
“Russian, Buzz, hit the water and cool down,” he ordered them, “And if either of you make contact, you’re on the bench this weekend, and I mean it.”
The Russian wouldn’t look at me; maybe that was a good thing, especially as everyone else was sneaking glances in my direction.
“Let’s get back to work,” our coach called and everyone got back in position.