“Koby IS the team! He’s the team owner. He’s my Rayna. Actually, they used to have a team together with Rayna’s husband about twenty years ago, but Koby started his own team. Restaurant or room service?” Riley asks as I finish looking around the hotel room. There’s two bedrooms on opposite sides of the lounge area, with a dining table separating the area from the kitchen and a wonderful view of rolling mountains near the beach.
“I am so down for room service. I'm having a shower and not leaving until we have to tomorrow morning!” Responding as I wheel my luggage into my room.
There’s a knock at the door, and Riley opens it for housekeeping to come in and change over my bed linens—which is done in record time—while I peruse the room service menu.
“I’ll order, and you go have a shower; it should be here by the time you're done,” Riley offers, and I agree by giving him my order. Fried chicken burger is the perfect dinner after a day like today.
As predicted, our meals are delivered to the room by the time I'm out of the shower and dressed.
Riley and I sit at the lounge to eat.
“They sent up some complementary beers, if you drink?” Riley asks.
“Sure, shoot one over. Take the edge off this hell of a day,” I sigh out while I begin to inhale my burger.
“Shitty things aside, did you enjoy the first day with Infraction32?” Riley asks, opening and handing me one of the beers.
“Oh yeah, loved it. I am so excited to get started and organising my workload,” I reply, taking a long sip. “How did your first day go with your team? What was it again? Ghost Rhino?”
“That’s a terrifying image,” Riley says, laughing. “Ghostly Flux.”
I join him in laughing, holding a hand up in surrender. “It’s been a long day and Rayna really did melt my brain today.”
“Well, don’t feel you need to stick around after dinner if you wanted to get to sleep. I was just going to tune out watching TV, but I can do that in my room, so it’s not heaps noisy here,” Riley offers, starting on his cheeseburger.
“Once I am out, I will be out. You do what you normally do. I am taking up your space,” I reply between shoving chips in my mouth.
Riley and I continue to chat about our first days as we finish our meals. He makes the space open and comfortable with his light-heartedness and easy-going nature.
If everyone is as nice and welcoming as Riley, I am going to love it here.
4
Riley
Exhaling as I slowly drag out my last rep, my arms shaky and noodley, I hit the bottom mark and am relieved to rack the weights. The crew are all here at the Training Facility site.
Fleur steps up to the weight rack and replaces the dumbbells she was using with a puff. “Hamish, this workout is brutal. I love it!” She nods to our trainer, Hamish, as he supervises Cole’s set.
“Don’t encourage him! I only just got through it,” I sputter out.
She squints her eyes and looks me up and down. “You look like a grownup, but you are still just a cream puff.”
Javi’s burst of laughter erupts while he’s mid-rep, and he all but drops his weights.
Patting my stomach, I say in mock-offense, “Ham, Fleur is saying your routines aren’t making me buff like her.”
“If you put as much effort into my routines as you do running your mouth, you’d be jacked,” Hamish throws out.
I pout as Javi adds, “Just drop it, hotshot. You’re not going to win.”
Shaking off their playful ribbing with a wide smile back and a gentle tap on Fleur’s shoulder, I grab my towel and move over to a treadmill with Javi and Fleur.
“What’s everyone up to after this?” Fleur asks as she, insanely, cools down with a run.
“Sophia wants to get some lunch with Dave and Nikki,” Javi answers.
“What about you, Fleur?” I ask.
