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 watching 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.
I saw The Russian and Buzz emerge from the waves a few minutes later and the coach took them aside for a dressing-down. They re-joined the training session five minutes later. The Russian still wouldn’t look at me. I didn’t know if he was angry with me, embarrassed or angry with himself.
At the end of the training session, we formed two lines like we did on game days, and all moved along shaking each other’s hands. It had been fun except for that incident, and it made training more interesting for the day. When I came to shake hands with The Russian, he held my hand a bit longer. The training group broke up.
“Come back to my place?” he asked.
“If you can drop me back to my car at our clubhouse later?”
“Sure,” he happily agreed.
Lucas came over. “You two want to come up for a drink?”
“Ah, thanks ...” I said, with a glance to The Russian.
“But no, thanks buddy. I’ve got to show Carla something ... very important. High-security stuff,” he joked.
Lucas grinned. “Yeah, I’m sure she needs to see that.”
*****
A few of the Saints and Suns stayed for a dip in the ocean and then after, The Russian and I walked back to his place. I think his streak of jealousy must come with a desperate need for reassurance because we’d barely gotten inside the door before The Russian set upon me. His strong hands pulled me close to him and he kissed me like a man needing oxygen. We didn’t make it to the bedroom, luckily he had that huge circle couch; I was on my back on it, with my swimmers pulled down past my knees and off before I could say “take me, Russian”.
The Russian made this guttural sort of sound as he moved back up my body, and then removed my swimsuit top. Sand was all over us – gritty lovemaking, we didn’t care, I just as greedily pulled off his shorts and swimmers. I began to run my tongue over his defined six pack, and I could tell it was appreciated. The Russian was primed and erect. But then he stopped me, and pulled me up close to him; his eyes were full of pain ... enough to stop primal needs and make him reach for me.
“What is it?” I asked and touched his face. He didn’t speak immediately, but I could see him carefully putting his words together, not wanting to be naked emotionally and physically.
He swallowed. “About earlier ...”
I stopped him, putting my finger on his lips.
“It’s okay. We got through that intact, didn’t we?” I asked. Please say we’re okay, please. I didn’t want him to give up on us before we had really started.
He nodded slightly, barely noticeably.
“I fucking hate it when it happens,” he said, and took a deep breath.
I nodded. “Buzz is playing you. You know I’m not even remotely interested in him, don’t you? You can trust me, Russian.”
He didn’t say anything, just watched me with his guard up.
“I trust that you can be the man I need, Russian, and I can be your woman, who won’t hurt you, but will protect this,” I said, placing my hand on his alpha heart.
He made a small sound in his throat, as if he was swallowing all those doubts, and then his mouth met mine and our love filled up all the empty places in us both. The Russian was craving me as much as I was craving him, and I didn’t tell him, but I was as terrified of losing him as he was of me – my heart would never take it, I’d never recover. Instead, I trusted in the moment and hoped it would last forever and that everything would be okay.
But something bad that I never expected was to come, testing us both.