TEAMING UP
Chapter 1
GLORY
Glory. It's what we all chase. The indescribable feeling of being the best. The sound of the crowd chanting your name as you're hoisted up by your teammates after throwing the winning touchdown. The warm flood of dopamine that spreads through your body as your handed yet another trophy. The proud look on your parent's faces as they snap your picture. The swarms of women that throw themselves at you… It's addicting.
Third and inches. This play could very well decide who the winner is. Turner snaps back to Necrodopolus. Necrodopolus pulls back. He's looking for an opening. Looks like he's got Thompson in his sights. The ball is out and caught! He's going. He's going! He's… He's in! Touchdown Mighty Shrimp!
And… like most addictions, it can all come crashing down in a single instant.
Oooh. Looks like Necrodopolus took a hard hit from Murray during that last play. He's still down. Team medics are on the field. It looks like he's grasping at his leg. This does not look good for the Freshman phenom...
- Sophomore Year-
Addison rolled her eyes at her best friend. "I am not going to a fucking frat party."
"Yes. You are," Bree insisted as she threw a dress at her. "You haven't been out of this apartment except for classes, and practices."
"That's not true," she tried to defend. "I'm out of here almost every morning at five."
"TO TRAIN!" Bree yelled in exasperation before flinging herself dramatically across the bed. "Addie, you know I love you, but you have got to get out and live! There's more to life than Crew! Hell, I can't even remember the last time you saw Tripp!"
"That's because we broke up."
Bree sat back up quickly. "You what?"
"We broke up," Addison shrugged as if it were no big deal that she and her boyfriend, who she'd been with since freshman year of high school, had broken up.
"Holy… shit, Adds! Why didn't you say something?! We could have had a Ben & Jerry's night or week!"
She shrugged again. "I've been busy…" she glanced down at her watch. "Speaking of which, I need to get down to the boathouse. I'm supposed to meet a potential transfer that can fill my no-good, backstabbing cousin's spot. We can't compete this season without a stroke."
It was Bree's turn to roll her eyes. "Addison…"
"What?"
"You're going to this party," she said, crossing her arms.
"No offense… I love your boyfriend, he's one of the best power rowers I've ever seen, but…"
"But?"
"The rest of that frat are a bunch of green-haired, man-whore, assholes."
Bree fell back on the bed laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"You, my dear could out asshole every boy there," Bree said, standing back up and walking over to her. "So why don't you cut the crap, and just come to the stupid party. Bonz invited the rest of the team, too… I'm sure you could use it as an excuse to make sure they don't drink too much..."
Addison sighed. "If I promise to meet you there after I meet with this guy, will you back off?"
"If you promise to actually show."
Addison held her right hand up. "I promise I will show up to the stupid party."
"And not be a snarky bitch the entire time?"
"I promise no such thing."
Bree playfully rolled her eyes. "Shoot me a text when you're on your way… and wear the dress."
"Don't push it!"
ZzZzZzZzZzZ
"Dude," Bonzo said as he walked into his suite in the Zeta house, "the party isn't for another hour and you're already drinking?"
Zed lifted his red solo cup in the air and smiled. "It's called pre-partying."
"Shouldn't you be at practice?"
He shrugged his shoulders and let out a loud belch. "Nope. Despite working my ass off to rehab my fucking leg, Coach didn't think I could handle playing QB… so he cut me this afternoon."
The duffle bag Bonzo had been holding dropped onto the floor as his mouth fell open in shock. "You're kidding me."
"Nope…." Zed replied, popping his P. He stood up and held his red cup high in the air. "So… here's to losing my scholarship, my dreams, and everything I have ever worked for…."
Bonzo watched as he finished off whatever was in his cup. He hated seeing his best friend so defeated. Sure he was a cocky asshole with a shit reputation, but underneath all the bravado, Zed Necrodopolus was actually a great friend and would do anything for those he cared for. He took a deep breath and asked a question he hoped he wouldn't pay for. "How are your splits looking?"
Zed's eyebrows rose up. "Dude, I play ball. I'm not a cheerleader."
Bonzo rolled his eyes. "I mean your running times… meter splits."
"Basically back to where I was before blowing out my knee. Why?"
"And your lifts?"
"Same as before. Again, why?"
Bonzo closed his eyes and sighed. Addison was going to fucking hate him. "Take it easy on the booze tonight. We're hitting the gym in the morning."
"Bonz, why?"
"Just trust me… Oh, and try not to be too much of an asshole tonight."
"I promise no such thing."
"Can't believe I'm actually doing this…" Addison mumbled to herself as she walked up the front steps of the Zeta house, ignoring the catcalls from the already drunk frat boys that crowded the stoup. Going to a party with a bunch of drunk co-eds was the last thing she wanted to do tonight. The house seemed to pulse with heavy music and flashing lights. She made her way through the sweaty crowd towards the kitchen where Bree had said to meet her. The second she walked into the room, she was suddenly surrounded by seven well-built guys chanting her name. She loved these guys with all her heart, so for their sake, she plastered a fake smile on her face. "Good to see you guys aren't completely wasted yet," she laughed.
Wyatt, the team's lieutenant and 7 position, wrapped her up in a tight hug. "No need to worry, Addie. We'll totally be recovered by practice tomorrow."
"You better be," she teased. "Your oar was a half-second late on the drop this afternoon."
"Aww, come on Addie… I don't think that's half bad considering we don't have a stroke at the moment," he whined. "Besides, no shop talk tonight!"
"Unless you have news you want to share," Bonzo chimed in.
She sighed and shook her head. "Nope. That guy from Duke was a complete lost cause. His times were for shit and I refuse to have anyone on my boat who spends his entire sprint staring at my rack."
"Shit…" Tracey, the boat's number three position, mumbled under his breath. "Fucking Bucky. How could he just leave us?"
"And what would you do if you got selected for the national team? Huh?" Addison asked, doing her best to defend her cousin, even though she wanted to throttle him for leaving them the first opportunity he got. "What was he supposed to do? Not take his shot at Olympic glory?"
They all mumbled under their breath that they'd probably do the same.
"Alright," Bonzo finally said in an attempt to lift their spirits. "No more boat talk. We can worry about all this shit tomorrow. Let's enjoy the party!" He handed Addison a freshly poured beer and raised his own in the air. "To the heart and soul of our team, and the only woman who could kick all of our asses!"
"To Addie!" They all yelled out in unison.
Addison smiled a genuine smile. Her team was definitely the glue holding her crumbling life together at the moment. She knew she couldn't let them down. As she took a sip of her beer, her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the unfamiliar number, her eyes widening when she finally recognized the area code. "Shit… Bonz!"
"What's up?"
"Stanford!"
"Oh shit!"
"I need to take this! Now!"
He quickly looked around for a quiet place for her to take the call. "Crap… My room, fourth door on the right upstairs."
She nodded and quickly spun around, sprinting up the stairs and to his room. She took a deep, hopeful breath, and answered the phone. "Addison Wells speaking."
"That's rather formal of you, Addie,"
She smiled to herself as a familiar voice filled her ears. "Hi Stacey, please tell me you're calling with good news!" Stacey had been on the cheer squad with her back in High School and was now dating one of the members of the Stanford Crew Team and had reached out to her earlier in the week with news that the Stanford team's stroke was looking to transfer after not making the national team.
Stacey sighed. "Sorry, Addie. I wish I did. Jason transferred to USC."
"Crap," Addison sighed under her breath. "I was really hoping to snag him."
"I know. I'm sorry. I really did try to sell him on the idea."
"I know, Stace. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Addie. Give Tracey and Jacey a hug for me, will you?"
"Of course."
"Talk to you later."
"Bye." Addison hung the phone up and dropped her head into her hands. Her two best opportunities to fill her cousin's spot had both gone up in flames. If she didn't find a replacement soon, there wouldn't be a team.
"Well hello…" a cocky voice called from the doorway.
Addison spun around to find none other than the devastatingly good-looking Seabrook U football team quarterback, and asshole of legendary proportions, Zed Necrodopolus staring at her. She huffed out a breath of annoyance and met his gorgeous coffee-colored eyes. "Hi," she said, hating that it came out sounding breathy. She didn't have the patience to deal with a stupid jock like him or the sexy smile he was currently directing at her.
His tongue ran along the inside of his lower lip as he gave her a once-over. She wasn't like the typical girl that wandered into his room during ZOM house parties. She wasn't overly made up and showing every inch of skin that she could. She was beautiful in a natural way, with her icy blonde hair and blue eyes. He always did have a thing for athletic girls, and judging from the thigh muscles her dress didn't cover, she could definitely keep up with him. "Lost?"
"No. Bonzo…"
"Bonzo has a girlfriend," he said cutting her off. He stalked forward and walked her back into the closet door she had been standing next to. "But I don't."
She fought the urge to inhale his intoxicating cologne, refusing to give into him, no matter how good she knew it would be. She had just broken up with her cheating boyfriend, falling right into bed with someone cut from the same cloth was not an option. "Sorry, I don't do football players."
"What a coincidence. Neither do I," he teased.
She smirked at his response. Straightening herself up, she took a step towards him, their noses practically touching as she whispered, "Football players are pussies."
"Excuse me?" he asked, taken aback by her comment. Football players were a lot of things and pussies weren't one of them.
"Baseball players too… Hockey players, maybe not pussies, but with all the gear they hide under it's hard to tell."
He gave her a puzzling look. Normally he would have stepped aside and let her rejoin the party, but something about the feisty look in her eyes and the hint of command in her voice made him want to hear her talk more. "You have something against athletes?"
"Not at all. I just like real ones."
"And football players aren't real athletes?"
"I'm sure you think you are," she said in a patronizing tone. "But like I said, I prefer my athletes to be all muscles with endurance for days… The kind of athlete who can make you come for an hour straight."
"That doesn't exist, Gorgeous."
"It does in crew."
Zed let out a snicker. "You mean that gay ass sport with eight dudes crammed in a boat together?" The fire that ignited in her eyes had him almost immediately regretting his words.
"I mean that sport that has eight men, using one-hundred-percent of their God-given muscles, stressing every system in their bodies to the max in an all-out sprint… just them against the water and the wind. Man against nature. All arms, and abs, and rock hard asses… oh, and brains…" She ducked under his arm and walked towards the still-open door. "Fuck the rest of the 'athletes'... Give me a man in a boat any day." With that, she walked out of the room.
Still in a daze from her encounter, she walked back into the kitchen where the team was still assembled.
"You okay, Addie?" Bonzo asked.
She nodded her head. "Yeah… just a run-in with one of your asshole frat bros… nothing I couldn't handle."
Tracey handed her another drink. "How'd the phone call go?"
She took a swig of the lukewarm beer and shook her head. "He picked USC."
"Fuck."
"Oh, and I'm supposed to give you a hug from Stacey," she added before looking over to Jacey. "You too… so… consider yourselves hugged."
Wyatt stepped up and gave her a hug of his own. "We'll find someone, Addison. I know it."
She rested her head against his and sighed. "Unless you know of a Stroke hiding somewhere that another major university has yet to discover…"
"I think I might know someone," Bonzo said, seizing the opportunity.
Addison stood up straight and pushed Wyatt away. "Who?"
"Meet me in the training room in the morning."
Bright and early, as promised, Bonzo drug Zed out of bed and over to the university's gym. They passed by all of the weight and training rooms that he was familiar with and up to a room he had never been in. Bonzo unlocked the door and walked in flipping the lights on.
"What the shit are those things?" Zed asked as he looked at the odd equipment that filled the room.
"They're ergs."
"What?"
"A rowing machine you stupid jock-strap," Bonzo said with a huff as he sat down on the slide of one of the machines. "Sit down and see if you can keep up."
"What the hell is with all the rowing crap lately…" Zed mumbled, sitting down and strapping his feet in.
"What?"
He shook his head. "Nothing… some chick last night. Hot as hell, but damn, was she a bitch."
Bonzo let out a laugh. "Just because a woman doesn't fall into your bed after a half-ass attempt on your part to seduce her, does not make her a bitch."
"She called football players pussies!"
Bonzo reached out for the handle and began to row. "Well… she's not wrong. Now grab the handle and start."
"Fuck you, man," Zed snorted.
"Sorry, you're not my type."
Zed rolled his eyes and grabbed the handlebar from its resting position before pushing back with his legs. "This shit is easy as fuck."
"You say that now," Bonzo laughed. "Just wait until you're 100k in and trying to cut your splits."
"I hear a bet in that."
Bonzo snickered. "You and your fucking bets…" he shook his head and then nodded, knowing this would be the only way to really see if he could do it. "Fine… you're on. If you can do 20k without your muscles screaming and your stomach wanting to puke up everything you had to drink last night, I'll finally admit that football is the superior sport."
"Damn right it is. Bet fucking on."
Bonzo smiled. "Alright then… try to keep up."
Just then, the door to the training room opened. "Sorry, I'm late Bonz. Your girlfriend commandeered my keys and insisted that I 'get some…" she stopped talking when her eyes landed on Zed. "What is he doing here?"
Zed looked over towards her. "You…"
Bonzo looked between them. "Do you two know each other?"
"Something like that…" Addison said dryly. "Bonz, a word…" she tipped her head towards the door.
Bonzo looked over at Zed. "Take five. But as soon as I'm back in here, we're on," he said as he got off the erg and jogged after Addison.
When he closed the door behind him, he found Addison standing with her arms crossed and a murderous look on her face.
"Addison before you say anything…"
"You told me you had the perfect guy to fill Bucky's position. You better not have been talking about that meat-head, Necrodopolus."
"Come on Addie, that's not fair."
She raised her eyebrows in a challenge.
He threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, he's an asshole, womanizing, jock… I'll give you that much."
Her foot tapped as she waited for him to continue.
"But… he's also a hell of an athlete who just got cut from the football team."
"If he's so great, why did they cut him?"
Bonzo tried to hide his smile, she was falling right into the argument he hoped she would. "You heard about him blowing his knee out last year."
"Yeah."
"But what you didn't hear about was how fucking hard he's worked to get back to where he was."
Addison rolled her eyes. "And so I ask again, why did he get cut?"
"You should know better than anyone else that coaches don't always make the right calls after their stars suffer major injuries."
Her eyes narrowed. "Are you seriously using my being cut from the cheer squad in high school after breaking my leg as justification for this?"
"Addie, you were captain. You were a fucking cheer god… And they cut you. The same thing happened to Bucky two years before. Rowing and Crew gave you both second chances. Don't you think Zed deserves one too?" He could see her resolve begin to crack.
"I hate you."
"You love me."
"No, your girlfriend loves you, and I happen to love her."
Bonzo smiled. "Does this mean you'll give him a shot?"
"Fine. But you don't argue with my decision."
"Fair enough."
She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to go back into the training room.
Bonzo gave her a quick hug and practically sprinted back into the room. As he passed Zed he leaned over and whispered, "Do not fuck this up."
"Fuck what up? What the fuck is going on?"
"What's going on is that Bonzo thinks you might have what it takes to be our next Stroke," Addison said as she walked into the room.
"Stroke?"
"Lead position in the boat," she replied standing in front of him. "The competitive one. The one that sets the pace for the whole team. It takes strength, stamina, and a hell of an ego."
"Sounds like you, man," Bonzo laughed.
Zed looked over at him. "I play football, Bonz. I don't row a boat around a lake."
"If you're not interested then quit wasting my time and leave my fucking training room."
"Your training room?"
Addison smiled sweetly and pointed to herself "Addison Wells, Seabrook Crew Coxswain… That means I'm in charge. I call the shots. The team does what I say."
"Dude," Bonzo said quietly, "Crew might not be NCAA, but our team is part of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. We've won Nationals two years in a row, and our Stroke just made the Olympic team."
Zed didn't look sold.
"There are scholarships awarded for main crew members. Not to mention the adoring fan base that follows the team around."
"Fucking boat bunnies…" Addison mumbled under her breath.
Bonzo ignored her and continued to look at Zed. "What other option do you have right now?"
Zed let out a huff. "What the hell… I'll give this a shot… 20k you said?"
Bonzo smiled and Addison lifted her whistle to her lips.
5000 meters in and Zed's heart was pounding in his ears and sweat was pouring into his eyes.
Addison smirked. "You're not even halfway there yet and you're slowing down. You don't have what it takes. You mind as well just give up."
His eyes shot to hers with a look of renewed determination. He'd be damned if he let her get into his head. He huffed out a breath and picked up his speed. His legs screamed with every push and his arms burned with every pull, but he held eye contact with her.
Her eyebrow cocked up in a challenge. "Alright then, Necrodopolus…" she crouched down in front of him and continued to hold his gaze. "Pick up the pace and give me a fast thirty," she said calmly with a hint of authority. "Make sure you're leaning back completely with each stroke."
He did as she commanded, never breaking their eye contact. Her eyes were like blue wildfire as they stared into his. Something inside of him eased as he fell into the rhythm of each stroke that she called.
"Good… now power ten, nine, eight…" she nodded her approval. "Slow the slide… and ease off..."
He slowed his pushes.
"Back into a fast hard thirty…" she cracked a smile as she checked his stroke rate. "10000 meters… half way there… Why don't you go ahead and stop."
"No fucking way…" he panted.
"I want you in the water."
His brain misfired at her words. "Wh-what?"
"I want to see how you do in the water. That won't happen if you over-do it on the erg and your muscles feel like jello and you can't even manage to pick up an oar."
"Oh…" he shook the stupid out of his head and placed the handlebar back into the rest position.
"Bonz," she called out as she stood back up. "I have to get to class. Have him in the shell house at four."
His jaw dropped. "With the rest of the team?"
She nodded her head. "Let's see what you've really got, Necrodopolus."
Zed watched her as she walked out of the training room, his eyes glued to her ass the whole way.
Bonzo slapped him on the back. "Don't even think it. Addie's off limits. She's the heart and soul of our team, and there are six other guys just as big as me that would beat your ass for even looking."
"I wasn't…"
Bonzo arched his brow and smirked. "Whatever… meet me at the house at 3:30."
Zed nodded and looked around once more.
"Oh, and Zed…"
He looked back up to Bonzo at the door. "Yeah?"
"Rowing is still the better sport."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Rare Sunday post, but… It's March 28th, which means it has officially been 3 years since I first posted Our Year/Watch Us Shine, 2 years since I posted the first chapter of On The Edge, and 1 year since I started Call To The Wild. So… I thought it was only fitting to have this story start on the same day. I've never attempted to write a sports based story before. I will attempt to keep the Crew lingo to a minimum (I am providing a quick reference section below), and focus on the story between Zed and Addison. Please leave me your thoughts!
Rowing Terms and Positons:
-Shell- Boat
-Shell House- Boat House
-Erg- Rowing machine used to train in a gym
-Regatta – Race
-Coxswain- Oar-less crew-member who is responsible for steering and race strategy. Faces the team and calls out commands. Provides motivation and encouragement to the crew.
-Eight/ Stroke- The rower closest to the stern of the boat and usually the most competitive rower in the crew. Everyone follows the stroke's timing. The stroke communicated with the coxswain.
-Seven- The lieutenant. Backs up the stroke's rhythm and makes sure everyone in the boat follows
-Six/Engine Room- Middle rowers in the boat. Generally, the biggest and strongest rowers who provide the most power to the boat.
-Five/Engine Room
-Four/Engine Room
-Three/Engine Room
-Two/Bow Pair- The two rowers closest to the boat's bow, and are responsible for the stability and the direction of the boat.
-One/Bow Pair-