“Don’t worry, shorty,” he teased, “I’ll introduceyou.”
A skinny, older gentleman dressed in running shorts and a grayStafft-shirt – instead of a black one like Texas’ and Bellamy’s – made his way through the throng of people and called out for Bellamy in a jovial manner. He stopped right in front of us and shook Bellamy’s outstretched hand as Texas ambled up behindus.
“Good to see you boys again,” the mansaid.
“Good to see you too, Max,” Texasgreeted.
Max’s eyes met mine. “And who might this pretty little ladybe?”
“Max,” Bellamy began, “I’d like you to meet Harlow. She’s a newrecruit.”
“Ah, is this the girl Alex was telling me about?” Max looked to the guys forconfirmation.
“Yup.” Texas nodded. “The veryone.”
“Ah, well then,” Max returned his gaze to me and held out his hand. “It’s lovely to make your acquaintance, MissHarlow.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I replied, shaking his hand with an awkward smile and anod.
He smiled brightly and then returned his attention to the guys. “So, we’re starting with the next half of the run soon. We have water bottles and coolers ready just over there…” he gestured somewhere beyond the crowd of people. “Will you remain for the entire trainingsession?”
Texas blanched. “Yea,” he sighed, “we’restaying.”
“Ho!” Max laughed. “What did you do to piss off your teamlead?”
“They didn’t,” I said. “Idid.”
Max looked back at me. I couldn’t tell if he was restraining more laughter or surprise. He simply smirked at me and then nodded to the boys. “That explains it entirely. You boys know what to do then. I’ll see you at the end.” Texas and Bellamy nodded politely, and Max turned and disappeared back in thecrowd.
“Max is a part of Alex’s team,” Bellamy explained. “They’re all mostly retired – families and all that. Training, advising, and managing is about all they donow.”
“What about Alex?” I asked. I knew for a fact that that wasn’t all Alexdid.
Texas quirked a smile. “The day that Alex actually retires is the day pigs fly,” he said. “Alex isn’t the idletype.”
“Max doesn’t seem the idle type either,” I pointedout.
Texas shrugged. I didn’t get an opportunity to ask further questions because the next thing I knew, Bellamy and Texas were urging me through the crowd, calling out hellos to people they recognized. We stopped by a water cooler and Bellamy bent down, pulling out three water bottles and handed one to both me and Texas before opening hisown.
“We better hurry up and stretch,” Bellamy said. “They’re about to start againsoon.”
“More running?” I groaned. “This is not lenient atall.”
Texas laughed and bumped me with his shoulder. “You should see it when he gets mad at one ofus.”
I grimaced. I certainly didn’t care to seethat.
We carried our water bottles as we ran. I liked running even less in a group. Too many people talking. I wished I had known beforehand what we were doing. The running wasn’t so bad, even though it had my legs cramping and feeling like jell-o. I wished I had my phone and some headphones. Music would have made the entire experience easier. I might have even run faster if I had some harder beats between myears.
The next stop we made was in a new field. How many fields were there out here? I wondered. This time Max and a couple of other older members of the group gathered at the forefront of the crowd. Max stood on the stump of a tree and called out for everyone to lower their voices. I stood next to Texas and Bellamy as he began to makeannouncements.
“Welcome to our monthly training games,” Max called. “Thank you all for coming. Now, before we begin, I’ll go over a few rules. Even if you have been here before, please pay close attention as some of the rules may havechanged.”
Texas bumped me, and I looked over. He leaned down close and whispered, “The rules never change, but Max always starts with that, so no one has a reason to not payattention.”
“You’re not paying attention,” I said with a raised brow. He grinned at me before turning back to face thefront.
“Rule one, if you are holding a weapon, do not point it at anyone. Whether or not the weapon is loaded or dangerous, if you are caught pointing it at another member, you will be reprimanded,” Maxcalled.