“We were guests,” Reagan says.
I roll my eyes. My mother would definitely agree with him. Even when my brothers and I were little, she always made us pick up all of our toys after our friends left, despite their mothers wanting them to help us. Mom always said, if you invite people over, they’re supposed to be taking a break, not contributing to your chores. This is why I opt to go to parties instead of hosting them myself. Colson and I were up till four in the morning making sure the house was picked up.
“You should’ve asked Rocky to help you,” Reagan adds. “But according to Brian, she wasn’t very happy about the party, to begin with.”
I set my jaw and choose not to respond. My first instinct is to scream, “Fuck Brian,” and that would be completely fucked up, especially since Brian is the nice guy on the team. The one breaking up fights at bars and encouraging us when we’re losing games. I stand by what I said to Rocky. He’s not her type, but that may not be a bad thing. Her type kind of sucks. They’ve all been nice enough, but they haven’t treated her the way she deserves to be treated. Maybe Brian can change that.
“We’re up,” Colson says and we skate up and start doing the battle drill again; this time he has the puck and I’m the one trying to get it from him.
Brian skates past us, and I try not to think about his date with Rocky. It’s not fair for me to feel like I have any kind of ownership over her. This is the kind of shit I would normally talk to her about without giving it a second thought, but I can’t bring it up without sounding like a simp for her because that would send the wrong message. Yes, I think she’s beautiful and hot and the coolest girl in the world. That doesn’t mean I want to date her. She’s my best friend. I push Colson a little harder and take the puck from him, skating away while he chases closely behind me.
“You motherfucker.”
I chuckle. “You need to be quick on your feet, man.”
His stick hits mine as he gets next to me again, but it’s too late and he knows it. Once the puck is mine, no one can take it from me. Well, maybe Brian, and isn’t that the most ironic thing? I laugh at myself as we continue with practice. I need to be ready for Monday’s game and the last thing I need are distractions.
Chapter Ten
Rocky
I’m dribbling the ball down the pitch when I hear the whistle. I exhale as I come to a stop and look back at our coach, waving us over. Time out, I guess. I was completely in the zone and headed toward the goal. Dammit. I pick up the ball, toss it to the referee closest to me, and run back to my coach, joining on the huddle.
“This is a community college for Christ’s sake. What the hell are you doing out there?” she says sternly, not yelling, but not quite nice either.
Coach Yolanda always knows how to get us standing a little straighter without doing or saying much. She’s a strict mother goose and we all fall into place when she’s around.
“I told you to play down the field. The only one following directions is Barnes and she looks like she’s daydreaming out there,” she continues, shooting me a look. “Don’t worry, you’re daydreaming and playing with heart, so whatever you’re thinking about is working.”
I shut my eyes as some of my teammates start to snicker. Coach Yolanda silences them with a look.
“Play it down the field. Rocky, pass the fucking ball to Ashley.”
“Got it.” I nod and take a breath with my hands still on my hips.
“Go, go, go. We have twenty minutes left and nothing on the board. That’s embarrassing.”
All of us run back out. She’s not wrong. This game doesn’t count, but it has been embarrassing thus far. We should have at least two on the board, one from me and one from Leyla, but both were blocked by chance at the very tips of the goalie’s fingers. I look at the formation on the pitch and shake my head, pointing at Ashley and Megan so they switch places. They do and we continue on. This time, when Leyla throws the ball in from the sideline, I dribble it toward Ashley. Soon, there are two girls on me trying to take it, but I put on my invisible visor and continue on, running a little harder, until I can only see one of them beside me, her foot trying to intercept mine, and hear another breathing hard to my right. I glance over at Ashley, who’s already in position. The next time the defender sticks her foot between mine and then takes it away, I kick it to Ashley, who head butts it toward the goal. We wait, breathing hard, anticipation coursing through us, and watch as the ball goes over the goalie’s left shoulder. I throw my hands up and scream as I run over to Ashley, throwing my arms around her.
“That’s right, baby,” Leyla’s shouting. “That’s fucking right!”
We all laugh as we hug and get right back to playing until the game is over.
“At least we got one on the board,” Leyla says after Coach Yolanda finishes giving us our after-game speech and walks out of the room.
“Thanks to Ash.” I finish drinking my bottle of water with one last long chug and glance over at Ash, whose face is still redder than a tomato.
“I just wanted you to be in a good mood for your big date tonight,” Ash shoots back with a wink.
I laugh as the rest of my teammates start talking about that and even though no one will know because of my complexion, I feel my face heat up as much as Ashley. I used to leave as soon as I could, but after the school spent all this money on this state of the art facility, I figure I might as well use it. After a shower and soaking in an ice tub, I grab my things and head home. When I get there, Colson and Maverick are in the kitchen eating, as usual. They both stop talking and chewing when they see me.
“Dude, what is this? Are you a model now?” Colson asks.
I roll my eyes. “I wear some tight clothes and suddenly I’m a model.”
“Well, yeah. You normally walk around in baggy shit that doesn’t show off your figure.” Colson shrugs a shoulder. “You look really good.”
“Thanks.” I smile as I walk to the fridge and grab one of my prepared glass water bottles infused with lemon. When I turn around to face them, I catch Maverick checking me out, and instantly feel my heart kick into high gear.
“So, the date’s tonight,” he says, meeting my eyes.
“Yep. I have to go do my makeup but he should be here soon.”
“Where are you guys going?”
“I don’t know yet.” I open the water bottle and take a sip.
“Does he know you love the movies?”
“I didn’t tell him that, so unless you mentioned it, no.”
“Hm.” Mav keeps staring.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He blinks rapidly and looks away. “Have fun on your date.”
“I will. What are you guys up to tonight?”
“No good,” Colson says.
“So, the usual?”
Colson smiles. Maverick is on his phone now, not paying attention. I signal a peace sign and walk out of the kitchen with my water and my feelings. If they’re planning on their usual Friday night that means they’ll go to a bar, pick a fight, pick up some girls, and bring them back to the house. If I’m lucky, I’ll be passed out by the time they start screwing them and if I’m really lucky I won’t be here in the morning to deal with the walks of shame, but I have the worst luck when it comes to that so I’m not holding my breath.