Catch the Trust [Completed]

The Gym

8

Emmy

My wrist is finally healed, my leg bruising is gone and the only thing that hurts still are my ribs. A few days after settling into the condo with Mateo I went with him to his trainer/ physical therapy man. His name was Craig and he was gentle with testing my limits. He gave me some stretches and little walking exercises to complete. So far in the week I've done them, my ability to last longer on my feet has improved.

Mateo goes to the gym every morning and today I decided to join and watch. He's doing this rope technique and his trainer is off on the side changes some weights on another machine. Mateo is currently only in these slim under armor shorts. That's it.

There is sweat dripping from his neck onto his shoulders and going down his body. I licked my lips and looked away as he dropped the ropes for the final time. There was a boxing dummy in the corner along with a bag. I slowly made my way over and let my fingers tap the bag.

I remember the feel of the force of my punch. The way I effortlessly switched from punching to a swift kick when the moment was right. All my movements felt right. When someone came at me to attack I lunged. I was quick. Efficient. I was also able to hold my own ground when someone with a better percentage or strategy came my way. The last year before I quit I was undefeated.

My motions were fluid, I had opportunities to go pro and to be the women's coach at Ohio State. That year I felt like I was on fire. My dad, coach Terry and my trainer Mitch knew it too. I turned around from the bag when I heard a clang and saw that Mateo was doing some weight lifting and finished. He got some water and surveyed the gym to find out where I was. When he saw me he tilted his head and smiled.

"You can't help yourself can you." His trainer looked over and raised an eyebrow.

"You definitely can't box with broken ribs. From what I could tell you are a month away from throwing a punch. We can get you on some yoga or a little weightlifting on top of your daily cardio." I took in a deep breath and felt the pain in my ribs from the movement of my lungs. However it's a dull pain. Nothing too jolting.

"Yoga?"

"Yeah, stretching your muscles to make your body lose. It's a few positions that can help." I nodded slowly and Mateo ran a hand through his hair, sweat beads dripping from him. He picked up his phone and texted someone before scrolling some more. His phone pinged again and I bit my lip.

I can't deny the fact that living with Mateo the past few weeks has been good. He hasn't really gone out to hang out with his friends... Or his girlfriend? Maybe I should ask him about that.

Back at Mateo's condo I sat on the couch with Otto while Mateo took a shower. Otto nuzzled his way onto my thigh and I rested my hand on him. There's not much to do when Gino tells me I can't work until I'm healed. I've tried catching up on a few work pieces but he promptly shut me down.

Mateo made his way over to the couch and sat down on the other side of Otto. He patted his butt and then looked to me. "The next few days I'm going to be going to the field to throw and try out some routes with a few teammates."

"Okay." I said softly and picked up my phone. Hailey had sent a text in the group chat chain and Leah messaged me separately about work being boring without me. "I was thinking about going for a walk around the block tomorrow."

"Yeah?" He smiled over at me, instagram open on his phone. "There's some good stuff around. You could take my Bronco if you want and I'll take my truck?"

"No it's okay. I'll walk with Otto and we'll take out time. It's been seven weeks of healing. I should be good. Plus next week I'm going to see the doctor about my status. They might even been pretty healed by then." He winked over at me with his dazzling eyes and I turned my attention back to the Kardashians. I got Mateo into it our first week.