Em knew that Frida was right. She couldn’t fix everything and everyone.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t make every effort to be the best teacher she could be. That started with getting rid of unnecessary distractions. She swiped the notifications left to delete them and started cleaning with Riley.
Grant
Grant pulled his shirt off over his head and wiped his face.
He never thought body weight exercises could be so tough, but Finn had a way of pushing everyone when it came to agility training. They’d been going at it for an hour at Big Results, the gym where the players all went. Grant’s muscles were beginning to feel like Jell-O, and he was sure he’d lost half his body weight in sweat.
But he still wasn’t done. He still needed to post something online to build up his online presence.
He really wished he would have taken some videos of his workouts before he was as sweaty—and tired—as he was, but he’d shown up to practice late and didn’t want to ask anyone to stop what they were doing to record him.
Grant grabbed a fresh shirt from his gym bag and put it on before he scanned the room for someone who might help. Some of the other players had already left, while others were still running through drills. Finally, his eyes landed on his mark.
“Hey, Cardosa,” he called out. The offensive player was sitting in the corner mixing a post-workout shake that was meant to build muscles. “Will you come help me with something real quick?”
“Sure thing.” Cardosa hopped up from his spot and walked over, his drink in hand. “You want me to record you doing a workout?”
Grant rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. Was he that predictable?
“Don’t be embarrassed. Silas has nagged every single player about ‘building an online presence.’ I’m pretty sure we’ve all tried it at some point. Just tell me what you need.”
“Thanks.” Grant smiled as he scouted out a place to set up. “Let’s go over there.”
Cardosa followed him to a side of the room without any other players. When he was ready, he signaled to Cardosa to start recording. Giving it everything he had, Grant ran through some drills. Jumping jacks, squats, push-ups, lunges, sit-ups, and finally burpees. By the end, he was nauseated, but he’d done it and somehow managed to maintain proper form in the process.
He grabbed a towel and wiped his face once more before he looked over to Cardosa.
His teammate grimaced. “I’m so sorry. I forgot to hit record.”
Now Grant really did think he was going to throw up. It was only one workout, but he’d pushed himself hard. He hoped it would gain more followers, and that somehow Em would see it and be impressed.
Cardosa started laughing. “Oh, man. Your reaction was priceless.”
Grant threw his sweaty towel at him. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s pretty funny,” Silas said walking over. “It doesn’t matter how many times Cardosa pulls that stunt, I laugh every time.”
Grant stalked over to Cardosa and grabbed his phone out of his hand. “And here I was feeling special.”
“Like I said, Silas pushes everyone to post their workouts. Since I refuse to do it, I get my kicks at everyone else’s expense.”
“You handled it much better than some of the other guys.” Silas slapped Grant’s back.
“They all know better now, so I haven’t done it in a while.” Cardosa’s eyes quickly went to the defender and back to Grant. “And I refuse to mess with Vinny.”
Silas wrapped an arm around Cardosa. “That’s because you’re a lover, not a fighter, aren’t you?”
Cardosa stepped out of Silas’ reach. “If you keep insisting on hugging me, I might make an exception.” Silas laughed it off.
Watching their playful fight was much better than seeing what would happen if Cardosa had decided to prank Vinny instead. “The Box” surely would have thrown a sucker punch that would put the whole team in a mood. He had a bad attitude, and Grant was convinced that if Vinny wasn’t such a good player, no one would put up with his crap.
“Seriously, though. You’re doing a great job of building your brand.”
Cardosa snickered beside him.
Silas shot him a look. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just upset he’s not as good as me.”
“Your overinflated opinion of yourself never ceases to amaze.” Cardosa chuckled and grabbed his stuff. “Grant, you need anything else?”
When he shook his head, Cardosa walked off.
“You’re putting the work in at every practice, and everyone can see that,” Silas said. “We’re lucky to have you on the team.”
Grant filled with pride at the compliment. He and Silas hadn’t started the season on the best terms—Grant had thought Silas was trying to sabotage the rest of the players when in reality he was just trying to get his ex to fall back in love with him.
Now that things were cleared up, he saw Silas as a bit of a mentor. The veteran player had been in the league for five years and was one of the top scorers on the team. Though they played different positions, Grant looked to him for advice.
“Thanks, man.”
Silas pointed to the phone in Grant’s hand. “Don’t forget to post that. You want to post often and try to get engagement. That’s how you get companies to notice you. Once they do, they’ll start sending you free stuff. If they like what you do with it, they’ll start paying you.”
“Like Protein Life?”
“Exactly.” Silas nodded. “Thanks to them signing me on as a featured athlete, I have multiple income streams. If anything were to happen and I couldn’t play anymore, they’d help keep food on
