Qualified: A Sports Romance (7 page)

There weren’t any new subjects for
the study, but Allie was qualified to drive the vans and they needed someone to
run to the airport to pick up new arrivals. It was hours since Marc had left
the training center, but Allie still caught herself straining to see if a
familiar dark head of hair was towering above the crowd at the terminal. There
was a cheery cacophony of noise from her passengers on the way back. Allie kept
having to ask them to repeat their questions because her mind was stuck on how
it had felt to have Marc beside her on that first day.

When Allie checked her phone on the walk to her
room she noticed that Doctor Kaitech had scheduled a meeting with her early the
next morning. She fretted for a moment that she had done something wrong. Had
Marc said something? But she tried to dismiss her worries as a symptom of her
perfectionist paranoia.

Allie made sure to get up early so she could do her
hair into a neat braid and find a shirt with no wrinkles. She knocked lightly
on the permanent staff’s office door and waited for Doctor Kaitech to wave her
over to his desk.

“Allie, please have a seat.” He gestured to the
chair across from him while his eyes were still on a file.

“Did everything go well with Mr. Belmont’s wrap
up?” Allie could swear that the file Doctor Kaitech was looking at was the very
same one Violet brought to her desk two weeks ago.

“Hmm? Oh, yes. Yes, we can never count on good
recruitment among athletes at this level. It’s a real win to have such an
obliging subject and a complicit coaching team.” Doctor Kaitech closed the
folder and rested his hands on top of it, fixing her with a superficial smile.
“And you did good work as well, Allie. Their physical trainer was quite
complimentary regarding what a help you were for the team during their stay.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Allie let her smile widen but
she kept her fingers locked into a fold in her lap so she wouldn’t fidget. “I
really enjoyed working with the whole staff. I feel like I learned a lot. And
of course, I am so grateful to be able to work on your study. Anything we can
do to further our understanding of the inflammation process seems like it will
be so valuable to medical knowledge.” She paused a moment before foraging on.
“I’d love to keep working with the data, sir. I’m happy to help any way I can.”

“Good, good.” Doctor Kaitech nodded deeply. “I’m
sure you’re aware that we work in partnership with other facilities and with
other scientists.”

“Yes,” Allie said a bit more tentatively, not quite
sure where the conversation was going.

“I have a colleague based in Los Angeles who is
doing very similar studies. He has agreed to oversee an extended survey of our
subject.”

“Of Marc?” Allie blurted and regretted it
immediately. “Mr. Belmont?” Hopefully he wouldn’t notice if she pretended
nothing were amiss. “That’s … that’s wonderful to hear, Doctor Kaitech.
Will your colleague be able to get any crossover study data? Weren’t you
running some trials with a pre-treatment plan?”

“We are.” Doctor Kaitech seemed surprised that
Allie had remembered. “Though our options for interventions are extremely limited
when it comes to elite athletes. Their coaches are understandably hesitant
about allowing any program that might put their athletes in jeopardy. There are
so many testing bodies that come into play on the international stage. Still,
an extended longitudinal study with the kind of quality data we’re able to
collect, combining both the sampling and dietary tracking of this subject, will
be a great addition to our scientific knowledge. We want to make this as
seamless as possible for the subject and the team, which is why I think it does
make sense to transfer you to their training location in Southern California.”

Allie was nodding along, focused on the science, so
it took her a moment to realize that Doctor Kaitech was talking about her. Her
jaw dropped a little open. “In Southern California,” she repeated, nearly
struck dumb with breathlessness. “Transfer.” The gears of her brain spun to
come to terms with what Doctor Kaitech was saying. “For how long?”

“For the remainder of your internship, I imagine.”
Doctor Kaitech didn’t seem too bothered by what the details would be once she
was signed away from his oversight. “I believe your term was for the full year?
They may want to keep you through the summer games. We couldn’t very well
justify sending you just to take intermittent samples, but the physical trainer
has also inquired as to your availability.

“Apparently they’re looking to expand their staff
for the ramp-up to the qualifying tournament and possibly into the summer’s
competition. It would all be handled beneath the oversight of our national
governing body, so we’ll need to get you squared away with the business office
here. If you’re interested in pursuing the opportunity. Maybe you need some
time to think about it?” He paused to look inquiringly at Allie.

Her mind was echoing with her conversation with
Violet, Ivan and Blake. Stumbling over the fact that she’d already said goodbye
to Marc. A week and a half was challenging enough.

Did she really want to have to work with him for
months?

What do you want, Allie?

For so many years, she had been working towards the
same dream. Some of her wish schools were located right in Los Angeles. Doctor
Kaitech’s colleague could be another valuable recommendation for her
applications, especially if he were a member of one of her target institution’s
faculties. She would be insane to say no. Right?

“Of course. I am interested. This would be …
an amazing opportunity. Thank you, Doctor Kaitech. Maybe I haven’t thought
through all the ramifications,” Allie stammered. “But I am definitely willing
to look into it. Is there room and board available at the location as well?”

Doctor Kaitech tapped his fingers. “That would be
one of the complications. It’s not a full facility like we have here, so there
is no housing on site. However, I’ve been given to believe that there may be
some assistance provided on that front if you were to accept the position.
You’ll have to talk to the business office for those details.” He waved a hand,
ready to move on to things that interested him more.

“I understand,” Allie nodded.

Talk to Violet, that would likely mean. She could
live in a cardboard box for half a year if it meant advancing her career.
Especially in California—it wasn’t like there was actual weather there.

“I can go over to the office this afternoon. Is
there anything else I should do to help the transition?”

“Talk to Tracey as well, you’ll need to be sure
she’s up to speed on the databases you’ve been maintaining here. You’ll be
interfacing remotely, and we’ll have to figure out how to process samples since
there is unlikely to be close access to a laboratory from the training pool
site. We’ll be sending the wearable technology back out to the subject to
continue tracking baseline activity.”

Doctor Kaitech turned back to check his planner. “It
will probably take us about a week to get you out there. Set up a meeting for
yourself with me and Tracey tomorrow afternoon so we can be sure all the loose
ends are getting tied. For now, I recommend you check in with the business
office before your shift starts. We still have athletes coming in today who
will need to be looked after.”

“Of course, Doctor Kaitech. Thank you.” Allie
started to get up from her chair. “I’ll be sure to get that meeting on your
schedule once I verify with Tracey when she’s free.”

“I’ll see you then.”

And with that, she was dismissed.

Walking out the door, Allie let the full impact of
it hit her once she could safely let her shock show on her face.

She was going to see Marc again.

She was going to California.

She didn’t know which made her more nervous.

“I swear I didn’t know about this.”
Violet put a hand to her heart. “I’m not sure you’re not pulling my leg, except
I don’t think you have this kind of sense of humor. Allie. This is so exciting!
I’m jealous.”

“It is.” Allie let out a long breath. She wasn’t
sure what to call the churn of her stomach. “Isn’t it?”

Violet seemed to suffer no such doubt. “It’s too
bad no one asked you sooner, or you could have been on that jet with the guys.”

“And gone to Vegas? Can you imagine me there with
them? Yeah, that would have gone well.” Allie rolled her eyes.

“Ugh, I’m so jealous.” Violet stamped her foot as
she started clicking through her desktop to access the emails that Doctor
Kaitech and the physical trainer forwarded over to the business office to help
with her arrangements. “You’re going to see that fabulous oceanfront apartment
of Blake’s. It’s probably in magazines. I think his dad owns a nightclub down
there, too. You can probably go for a night on the town, walk right in, get
comped bottle service.” She looked terribly wistful.

Allie wasn’t even sure what bottle service was.

Suddenly Violet laughed.

“What is it?” Allie wondered, going up onto her
toes to peer over towards the screen.

“So this housing that they’re saying that they
might be able to arrange for you. Guess what that is?”

Allie shook her head, looking into Violet’s face as
if she might read the answer there.

“Two of our players will not be residing in the
apartment building in which we’ve made arrangements,” Violet started to read,
“they’ll be cohabitating with another member of the team who owns a property
locally.” Violet didn’t need the check of eyes for them to be clear on who that
was. “The lease may be available for Allie Hillsten to assume, if she is
willing to share with one of the players’ sisters who has already expressed
interest.”

It felt like summer. It was one
thing to hear about California sun and another to experience it. Palm trees
ticked past on the drive from the airport and seagulls hung lazily in the clear
blue sky. Flying in they had skimmed over an endless spread of cement and glass
and the wobble of swimming pools in the backyards of houses and courtyards of
complexes.

Now Allie and her three bags were in a convertible with
Everett heading for her new home. She didn’t know much about it. The
arrangements had been decided for her in a whirlwind that had been largely out
of her hands. It took days before she even got the answer that her future
roommate was the sister of her buddy Adam. At least there was some consolation
in the fact that Violet had kept her eye on the details. Of all the things that
her friend was, Allie knew that Violet was fiercely competent and she trusted
her to have her back.

“I gather this is your first time in California?”
Everett asked from the driver’s seat as he clicked on the turn signal to wind
off the main streets.

Allie looked away from the window to aim a smile at
him and nod. “Thank you again for helping to set up this internship transfer.”

“Don’t mention it.” Everett was like a dad. Allie
had trouble imagining him as one of the guys churning water in the pool, being
someone who Marc looked up to as a player. The older man was fuzzy all around
and had a potbelly beneath his colorful button-up shirt. “Did you get a look at
the Hollywood sign as you came in?”

“I didn’t.” Allie quirked her smile sheepish.

“We’ll have to find a time for you to see the
sights.”

“Oh, I … If there’s time. I’m here to work for
you, sir, not be a tourist.”

Everett didn’t really answer, but he took time away
from watching the road to settle a sure smile upon her. Maybe he was just
making sure she was paying attention. “This is it in the middle of the block.”
He pointed to a tall apartment complex with large windows glittering in the
golden light. “You’ll get used to the roads soon. Better to take surface
streets up to the pool from here, it’s about ten miles.”

Allie nodded dutifully, watching how he wielded a
garage opener at the security gate to roll into the ground-level parking area.

“That’s the car you’ll use, parked in the spot two
down from the elevator.”

“The blue one?”

“Yep. You were driving the vans in Colorado,
right?” He sounded a little concerned that she’d be able to manage the large
vehicle.

“I was.” Allie didn’t tell him that she had learned
to drive in her father’s big work trucks. Not that the dirt roads in her
hometown were much like the congested intersections of Los Angeles, but she was
pretty sure she’d be fine handling the boxy people-mover.

Everett pulled his car up into a spot marked GUEST
and popped the trunk. “Looks like we’ll have help with your bags.”

Allie had been busy looking at the car she’d be
driving and getting her phone stashed in her purse. By the time she swiveled
her head towards Everett and then over to the walkway, whoever he was talking
about had moved beyond view. She felt the car shift as her bags were removed
from the trunk.

“How many of the guys are staying here?” Violet
hadn’t been able to figure that out about the housing arrangements before Allie
had left. Apparently the team had still been playing musical chairs while they
were on break, plans complicated by Blake’s last-minute arrangements with his
house.

“Seven,” Everett answered as he started to get out
of the car. “Three doubles, and Troy has taken one of the apartments with his
girlfriend.”

It wasn’t Troy who had come from the lobby to help
her in. She saw his flip flops first. It looked like he’d just come from the
beach, which certainly was possible. When they had turned onto this block, the
faint roll of crashing waves and a line of tall palm trees on the horizon
promised that the ocean was nearby. The buttons of his shirt were undone down
the front so she could see the familiar curls of his tattoo and the sculpted
ridges of his torso. For all he had been constantly on her mind in the most
idealized way, somehow Marc still looked better than she remembered.

Allie found a teasing smile to combat her
dry-mouthed stare. “What a lovely surprise. So you do carry bags.”

Everett looked confused.

The edges of Marc’s features twitched, like maybe
he thought about smiling. He didn’t grace her with a verbal answer, but he did
pick up the biggest of her bags like it was nothing. Allie knew that it had
barely made the weight limit on the plane. She got the door closed and went
around to get the remainder of her luggage, stacking her stuffed backpack on
top of the roller suitcase.

Everett paused as he held his door open, evaluating
the situation. “You look like you’re in good hands, Allie. Are you all right
with having Marc show you in? There’s a lot to get done down at the aquatic
center. I’m thinking I’ll head down now and see you at afternoon practice. If
you think you can find it.”

“I can work a nav system,” Allie assured the team
manager. Her eyes slid up to Marc. “I think we’ll manage.”

Marc gave a stiff little nod.

“All right. See you in a few.” Everett reversed his
motion and slipped back into his car. “You have my number if you need
anything.”

Allie started towards the glassed-in elevator lobby
with her bags. Marc closed the trunk so Everett could be on his way. While she
waited for him to catch up she peered around at the gleaming tile and the neat
rows of mailboxes. The pedestrian entry also looked to be secured with a lock.
It seemed like a nice neighborhood, but Allie supposed it might be advantageous
to have a secure building in case any fans thought to follow the guys home.

Marc quickly claimed her focus when he came in from
the garage and towered over her to thumb the button for the elevator. Allie
fussed her windblown hair more neatly behind her ears and tilted a smile up at
him. “I didn’t know you’d be here.” She wasn’t sure how she was trying to
sound. “I’d heard that the older guys had gotten houses.”

“The married types did. They threw me in here with
all the kids. Almost makes it seem like I’m supposed to be the responsible
one.” Marc shared a false smile with Allie while he held the door for her with
a palm over its sensor. “I guess that’s what Troy’s here for.”

“And I guess you’re not really close with Blake,”
Allie said as she wheeled her bag in over the threshold. “Who ended up in his
beach house, beside Ivan?”

The false smile was gone when Marc pivoted in to
lean against the elevator’s wall across from her. “A couple of the NorCal
guys.” His voice was flat and his eyes turned towards the panel. He punched the
circle for floor seven and adjusted his hold on her bag.

It didn’t leave her any opening for further
conversation. Allie gnawed faintly on her lip and watched the march of light
that tracked their ascension. When the ding announced their arrival, she
shuffled forward with an awkward thanks as Marc held the door for her again. It
was the reverse of the first day they’d met. Allie stood uncertainly in the
center of the hall lined by identical doors, waiting for him to lead the way.

“Me and Adam are in the second one that way.” Marc
jerked a thumb to his left when he came out of the elevator, but his stride
turned towards the right leg of the hall.

“We’re practically roommates.”
Dumb
, Allie
berated herself the second the words spilled out of her mouth. She did her best
to keep up with Marc as her roller bag bumped at her heels while she dragged it
along the carpeting.

Marc turned some sliver of expression over his
shoulder, but she couldn’t quite decipher it. “This is you.” He stopped in
front of one of the doors.

Allie pulled up beside him, glancing back the way
they had come. Marc would be living only half a hall away from her. Processing
that, it took her a minute to remember that Everett had given her the key at
the airport. She balanced her roller bag against the wall to dig her hand into
her purse to find it.

Marc’s eyes were on her the whole time. It made her
ridiculously nervous. She tried to force the key in the wrong way at first, and
she only realized there was a deadbolt after turning the knob and trying to
shove the door open with her shoulder to no effect. Her cheeks were hot by the
time she finally let them through to step inside.

The apartment seemed newly remodeled and was
tastefully furnished. It took her breath away. It was nicer than any place
Allie had ever lived. Her bag’s little wheels clattered over the tile as she
walked into the living room. She turned a slow circle to take in the gleaming
counters of the kitchen, the small table set with a floral centerpiece, and the
archway that led back to the doors of the bedrooms and bathroom.

“Is yours like this?” Allie wondered, her gaze
lifting back up to Marc. He was watching her intently.

“Yeah, pretty much. There’s already shit all over.
Adam’s messier than his sister.”

Allie flickered a smile and glanced back towards
the rooms. “Do you know which one’s mine?” It seemed silly to think he would
know, she realized after she’d asked. And yet …

“Kelsey took the one to the left.” Marc moved to
walk past her and headed for the room on the right. “She works, so she’ll be
back this evening.”

“Do you know her?” Surprise lilted into Allie’s
voice as she followed him. She was more interested in witnessing the expression
on his face than in studying her new bedroom.

Marc dropped her bag at the foot of the bed and
turned to shrug at Allie. “She was on the women’s team in two thousand eight.”
His eyes were lazily lidded. He shook his shirt straight from where carrying
her bag had pulled it askew across the broad of his shoulders.

“She wasn’t … Did you two date?”

The edge of Marc’s mouth twisted up, but it wasn’t
exactly a smile. “No, we did not.”

Allie was stuck searching Marc’s dark eyes. “Oh,”
she said lamely after too long had passed. Clearing her throat, she edged
sideways into the room and found the desk. She set down her purse and her
backpack on its surface and left her roller bag standing.

A turn found Marc still watching her. She twisted
her empty palms together and offered him a smile. “Thanks.” Her feet kind of
wandered towards him on their own accord.

“Yeah.” Marc stayed planted where he was, looking
down at her with that indecipherable intensity.

“I think my wardrobe is going to be all wrong.” His
shirt still wasn’t quite even where its open edges framed the tanned-skin
firmness of his chest and stomach. “Somehow I don’t think I’ll be needing my
parka.”

When had Allie started to reach forward? She was a
little horrified to realize she was tugging the fabric into neater alignment.

“We do get rain.” His hand lifted to catch at her
right wrist.

Allie’s breath stopped. Her fingers froze tensely
above his chest. He didn’t let go, and when she relaxed, the prints of her
fingertips fell lightly over his heartbeat. Allie stared at her own hand, at
the sight of her touching him. It took her a moment to look back up.

It took Marc a beat longer. When his gaze lifted,
it paused before reaching her eyes. He looked at her mouth, and when he did,
the edge of his tongue wetted the full of his lips.

A small noise caught in her throat. Allie felt her
legs failing, her weight falling forward so that she balanced over his heart.
“Marc …” She wanted to tell him how good it was to see him. How her reason
for coming out here should have been that it was the best move for her career,
but that it wasn’t the reason. She had come all this way because there was
nothing in the world that she wanted more than to see him again, to touch him
again.

His grip at her wrist tightened. Marc’s other hand
closed over her shoulder. Even though he was restraining from full strength,
Allie could better understand how easily he drowned the other guys on the team
when they scrimmaged. But all he did to Allie was push her back to center over
her own feet.

“I need to get my stuff together for practice.”

Allie blinked, swaying to catch her balance and
silently berating herself. She should know, she
did
know, what was
important to him. This must be an inconvenience, having to see her again.
Especially when there were all those bikini-clad girls a few blocks away.
Surely the last thing Marc wanted was some awkward girl dogging his heels and
mooning over him. Allie snatched her hand back and employed it in neatening her
hair over her ear. “Right. I’ll find the address and …” She twisted her
back to him and looked back towards her bag. “I’ll, uhm. I’ll see you at the
car in—”

“About half an hour.”

“Okay.” Allie closed her eyes deliberately to help
keep herself together. “See you then.”

Holding her breath so that she didn’t do anything
else stupid, Allie listened to Marc’s footfalls as he walked out of the
apartment. It only felt a little safer once the front door whumped closed
behind him. The faint sound of him walking along the hall may have only been in
her imagination. She was just a few doors from … But no. She was here to
do a job, and Allie wasn’t going ruin it by indulging the wild notions of her
heart. She’d managed to stay professional in Colorado. She could do it here,
too.

In the quiet, alone, Allie could just hear the
sound of the ocean through the cracked-open window. A seagull cried lazily on
the breeze. She opened her eyes and looked out to where clear blue sky was
bright overhead. She took a deep breath and inhaled the lingering scent of the
sun-kissed and sand-speckled man who had been in her bedroom.