by Elin Peer
I wasn’t in the mood to share anything personal about myself, so I kept my answer to a short “No.”
“No, as in you have touched women before?”
“Yes.”
She waited for me to elaborate and when I didn’t she took a step back. “All right. We have about an hour before practice starts. Finn, would you care to join me and Hunter on a tour of the facilities?”
“I would love to, but I’m teaching in a few hours and need to prepare.”
“What are you teaching?”
“I teach trauma care to doctors, nurses, and paramedics. We doctors from the Northlands have a lot more experience with bullet holes, chopped-off limbs, knife wounds, and that sort of thing.”
Emanuela looked from Finn to me and back again. “I can’t imagine you’d see much of that here.”
“Not bullet holes, but accidents happen in the Motherlands too. Gardening and home improvements are the two most dangerous activities here.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I supervise at the emergency unit at the Restitution Hospital, and we’ve had patients who have come close to death from using power tools and sharp instruments likes axes and garden scissors. It’s no joke to treat a person who has slipped from a tall ladder and broken their neck or pierced themselves on a garden tool.”
“No, I could see how that would require some expertise.”
Finn gave Emanuela a last smile and patted my shoulder. “Call me tonight, okay? I want to hear all about your first training and especially about the shared showers.”
My eyes narrowed in suspicion as he walked away with a chuckle. He was a jokester by nature but his words had me worried. It was a fact that Motlander children showered together; Willow had told me that much. And come to think of it, I had a weak memory of my friend Tristan insisting that it was common for sports teams to shower together too, but we’d been teenagers then and I’d always assumed that he was trying to make the Motherlands sound like a sexual fantasy. Looking at the small and very attractive woman walking in front of me, my eyes zoomed in on her tight butt and I pulled at my collar, feeling too warm. Surely, Finn had been messing with me. Right? If not, I was in big fucking trouble.
“Shit!” The word flew out of me as Emanuela turned and looked at me.
“Excuse me?”
“Ehhm, nothing.” I waved my hand for her to go on. “Show me around.”
She took me through the training facility and except for the soccer field itself, everything was very different from what I was used to. They used a lot of technology to enhance the players’ skills and even though she tried to explain how it all worked I was a bit overwhelmed.
“This room is simple enough; all you have to do is stand in the middle, and when a ball comes out of that hole in the wall your job is to kick it into whatever square lights up.”
I looked around and saw at least twenty square holes in the four walls.
“Here, let me demonstrate.” Emanuela got into the middle of the room and called out, “Ball, please.”
A ball came rolling out of the wall and she stopped it with her foot and looked around. When a square about four times the size of the ball lit up in an orange color, she kicked the ball nice and easy into the hole, which was halfway up the wall. “Do you want to try?”
“No, I think I can work it out.”
“All right.” She kicked another ball and made it look effortless before she took me down a hallway with offices and introduced me to at least ten people connected to the team. They were experts on nutrition, injury recovery, public relations, and other things that I didn’t catch. One elegant woman stood out to me when she hugged me without warning.
“I’m Donna.” The woman had to be in her early thirties. She was elegant with make-up and a silk blouse that showed the top of her cleavage.
“Hunter Hercules.” My heart was still racing after her unexpected hug.
“I know your name, silly. We’re all so excited that you’re here. Not least of all me, since I’ve never worked with an athlete from the Northlands.”
“Donna is one of our three sports psychologists. I’m sure you have mental coaches in the Northlands too, right?” Emanuela crossed her arms and looked downright hostile compared to Donna’s warm energy.
“Yeah, we do.” I had never worked with one, but I have heard of players with burnouts who had been helped by psychologists, and I didn’t want them to think that we didn’t have specialists too.
“Great.” Donna stroked her hand up and down my arm, her voice soft and caring. “I have our first appointment scheduled for tomorrow. I can’t wait for us to get to know each other.”
Clearing my throat, I nodded. “Tomorrow then.”
Emanuela led the way as we left Donna’s office. She didn’t say anything but pointed to signs as we walked past a cafeteria area called The Fuel Tank, an exercise room, a massage room. When we walked down a flight of stairs and entered a warm room with a large swimming pool she still didn’t speak.
“Are we allowed to use this pool whenever we want?”
“Sure. Knock yourself out.” She gave me a disinterested shrug and walked out again. I was no expert on women but this little one was pissed about something.
“What’s wrong?”
She didn’t hold the heavy door open for me but made sure it slammed in my face.
“Hey.” My foot saved me from a broken nose when it stopped the door. “What’s your problem?”
“Me?” She turned to face me. “I just don’t like how rude you are.”
“Are you still pissed about me not taking your hands in that formal greeting?”
“Well, you got past your reluctance to touch women pretty fast, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
I had only ever seen one other Motlander roll her eyes and that was my friend Raven, who had been a troublemaker from the day we met at the school.
“Wait a minute, are you mad about me hugging the woman back there?”
“Her name is Donna.”
I watched Emanuela stomp up the stairs, her round ass swaying, her calves visible in the tight pants that only went a little further than her knees. She looked toned and strong for a woman, but the most remarkable thing about her was that was she was nothing like I had expected. “Why do you care? Are you jealous or something?”
She had already turned the corner and was walking up the next flight of stairs but I heard a low mumble.
“Did you just call me an idiot?” I took three steps at a time to catch up to her.
“Oh, you heard that part?” She didn’t look the least bit apologetic. “Don’t forget rude. I called you a rude idiot.”
My mouth gaped a little. “Isn’t that improper communication or something?”
She stopped, turned, and held her finger to my face. “What kind of Nman are you? Don’t tell me you’re going to report me for improper communication.”
I gave a small laugh. “Not fucking likely.”
She didn’t flinch. I had seen Motlanders look physically ill when they heard rude curse words, but this little firecracker didn’t even blink an eye.
“Good.” She took two more steps and was about to open the exit door when I planted a firm hand on it.
“Why did you call me a rude idiot?”
“Because of your behavior.”
“You’re not serious.”
She arched a brow. “You stood like an arrogant ass and wouldn’t touch me when you arrived. Twenty minutes later you’re licking Donna’s cheeks like you’re her little puppy. If you want to be an ass, at least be consistent about it.”
Removing my palm from the door, I stepped aside. “Point taken. From now on I will be a complete ass all the time.”
I saw a tug at the corner of her mouth but it never evolved into a full smile.
“Great. I have a feeling you’ll be a natural at it.”
“Nah, I’m afraid I’m not that gifted, but I’m sure you can teach me.”<
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Emanuela stiffened. She had already opened the door and was about to walk through, but my words made her close the door and confront me. “How about you and I set something straight right from the beginning? I’m not the nicest Motlander you will ever meet, but I am your team captain and you will show me respect.”
“Sorry, honey, it’s just that the whole idea of a female playing soccer is new to me.”
“Then you’d better catch up fast because on this side of the border it’s nothing special.”
“I’m a fast learner.”
“Excellent. Then let me give you your first lesson.” She leaned closer to me. “Don’t call me or any of your teammates honey.”
“How about sweetheart, sugar, or maybe darling?” There was something about this woman that brought out my inner demons. If she thought she could handle me, I would have to show her that she was in way over her head.
“I’ll make it very simple for you, Hunter. We live by the Golden Rule, so do to others as you would want them to do to you and you will be fine. If you insist on calling me honey, then expect me to call you sweetie in return.”
I wrinkled my nose up as she continued, “If you want I can come up with something even better. How about snuggle bear or peach?”
“Hunter will do just fine.”
“Same with my name. You can use Emanuela or Ema for short. Just don’t ever call me Manu, Ella, or Elle.”
“Why not?”
She sighed. “Can you just please do as you’re told?”
It was clear that she had no idea what she was asking of me. Being a proud Nman and alpha by nature, following orders from a small woman went against everything I stood for. So many sharp replies circled in the back of my mind but I managed to control myself. “I’ll do my best to remember your name.”
“Thank you.”
She walked on with her back straight and her jaws set. I hadn’t made the best impression and it was clear she wanted me to be here no more than I had wanted to come.
“We need to get ready for practice.”
“How long do we train today?”
“You’ll be out by four. Will Finn pick you up?”
It offended me that she thought Finn was my handler of some kind.
“No, he won’t be picking me up. I have my own drone with me and I’ve already been to my apartment.”
“We all live in the same complex. Did you know that?”
I suppressed a groan. The last thing I needed was Emanuela as my neighbor. “No, I didn’t know that.”
“It’s all part of playing for the Dolphins.”
“Wonderful.” My tone fell flat.
“The locker room is this way.” She jogged down a few stairs and brought me into a large room that resembled the locker rooms I knew from back home with the benches, the lockers, and the open showers.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?”
I stared around to take it all in. There were palm trees, subdued lighting, and soft music playing. The lockers were decorated in individual patterns with names on them and from the ceiling hung nice lamps that lit up a wall of pictures. Above it was written “Family photos.” I walked over and saw pictures of the team swimming and partying together.
“We do a lot of things as a team,” Emanuela said behind me.
“I can see that.”
“What scent do you prefer? Candy or coffee?”
I turned around to see her with a small basket in her hands. She picked up a small bottle and sniffed it. “You’re too slow, so I’m going to go with apple.”
I was just about to tell her that she hadn’t given me a chance to make up my mind, when the door opened and three players came in. I recognized the two men and the woman from the photo in front of the building. They stared at me as much as I stared at them before Emanuela broke the ice and introduced us.
“This is Vicki, Jerome, and Sander.”
I raised my hand in a greeting. “Hello.”
“And this is Hunter Hercules, our new team member from the Northlands.” She could’ve fooled me with her happy tone that sounded excited to have me here.
Insecure smiles were followed by polite greetings from the players and then four more trickled in.
“You’ll meet everyone later.” Emanuela signaled for me to follow her. “This is your locker. I chose trees on the front since that’s basically all I know about the Northlands. You have a ton of forest up there, don’t you?”
“That’s right. It’s very lush and beautiful.”
“That’s what I thought, so I figured you might like your locker to remind you of home since everything else here is going to be strange and different.”
“Thanks.”
“Everything you need should be in there.” She opened her own locker, which was only a few feet from mine. It made me frown and turn around to see all the players getting their stuff out. Some were sitting on the benches, some were standing, but it was a mix of women and men and Finn’s last words about shared showers came back to me.
“Wait a minute.”
Emanuela looked over. “What is it?”
“Please tell me that men and women don’t share locker rooms.”
Her eyebrows drew close together and she looked around. “What do you mean? We are a team.”
“Are you guys messing with me?” My voice was low. “Is this some kind of joke?”
Out of the corner of my eye, a female athlete stepped out of her shoes and pulled off her sweater. My heart was beating fast, alarms blaring in my head. This had been my teenage fantasy, but as an adult male it was a goddamn nightmare. My eyes darted to the males but the four men who were in here were chatting like this was the most natural thing in the world. There were women undressing around them and they didn’t even care.
My hands were shaking and I was hyperventilating a bit when I closed my eyes and gathered my thoughts. I’m just going to pretend that I’m back in the Northlands and these are my old teammates. I’m not going to look at the women, I am not going to look!
Keeping my face to the locker, I pulled off my shirt and reached for the practice shirt that was neatly folded in my locker. The complete silence that fell upon the room made me turn to see what was going on.
Eight people were staring at me and just then five more entered. One of them gasped out loud.
I looked down, unsure what had them so shocked.
“Is it my tattoos?”
My words seem to shake them out of their shock and they all looked away as if embarrassed.
I stayed in my own little bubble, getting dressed fast and trying to avoid looking at the half-dressed women in the room.
“Are you ready for your first practice?” Emanuela was putting on her last shoe, which gave me time to study her for a second. With her pitch-black hair and toned skin, she could have been a pretty Native American from the past, except for the color of her eyes; they stood out as a pale amber color with clear yellow specks in them.
“Yeah, I’m ready.” At least I was ready to get out of this locker room before I embarrassed myself with a large tent in my pants.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered when we first stepped onto the soccer field.
“What for?”
“We shouldn’t have…” She trailed off and scratched her neck. “The way we all stared at you just now... It’s just that you’re very muscular.”
“Me? If you think I’m muscular you should see some of my friends.” I pointed to her. “You’re pretty toned as well.”
Looking like she’d just swallowed a lemon, Emanuela shot me an angry glare. “Are you calling me masculine?”
“Masculine. You mean like a man?” She left me standing there like an idiot, aware that I had offended her without meaning to, again. “Hey, you’re the one who asked me to be an ass all the time, remember?” It was my attempt at being funny, but her sense of humor was nonexistent and she didn’t reply.
CHAPTER 2
First Training
Hun
ter
I could’ve told them that it would be a disaster with me playing with Motlanders. They were fragile and not used to real soccer.
Coach Amy didn’t have any of the rough character that a coach needed. When one of the players said she needed a water break, Coach Amy let her. What the fuck!
I was shaking my head more than once. Being here was a big waste of my time. It was like playing with children. We were eighteen players on the field including me.
“Hey.” I lifted my chin in a nod to one of the players that Emanuela had introduced me to in the locker room. “Your name is Sander, right?”
He smiled. “You remembered.”
“Uh-huh. I’m good with names.” While using my right foot to play around with the ball, I looked around at the different players doing the same exercise. “I thought there were eighteen people on the team; did someone lose their position because I arrived? I only see eighteen people here including me.”
“Oh, that’s because Sara took a personal day.”
Tilting my head a little, I read Sander’s expression to make sure he was serious. “What is a personal day?”
“You know, it’s a day where you don’t feel like going to work.”
“Do you mean a sick day?”
“No.” Sander was pushing his ball from foot to foot too. “I’m worried it’s because her cat died. It’s been sick for a while. I lost a cat two years ago and it broke my heart. Let’s hope Sara just needed a day because she felt sluggish or something.”
“Yeah, let’s.” I rolled my eyes and walked over to Emanuela who was bouncing the ball with her knees, feet, shoulders, and head.
She ignored me but Coach Amy waved me closer. “Would you like to observe while the players play scrimmage? I don’t want you to feel left out but maybe it would be good for you to see the style we use here.”
“I think I can handle it. I would rather be playing than watching.”
Amy was in her forties. Her hair was braided tight, her cheeks were round, giving her a juvenile look, and she had dimples when she laughed. Compared to my scary-ass coach in the Northlands, this lady was a joke.
“I see.” Her eyes darted around. “Have you ever seen a soccer game outside of the Northlands?”
