Synonym
Chapter 3

"How's the baby, Rob?" I asked while spotting Finn on the rack. Rob was 25 and played goalie. His wife just had a baby and he was looking worse for wear.

Rob let out a groan as he put his barbells down on the rack. I wasn't looking at the 6'1" man because I was focused on Finn's back along with Jason, but I could tell that Rob had a pained expression on his face.

"Baby is fine. I however, am not. I haven't slept in two weeks." He groaned as Finn set the bar down and the weights echoed through the room. Now that Jason was here, Finn could always practice weights beyond my strength.

I silently cursed myself out for bringing up the baby issue while changing the plates to my lift. Three....two.....on.......

Jason snorted. "You think the baby is tough? Ask these two idiots about their schedule for this year."

"Buzz off, Jason." I muttered loud enough for the guys around me to hear.

"What is your schedule, exactly?" Anthony asked. He went by Ant just because it was shorter. Ant was a pro also. He was 22.

"Here till 12 then I have practice with the Tarpins from 1-2. I got class at 3 and 5 then I have practice from 7-10." I listed like it bored me. In reality I just didn't want to think about it.

"Seriously? That's crazy. What about your second semester?" Ant asked while getting up from the lateral pull down and wiping his forehead of sweat.

"Class at 2:30, 3:45, and 5. But the two thirty is right next to the stadium so I just need to take a five minute shower and I'm done. And that's only three days a week. The other two are just 3 and 5." I said while positioning myself in front of the bar. I could feel the warm metal against my chalked hands as Finn told me he was ready. My legs pulled the weight up and thrust it to my shoulders before I dropped and locked my elbows, completing the lift. After this, we would do normal weighted squats to get higher reps.

"When are you supposed to socialize?" Rob asked and Jason muttered something under his breath that I didn't quite hear.

The two of them had moved to two of the many treadmills lining the walls. This place was practically a carnival game with all the mirrors. All four walls were lined with mirrors and it still tripped me out five months later. "We're socializing right now." I retorted after doing another Clean and Jerk.

"I mean friends that don't play lacrosse." Rob added to his point while starting a low jog. My eyebrows drew together and Jason rolled his dark brown eyes.

"Think about high school. How many friends did you have that didn't play lacrosse?"

Finn and I shared a look before turning back to them. "One." We said at the same time.

"One?" Ant raises an eyebrow. "What? Did they all play girls lacrosse or something?"

"No. I had one girlfriend who ran track. Aka the one person we were friends with that wasn't on the team." I replied.

Finn and I had rotated to the squat rack were he started to do his reps. "We had a close team." He said between squats.

"Figures. You guys were number one in the state. Why weren't you friends with the girls team? Usually boys and girls varsity go hand and hand." Rob asked.

"I know you've all seen the state rankings. Are you stupid? Look at every top seed high school then look at the girls. Those towns are ranking in both genders. Then look at Groton. Our high school only started winning four years ago and the girls are at the very bottom of the list. That's because our coach was good and we had a good Goalie. We all know it only takes one good goalie to win." Finn said once he finished his exercises.

"The reason the girls suck is because they're all on drugs at a school that sucks at sports. Becoming lacrosse State Champions was a freak event." I finished off while switching places with Finn.

I started my reps, breathing in and out in sync with my movements. I wasn't trying to build muscle on these exercises, I was just trying to maintain it. At this point my legs didn't need to be any thicker or any stronger. I wasn't going to the Olympics for weight, I was going for lacrosse.

After ten repetitions my muscles burned and I set the bar back on its designated area. "Bicep curls?" I asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Sure." Finn replied as we moved to the rack to take the weights. We were definitely a disgustingly PDA couple but practice is the one time we barely acknowledged that we were dating. We both had to get in the zone so we blocked everything else out.

"Okay, so forget the social life," Rob started again. Speaking of blocking things out.... "You and Finn are dating. When are you supposed to do couple things?"

This time Jason snorted. "Okay, usually I'm on your side man but that won't be a problem for them. At practice they might avoid each other like water and oil but as soon as we step out of this stadium they might as well be making out all day." "You're just jealous. We need to replace you a girlfriend." Finn stated. How these four could talk easily while working out was beyond me. I sounded like I was dying and I always would.

"How are you going to replace me a girlfriend? I'm 23. You're surrounded by people aged 18-21." Jason rolled his eyes.

"That's a five year difference max. Plenty of people have way larger age gaps." I pointed out with great difficulty. I hate working on arms. I always sucked at them.

"Yeah but I don't want to date a college kid while I'm traveling for work and training constantly. It's just hard to build a relationship when you have no time." Jason complained. Again, this man is running and he is having a fluent conversation. My arm felt like it was going to fall off but I kept going because I hadn't finished. It's moments like this were I question my life's choices. Why did I choose a career that makes me physically hate moving?

"He has a point. You're lucky you got with Finn before your lives got hectic." Ant said while also moving to a treadmill. Lacrosse players loved those damn machines while I avoided them like the plague.