Page 47 of Bad Ruck

He snorted softly. "Doctor Chelsea Miller, brat."

"Are you going to punish me?" I looked at him sidelong.

"Yes, but not here," he said. "I have to get back to training, and you to work."

I sighed. "Tease. You're right though, we need to get back to it. But do not overdo the exercise." I shook my finger at him.

"You going to punish me?" His eyes shone. He seemed keen to explore that. Interesting. As I got to know these guys, I saw different sides to them. I had a feeling I could spend the rest of my life with them and still not know everything. That would keep things interesting, for sure.

"Absolutely," I said in my version of a growly voice. "That'll have to wait until later too."

He grimaced, the front of his pants tenting. "Later."

"Later," I agreed. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Chapter Nineteen

Chelsea

After Ramsey left,I headed to the elevators that took me down to the pool a couple of levels below. This was a recently renovated part of the stadium. An old pool replaced with a longer, better one. It shared the space with the physical therapy rooms and a sauna. Nothing but the best for the Dusk Bay Smashers.

I pushed through the glass doors, into the steamy pool room.

Doctor Otis Skinner was overseeing a couple of players walking back and forth up and down the pool to strengthen muscles without putting pressure on their joints.

I stood and watched for a while, admiring the way they pushed through the water, forcing their way past gallons of pressure without slowing.

"Something I can do for you?" Skinner said after a handful of minutes.

"I'm fascinated by your work," I said. "I was hoping to learn more about it." Of course, we covered aqua therapy at university and I worked with it before, but if he had new, more effective methods, I wanted to understand them.

He responded with a disbelieving side eye. "I don't want you overextending yourself. You're still settling into the job."

"It's never too early to avoid getting stale," I said easily. "Especially with something as fascinating as what you're working on." Which he hadn't elaborated on. Apart from reading his paper on the benefit of aqua therapy on muscle strain, I didn't know exactly what his angle was.

A suspicious person might think he didn't have one. Me, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. For now.

He grunted. "Very well. Let's not speak over the pool."

"Of course." I stepped over to stand beside him. "What have you been working on, Doctor Skinner?" I asked politely.

"You may call me Otis," he said. "I've been working on the impact of water therapy on players’ mental health. Using a combination of Watsu and Bad Ragaz methods. They combine exercise with immersion in the water. Usually, one of us would be in the water with them, supporting them as they do their movements."

I had to admit, I was impressed. The players’ mental health was important, but sometimes I felt like it was put aside to focus on physical health and fitness.

"I love that," I said sincerely. "I don't think there's too many people who aren't more relaxed and comfortable after floating in water."

"Precisely," he said. "I believe pool therapy could replace gym exercise, if undertaken correctly. Water is a much more flexible medium, and less inclined to damage the body."

Unless someone was held under for too long, I thought.

"I'd imagine the coaching staff has different thoughts about that," I said. "They seem to like having the guys do laps on the field."

"I prefer they do laps in the pool," he said. "They'd find their performance to be positively impacted by my methods."

"Will they let you test that theory?" I asked. In order to do that, some of the guys would only exercise with his methods, while the others used the gym and field.

"With the junior division," he said, looking irritated. "When my methods have proven sound, they'll consent to expanding the program." He seemed very sure of that. Of course, there was nothing wrong with backing his own work. Why do all the study if he didn't believe in his own findings?

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