Over the Middle: A Sports Romance (2 page)

* * *

I
’m
glad that Western University has one of the better orthopedic departments in this half of the United States. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have dealt with any sort of injury at some cow college in the middle of nowhere.

"Mr. Hart? Let's get you to X-ray," the nurse, a cute little thing who's already eying me as we walk down the hall, says as she leads me to the scanning room. I check out her name tag, and I have to do a double take. I've seen her before, but this is the first time I've seen her name tag. Really? Someone actually named their daughter Nancy Drew? You've gotta be fucking kidding me. "You're feeling no pain, right?"

"None that the doctor can help me with," I say, giving her a smirk. Nurse Nancy might just be what I need to relieve some stress. "You might be able to, though."

"Oh?" she purrs, leaning in. She's got a tight little body—that's evident even through her uniform—and she's showing me just a little bit of cleavage with her scrub top. "Find me after the exam. Maybe we can see what I can do for you."

"For sure." I smirk. "Think I can get the speedy service? You know, I'm having so many aches and pains in my hip area."

"Swelling?"

"Lots of it.
Huge
amounts of swelling."

The nurse is breathing heavier. She's already DTF, and I take her hand and give her a little kiss on the knuckles. "After my appointment, where will you be?"

"Department desk," she half-moans. Her brown eyes are half-lidded and she’s biting her lip. "I can take a meal break then."

"And we can get some privacy?"

She nods, and I kiss her knuckles again. "Good. Now, let's get the scans done."

The exam room is really high-tech, with the X-ray not being some old school sit there and take photos machine, but instead, they are able to give you a live scan of the area. I can even watch my elbow move on the video monitor above my head. The X-ray tech records for a minute, then tells me I can go see the doc.

"Mr. Hart?" Dr. Lefort says. "How're you doing?"

"Ready to get out of this sling and back to the real world," I answer, flexing my arm. "You keep me in this thing much longer, and my bike's going to forget who I am."

Lefort laughs, an interesting side effect of my mouth sometimes. I either piss you off, or you think I'm funny. Some people think both at the same time, but Lefort is amused. "Well, let's take a look at the video. Hold on here . . . okay."

He replays the video, nodding and humming to himself in places. "And you're not feeling any pain?"

"None."

"Let me see the incision. You know, I still don’t understand why you didn't let me do the surgery arthroscopically. The scar would have eventually been no more than the size of a thumbtack hole."

I look at the two-inch line on the inside of my arm and grin. It's perfectly aligned with the tattoo I want to get, a half-sleeve that'll go from my shoulder to my elbow. "Chicks dig scars, doc. You know that, right?"

Lefort laughs again and has me flex my arm a few more times. "Okay. You're cleared to start rehab. I assume you'll be working with Coach Taylor?"

"Unfortunately," I grumble. "Coach Bainridge ordered me to."

"Don't knock it. Dave's a good man. Helped me with my rehab when I tore up my hip going hiking last summer. And doctors make the worst patients, because we know that we already know it all."

I smirk at his joke and roll my arm. "Think I can ride my bike?"

"Give it a few days," Lefort replies, scribbling on his clipboard. "Not because you don't have the strength, but just to reacquaint yourself with using the arm. At least wait until this weekend. All right then. I'll forward this to both Coach Taylor and Coach Bainridge. Good luck, Duncan. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do this fall."

"Thanks, Doc. Take it easy."

"
G
ood afternoon
, Coach Taylor."

"Carrie Mittel! How're you doing today?" Coach Taylor says, and I smile. Even though he's forty-five, with a bald head and a handlebar mustache that looks like he should be a biker or something, he’s one of the nicest guys I've known . . . when he's outside the weight room. I took two classes with him in the past, a freshman Introduction to Kinesiology course, and then in the first semester of my sophomore year, I took Human Body Mechanics. In class, at least in the lecture portion, he's smart and personable and really funny a lot of the time.

But get him in the weight room for labs, or especially when the bars come out for the squats for team workouts, and 'Coach' Taylor disappears. Instead, out comes 'DT' Dave Taylor, former USA's Strongest Man in the under 220 lb. weight class, and one-time owner of the world record in the squat for that same weight class. That man is a berserker and a borderline psychopath, I think, but in a good way. Age and wear and tear have maybe slowed him down some, but Coach Dave Taylor knows his stuff.

So do I though, which is why he invited me to intern with the training staff starting last semester. It started with a lot of grunt work, and that meant for the first six months, my job was to carry weights, pick up after people and mop the weight room and training room, but most of all, to watch. I watched and learned as Coach or one of the other assistants put groups and individuals through their paces. Once the semester was over, he 'graduated' me to doing tape jobs as well, and I've been doing those for the spring semester. Maybe soon, I'll actually be allowed to work with people in rehab and movements too.

"I'm doing okay. What's on the schedule for me today?" I ask, hanging my bag on the hook that is designated for me. "Anything cool?"

"Maybe, but to start, just normal stuff. Women's basketball's going to be coming by soon for their pre-workout wraps and tape jobs. Think you can handle that? I've got volleyball at three, but I'm handling them myself today."

I grab my clipboard and write it down. He insists that we all carry clipboards and that we write down our work. Tracking is big with him. "Sure. Anyone got anything new?"

"Nothing I know of. Check the computer before you get to work," Coach says. “I might have something for you, but I’ll let you know a bit later. I don’t want to jump the gun. How are your own workouts coming along?"

"I'm putting in my time—you know that." It's actually one of the areas that I struggle with the most. I got interested in training during my senior year of high school, when a shoulder injury in softball cut my playing days short. Not that I was good enough for a school like WU anyway, but the rehab was really interesting. Being a long-time athlete, my natural frame combined with my athlete's eating habits meant that my so-called 'freshman fifteen pounds' was more like the 'freshman fifteen kilos,' and I still don't feel good wearing overly tight or sexy clothes, even if I've gotten some of the bad weight off. At five eight and one seventy, I'm still nobody's fashion model, unless you are using Ashley Graham as your template. And if I ever get compared to her, I'm in good company.

"You know, Carrie," Coach says, bringing me out of my reverie, "I keep telling you, drop the worries about your waist, get some protein cycling going, and hit the workouts hard, and it’ll come in time. You’ll have to pick up the bat again if only to keep these athletes away.”

I smile and brush my blonde hair behind my ear. I’m proud of myself as-is, and I
have
gotten attention from cute guys. I like to think I’m a good size for my frame. "I know, Coach. I’m sure you're right, but sometimes, matching up what I know from class and what I end up doing in my own life . . . it’s not easy.”

He nods, then chuckles. "Sounds like me. You should have seen the rehab I put myself through after my last torn quad. There's no way I'd tell one of the kids who come in here to do that. I'd lose my job. Still, if you need guidance, my door's open."

"Thanks, but first, I'll take care of the basketball team. You know how they are with their ankles and knees."

“Good. If I need you, I'll give you a holler."

The training room is actually right next to the weight room, which is in the basement of the main athletic building at Western University. The Madison Pavilion houses the coaches' offices, the main indoor arena where basketball and volleyball games are played, and in the basement are the weight room, the training room, and the wrestling practice room. Next door is the smaller secondary arena where volleyball, girl's basketball, and other smaller sports do their practices, plus the regular student weight room.

Of course, across the street from Madison Pavilion is Allen Field, where the football team plays, which dominates the skyline of WU and makes the Pavilion look small. It's not that surprising. I guess it takes a lot of space to make seating for eighty thousand people.

There is no way I could see it where I am right now anyway, being underground in the basement. I get to the tape room, where I see Alicia Torres, one of the basketball girls, already waiting. "Hey, Carrie. How's it going?"

"Good, Alicia. Aren't you a bit early?"

Alicia is a point guard for the basketball team, and despite her diminutive size—she's only five six and a hundred fifteen—she's fierce and has no fear, but because of that, she has a lot of bumps and sprains on a pretty regular basis. One of her weakest areas is her left ankle, and I take out the pre-wrap and tape to start getting her ready. "Well, you know how it is. Now that we're almost in summer semester, I've got more free time on my hands. Derek and I . . . well, let's just say we're traveling different paths."

"Oh, that's too bad," I reply. Derek is . . . I guess
was
. . . Alicia's boyfriend, a senior who's graduating in a few weeks. "What happened?"

"He took the offer for the job in Berlin, and he felt that the distance was just too far. It's not too bad, though. I mean, he and I weren't too serious. But that means I've got some extra minutes in my schedule, and I figured I'd get down here, get taped, and get some extra warmups in."

I take off Alicia's sock and prop her foot against my thigh, aligning the joint just the way I want it. "And your ankle's doing okay?"

"Yeah. In fact, you do a better job with it than anyone except Coach T. Don't let the other folks hear that, though. You know how bitches be hatin'."

I laugh. Alicia always has a way of phrasing things that seems to put a smile on my face. "Thanks. I hope you just keep doing your warmups and rehab that I gave you, and you won't need the tape at all."

"Nope. Them other bitches will need it, though, when I break their ankles with my crossover," Alicia continues, laughing. "This year, I'm planning—”

I look up as her words fade out, and she's smirking, shaking her head as she looks through the window that allows people in the training room to see the weight room and vice versa, a holdover from when this was a coaches’ office before some renovations about five years ago. "What?"

"Looks like Touchdown is here. Surprise, surprise. That man-slut is never in here unless it's a mandatory team workout. What's his deal today?"

I turn around and see the same guy who knocked me down yesterday coming in and heading to Coach Taylor's office. Of course, I recognize him. He's Duncan Hart, the star of the football team and one of the hottest guys on campus. Six four, two forty, with a body that looks more like it was designed by science and sculpted instead of grown. He’s the sort of guy who can look at you and make you feel like you're a fly in a spider's web. After that, it’s only a matter of time.

Not that he's ever noticed me. I'm a year behind him, and I doubt I’m his type. I'm pretty much invisible, now that I think about it. Only Coach Taylor, a few of my classmates, and the athletes I work with know me, and even then, only partially. I'm too busy busting my ass and making grades to worry about a social life.

"Don't know," I say to Alicia, turning back and looping the pre-wrap around her ankle. That's the easy part, and I yank the spongy wrap to cut it quickly. "Hey, you're a rising senior like Duncan, right?"

"Yep. But I've got two years of eligibility left, since I redshirted my freshman year. I'm going to use it to get started on my Master's while still under scholarship. Why, what's up?"

"Why is he called Touchdown? Linda from the volleyball team called him that yesterday, right before he nearly ran me over in the hallway upstairs. He didn’t even help me up."

Alicia chuckles and nods. "That's Touchdown. A lot of us girls around campus that know him call him Touchdown for two reasons. One, of course, is the connection to football. When you're the man who creates more points than anyone else, you get nicknames like that."

“I should probably know who he is, but the football team's the pickiest with student trainers, and I haven’t gone to any games in what little free time I have. Studying, you know?" I say honestly. Maintaining a full-ride academic scholarship is hard, and spots in the training community are few and far between. I don't want to graduate only to face a job market where the best I can do is compete for clients at the local Globo-Gym. Most of them are housewives, and who would choose me to train them over some hot guy who can
really
motivate you?

"Well, the other reason is a bit of a joke, too. There's debate on the exact details of the particular number, but he’s got a reputation around campus with the girls. I once jokingly called him Eighty-Three, since that's his jersey number. I bet that guy sees more ass than a proctologist."

"Ew." I laugh at Alicia's disgusting joke. "Still, Touchdown? That's just . . . I mean, I'm not sure I've had eighty-three orgasms in my life," I joke back as I wrap another strip of tape around her ankle. I quickly finish the job and give her foot a squeeze. "How does that feel?"

She circles her foot to the inside and then the outside, then smiles. "Good. You seriously know how I like it—not too tight, not too loose. Thanks."

"No worries. Make sure you do your warmups," I say, helping her on with her sock. Alicia thanks me and gets her shoe on, walking out of the training room while I put my stuff away. Just as I put the tape back in its bin, I hear a knock at the door, and I turn around to see Chelsea Brown, one of the other student trainers and another rising senior, at the door. "Hey, Chels, what's up?"

"Coach Taylor wants to see you in the office. He sent me to take care of the rest. Who's been by?"

"Just Alicia—got her ankle done."

"Okay. Thanks. Anything I should be aware of?”

I check my clipboard and shake my head. "No, just ankle tapes. Thanks, Chels."

I go through the weight room, noticing a couple of hot guys from the baseball team getting in some work with the midsection routine that Coach Taylor likes to call 'Puke City,' and I admire their builds before one of them gives me a wink. Really? Was he just winking to make me blush, or was he checking me out?

"Hey, Carrie?" Coach Taylor calls from his office, startling me. "You forget something?"

Yeah, my brain, which is not where it should be. I shake my head and go into his office. "Sorry, Coach. Just had a brain fart. Chelsea said you wanted to see me?"

He nods and indicates Duncan, who's sitting in one of the other chairs, his legs stretched out in front of him and his hands behind his head. This close, he's even sexier than I'd seen from a distance, with coal black hair and gray eyes that can only be described as smoky. There are flecks of something in his eyes that glitter and shine, like gold or diamonds hidden in the midst of all that smoke. "This is Duncan Hart, from the football team. Duncan, have you met Carrie before?"

"Hi, Carrie Mittel," I say, offering my hand, but Duncan just sits there with his little cocky smile, his hands not moving as he just undresses me with his eyes. I suspect he does that with every woman he sees between the ages of eighteen and forty, but I could be wrong. It could be fifty from how Alicia described him. I drop my hand and turn to Coach. "What do you need, Coach Taylor?"

"Duncan here is coming off elbow surgery. Nothing too major, just a debridement and some partial fractures of his ulna. I remember that in the course you took with me, you did a paper on elbow rehabilitation, didn’t you?”

I nod, seeing where this is going. "Yes, Coach, on rehabilitation protocols after Tommy John surgery."

"Good paper. While Duncan's rehab won't be anywhere near as extensive, I'm assigning him to you. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, four thirty start. Duncan, Carrie may be only a rising junior, but she's one of the best I've got. You give her any of your shit, and I'll be the one breaking a barbell off in your ass. Got it?"

Duncan's cocky little smile slips slightly, and he scowls before nodding his head. "Whatever. So, Carly—"

"Carrie. My name's Carrie," I correct him. I hate getting my name screwed up. It pisses me off. "Unless you want me to start calling you Dunc."

"No, thanks," Duncan says, getting to his feet. I'm not short for a woman, but he towers over me. I'm tempted to back down, but instead, I stand my ground, looking up at his sexy gray eyes and trying not to let the flush that I feel in my chest creep up my neck. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Four thirty. Be ready to work," I reply, not moving when Duncan steps to move past me. He stops, and I raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"Can you let me out?" he huffs, and I step to the side. Duncan doesn’t make contact when he leaves, but only by the slimmest of margins.

I wait for him to go out, then turn back to Coach Taylor, who's giving me an amused look. "How was that?"

"Good start," Coach says. "Stick around a bit. How are you on your elbow rehab knowledge?"

"Bit rusty since this last semester didn't touch on them, but I'll brush up this evening. Do you want me to script the exercises too?"

Coach shakes his head and nods at the chair Duncan just left. "Have a seat. Carrie, I assigned Duncan to you for two reasons. First, the rehab protocol is actually pretty simple. The reason Duncan was sent down here by Coach B from the football team is because he wants Duncan to learn a little bit about hard work and sacrifice before he declares for the draft next winter. So I get to write something that'll put him through his paces. The main thing he needs is a babysitter, and since you're still pretty green, I thought he'd be a good case for you to start with, since there isn't anything training-wise that'll be too difficult."