“Have you all settled in?” he asked.
“Yup. Everything is great,” Lexi said with a cheery tone. “Just for kicks though, in what direction would we find the closest mall?”
Rosie cut in. “Yes, we’re settling in just fine. This place is so pretty.”
“Let’s say we set out to the north,” Lexi continued. “Would I hit a J. Crew or the Canadian border first?”
He ignored Lexi. “We just need to go over a few ground rules and then we’ll do a light workout before we break for the evening.”
Seriously? A workout on our first day? Couldn’t it wait until the morning? I groaned under my breath and Molly giggled.
“First off, Brie, when I’m talking, you don’t talk.”
My heart dropped as I flipped my gaze up to him. His statement—aimed at me—finally gave me enough courage to acknowledge him, but the second his blue gaze hit me, I felt like he’d stabbed me in the chest. He’d showered since I’d last seen him. His black hair was still damp and the shadow of facial hair was gone, replaced with smooth tan skin.
His domineering presence suddenly felt suffocating in the small space, and I slumped back into the couch.
“I wasn’t talking,” I argued with a tone I didn’t quiet recognize.
I’d never talked back to a coach before.
His brow arched. “Excuse me?”
I folded my arms over my chest, protecting myself.
When I didn’t reply, he continued.
“Second, no arguing. I’ve invited you all into my house, so I understand that you might consider our time here to be informal and relaxed. However, I am your coach, not your friend, so let me repeat myself: when you’re here or in the gym and I ask you to do something, I want you to do it the first time.”
What an asshole.
“Third, no friends at this house. You’re here to train, not to party.”
I thought of his friend from that morning, the pretty brunette with the wistful smile. In a matter of seconds, my embarrassment from being singled out transformed into defiance. My hand was in the air before I realized what I was doing.
“Brie?” he asked, his tone cool and calm.
“So the no friends rule,” I started, tilting my head to the side. “Does that mean the woman who left this morning was an assistant coach or something?”
I thought I registered surprise in Erik’s bright eyes, but he covered it quickly. He took a step forward and bent low so his eyes were level with mine. I pretended his hard stare didn’t affect me, nudging my chin an inch higher. I had no clue what I was doing. Molly elbowed my ribs, trying to warn me, but it was too late. I wasn’t this girl. I didn’t question authority or talk back to my coaches. I usually slid into the background, too focused on my end goal to worry about shit like this. It’d been simple in the past though; my coaches showed me the same respect I showed them. The relationships were mutually beneficial, but Erik would be different; I could already tell.
Molly had suggested I’d gotten a bad first impression, but this was the third time I’d been around him today and I’d come to realize: this guy didn’t have a good side. He was an asshole and he was picking a fight with me in front of the entire team. For some reason, I was his target, and I wasn’t going to cower in fear. Sure, he owned the place, but I had earned my spot on the team regardless of our accommodations. I’d show him respect when he did the same to me. Until then, my white flag would stay tucked away.
“I’m the coach. You’re the gymnast. Got it?”
I bristled at his tone. “Yes.”
“Yes…”
I bit down on the inside of my mouth, ignoring the sharp metallic taste of blood. “Yes sir.”
Chapter Four
Erik
At twenty-nine, I was the youngest person to ever be named head coach of the women’s gymnastics team, and most people assumed I wasn’t ready for the role. They say everyone loves an underdog, yet at the moment it seemed like everyone in the world—including my father—was waiting for me to fail. I wouldn’t let that happen. I was prepared; I’d trained gymnasts for the last ten years and I knew what it took to win gold.
But even if I closed my ears to the noise coming from outside my team, I knew the girls weren’t going to go easy on me. Yes, they behaved as consummate professionals on the world stage, but until then, they were just like any other group of young girls. To them, I was the new substitute teacher: young and naive. I had to prove to them I was in charge and worthy of the same respect my father’s age and legacy commanded. The five of them had the power to make my life a living hell for the next eight weeks and if I didn’t start off strong from day one, it’d be an uphill battle the whole way to Rio.
I cleared my throat, trying to get their attention again. After I’d forced Brie to call me sir, the mood in the room had shifted. The girls sat with nervous energy, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Brie sat back against the couch with narrowed eyes and a hard line where her smile had been a moment before. I’d pushed too hard, too fast, but of the five of them, Brie would be the most challenging to coach. I could already sense a storm brewing within her. She wanted to show me that she was a twenty-year-old with a mind of her own. In truth, I wasn’t even upset about the email misunderstanding; it was more the embarrassment of her catching me in a compromising position, and I hadn’t handled it well.
“The fourth and final rule is that you’ll respect each other and you’ll respect me.”