Sasquatch to the Moon

41: Terms and Conditions, Sprints and Confessions

HÅKON

Rocket and I manage to convince Nico that we could just go back to the regularly scheduled workouts with the rest of the team. She seemed to think that was fine but left us on our own to create an alibi, which, as you would probably expect, was spotty. We just said we were helping out the equipment managers.

I later realized that this was not at all believable because I've been with this program for going on seven years and not once have the equipment managers needed help. Hell, I've only talked to them one on one maybe like twice. 

I'm too giddy to give a shit what the rest of the team thinks of our weird absence. I'm too focused on the way that Rocket's lips felt on mine twenty minutes ago, how he can't stop looking over at me in the middle of reps and how he's blushing just as much as I am. I can't bring myself to care what the rest of the team feels about this when my reaction to it is so overwhelmingly good for once in my life. 

"Oh thank god," Rocket says the second Fen finishes up his work out and leaves the weight room. He's still halfway through a set. 

"Don't 'oh thank god' just yet, bud." Nico sticks her head into the weight room. "I still want to make you do sprints for missing out the end of the run sprints."

"No," Rocket whines, absolutely not excited about that prospect. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Nico says. "Just a couple short sprints and I gotta go over a couple things with you two about all this." She waves between us. "Though I absolutely love that you found each other, there's things that are going to have to be mentioned."

"Media." I sigh. 

"Sorry," she offers.

Rocket finishes up faster than I do and then spends the next ten minutes hovering over me while I do a last set of hip bridges, excited about how much my weight has gone up in the last few months but also not so excited because it's making me sore all over. 

Eventually I decide to slack off on my cool down exercises and follow him, with shaky legs, down to the open gym space that the Bauer practice center happens to have. It's ridiculous the stuff this rink manages to have all over the place, you'd think for an organization that basically failed for fifteen years that the facilities would be horrible but they're actually really fancy. Bauer has three rinks and a small goalie rink, then a big gym space and an insane weight room. 

Rocket seems to be in the same type of sorta shaky sorta happy kinda stumble all the way down to the gym. 

"Here for punishment." Rocket announces. Nico looks up from her phone.

"Basics, three suicides, you know the lines you need to do and then a cool off." She waves at the floor. "I'm going to be out here on a call so don't goof off too much." She opens the call with: "hey Dan." Clearly talking to Dan Hadley, the general manager. Yes, he's related to Bernie and Jorgen. 

Rocket yawns, looking out at the gym, then he looks at me. "Race you?"

"Buddy-" I try to stop him but he's off, sprinting toward  the red line. 

"This isn't a fair race!" I call after him, trying by best to catch up. 

"Sure it is, you didn't start when I said race and now I'm in the lead." He takes off toward the next line just as I'm reaching the endline. HIs long legs and agile frame give him one hell of an advantage on the straight away but I can get off the lines easier and I'm catching up slowly. 

"That's now how races work!" I argue. 

"Sure it is, you're just no fun." He passes me in the other direction. "I do have to ask a question, though, Håks,"