“Thank you so very much,” she quips and then tacks on a quick, “Sorry.” I don’t have an issue with her smart comments, as long as she continues to do what she’s told. If anything, they bring a little bit of spark to my otherwise dull days and interactions. It wouldn’t be nearly as tolerable if she only saidyes, sirthe entire time.
“You’re gonna hold it for sixty seconds.”
She groans.
“You’ll either do it or you won’t. We’ll baseline from here on if you can go longer, or need to build up the strength.”
A look of resolution washes over her face. “I’ll make it.” She sounds so sure of herself that I believe her.
I clasp my hands behind my back, studying her. “The legs feed the wolf.”
Her head whips up, strands of her dark hair clinging to her sweaty forehead. “Did you just quoteMiracle?”
Suppressing a smile, I nod.
“Trying to channel Herb Brooks today? Going to make me bag skate after this?”
The idea sounds appealing, and Lennon must see the temptation on my face because hers pales the same shade of white as the wall behind her. “Maybe next week,” I quip. A glance at the clock shows she has fifteen more seconds to hold her squat.
Every part of her trembles, and she bites her full lip so hard I’ll be surprised if it’s not bleeding. She shuts her hazel eyes and slams her head against the wall behind her, groaning quietly.
I mentally count her down and watch. Waiting to see if she’ll buckle. If she’ll break. If she’ll give up when the going gets tough.
But she hones in her breathing, and despite the quivering of her thighs, she holds the wall sit until I call out, “Time.”
She collapses in a heap with an audible sigh of relief.
“Do you understand why we’re doing this?” I ask.
“Because I’ve back talked you since you’ve arrived, and this is your way of getting back at me?”
I blink at her, and she ducks her head. “Try again.”
She coughs and takes a few deep breaths before answering. “Because in order for my game to be stronger, I need to be stronger?”
My brows rise, impressed with her answer. “Yes. You should’ve been working out over the summer, gearing up for the season.”
“I was,” she mumbles.
“Not hard enough. You lack stamina, and you need it to get through an entire game with the same precision and energy that you start with.”
Her lips twist. “Fair enough. So…should I meet you here again tomorrow morning?”
Before today, I half expected she’d show up, be annoyed with the workout, smart off when I push her, and give up. But clearly, I was wrong.
“Fine.”
As Lennon rises and limps out of the weightroom, I can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment, even if I wasn’t the one working out. For once, my mind doesn’t feel as if it’s in this perpetual state of fog. I feel…awake. There’s a thrumming pulse beneath my skin as I play back the last hour.
How she listened to every single order I doled out.
How she never gave up, even when it was clear she was approaching her limits.
How I can see the hunger in her eyes to improve and the will to push through to get there. She’s a hard worker, and there’s something about her drive that makes me want to do this all over again.
Right before she crosses the threshold, she calls over her shoulder. “Thanks, Coach.”
Coach.
