Her Offensive Line

Chapter 11

The next day Katie got to the gym early as usual. She wasn't allowed to train with the college gymnastics team, so she had to get her practice in on her own. She'd been happy to see Craig Woodson there. He had been on the men's national team and had been helping her with some new tumbling passes for her floor routine. Like her, Craig was a professional with endorsement deals and couldn't train with the Carson men's team.

"So," Craig had said when they'd paused for a water break, "anything new with you?"

"No, not really. Training, training, and more training. I've spent some time with my brother and his teammates, but that's about it."

Craig had given her a look that said he didn't believe her.

"I'm serious. There's nothing interesting to tell. Let's get back to work."

Later that morning, after showering in the locker room, Katie made her way to the café to meet Brady for breakfast. He'd insisted when he left her place the night before that they met every Monday at nine. Apparently one time qualified as "every Monday."

Just like the previous week, Katie was met in line by her brother's teammates. Wicks followed her through the various stations, loading his tray with three times what she put on hers. When she moved to take a seat beside her brother, Wicks had rushed forward and dropped his tray in the spot.

"I have a calc assignment I need to talk to Lansing about."

Katie walk around the table to the last empty seat; it was across from her brother and beside Nick. "Uh, okay. No biggie." She set her tray on the table and attacked her breakfast. When she reached for her glass of orange juice her hand brushed Nick's.

"That one's mine," he said.

"Oops. Sorry. I must've forgotten to get one."

"I'll get it for you."

Katie was already halfway out of her seat. "No. No, that's okay. I got it."

As she made her way to the drink station, a rush of awareness prickled her neck. She looked around and felt as though half the people in the room were looking at her and the other half had looked away as her eyes reached them. Weird.

Deciding on chocolate milk, a favorite post-workout beverage for her, Katie quickly filled her glass and made her way back to the football table.

Nick cleared his throat. "So, you train every morning?"

"Monday through Saturday in the morning and afternoon. I try to get in thirty to forty hours every week."

"That much? That's like having a full-time job."

"Elite gymnasts training for the Olympics put in up to forty hours in training every week. I'm doing as much as I can and balancing school work at the same time. I'm taking the bare minimum credits, and my gymnastics is counting as an independent study physical education course."

Katie paused, not sure if she could keep going, but saw that Nick was watching her, expecting her to continue. Brady, Danny, and some of the others close by had also paused their conversations to listen.

"I, uh, I'll take even less credits next semester, if I take any, so I can focus on the Olympic trials and making the team."

"Are your chances good," Nick asked.

"It'll be tough, but I was on the National Team this year and had a strong showing at Worlds, so that's promising."

Nick turned his head away from her and seemed to be making eye contact with Cooper, who sat on the opposite side a few chairs down from Brady. Katie couldn't see Nick's face well enough, but Cooper's eyes were telling her the two guys were having a serious non-verbal conversation. Cooper nodded his head once and Nick shifted back in his seat. He stretched his arm up and dropped it around the back of her chair—another flashback to the previous week.