Chapter 430 - Get A Grip

Chapter 430: Chapter 430 - Get A Grip

Roxie was beginning to think the girl spotting her had completely lost her mind.

"You want me to do what?"

The girl laughed and pointed toward the stunt group beside them. "Full up to extension, hit the liberty, then cradle out. You’ve done harder. Everyone saw Nationals."

"In high school. Months ago."

"And?"

"And I enjoy having a neck."

That made the guy standing behind Roxie laugh, and she glanced back at him before looking toward the group again.

Having guys on the team was probably the biggest thing she was still getting used to. Back in Briarwick, cheer had been all girls. Coach Miller was obviously there, but the actual team was made up of girls Roxie had trained with for years. Here, there were guys everywhere. Big ones too, strong enough to throw girls into the air like they weighed nothing and catch them without looking remotely worried.

The first time one of them put his hands around her waist during a stunt, Roxie almost turned around and punched him out of pure instinct.

Then everybody started moving and she got over it pretty quickly.

There was no time to be awkward when somebody was counting, another girl was already getting into position and Roxie had to remember exactly where her foot was supposed to land before she ended up on the floor.

The guy behind her tapped her shoulder. "I got you."

"That’s what people say right before somebody gets injured."

"You always this trusting?"

"No."

The girl in front laughed. "You’ll be fine. Just commit to it."

Roxie looked at the stunt again. She knew the skill. She had done full ups before, and holding a liberty once she got there should have been the easy part.

Should have.

The problem was that she hadn’t done one in months, and she knew exactly what happened when a flyer hesitated halfway through a full up.

Still, Roxie wanted to challenge herself.

And maybe show off a little.

"Okay."

They reset.

The counts started.

Roxie stepped in, loaded and felt the bases drive her upward. She turned with the toss instead of fighting it, found the top position and locked her legs as they caught her at extension.

For half a second her balance shifted forward.

Roxie corrected quickly.

"Lib!"

She pulled one leg up, settled her weight over the standing foot and hit the liberty.

Her heart hammered against her chest.

This was what she missed.

Someone nearby cheered.

Then another voice joined in.

"Hold it!"

Roxie tightened everything and kept her eyes forward until the count for the dismount came. She dropped into the cradle and landed cleanly in their arms.

The second her feet touched the floor, Roxie started laughing.

"Fuck."

The guy behind her grinned. "Still have your neck."

Roxie shoved his shoulder. "Barely."

A couple of the girls nearby clapped, and one of the guys called over, "Again."

Roxie turned toward him. "Absolutely not."

Everybody laughed.

She was still smiling when they reset anyway.

The second attempt was cleaner. Her turn felt faster, she found the extension without pitching forward and the liberty locked almost immediately.

By the third, Roxie had stopped thinking about who was catching her or whether having guys on the team made it different from Briarwick. It was still cheer. The counts were the same, the nerves were the same and the feeling when a stunt finally hit was exactly the same.

By the end of practice, Roxie was sweaty, sore and pretty sure her shoulders were going to hate her tomorrow, but she hadn’t felt that good after a workout in months.

She was reaching for her water when the girl who had talked her into the stunt came over.

"You better be here next week."

Roxie took a drink. "Why?"

"Skills evaluation."

Roxie lowered the bottle. "What skills evaluation?"

The girl stared at her. "You seriously didn’t read anything before coming here?"

"I read enough to know official tryouts are still months away."

"They are. This isn’t tryouts. Coaches do evaluations during preseason open practices so they can see who’s interested and where everybody is."

Roxie frowned slightly. "So basically they judge us early."

"Pretty much."

"Great."

The girl laughed. "Relax. It’s not selection. They’ll run tumbling, stunts, jumps, conditioning, maybe teach a short section and see how fast you pick it up."

That sounded slightly less terrifying.

Slightly.

"You should come."

"I’ll think about it."

"No. Come."

Roxie raised an eyebrow.

The girl pointed toward the stunt group. "You’ve been out for months and still hit that after a few tries. You should at least let the coaches see what you can do."

That little bit of confidence from someone who barely knew her hit harder than Roxie expected.

She smiled. "Fine. Maybe."

"That still means yes."

Apparently everybody here had decided that.

Roxie was packing her things when she heard someone behind her.

"So you’re doing the evaluation next week?"

She knew the voice before she turned.

Trish and Marga.

Marga was Miss Anytime. Both girls were a year ahead of Roxie, already part of the cheer program and somehow capable of sounding friendly while making her feel like she was being inspected.

Roxie zipped her bag. "Looks like it."

Trish smiled. "You’re actually pretty good."

Actually.

Roxie smiled back. "Thanks."

Marga looked at Trish before giving Roxie another smile. "Zac said you were good. He wasn’t exaggerating."

Roxie stared at her for a second.

There were plenty of things they could have said about practice, but somehow Zac had already entered the conversation.

Interesting.

"Well, he watched me cheer for years."

"Yeah, he talks about you a lot."

Trish said it casually, but Roxie caught the look that passed between them.

She slipped her water bottle into her bag. "That sounds like my boyfriend. He’s a bit obsessed."

The words left her mouth before she could stop them, and Roxie immediately regretted how territorial they sounded. Heat crawled into her face, but Marga’s smile tightened just enough to make Roxie feel slightly better about saying it.

Trish leaned against the wall. "He’s really sweet. We see him around the athletic building all the time. You don’t mind us being friendly with him, do you?"

Marga laughed softly. "Roxie wouldn’t be that petty. After all, they’re... high school sweethearts."

Roxie almost laughed.

There were about twelve different answers sitting on her tongue, and at least six of them would probably guarantee she had enemies before she even officially made the team.

Zac’s words from the other day came back to her.

If she eventually got in, these girls would probably be her seniors.

Great.

Roxie put the strap of her bag over her shoulder and smiled instead. "Then I guess you’ll be seeing me around too. Hopefully I become your good friend too."

Neither girl seemed to have an answer ready for that.

Roxie gave them a little wave. "See you next week."

She walked away before she could ruin her own maturity.

By the time she reached the athletic building, she was still pissed. She wasn’t angry enough to start another fight, but apparently she wasn’t hiding it well either because Zac noticed the second she sat across from him.

He was already eating, his hair still damp with sweat and a towel hanging around his neck.

"You look mad."

Roxie dropped her bag beside the chair. "Your girlfriends talked to me."

Zac nearly inhaled his food.

"My what?"

"Trish and Marga."

Recognition didn’t exactly come across his face.

"Who?"

Roxie pointed at him. "Miss Anytime."

That finally clicked.

Zac chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "Well, now you really gotta make the cheer team. Who else is gonna guard me from the hoes?"

Roxie slapped his arm. "Zac!"

"What? Those are your words."

She huffed when he reached over and pulled her closer.

Zac looked at her for another second. "So we’re okay?"

Roxie stole one of his fries. "I didn’t kill them."

"Proud of you."

"I’m growing. Maturing is pretty hard."

He laughed.

Roxie finally smiled too and leaned back in her chair. "They also said I’m pretty good."

Zac’s face immediately brightened. "Of course you are. You’re a national cheer champion. UT barely deserves you."

Roxie pinched his arm.

"Ow."

"You’re so dramatic."

"You attacked me."

"Eat."

She started telling him about practice while he finished his food, including the full up and the part where she nearly backed out after realizing one of the male cheerleaders was spotting her.

Zac stopped chewing.

"Male cheerleader?"

Roxie stared at him.

He stared back.

Then she started laughing.

"Oh, now we’re interested."

"I asked a question."

"You made a face."

"I didn’t."

"You absolutely did."

Zac picked up his drink and looked away. "Continue your story."

Roxie leaned across the table. "He had his hands on my waist too."

Zac slowly put his drink back down.

She laughed harder.

"You’re annoying."

"Jealous?"

"No."

"Liar."

"I don’t care."

"He was very strong."

"Roxie."

She nearly folded over the table laughing.

"That’s what you get."

"For what?"

"Miss Anytime."

"I didn’t even do anything."

"Neither did I."

Zac narrowed his eyes while Roxie sat back looking extremely pleased with herself.

Their break ended too quickly again, but Roxie stayed near the field instead of heading home. She had nowhere she needed to be, and after listening to Zac talk about conditioning for weeks, she wanted to see what they were actually doing to him every day.

It took maybe ten minutes for her to understand why he came home looking half dead.

The coaches barely gave them time to breathe. Zac finished one drill and immediately got pulled into another. He threw until Roxie lost count, ran again, stopped long enough for someone to correct something, then went straight back onto the field.

At one point he bent forward with both hands on his knees, breathing hard. A coach yelled something and Zac straightened almost immediately.

God, they were working him to the bone. No wonder he fell asleep the second his head touched anything soft.

Watching him made Roxie start planning dinner. She wanted something filling, probably meat and pasta, maybe vegetables too even if Zac complained about them. She could cook enough for tomorrow so he had actual food to take with him instead of living on protein bars and whatever garbage he managed to grab between meetings.

She was mentally checking what they still had at the apartment when a girl carrying a notebook walked onto the side of the field and called Zac over.

Roxie’s eyes followed automatically.

The girl looked around their age, maybe a little older, wearing Tennessee athletic gear with her hair pulled back. Zac jogged over, and she opened the notebook between them while explaining something. The girl pointed at one part of the page and Zac leaned closer to read it.

Roxie stared for a moment before catching herself and chuckling under her breath.

"Oh my God."

This was getting ridiculous.

The girl was obviously working. She had a notebook, a lanyard and the tired expression of somebody who had probably spent the whole day trying to organize football players. Still, that stupid little spark of jealousy had shown up before Roxie’s brain even had time to process what she was looking at.

At this rate she was going to start fighting the cashier if Zac bought groceries from a woman.

The team manager said something else, Zac nodded, then jogged straight back toward the field without giving the conversation another thought.

Roxie shook her head at herself.

"Get a grip."

She stayed for a few more minutes before deciding she had seen enough. Zac was clearly busy enough without Roxie sitting there tracking every woman who spoke to him.

She sent him a message before leaving.

Going home. I’m cooking. Eat whatever they give you there too because apparently your coaches are trying to kill you.

His reply came a couple of minutes later.

Love you too babe

Roxie smiled at the screen as she walked across campus.

Students were everywhere now, and there would only be more once classes actually started. Zac was going to have teammates, managers, classmates and random girls around him constantly.

So was she.

Hell, she had just spent half the morning getting caught by male cheerleaders while one of them had his hands around her waist, and Zac had survived after making one stupid face.

Roxie slipped her phone into her bag and headed home, already thinking about what she could cook that would keep him full for more than an hour.

The jealousy was getting ridiculous, and at least this time she knew it.