Act Your Age

*Ronni*

I spent most of the session by the treadmill, tracking each guy's heart rate, endurance, distance and time. According to my clipboard, given to me by the coach, most guys had improved. It was impressive to see how far each guy could run or how fast they could sprint. It was also nice not having to do too much work.

Uncle Jack was there too; he was working with guys on the ropes. I always hated that exercise, grabbing these heavy ropes and swinging them up and down as hard as you can. Watching Jack push each guy a little harder reminded me of my loathing of the routine.

I, however, had to somehow inspire some guys that I didn't even know! It was easy with Jordan, Theo, both Ryans, and Sam, because I knew them and I could use that to my advantage. Even Corey listened to me, and I thought he hated me. I would cheer them on with generic statements like "Come on, a little farther!" "You can do it!" "I know you can do better!" and "Let's go!", but I found that each guy worked harder if I personalized it.

For example, with Jordan, I told him that if he expected to have another two point night anytime soon, he would run faster. I made fun of Ryan by teasing him about 'the pain of losing a game'. Just messing with them about little things got them riled up enough to really put in an effort.

Other guys, like Nick Schultz and Ryan Whitney were a bit more difficult. I realized, I knew absolutely nothing about them... I couldn't even remember their positions or how well they played!
What would you do in the situation?

"Come on Nick, you can do it, Schultz-y!" I cheered as he was beginning his jog. "Getting warmed up, let's go! Have any kids, Schultz?"

Nick gave me a weird look. "What?"

"I said, do you have any kids?"

As strange as it seems, the tactic of just getting to know the guys distracted them from the difficulty of the exercise. Granted, I had to joke with them a couple times about them not being able to run and talk at the same time in order to keep them moving faster, but it worked.

Then there were players like Jeff Petry. Actually, no there weren't... it was just him. He was hitting before his foot even touched the treadmilll. "Can I just stay here and run with you for the day?" he asked.

I laughed, gaping. "I don't think that's how it works....?" I stared at him, trying to figure out his name.

"Jeff." He extended his hand towards me as he stepped up onto the treadmill. "Petry." I shook his hand and allowed him to tap a few keys on the treadmill, raising the speed.

I nodded. "RIght, Jeff, nice to meet you. I'm Ronni, I'll be-"

He smirked. "When did you start working here."

I ignored him. "So, you're going to start by walking, when you're ready, move to a jog, and then jog a mile. Once that's done, you're going to do a quick sprint, okay?"

"What do I get if I do all of that?" he asked as he began walking at a slow pace. I rolled my eyes. "Come on, give me some motivation. It's not everyday that we get a girl trainer in here."

I scowled, ready to slap him. "If you can finish without pissing me off, I'll spare you a punch in the face." I pressed a couple buttons and sped him up to a run. "Now move."

Jeff shook his head and started running. He did everything he was told, no questions asked. At the end, he hopped off of the treadmill and bent over, putting his hands on his thighs. He was huffing and puffing. "Sorry for earlier." he apologized.

"No biggie..." I bent down and gave him a peck on the cheek. He's not a bad guy... not really. "Next are the cowbells... good luck." I patted his back for encouragement. Jeff smirked at me before walking to the cowbells station. He winked and I winked back. I shook my head and jotted down a few notes before looking up at my next victim.

#Taylor#

I was shamelessly watching Ronni and Jeff while I was doing bicep curls. It was a welcome distraction from the burning I felt in my arms. Jeff was hitting on Ronni, as were a lot of the guys, and it set me off; I kind of expected it because none of the guys knew about Jordan and Ronni, plus she was a beautiful girl in the perfect setting for showing off. What really pissed me off was the fact that Ronni gave him a peck on the cheek. I knew Jordan probably wouldn't have thought anything of it... if he witnessed it, but I did.

Once done the curls, I marched over to her and stepped up on the treadmill. She was all smiles. "Hey." she greeted. Don't you 'hey' me, Ms. Kissy-Face-McGee! "You ready? It's a walk, then jog-"

"I know what it is!" I snapped, pressing buttons on the treadmill. I started walking slowly. She only laughed at my sass. "What, you think it's funny to kiss other people?"

Ronni was still smiling, but she looked a bit confused. "To kiss...? Oh, Jeff? That was just a joke. I was trying to motivate him-"

"Oh, you motivated him, alright!" I hissed, speeding up to a jog.

She put her hands on her hips. "It meant nothing... if you want, we can talk about this after, but right now, we're working, okay?"

"What, your lips don't have other pressing issues they need to tend to?" I shot. I'm not sorry you're getting fired...

Ronni glared at me, put her hand on the machine, and slowly sped up my treadmill to a sprint. I was huffing, trying to keep up. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but you better knock it off. We'll talk later." She stood close to me, whispering the words through gritted teeth. I just glared at her while I finished up my sprint before slowing it down, shoving her hand away. "Good enough... move onto cow bells." She shoved me off the treadmill without another word.

I reluctantly went to the next exercise with Ross. I was still glaring out of the corner of my eye as Jordan joined her by the treadmill. They were talking and laughing, as usual. He has no clue...

*Ronni*

The rest of the workout went swimmingly; every guy gave me A+ effort, and aside from Taylor, they were all very polite. Plus, I had officially met everyone on the team.

I told Jordan about Jeff's persistence and the 'oh-so-horrible' kiss, as Taylor would describe it. He just laughed, thinking nothing of it. According to Jordan, Jeff wasn't what I really had to be worried about. Apparently, most of the guys had a crush on me, which I was kind of shocked to hear. I was still flattered. I begged him to tell me which ones, but he refused to gush the details.

At the end of the group workout, the coach told everyone how well they did and that they wouldn't be doing some intense exercise that they all hated. I only assumed it was one they despised because they all let out a sigh of relief as the news was delivered. From there, the boys went off to the showers, except Taylor. Coach wanted to have a word with him, and so did I.

#Taylor#

"Hall!" coach called from the other side of the weight room. My hand was on the door and I was moments away from showering when I heard my name. I sighed and hung my head as I let the other guys file out in front of me. What now? I turned around and walked to my coach, who was standing next to Ronni.

"Yeah?" I asked, wiping my face with a towel. "What's up?" I tossed the towel over my shoulder and took a swig of my water.

Coach Krueger was grinning. "So, how you feelin'?" he wondered, clasping me tightly on the back. "You were looking good. I had no idea you would heal this fast."

I shrugged. "Yeah... must be the genes or something." ...or a good therapist...

"Yeah, or Ronni's doing her job." he chuckled. Can he read my mind? Coach smirked and nodded at Ronni who gave a shy smile back before looking to me. "Have any issues today?"

"I felt alright... I did all the exercises, just low impact..." I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm slowly getting back into it."

Coach nodded. "Good... good, you want to try skating tomorrow?" He looked from me to Ronni and back again.

I opened my mouth to protest.

As much as I wanted to skate, there was no way I could do much, even if I did lace up. I didn't want to get back out there with the guys if I wasn't ready, more because I was worried I would hurt myself more. I mean, my leg felt good, but I also didn't trust myself. In case you haven't noticed, I tend to bite off more than I can chew. At the same time, the look on my coach's face was one of pure hope... How do you completely destroy that?

I couldn't.

Ronni did for me. "Well... maybe in a few days. I-" she quietly spoke up. Coach's eyes darted over to her, shocked that she said anything at all. I did too. She was looking at me, probably sensing my distress. "I think he should do some more weight training... I'll set him up with exercises to do at home and... maybe on Thursday, he can skate..." Ronni ended her rant as if it were a question. I think she was scared of the coach.

I smirked and nodded. Coach still seemed dejected, so I added something to ease the pain. "But... I mean, maybe Ronni can take me skating without the team... you know, just to get my feet on the ice again..."

"Okay, of course! It's gonna be open this whole week so... just come in whenever and keep me updated on the progress, okay?" he asked. This time, he patted Ronni on the back before exiting. "Good job today, kid!" he called as he left.

Ronni and I were alone again. I didn't want to be alone with her, mainly because I was feeling a huge mixture of emotions. I was angry with her for kissing Jeff, which I shouldn't have been, thankful that she saved me the task of disappointing my coach, and just happy to have her there. I was upset with myself, as usual, for wanting her while I left my best friend hang out to dry...

But she smelled good! Even in a gym full of sweaty guys. She was in running shorts with compression shorts underneath and I wished more than anything that the running shorts would disappear. Her hair was pulled into a bun on the back of her head, and all I could think about as we stood there in silence was undoing the hair tie and letting it all fall down.

She was smiling before she said anything. "Kid..." she joked.

I rolled my eyes. "Always the kid..." She gave a short giggle before looking down. Do it. "I'm sorry. For like the twenty-fifth time ever. I know you and Jeff were-"

"It's okay... things have been... awkward... ever since..." her voice trailed off. "Things have always been awkward, haven't they?" She asked, a smirk creeping across her face.

What's awkward? Me walking in on you naked? Me stripping for you? You kissing me at the lake, while we were both skinny dipping? Or, maybe it was the fact that you had sex with my best friend and I had sex with yours on the same night? Oh... maybe there's the fact we both have feelings for each other, as far as I know, and we can't do single fucking thing about it?

"Awkward? If it wasn't awkward, I don't think it would be our relationship, now would it?" I joked, resting my arm on one of the large weight machines. "Thanks for bailing me out, by the way..."

She sighed. "No problem... I was feeling generous... plus, I kind of went overboard for yelling at you earlier. It wasn't really a big deal, I'm just..." I stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "Forget it... Look, I'll see you tomorrow, okay? We'll do the same thing we did today and.. maybe we'll get on the ice too."

I wanted to stop her, ask her what was wrong, and kiss her soft lips, hoping to make whatever issue she was having disappear and never bother her again. In fact, I probably would have, under normal circumstances, but somehow, I felt that it still wouldn't work out the way I wanted it to. So, I let her walk out and leave me in the smelly weight room. Once alone, I caught a whiff of what I smelled like and retreated into the showers. No wonder she wanted to leave.

*Ronni*

The next morning, I had a test, which I think I might have failed, and I was assigned an essay in First Aid. I was stressed beyond belief as it was, and school just made things worse. I was already on edge, considering the date, but the one thing I was looking forward to was getting Taylor out on the ice, if possible.

Jack offered to take care of Taylor for the day, for my sake, but I insisted that it would be good for me to stay busy. I planned on working out with Taylor, seeing how he felt on the ice, and then going to cuddle with Jordan. I really needed a good cuddle, after all. It was a change from how I normally spent that particular day, and I thought it was a good one.

Unfortunately... I was wrong.

Walking into the weight room, I was stressed from school and various other things, tired because I didn't get much sleep the night before, and confused about Taylor. It made sense that he would feel jealous about Jeff and I, because that's just his personality, and Magnus did explain that he has feelings for me. However. I was perplexed as to why he didn't do anything after that. He didn't ask me out, tell me how he was feeling, or even ask me to stop seeing Jordan. Maybe he's a better guy than I give him credit... But, I half expected him to do what he always does... do what's best for Taylor.

I was even more confused, because talking to Jordan yesterday reminded me that I still liked him as well! He didn't send me mixed signals. He tells me straight-up how he feels about me, and there's no guessing game. Plus, I don't fight with him... ever!

So, maybe I wasn't completely sane when I joined Taylor. He was lifting some weights, working his toned biceps, when I came in. "Hey!" he greeted with a grin. I waved as I put my gym bag down. "How are you?" Taylor finished a few more reps before placing the weights back in their spots. Why is he being so nice today?

I shrugged. "I'm alright, how about you?" I sat on the ground and put my hands behind my head, ready to do some sit-ups.

Taylor joined me and kindly held my feet. As I came up for my third sit-up, he commented, "Alright? You don't look so hot. You sick or something?" I shook him off and did a few more. Once I reached ten, he continued on. "Seriously, you okay?"

I sat up for good, resting my arms on my knees. "Yes, I'm fine... Why?" I asked. I held my hand to him and he gripped it tightly. We helped each other to stand up.

"I don't know... you look... different." he mumbled. I rolled my eyes. "Are you sure-" Seriously, where is this coming from? It's freaking me out.

"Drop it, Taylor... I'm good." Taylor glared at me, but he didn't say anything. "Okay, start out with the run? Then I'm thinking some calf exercises. Maybe leg extensions again?"

Without a word, Taylor followed all of my instructions. He ran as far as I asked him to run. He did as many leg extensions as I asked him to do. He did the leg stretches I asked him to do. Other than the music playing in the background, it was silent between us.

He has improved incredibly. I was so proud of him, it got my mind off of everything else that was swirling around in my noggin. He had run his fastest mile since the injury; in fact, he had almost beat his fastest record, he was doing so well. When I asked him to do the 'frankenstein' stretch, as we call it, or walking toe touch, he hardly had a problem; basically he had to kick his legs up to hit his hands, which he held straight out in front of him.

We had spent an hour in the room, testing every single machine and warmup I could think of, and he could do every one. This was the player that I had expected to meet the first day, and these were the results I wanted. In comparison to before, his knee wasn't swollen, just a little dark splotch from the bruising that stuck around. He could raise it as high as the other leg. His flexibility and strength were almost as good as before. The only issue I noticed was, at the very end, it still hurt at certain pressure points.

"I'm really proud of you... You did great today! Almost back to normal. If you can do maybe two or three more days of exercise like this, I'll clear you for skating with the team. Then, maybe half a week and you can be cleared for contact, and then... game time." I grinned as I massaged his knee. It was great news, but Taylor was grimacing, slightly, and he was really bad at hiding it. "You okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah... it's just sore there." I sighed and let my fingers fall off of his knee. "No, don't... I'm fine, really."

"How sore?" I bent over to the side of the bench, pulling out the clipboard from the side compartment. "On a scale from one to ten-" I began, pen poised in my finger tips.

Taylor put his hand on the edge of the clipboard and lowered it from my face. "It's alright... really. I'll ice it tonight, do the stretches you showed me from before, and it'll probably be fine by tomorrow... I promise."

I could hear Uncle Jack yelling in my ear to take the notes anyways, but Taylor's baby blues were melting my heart. "Alright..." I gave in too easily. I really must be tired if I'm letting him win just like that. I put the clipboard back into the compartment. Or maybe I'm just tired of fighting.

"Thank you... So.. ice?" he asked, a small grin on his face. I nodded and smiled back. "Yes!" he cheered, leaping up from the table. "Come on!" he grabbed me by the hand and dragged me from the weight room. Before I knew it, we were in one of the utility rooms. Taylor grabbed me a pair of skates, which I didn't know they kept back there, and then jogged into the empty locker room. "Where are the guys?" Taylor asked.

"Well, considering they don't have practice for another half an hour, probably at home, or on their way. Besides, they're in the weight room again before they get on the ice." I laughed.

Taylor nodded. "Right." He marched over to his stall, slipped on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt, which I guess he was saving for this moment, and then strapped on the skates. I stood in the middle of the room, watching silently. I didn't know what to do, and I really just wanted to lie down on my bed and cry until I fell asleep. "Well? Put on your stuff..."

I looked down at my skates. I didn't particularly like skating. I could skate just fine, but my feet always hurt. I never understood how professionals did it. I sighed as I laced up my skates, sitting in Jordan's stall for the extra support. I was wearing long pants, but I was wearing a tee shirt, so I had to go back towards the back entrance, where my jacket and sweatshirt were, before I could go out. Once my sweatshirt was keeping me warm, I wordlessly walked back into the locker room, where I assumed Taylor would be.

That was just stupid altogether. When can you ever assume anything about this boy? He's more unpredictable than a pregnant woman! Maybe more moody too. I searched the weight room. "Taylor?" Nobody's home. I visited the offices. "Hello?" Nope. Finally, I hobbled to the rink, figuring he went without me.

I followed the sound of the blaring music, and there he was, standing by the home bench at the gate to the ice. The door was open, and he was staring down at the ice, almost as if he was scared of it. Some rock song was playing overhead, which I assumed was his doing. I didn't say anything as I crept up behind him and sat on the bench. I waited patiently, wondering what he was going to do next.
You never can tell with this boy...