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It wasn’t noticeable. Not to anyone else at least. Buck could feel his leg aching the more he trained and he tried not to let it show, he doesn’t know why it chose today to ache so bad.
He’s watching the Boston guys when he notices it, the eyes on him. He lets Eddie take a break from the bench press so Buck doesn’t have to spot anymore and can instead focus on who’s watching him.
He finds the eyes of the smaller boy they meant yesterday. He raises en eyebrow, watches as his eyes flick down to his bad leg. Then watches him walk away.
He excuses himself before he walks away from Eddie, who looks just as confused as Nashville’s captain. He follows the firefighter to a bathroom, that looks otherwise empty.
He’s leaning against the wall when Buck finds him. “I won’t tell them.” Buck is hesitant to believe him of course. “I don’t like playing dirty, taking advantage of faults.”
Buck raises an eyebrow, “But you seem like the kind to like winning.”
“Trust me, I am.” There’s silence after that, a tense staring contest before the firefighter takes a step closer. “How’d it happen?”
“Caught under a ladder truck.” He hears the guy wince and decides to look away with a roll of his eyes, “It was ages ago now.”
“Clearly still hurts.” Buck opts to look in the mirror, ignoring the gaze on the side of his face. “Sure you should participate?”
That causes Buck to smirk and look at him over his shoulder, “Trying to get rid of the biggest threat?”
“If I was, I would’ve gone for your friend.” He says friend with a certain tone that implies something Buck would rather not think about.
“Well, you’re stuck with both of us-“
“Ryan, Ryan Hart.”
Buck just hums, “You’re stuck with both of us Hart.”
Ryan seems to laugh. Buck runs a hand through his hair before leaving the bathroom.
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When they all get knocked down by the ladder during the relay, Ryan finds himself worried.
He finds Buck in the lane, but before he can think about his bad leg, he’s already up and running again.
Guess he is pretty big competition.