Connor
We were in the middle of nowhere! Not that I was exaggerating but there seemed to be no other human civilization except EJ and myself then of course the staff of the training camp. There was no internet and the whole cabin we had only had two charging ports which seemed absolutely useless now because there was no signal for me to even connect to!
To make matters worse the cabin worked with boilers. Meaning if we wanted it to be nice and toasty we had to gather wood, throw it in the fire for the geysers to give us warm water.
The kitchen looked like something a hobbit would use. Everything seemed so tiny that Edward and I had to keep on ducking as the camp counsellor showed us around.
"Where's the other bedroom?" Edward asked when we entered the smallest bedroom I had ever seen. It had white wooden panels on the wall to give it a rustic decor, matching hard wooden bedside tables next to two single beds that looked to fit toddlers rather than us.
There was a large warm rug separating the two beds but I was confident that if Edward and I stretched out our arms our hands would be touching.
Do not get me wrong. The cabin was beautiful and clean but a one bedroom, one bathroom cabin was not exactly what I had in mind when they said team building.
"This is the only bedroom," Oliver, the dark bearded man with short quiff hair, smiled. "Over the duration of your time here you will be rewarded with certain luxuries as you go on. If we see that you two are reaching the goals we set out for you then you will slowly be migrated to a large cabin. But for now our purpose is to train you both on how to co-exist and work as a team. That means respecting each other's spaces."
"This is bullshit," I muttered under my breath and folded my arms across my chest. "I'm thirty and he is twenty three. I believe we are far too grown to share a space." To make my point I stomped over to the cubicle of a bathroom and stretched out my arms. "How do you expect me to shower in this?"
"The point of it is for you to understand that Edward will use it after you or vice versa. Therefore you will be conscious of the state you leave it in and that with warm water running out that you should mind his time. It is a way to humanize you both since there seems to be a lack of compassion between you."
"Maybe if it was bigger we could shower together," Edward chuckled. His joke fell flat to both my ears and Oliver's who looked away as if to distract himself from the comment. "I'm just joking. Don't act like I threatened your mother!"
Oliver shook his head then sighed, "I will let you two get settled in. I'll come back around 3pm to give you a full tour of the grounds." With that he walked out leaving Edward and I alone in the cabin for toddlers.
I walked out of the bedroom to try to see if I could sleep on the couch in the living room. Yet it was too small for me to even fully lay down on. They had done this on purpose! Limiting me to only one space.
Despite my time on the team I had always made sure Edward and I never shared a room when we played away from home matches. I always paired him with one of his little friends and found great joy in knowing I did not have to see him the first thing in the morning.
This was an absolute disaster! There was no escape from him and no matter where I was in the cabin I could hear him.
As if he was not already buzzing around my head enough to the point it drove me crazy. Yet Oliver had mentioned the faster we worked like a team the sooner we could get moved to a bigger cabin therefore I just had to swallow my pride and go along with whatever ridiculous schedule Coach Bryan had set for us.
With a sigh I went back to the bedroom to find him sprawled on the bed. His leather jacket hung over the one small chair we had in the room with a desk. His designer sneakers neatly placed next to the armoire in the room.
His feet were covered in socks that had embroidered faces of both his dads in cartoon form. I found it a little comedic. I believed the Chernyshevsky-Coleman children were the only ones who worshipped their parents. It was something that felt very foreign to me.
"We have to come up with a game plan," I slapped his calf to wake him up before I sat down on my bed. Surprised by how soft it was.
He let out a groan before turning to face me. His bright blue eyes connected with mine and he wrinkled his nose. "Connor, we just got off the plane. Can't we just breathe. We still have three hours before Oliver comes back. We can come up with a game plan before."
"If we're going to have any success in doing this we're doing things my way. Your little relaxing and meditation bullshit is not going to work."
He rolled his eyes before propping himself up on his elbows, "talk."
"We need to look like the best lads in front of Oliver."
"Why don't we just become best lads then we can end all the acting?"
"You and I," I pointed to myself then to him, "will never be the best lads. I'd be spannered if we had to be and frankly I have no desire to be lads with you. Let's just get through this period so that we can go back to hating each other in peace."
Edward looked at me like I was the biggest idiot before standing up then grabbing his toiletry bag, "I'm going to shower." With that he went into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.