Page 16 of Full Court Crush

Yeah, right.

You didn’t make it onto a professional team by only competing with yourself.

Coach Grant looked around, and Amelia noted the unsettled faces of her teammates. This was nothing like they’d done in previous seasons, when they were only playing in amateur leagues, responsible for their own strength and conditioning. The only one who didn’t look nervous was Keira. Her face was set with determination.

TJ read off a list of the pairs, starting with the taller centres and working his way down the list.

“…Amelia, you’re with Keira,” he said, gaze finding them both in the huddle and directing them to move to stand together.

Of course.

Amelia struggled not to roll her eyes out loud. She had nothing against Keira; she was great. Maybe a littletoogreat. But she’d spent enough time in her proximity recently. More close contact, especially in a gym with arms flexing —

“Let’s get going,” Goach Grant instructed.

They warmed up on the cardio equipment before stretching. Amelia stood behind Keira, which she immediately realised was a mistake. She instantly became mesmerised when a particular movement revealed a few inches of skin. It distracted her enough that she didn’t hear what the next stretch was supposed to be. She tensed up and waited to see what others did so she could follow their lead, hoping no one had noticed.

Amelia and Keira’s first station was the shoulder press machine. Amelia took a deep breath and sat down. Adjusting her grip several times, she tried to focus. Keira stood to the side, watching her. Amelia tried not to think about that.

She made it easily through the first several weights, but her arms started to really tire at thirty kilograms. She set up the machine for thirty-two and a half kilograms, and instantly knew she wasn’t going to get to six reps. On her fourth rep, her arms shook.

“C’mon, you’ve got this!” Keira encouraged. Amelia flicked her gaze in her direction. Her expression was genuine. Amelia dreaded to think how she must look – probably red faced and sweaty. She forced her gaze forward, eyes unfocused as she pressed her feet into the floor. Her arms felt more like limp noodles than usable limbs, but she pushed upward, and eked out just enough strength to finish the rep. She let the grips go, and the weight plates banged together with a clatter, drawing the attention of a few people nearby.

“Nice work,” Keira said with a smile.

Amelia smiled back, then wiped down the machine with her towel.

Keira sat down for her turn, adjusting the weight back down to fifteen kilograms and began her testing ladder. Amelia watched every millimetre of muscle contraction as her skin shimmered with perspiration. Keira effortlessly made it up to thirty kilograms, without looking like she was trying. She might as well have been lifting marshmallows.

Amelia was impressed, but also a little crushed, as Keira easily completed the first four reps of the thirty-two and a half kilogram weight. On the fifth rep, Keira gritted her teeth, her shoulder muscles looking chiseled under the strain. Amelia sucked in a breath, wondering how high she could go.

At thirty-five kilograms, Keira began to struggle, her arms shaking with the effort of getting full extension. Amelia wanted to say something encouraging, but her mouth was too dry to speak. She could only watch as Keira’s powerful muscles forced the grips into the air for the fifth and final time. She dropped the weight handles and rubbed her right forearm. Amelia couldn’t help put wonder what else those powerful forearms could do.

“Good job, Morgan.” The strength and conditioning staff member wrote down her score.

“Er, yeah, well done!” Amelia congratulated her, a little too late. Keira grinned, before pulling the front of her vest up to wipe the sweat off her face, exposing her taut stomach. Amelia had to turn away as she impulsively imagined running her hands over the exposed skin. She gave herself a mental shake.

Get a grip on yourself.

A man nearby paused his workout and slowly looked Keira up and down, as if appraising something at a market. Amelia took a step to her left to shield Keira from his predatory gaze, glaring at him. The man smirked and resumed training.

Amelia and Keira moved onto the next station. Amelia tried to concentrate, but the man’s objectification of Keira played on her mind. Hadn’t she just been doing the exact same thing, a moment before? Was she as bad as him?

Keira made a joke, and Amelia barely registered it in time to laugh.

Amelia kept an eye on how everyone else was doing as they moved around the circuit, partly because it was her job as a captain to know these things, and partly because sheneededto know where she stood within the team, in the same way top marks gave her temporary relief from her anxiety at school. The tension in her shoulders eased as more results came in; she was at or near the top for almost all of them.

Their last station was the jump height vanes. The out-and-out centres and forwards would always win any jump height testing. Amelia, a hybrid small forward and shooting guard, couldn’t easily compete with their extra height. Keira, however, despite being a small forward, was climbing toward the top spots. Amelia couldn’t help cheering her on as she got ready for the third of her five jumps. She shook out her limbs, bouncing on the spot a few times, before stepping forward and jumping. Her fingertips were just shy of the next vane. She landed with a thud, looking a little disappointed.

“You can do better than that, Morgan,” Amelia said quietly, taking a few steps closer. The moment suddenly became more intimate. Amelia swallowed before speaking again. “C’mon, think of the bragging rights if you beat Lucy.” Keira looked at her, and Amelia gave a conspiratorial wink. Keira smirked, and something inside Amelia shifted, the room suddenly feeling ten degrees warmer. Keira lined up for another jump, staring up at the target vanes above her head. She glanced once more at Amelia, who nodded at her encouragingly. Amelia couldn’t help but hold her breath, and Keira sprung up, knocking a few more of the vanes around the pole. She landed with a grin.

“Yeah, Keira!” Amelia leapt forward and went to hug the other woman without thinking. Keira raised an eyebrow at her, as if daring her to do it. TJ cleared his throat from nearby. Amelia returned her arms to her sides. Her cheer had drawn the attention of the rest of the team, and Lucy stole a look at Keira’s test scores. She groaned, putting her hands on her head, upon realising Keira had beaten her. Amelia offered Keira a modest high five, as her own grin stretched from ear to ear. Keira smirked back, but Amelia tried not to think about that.

Keira

Keira’s steps were a little lighter, despite the gym testing they’d just done. Her results had assuaged some of her imposter syndrome, and she was almost relishing whatever the coaching staff would throw at them next. That was until she saw TJ laying out the markers for a bleep test. It made everyone groan. Coach Grant returned to the hall carrying a large speaker. Keira immediately flashed back to her teenage years and doing the bleep test in PE at school, in a hall with an uneven floor, and their draconian PE teacher. She’d done them in the USA, too, though they were called Pacer tests there. For some reason, those had never been as daunting.

“Alright, folks, let’s line up. You all know the drill. Your foot must touch or go over the line. Miss two bleeps and you’re out.”