The rope burned against his palms, but Kevin convulsively clenched his fists tighter and gritted his teeth through the pain.

His muscles were exhausted, oxygen-starved, and he needed to breathe deeper and haul himself up harder.

The gym wall had never seemed so high.

“C’mon,” he hissed to himself. I know I can do better than this.

He was two arms-lengths from the top of the rope.

One…

Do it. Come on. His own body weight felt insurmountable, and his knees ached from scrambling and bumping against the gym wall as if it would give him more traction. But this was it: the end of his hardest drill today.

Two!

Kevin grabbed the top of the rope and gasped for breath, but he didn’t want to hold himself up for long. He was supposed to come down as slowly as he could stand, though.

“Hey, Glenn. How’s it going?”

Kevin nearly froze on the rope. From somewhere below, that was Matty’s unmistakable friendly bellow.

“Hey, not bad for an old fellow. What’s got into you? You look like you’re ready to run a mile.”

“Post-season fatigue’s wearing off, I guess,” Matty answered. Kevin twisted to get a better look as he paused halfway down the wall, but he could just make out a hint of a friendly grin from this angle.

“Just in time for your break.”

“Actually, that’s what I wanted a word about,” Matty told Glenn. “I’m not going home the whole time, just the first week. Then I’m coming back here for another week of prep before the first camp.”

“Uh huh,” Glenn answered. “You’re sure you’re up for that?”

“Positive,” Matty answered as Kevin touched the floor. He didn’t look over his way yet, he was so focused on their trainer instead. He looked like he was seeking permission like a man in a desert might cajole the keeper of the spring.

Kevin knew that even thinking up that metaphor meant he needed to drink more water. He grabbed his water bottle to chug down another half a liter, trying to subtly lurk nearby to listen in.

“Okay,” Glenn finally nodded. “I can’t stop you, and you are in good shape relative to the rest of the guys.”

“Yes,” Matty pumped his fist.

“I’ll give you a list of suggested exercises for that week.”

Matty had caught sight of him, and he raised his hand in a wave.

Kevin licked his lips and waved back, then approached the other two. “Hey. I heard you’re staying here for a week? So am I.”

“No kidding,” Matty smiled. “Cool. Yeah, I was just asking Glenn about stuff I can do on my own.”

“You two should hook up.”

Kevin didn’t expect that to make his cheeks heat up. Thank God he was already red and sweating from hauling himself up that damn rope. Get your mind out of the gutter!

“You’re both moving up a level this year, so you both have some pretty strong incentive to work out, huh?” Glenn asked, glancing between them. “And you’ve got similar work ethics.”

Matty was already nodding, so Kevin did, too.

“I’d like that,” Matty agreed. “We’ll try to sync up schedules. You signed up there or were you just on a pool pass the other day?”

“Patson’s? Yeah, I’m signed up there.”

“Good,” Matty told him. “All the local boys are.”

Glenn nodded. “That’s set, then. Go on, both of you, get out to the yard and stretch it out.” He kicked a medicine ball nearby. “Grab one each.”

They each grabbed a medicine ball and headed out to the yard as instructed. Kevin took deep breaths of the early summer air, unable to help smiling. God, it was nice not to be buried under snow and bleak grey skies.

“You just finishing your workout?” Matty asked.

Kevin sighed as he flopped over a medicine ball and rolled slowly down it, stretching out his back a bit at a time. “Yeah. Just getting here?”

“Yep.” Matty chuckled. “We’ll try to sync up our workouts.”

“Sounds great.” Kevin grunted when he reached that spot in his lower back. “Man, beginning of summer, you always feel like such a… flabby duck.”

Matty laughed loudly. “The fuck? That’s a weird…”

“Sorry,” Kevin snorted. “I’m the king of weird analogies when I’m tired. My brain just tries to go to the nearest possible words…”

Matty chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve had a couple buddies who talk like that when they’re drunk. Not a lot else to do in northern Ontario.”

Sounded familiar. Kevin grimaced. “Yeah, I bet. That’s where you’re from?”

“Yep. Not a lot there except… mines, and a couple stores… schools, more or less… Jesus, I’m glad to be out of there.”

Kevin winced. “Fredericton isn’t that bad. It’s only a day’s drive away from New York or Montreal, if you really need a break.”

Matty nodded, pulling himself off the ball. He flopped back-first onto it and carefully stretched out his back again. “I’m always glad to be home for the first week and I hate being there the second week.”

“So you’re dealing with that problem before it even starts.” Kevin did a few crunches while he was at it, his hands laced behind his head. His core was still recovering from yesterday’s workout, so he’d gone a little too easy on himself today.

“Bingo,” Matty laughed. “What about you?”

“I’ve never played higher than university level,” Kevin admitted. “Big learning curve.”

“Getting ahead of the jump. Smart, too.”

“We can keep stroking each other’s egos all day,” Kevin smirked, then cast a quick sideways glance at Matty. A lot of guys messed around with fake-gay comments, but it was sometimes hard to read new friends until it was too late.

Matty laughed, though, and Kevin relaxed. “You looking forward to getting home, though? You gotta say hi to Cam for me.”

“Oh, I will,” Kevin promised. “A buddy of mine’s been going through a rough patch, actually. Sounds like things are up with his parents.”

Matty winced. “Yeah? He our age or younger?”

“A bit older, actually,” Kevin sighed. “But living in the same town as your parents…”

“Yeah,” Matty drawled. “That’s hard, I imagine.”

Kevin couldn’t talk about his buddies behind their backs, so he left it there. “And I get to see my family before the season begins.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Matty told him. “It’s gonna be a long year, your first one. I’m just gonna go out with my buds, and maybe out hiking with my dog.”

“Aw, you got a dog?” Kevin grinned. It didn’t surprise him at all. Matty seemed like a dog guy. “Cute.”

“Shut up,” Matty laughed, peeling himself off the medicine ball once he’d stretched his arms out. “Catch.”

Kevin hauled himself upright just in time to catch the huge, mercifully lightweight medicine ball before it bounced off his face. “Hey!” He tossed it back and laughed, then caught it again as they tossed it back and forth, helping Matty limber up and him cool off.

It was nice just to hang out and chat with this guy, if he could only stop noticing in inconvenient moments how fucking hot he was.

“Okay, Glenn’s gonna come drag me in by the hair if I procrastinate any more. But I’m switching my slot to later so we can be off the same time tomorrow, so he can show us what to do next week.”

“Great.” Kevin was thrilled at the thought of working out with Matty, even if it was intimidating. “Good luck, man. I gotta get home. Let’s go for drinks after the gym tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yeah!” Matty agreed, and Kevin was taken aback by that enthusiastic grin. He had a brilliant white smile—the kind of grin that made him instinctively want to grin back.

Kevin realized he was staring and jerked his head in a quick nod, then grabbed his medicine ball to bring back inside. “Cool. See you tomorrow, bro.”

Kinda sad. That’s the closest to a date I’ve gotten in months.