Never Saw This Coming

Rhys.

Xander

Someone remind me why I chose to play college football again?

I've been working out at the gym since the season ended a couple of months ago, but I don't usually do cardio. We started practicing again earlier this week and coach has been making us run a manic amount of times these past couple of days. It's more like strength and conditioning than actually playing football. We usually do this in the summer, but obviously, we're starting a little early this year.

I bend over, hands on my knees as I catch my breath. I just finished running the two miles that coach set for us today. More than ten guys have already finished before me and most of my teammates are still running. Running has always been my thing since I've been in track since middle school but long-distance running? Fuck. That. I did 100, 200, and 400 yard relays in high school AKA short distance. I have more speed than stamina. I stopped pursuing track in college to focus on football so the only time I ever run is for football.

Coach is fucking insane. I feel a cold spritz of water on my back, but I don't complain. It feels fucking good. I turn to see who was the source and it's none other than my best friend Christian Valdez. I flip him off, still catching my breath. I feel like if I drink water right now, I'll throw it back up. We have to stay here until the rest of the team finishes up. That'll be another three hours maybe. Our O and D line are probably just finishing up their first mile. Keyword: probably.

After a couple of more minutes, I finally decide to get a drink of water. One of the trainers throws me a water bottle, which I barely catch ironically. I'm too tired to be playing catch right now. The green Gatorade bottle is forming condensation already from the warm weather outside. I squeeze the bottle, lifting it above my head as it falls into my mouth. I drink a good amount, not too much so I won't throw up. I don't know if we're gonna lift weights right now or if coach will be nice and call it a day. I hope it's the latter.

Valdez sprays my chest with some water as I drink, causing me to flinch. I place the bottle back down in one of the crates and flip him off. "Just trying to make you look sexy," he says. I look down at my bare chest, the droplets of water and my own beads of sweat rolling down my abdomen. I look back up at him, "I'm already sexy, man." He rolls his eyes and approaches my side, leaning himself on me. I'm only an inch shorter than his 6'3. He leans his weight on me and I shove him off me. "Just because your captain doesn't mean you can lean on me like that, damn," I say.

He chuckles and inches back towards me. Usually, my push wouldn't have moved him back much but both of our legs wobble from the amount of running we just did. "I'm gonna be your ex-captain soon," he tells me. Right. Cgc's getting named team captain in a couple of months. If our plan to make him captain goes right, of course. "You sure you wanna give up that title, man?" I ask. I knew how much of a surprise and a big deal it was to Valdez when he got named team captain last year. Not many juniors get named team captain. Juniors and people on defense. He's both of those things.

He nods, "I don't mind, really. I think C deserves it," he assures me. I think he does too, I just don't want Valdez doing something he'd regret. We both watch Cgc, who's still running. "He's pretty as hell," Valdez says. I quickly turn my head to him and he looks at me too after a couple of seconds. "I'm right here, babe," I say. He smiles, "You're pretty too." He grabs my face and squeezes it. I push him away and laugh.

Rhys finishes up finally, immediately finding his way to the water bottles. Out of all of us, he's the one who's got the most endurance but I'm not surprised Valdez and I finished before him. He's been drinking and smoking a lot which is not good when you start working out again. He drinks a good amount of water, knowing his limits like the rest of us, and then wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.