Page 21 of Buzzer Beater

“You’re not coming?”

He shook his head. “I thought that would be too much for Kendall, she’s still recovering from the transplant.”

“Of course.” I felt bad we chose an activity that she couldn’t do. “Sorry about that.”

He shrugged. “No problem. We’re going to hang out with Olli and Emma. Lay out and relax. I can’t complain about that.”

I smiled and watched him walk out. I guess there was really no losing when you were staying in paradise. There was always the sun and sand to keep you content.

I quickly changed into workout clothes and waited for Grant to come out from the bathroom.

He was dressed and ready to go, although he didn’t look happy about it.

“You okay there?”

He grunted a response.

“I hoped we’d have the first day off training, but that’s the downside to being friends with the captain. No slacking off.”

Grant grunted again. He’d remember this next time I invited him on a trip. I doubted he’d make this mistake again.

When we got to the gym, the rest of the guys were there warming up. I went to an empty treadmill and started walking.

Erik was jogging next to me. “Hey.”

I nodded and slowly increased the pace. I’d never admit it to Hartman, but it felt good to get in here. If I went the full week without training, I’d regret it for days when we got back.

“Hey, you guys might want to take it easy,” Reese said, grimacing. “He’s got a three-mile run planned to finish.”

“That’s fine.” I was used to running, so I didn’t see what the big deal was.

“On the beach.”

I pressed the stop button immediately, and Erik did so too. “You’re kidding,” he said.

He sounded as annoyed as I felt.

Reese nodded. “Yeah, so take it easy through the work out.”

I groaned and got off the machine. Running in sand was the worst. I didn’t understand the people that lived by the beach that did it every day. It burned your calves, risked ankle injuries, and took twice as much energy.

We were going to die, then have to go swim in the ocean.

That sounded like a stellar idea.

Maybe this was Hartman’s payback for us ditching him.

“Alright guys,” he barked. “I set up a circuit. Team up and I’ll blow the whistle when it’s time to switch.”

I had flashbacks to elementary school’s PE classes until I saw the paper closest to me and Erik. “Burpees?”

Erik dropped his head and sighed. “How long do you think we’ll be at each station?”

I looked at Hartman who’d already started single leg box jump. The man was sick. “I’m hoping for three but planning on five.”

Erik smirked. “So, it’s probably ten.”

I rolled my eyes and dropped to the ground for my first burpee. No use in trying to fight it. We were stuck in here until Hartman said we were done. At least there was an end in sight. The boat left at noon. If he planned on giving us time to eat and change, we could only go for three hours. Ugh. Three hours.