Hail Mary: An Enemies-to-Lovers Roommate Sports Romance(70)

She did a couple climbs before sliding back down and gesturing for Julep to go next. Of course, that bitch climbed while the pole was spinning, her long hair flowing behind her and her body moving with all the fluid grace of a gazelle. It was mesmerizing to watch.

Infuriating, too, because when you had a friend that gorgeous and talented, it was hard not to hate her just a little bit.

We all clapped when she was on the floor again, and then it was Riley’s turn. She struggled a bit in the start, but once her muscles understood the assignment, she repeated the movement Joany had showed us until she was all the way at the top. Her movements were more athletic than Julep’s, which made sense considering who she was, but her smile was the biggest I’d ever seen her wear when she rang the bell as the rest of us cheered from below.

Giana was next, and the poor thing could barely pull her chest to the pole while her legs and arms both shook with the effort it took to get her there.

“It’s okay, it takes most girls a few classes before they can climb even that much,” Joany tried to encourage her.

But that little bookworm was nothing if not driven by a challenge, and I watched her eyes narrow in concentration and determination at Joany’s words before she hiked herself a little higher. It was a struggle the entire way, but she made it, hooting and hollering like a banshee as she rang the bell at the top before sliding back down.

“Alright, my inked queen,” Joany said to me next, waving a hand toward my pole. “Let’s see what you got.”

I watched her for a solid second before I laughed, because she had to be joking. But she didn’t return the jest, and the rest of the girls watched like they actually thought I could climb the pole, too.

“You’re kidding, right?” I asked, pointing at me and then the pole. “You really think my fat ass can get up this thing?”

“Hey!” Giana slapped my arm. “Don’t talk about my friend that way!”

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing,” I defended, rubbing my arm. Then, I grabbed the ample curves at my hips and over my stomach, my thighs, my ass, giving them all a squeeze and jiggle. “I’m just saying ya girl is thick and there isn’t any way in hell I’m getting to the top of this pole.”

“Size doesn’t mean shit in this sport,” Joany said. “Stick thin or curvaceous as hell, you can do anything you set your mind to.”

Julep smacked my ass. “She’s right. So go on, get to climbing.”

“You have a lot more faith in my arms than I do,” I mumbled.

“It’s not all arms. Squeeze the knees and engage the thighs, remember?” Riley said, and I gave her a look that said traitor. She only smiled saccharinely back at me.

With a sigh, I gave in trying to fight them on it and decided I’d prove my point. I reached up and wrapped my hands around the chrome, fixing my shin to the front of it like Joany showed us before I engaged my shoulders and lifted the other leg. Instantly, I slipped back down to the floor.

“Okay, I tried, let’s move on.”

“Ah, ah, ah, not so fast,” Julep said, and she held out the bottle of grip until I opened my palm and let her squeeze some into it. “Try again.”

My grip was infinitely better with the white goo she’d given me rubbed into each palm, and this time when I lifted my leg, I stayed put. With a grunt, I pulled my chest to the pole, switching hands before I tucked my knees up to my elbows and squeezed again.

I looked down at the ground, at how far away from it I was, and smiled.

Holy shit.

I’m climbing a fucking pole.

I tried to get a little higher, but my arms gave out, and I ended up slipping almost down to the bottom again.

This time, though, I didn’t give up.

I set my brow with determination and focused on the bell mocking me from the top.

I was going to ring that motherfucker.

“Go, Mary, go!” Giana cheered with a little clap as I reached up the pole again. The rest of the girls joined in encouraging me as I climbed, slowly but surely, up and up and up.

Sweat ran down my back and dampened my hair the higher I got, and every muscle in my body burned — my shoulders, my back, my arms, my legs, my fucking invisible abs. Everything had to be engaged, and I hadn’t used my muscles that intensely ever before in my life. Sure, yoga had its days, but I tended to stay away from the power flows and spent my time on my mat enjoying longer, deeper poses.

Not tonight.

Tonight, I was shutting out every voice in my head saying I couldn’t do it, and I was inching myself higher and higher up a chrome apparatus.

The last bit was the hardest, and I gritted through the pain and the desperate plea my body was giving me to stop as I reached up and grabbed the ribbon tied to the bell, ringing it like crazy. The girls went nuts below me, and I looked down with a victorious smile and a surge of adrenaline coursing through me.

I slid down fireman style, and when my feet hit the floor, I was immediately wrapped up in a group hug as the girls bounced around me. We laughed and cheered until we were breathless, and when they pulled away and high-fived me, every cell in my body went from buzzing to absolutely still.

I couldn’t explain what happened next.

One second we were celebrating and Joany was popping a bottle of champagne for us to toast our accomplishments.

The next?