Jason gathered the team around him. Uncharacteristically he had forgotten what to say. They had just finished going over the strength training routine... what was next?
After a pause, Russel, the team captain, asked, "Is it cardio time?"
Jason caught himself and nodded. "Yes, you're right. Sorry about that. Didn't get much sleep last night."
The team laughed started their warmup exercises. As they milled about the gym's rows of machines, Jason rubbed his eyes.
In the corner of the gym Alex sat with an outfielder and manipulated his shoulder. The player seemed comfortable and Jason could already see Alex's skills at work. She was as good as the physio company promised. The day before that player could barely lift his arm and she already managed to get him mobile. Jason's body relaxed for the first time that morning.
He watched her for a minute longer and then snapped his eyes back to his clipboard. He made a note of nothing, trying to look busy, and looked around the gym. Russel was looking at him, smiling: he must have noticed Jason staring at Alex. Great.
The last thing he needed was to be distracted, and he was already feeling exhausted. He had woken up suddenly the night before and could have sworn Alex was moaning in her room. The thought of her masturbating was enough to drive him wild, and now he had to deal with the memory of the sound too. He had tried not to look at her that morning but couldn't stop himself from gawking at the way her athletic tights hugged her legs.
Jason heard someone calling him from one of the offices and made his way to the back of the gym. Tom, camp manager, was sitting at his desk surrounded by paper.
"Jason! How are you this morning? Well rested?"
Jason sat across from Tom and shrugged.
"A man of few words, as always. I respect that. So, as you know, your contract is up this year."
"As it is every year."
Tom laughed. "Well, we need to make sure that the team is successful before we offer longer contracts, and I finally got approval from the board to offer you a full-time position here."
Jason was shocked. "What's the catch?"
"The Titans have to win a championship this year."
Jason nodded. "State or national?"
"If you manage to get the team to win at least the state championship you'll have a full-time job here for the next five years. No more traveling to take on contracts with other teams in the off-season, no more hotels, no more living out of a suitcase, and no more airports."
This was everything Jason had been hoping for. He couldn't think of what to say so he just nodded again. Everything was going exactly has he had hoped, exactly as he had planned.
"Don't let us down, Jason." Tom said and smiled.
Jason stood and went back into the gym.
He watched the team do their cardio and reviewed the plan for the rest of the day. The coach was coming to lead a strategy class in a few hours, which left just enough time for position-specific exercises. Everything was going exactly as Jason had scheduled.
He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Alex and the outfielder.
"Tell him what you told me," she said. Alex could barely look at Jason. Maybe she had been masturbating in her room after all? Jason tried not to think about it.
"I think if I have one full day off my rotation will be back to normal. This happened last season and everything was fine." He looked embarrassed; players never liked to show signs of weakness when every workout influenced the final roster.
Jason looked at Alex. "What do you think?"