Page 1 of I Blame the Alcohol

Prologue

6monthsearlier…

Cody

Smack!The medicine ball bounces off the wall and hurtles into the hands of the smallest girl I have ever seen. Actually, I take that back. She may be short, but she certainly isn’t small. At least not in the traditional sense.

Smack!The mini powerhouse continues to lay waste to the exercise ball, causing other gym patrons to look her way. Taber’s fitness centre is never busy before 6am, so it’s easy to pick out the early-morning regulars.

This girl isn’t a regular.

I study her from across the gym, dominance and discipline oozing from her every pore. The tight black tank top and camo leggings show off a figure that could be used in biology class to mark all the muscles on the human body. I’m no stranger to fit individuals, hell only the most dedicated roll their asses out of bed before dawn, but this girl is a whole other level.

Finishing her round of wall balls, the girl drops the medicine ball and stalks over to the climbing cage. I stare, intrigued, as the fitness guru starts assembling boxes below the pull up bar. With a quick glance at her smart watch, the girl bounds up the makeshift stairs, latching onto the bar overhead, and proceeds to rip off pull ups like there’s no tomorrow.

“Holy shit.” The guy doing bicep curls next to me almost drops the dumbbells he’s holding as he watches the platinum pixie repeatedly heave her chin above the bar. I nod in silent agreement, watching the girl lightly drop to her feet and march over to start the wall balls again.

Wow.

Taber’s fitness centre has two floors: the upper allocated to the indoor track and cardio machines lining the walls while the bottom floor is split in two, one side for free range exercises with stretching mats and a climbing cage, while the other side contains dumbbells, barbells, squat racks, and any other heavy lifting equipment you can think of. From what I’ve seen this year, most early birds stick to either the track upstairs or the weights on the bottom floor. Until today, I hadn’t seen anyone use the free-range space, let alone the climbing cage. Especially during the ungodly hours before dawn.

There is an unspoken rule among regulars that when someone’s in the zone, you don’t intrude. We’re all here because of stubborn willpower, and honestly, no one feels like making conversation before breakfast. I’ve never considered this etiquette to be a hindrance before, but now I wish I was unaware of its existence so I could wander over and introduce myself.

I drag out my dumbbell set for as long as possible, hoping the new girl will finish up her workout so we can not-so-accidentally bump into each other on the way out. But despite my best efforts, there’s only so many variations of tricep dips you can do before it starts to look stupid, so, accepting defeat, I bend to scoop up my things and head towards the exit. Taking one last glance at the mystery girl, I find dark blue eyes staring back at me.

I’ve never been known for being smooth, or charming for that matter, but the water bottle fumble I do next is enough to make even the most confident guy cringe. Doing my best to recover, I tuck the traitorous bottle against my chest and send a quick wave towards the girl watching me with an amused smile.

And this is why gym regulars keep to themselves.

Mentally cursing my newfound clumsiness, I give Stephen, the front desk attendant, a nod on my way out and hurry back to my dorm. There’s a pile of homework I need to get done before attending the lacrosse banquet tonight, but as I walk across Taber’s manicured lawns, the only thing I can think about is how the girl’s topknot looked when it was coming undone.

Screw gym etiquette, next time I see her, I’m going over to introduce myself.

“Don’t even think about crying on me, Ellsworth. I did not mentor your ass all year just for you to crumble the second I leave.” Mo’s voice rings out over the chaotic chatter and with a laugh, I give him a shove.

“Dream on, old man. There are no tears here.”

Chuckling, Mo throws an arm around my shoulders and steers me around the room. I haven’t stopped smiling since being titled Rookie-of-the-Year and that was before Mo announced I was taking his place as team captain next year.

Me. Team captain. Taking over from Taber’s very own lacrosse legend, my friend and mentor, The Great Mighty Mo.

The announcement went over as well as can be expected, the seniors who have been working their asses off for the last four years were pissed, but there’s nothing they can do. If anyone but Mo had made my captain status official, there would have been some serious backlash, but given it was Taber’s graduating all-star, no one was brave enough to voice their opposition. So far, anyways.

I already know next year will be a challenge. There will be a lot of doubters, some potential retaliation once Mo’s gone, but I will stand my ground. Mo picked me for a reason, and I will prove to each and every one of them that I deserve this position. Even if it kills me.

“Congrats, Cody.” Mason claps me on the back as Mo and I pass him on our victory tour. His praise seems genuine, though chances are it’s more for the fact a defenseman finally won an award over the forward players. We both play defence, and part of the role is accepting the guys who score the goals are the ones who get the glory. The running joke on the team is the forwards score the points, the ladies, and the trophies while the defensemen support the line.

It’s not like all us defensemen are bitter, it’s simply the way it goes.

Well, until today that is.

“There is someone I want you to meet.”

Mo guides me away from our teammates, their rowdiness increasing with the alcohol level. Most of the parents have started to head out, so my teammates are downing the spiked punch like there’s no tomorrow.

If there’s one thing small universities are good at, it’s throwing after parties. And considering our team just broke the school’s consecutive championship streak with a fifth banner for Taber University’s repertoire this year, tonight’s party is bound to be a big one.

I spy a pretty blonde in a green dress that immediately makes me think of the girl from the gym this morning. I do a double take, thinking it might be her, but the brown eyes that smile my way don’t trigger the recognition I was hoping for.

---