Page 17 of Fall for You
When she sank down onto a bench, a little smile hovered over her lips.
Yup. A run was exactly what she’d needed. This time when her phone buzzed, she actually snagged it out of her back pocket and hit Answer.
“Ronnie! How’s my favorite champ?” Mike’s voice boomed out of the speaker.
She pulled the phone away from her ear. “Oh, you know—on a break. What do you want, Mike?”
Ronnie didn’t even try to be coy about it. One thing she knew about her agent after working with him for nearly ten years? He didn’t respond to subtle.
“Remember that winter gear company I was telling you about? They’re having a photoshoot in Jackson Hole?—”
“No.”
“It’s not so far?—”
“It’s in an entirely different state.” She held the phone away from her to scowl at it. “Do you even know where home is for me, Mike?”
“Don’t get prickly, champ.”
She rolled her eyes. He only called her “champ” when he wanted something. Ronnie had no doubt he’d read it in a motivational book at some point. Like, if he called her a champ, she’d be tricked into thinking she was still some championship-winning snowboarder.
With a frown, she sank back onto the park bench, barely noticing as a dog walker passed with a handful of puppies.
Mike’s voice turned to a hum in the background as she sifted through her own thoughts.
Last time she’d competed was at the X Games, and she’d won gold. So yeah, by Mike’s way of thinking, she was still a champ.
Her head fell back. So why did it sound like a lie to her? Why did it feel like a compliment she no longer deserved?
She rubbed at the injury that had knocked her out of the running for the past year. Her knee still ached and throbbed occasionally, but it was only the sharp spikes of pain that really scared her. Thankfully, she hadn’t had one of those in months.
Curving her fingers over her kneecap, she gazed down at her bent leg and shook her head.
Champ?
Who could honestly say that and truly mean it?
She wasn’t even sure she was a contender anymore. Despite what her physical therapist said, what her coach insisted…
She wasn’t sure she could do it.
“Look, I know you want some R and R.” Mike’s tone was all placating. This only made Ronnie’s shoulders tense as she waited for the “but.”
And sure enough…
“But injured or not, this is still your job, Ronnie.” Mike sounded like he was telling her something new. As if it might have escaped her notice that the only way she paid the bills—and her family’s bills—was through sponsorships and endorsements.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. But sponsorships and endorsements were earned. The best-paying deals went to the best-performing athletes.
She knew this. She’d always known it.
It wasn’t rocket science.
And yet, lately, the whole system was starting to feel like a trap. A prison.
She idly rubbed her knee, even though it didn’t hurt today.
It was the injury talking, that was all. Her coach had forced her to talk to some therapist who specialized in athletes and sports injuries. Both the coach and her therapist had been convinced that the biggest hurdle to getting back in the circuit wasn’t the physical injury but her mindset after the fact.
