The Cheerleader // Rob Gronkowski

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S U M M E R

"Again! And a 5, 6, 7, 8!" I yelled, leading 500 cheerleader hopefuls in the choreographed tryout dance. As the captain of the New England Patriots Cheerleaders, I am in charge of tryouts, from judging the girls to choreographing and demonstrating. Since today was the first of three rounds, and therefore no cuts had been made yet, the field house was packed. It never ceased to amaze me just how many girls wanted to be a part of this squad every year.

"Ok, good work ladies! The girls who have been selected to continue to the next round will be receiving an email tonight, and are expected to be at the field house at 8AM tomorrow. Good luck everyone!" I called through a megaphone, and then grabbed a drink of water as the girls collected their belongings and headed home. Tossing on my team jacket over my sports bra and replacing my white cheer boots with tan jazz shoes, I headed out to the middle of the field to work on choreography for the season. As captain, I log way more hours than the rest of the squad, which is saying something, since we usually practice about 20 hours a week to look our best in front of 70,000 loyal fans. I pressed play on my iPhone, and launched into the beginning of the routine I'd been working on. As I was executing a turning leap, I collided with what felt like a brick wall. I rolled out of the jump, and came to a sitting position on the floor, looking at the huge, very attractive, football player who had walked right into me.

"Oh my god are you ok? I am so sorry, I should have been looking where I was going," he quickly apologized, reaching down to pull me to my feet. I accepted his hand, and he pulled me up without much difficulty.

I had to look up to meet his eyes; he must have been at least a foot taller than I was, "That's ok, I wasn't paying attention either."

His mouth widened into a huge goofy grin. "I'm Rob Gronkowski, by the way. Don't worry, I work here," he joked, gesturing to the jersey and pads he was wearing.

I couldn't help but smile back, "Hanna Rose. Don't worry - I work here too. "

Rob gestured to the empty field house, "Why are you here all alone, Hanna Rose?"

"The cheer captain has responsibilities," I pointed to the captain patch on my jacket.

His eyes widened, "Oh, I see.... well then, Miss Head Cheerleader, I will allow you to get back to your captain-ly responsibilities." He started to back away as he talked, throwing in a goofy bow.

I suddenly became aware of how little clothing I was wearing. The cheer uniforms were just as small, and I had been in that in front of millions of people before, but Rob was...different. "Actually, I've had a long day of tryouts, and I wanted to go grab something to eat. You joining me?" I asked.

Rob's goofy grin reappeared, "I'm in!"

After a quick shower, I changed into a purple crop top and high-waist shorts, quickly braided my hair, and shoved all my cheer stuff into my locker. Then, I picked up my purse and headed out to the field to meet Rob. He was already there, and was catching passes from Brian Hoyer, the backup quarterback. As I got closer to them, I laughed and shook my head, "You guys never stop, do you?"

Rob tossed the football back to Brian and jogged over to me, waving goodbye over his shoulder to his friend. "From what I've seen, neither do you," he teased.

I nodded, "Touché."