Post-Game Celebration

Kaylee’s team won again. Two more games and they would be undefeated champions. I’ll be the first to admit Kaylee was a bit off her game, but Zoe and Ellie were on fire. The team itself was like a well-oiled machine, winning by eighteen points. The girls were ecstatic as they headed to the locker room. Kaylee gave me a quick kiss before chasing after them.

That had been almost an hour ago.

There were only so many news articles and group texting with Liam, Ally, and Sam I could do before getting impatient. I felt like a creep hanging out by the locker room doors, but I wasn’t brave enough to venture inside.

When someone finally came out, I didn’t remember her name. She was one of the juniors… I think. “Hey…you!” I managed, realizing mid-sentence that I didn’t know her name. I don’t think she even heard me, because I about scared the wits out of her when I stepped in front of her.

She blinked a few times before recognizing me. “Oh, Scott.” Her eyes lit up. “You must be waiting on Kaylee!”

“Right,” I said with a smile. “Any idea what’s taking so long?”

“Everyone was hitting the showers before taking a turn with James…then showering again.” She shrugged. “Probably waiting for her turn. James is pretty awesome, but after the third or fourth time it takes a bit to get him ready again.” She sighed. “Senior girls hogging him again. Really wish we had two managers.”

“Wait. They’re having sex?”

“Yeah. Mom is already blowing up my phone with texts, so I can’t stay for the celebrations. She shouldn’t be too much longer. James can’t go forever,” she said, stepping past me and continuing on.

Stunned, it took a few seconds to react. “What happened to no sex in the locker rooms?”

“No one actually follows that rule,” the girl laughed and continued walking without turning around.

Another twenty minutes passed. During that time, my pacing wasn’t getting anything productive done. On a whim, I got out my phone and opened the Profile. Navigating to Kaylee’s profile, I clicked on her Partner History.

James Harper.

It felt like someone hollowed me out, leaving nothing but cold numbness where impatient annoyance had been. A few days ago, my reaction would have been different. Today? I had suspicions rather than emotions. The doors opened and the girls began exiting.

“Babe! Got your text.” I recognized the voice. Sean swept past the girls in front and grabbed Sarah. He lifted her without much effort, spinning her around and laughing. When he set her down, the poor girl was red from forehead to neck. “You were amazing out there! That three point shot you made! And that layup! Then that bitch fouled you…I about marched on the court and— Huh? Oh.” He said, suddenly remembering where he was. Her teammates chuckled as they continued on. He grinned sheepishly taking her bag as Sarah grabbed his arm and quickly darted off towards the exit with Sean in tow.

Ellie gave me a wave as she passed. Abby winked at me. Finally, the one I’d been waiting for appeared—linked to none other than the She-Satan herself. Seeing me, she smiled and beelined over to me, dragging my least favorite person along with her. Kaylee’s smile slipped at my cold reception.

“S-sorry we’re late. We were—”

“All taking turns with James,” Zoe cut in, giving me a knowing smile. Her eyes were focused on me. No doubt trying to extract some enjoyment from my reaction. Her eagerness gave her away. “You know how it is. Nothing beats a good fuck to de-stress after a game.”

There was a skittish shift in Kaylee’s demeanor as she gave her friend a slight nudge. “You mean you took turns with James.” Brushing her hair behind her ear, she chuckled nervously. “Besides, even if I wanted a turn—which I didn’t—I don’t think poor James had much energy left after Ellie got done with him.”

“What happened to no sex in the locker room?” My voice was unusually cold, but I just couldn’t muster the strength to pretend. Not with her standing there with that fucking smug smile of hers.

Zoe rolled her eyes. “Coach isn’t going to do shit to mess up our hot streak. If fucking in the locker room keeps our heads on straight for the game, then that’s what we’ll do.” She turned to Kaylee, pointedly ignoring me now. “What do you say about crashing at my place tonight? It’s been forever since you last came over.” Kaylee hesitated, so Zoe pushed her on it. “Come on. It’ll be like old times!”

Kaylee glanced over at me before looking back at her. “I…I’m Scott’s ride—”

“So? Let him drive your car. I’ll drop you off at his place tomorrow and you can get your car there.”

Zoe’s grip on Kaylee’s arm tightened as she pulled her closer. “Please?” She gave one of the most effective puppy-dog eye look I’d ever seen. Hell, even I felt it—and I hated her.

When Kaylee looked back at me, I felt it in my gut. I’d lost. “Do you mind?”

“Of course he doesn’t. Right?” Zoe said, giving me a mocking smile.

I bared my teeth in a barely disguised grin. “Of course not.” My voice was completely flat. I turned my attention to Kaylee. “Can we talk for a second?”

“I… actually need to talk to you too.” She looked over at Zoe. “Meet you by your car?”

Not looking happy at how quickly she was brushed aside, she forced a smile at Kaylee and nodded. Releasing her, she took a few steps before flashing me a dirty look once Kaylee couldn’t see her.

God, what a bitch.

Kaylee’s mood was a mix of upbeat and cautious. “What’s up?”

“Did you sleep with James?”

The question seemed to stun her, as she didn’t answer right away. When her mind caught up, her reaction shifted instantly. “What? No! Some of the other girls did, and I might have spent a bit too much time watching, but I swear I didn’t sleep with him.”

I felt some tension leave my shoulders as I forced myself to breath. “Okay.”

“What brought that on?”

“Where’s your phone?”

“My bag,” she said, giving her athletic bag a slight nudge.

“Where you always put it during a game?”

Confusion filled her face as she stared at me. “Yeah. What’s going on?”

“Zoe has your passcode.”

“I haven’t changed it since we were dating, so yeah.”

“Does she know about our, ‘one guy’ rule?”

Her eyes fell away as her expression turned sheepish. “I… may have mentioned some things.”

I sighed. Why the hell couldn’t Kaylee see how fucking trash Zoe was? Honestly, I didn’t mind Kaylee talking about relationships stuff with her friends. Hell, I talked to Liam about stuff with Kaylee all the time. Sometimes you needed that third-party to vent to. The key there was friends. Ellie, Sarah, or Abby were all valid options in my mind. Zoe? She was a toxic bitch who was actively trying to sabotage us every chance she got and it frustrated me that Kaylee couldn't see that. “Well, she entered James into your Profile tonight.”

“What?” She was already digging out her phone.

“Probably planning to put her name in there later tonight too. My guess is she was planning to bring that up this week at school and rub my nose in it.” Kaylee froze. Slowly, she looked up at me. “What?”

“That… was actually what I was going to talk to you about.”

“No.”

She blinked in surprise. “I haven’t even said anything.”

“You’re going to ask if you can sleep with Zoe. My answer is no.”

Her mouth opened as if she was going to say something else, then closed. I’d guessed right.

“Okay.” She looked disappointed, but was otherwise normal.

“Okay?”

She brushed at her hair. “Yeah. Okay.” I gaped at her. She wasn’t going to fight me? Try to convince me? Just… okay? “What?” she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. “That was part of the deal, wasn’t it? I could ask for special occasions, and you can say no. You said no, so that’s it.”

“I’m just… surprised I guess. If you pushed me on it, I’d probably let you.” No idea why the hell I said that. Why did I say that?

The corner of her mouth twitched as she suppressed a smile. “I know, but that’s not how this works. I knew it was a long shot since it was Zoe, but I had to ask. I’ll also change the passcode on my phone and talk to her about adding James to my Profile.” Reaching forward, she opened my hand and placed her key fob in it. “For you. I’ll pick it up tomorrow. Go straight home. No joyriding. No speeding. Drive defensively—”

“I got it! I got it!”

Her finger jabbed my chest. With a serious expression, she slowly backed away before making a, ‘I’m watching you,’ gesture. She got a few steps away before stopping. Spinning around, she looked at me. “Why do you say it was Zoe who put James’ name in my Profile?”

“What do you mean?”

She hesitated before looking me in the eye. “I could have put it there and lied to you about sleeping with him.”

“You could have, but you didn’t.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because if you did sleep with him, you would have told me when I asked.”

She opened her mouth, paused, then closed it. “See you tomorrow”

“Goodnight.”

I watched as she walked away, hands in my pockets. I think she was rocking her hips for my benefit, and I was more than happy to watch. When she was out of sight, I was left alone with my thoughts. I really didn’t want to go home knowing I’d just sit around and mope about Kaylee hanging out with Zoe. I needed something distracting. Something to keep my mind off things.

Looking down at the key in my hand, a smile slowly spread across my face. Digging my phone out of my pocket, I dialed Liam. “Hey, man. Not much, not much at all. Say, how do you feel about a drive around town? No, no,” I said holding up Kaylee’s key fob at eye level. “I’ll drive…”