Sixteen
Stacy
“Listen, I love Beyoncé just as much as the next gal, but if I hear this song one more time, I might run out of this building screaming,” Mae huffs, shaking out her hair and pulling it back into a bun.
Jamie and Christina, a golden blonde senior on our squad, both snort. “I’ve got some bad news for you,” Jamie says, taking a swig of his water before we’re summoned back onto the cheer mats for the umpteenth time.
I trot back to where Reece is waiting in our cheer formation as Propst tells us, unsurprisingly, that we’re running the first section of our Nationals routine again.
“We’ve got the hands to hands this time, Stace, I can feel it,” Reece tells me as our coach gives the team the run-down of everything we fucked up during our last attempt.
I roll my eyes at him, frustrated, because as soon as we seem to be finally getting the hang of one stunt, we move onto another that we can’t quite get together. Something that never happened with Jamie, something that Reece never struggled with last year with Kennedy.
Part of me is still so pissed that Propst and Wilkinson decided that Reece and I would stunt well together.
When Propst originally told me I was good enough to stunt with anyone, I truly believed her.
Even if her statement was used to soften the blow, I genuinely thought it to be true.
But these past few weeks with Reece have got me rethinking my skills, got me rethinking whether I’m actually perfect at this sport.
I’ve tried to be less irritated with Reece, especially after he came to take care of me a couple of weeks ago while I was sick. It was totally kind and completely unnecessary, but it hasn’t stopped us from getting agitated with each other over stunts and routines.
I hear the intro to the “Flawless” remix by Beyoncé and put all of thoughts and irritations aside to turn it on.
My smile stretches from ear to ear as we knock out the short dance at the beginning of the song as well as our first tumbling pass, but that’s the easy part.
Reece and I kill our toss to hands, as well as our cupie and full up extension, three stunts we’ve been practicing religiously at our individual practices.
But those aren’t the stunts I’ve been worried about.
We’ve been consistently dropping our hands to hands since we started learning this routine and I’m starting to lose hope for it altogether.
It’s only a matter of time before Propst pulls it from the routine completely because one measly stunting couple can’t get it.
The counts are on a loop in my head as Reece drops down behind me and takes my hands.
I take in a deep breath, losing my facials momentarily as I close my eyes and bounce in rhythm with Reece.
He hoists me up into a handstand and I try to extend my legs and balance on his hands to the beat of the music, but I feel my weight shift.
I have too much weight on the left side of my body and I tumble off of Reece’s hands.
It’s a short drop, right into his arms, and I’m forever grateful for his quick reaction time.
Lord knows we need it with how often we drop stunts.
I groan as Reece plops me onto the ground and the music stops. Propst walks in front of us again, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose as she addresses the group as a whole. “Guys, what’s going on? You’ve all done hands to hands a hundred times.”
Everyone on our squad stays silent because they know our coach is addressing me and Reece.
“That was my fault,” Reece speaks up from behind me. “I had Stacy’s thumb weird so it fell. Sorry.”
It wasn’t Reece’s fault. Not really. It was us together, we both had a part in our failure, and even though it’s kind of Reece to take the fall, he’s been doing it all morning.
“No, I had my weight thrown too far to the left,” I speak up. “Just need to tighten my core a little more.”
Propst sighs like we’re the two most taxing people in the world. “Well, get it figured out ,” she grinds out. “If you need to work on your core, I will gladly add more planks or leg raises to our conditioning routine. Is that what you need?”
I just shrug, wanting to crawl up inside of myself and disappear.
I’ve been Propst’s golden girl for years now.
I’m the captain , for fuck’s sake. I’ve rarely ever been on the receiving end of Shannon’s fury and it makes me feel small.
It makes me want to shrink, the way I do around my parents when they go on and on about Charlotte’s accomplishments. It makes me feel weak .
“Do some extra crunches on your own time, Dunn,” Propst snaps. “You’re the captain of this highly successful D1 collegiate cheerleading squad. Act like it.”
I nod, holding back the tears that are tickling the backs of my eyelids. It feels like everyone in the gym is holding their breath collectively and I can feel every single eyeball boring into the back of my head.
Not exactly the best way to start your Thursday morning.
“We’ll run through our game routines tomorrow to make sure we’re all good for Saturday,” Propst goes on like she didn’t just shatter my self-confidence in front of my whole team, “but we’re done here for the day. We’ll pick up comp practice on Monday.”
Everyone shuffles away, whispering as they collect their bags and waters. Whispering about me, no doubt, but I hold my head high anyway as I grab my gym bag. Well, as high as I can. I’m still blinking back some tears, but no one has to know.
Mae passes by, giving me a gentle squeeze on my arm and a small smile before heading to the locker room to shower before her nine o’clock class.
Okay, Mae probably knows. But she’s the exception.
I’ve made my way out of the gym and onto the sunny quad by the time Reece catches up with me. “You know what I think our problem is?” he says, running up beside me and making me jump.
“Jesus, where’d you come from?”
“Our bodies just aren’t connecting. You know? Something’s off,” he goes on, ignoring my question.
I let out a mix of a sigh and a groan. “Reece, I just want to get home and eat something before my business operations lecture. ”
“Maybe we should go to yoga together.”
“Do you get off on ignoring me?” I huff. I’m walking quickly towards our complex but Reece is easily matching my stride with his stupid long legs.
“Or we could meditate?”
“I’m not meditating with anyone. Especially you.”
“Pilates then? I’ve heard it’s great for core strength and alignment. Gemma swears by Pilates.”
“Reece,” I growl, hiking my bag up higher on my shoulder as I continue towards our apartment. “No to the yoga, no to the meditation, no to Pilates or tai chi or breathwork or Reiki or whatever else you’re going to suggest.”
Reece pauses before falling in step with me again. “Reiki could be good.”
I toss a glare in his direction. “Still no.”
Reece sighs as the September breeze whips my ponytail around in my face. The air is starting to get the chill of early fall and I’m so thankful that the sweltering heat has receded.
We walk in silence for a minute and I think Reece has dropped it until he says, “Well, we’ve got to do something.”
“We don’t. I’ll take Shannon’s advice, I’ll do some more core workouts or something. It’s fine.”
“Our bodies just aren’t in tune with each other,” he insists.
I groan at him again. “It’s not that deep, Reece.”
Reece is silent as we make it to the edge of our complex and I think maybe he’s done with the subject until he opens his big mouth again. “Maybe we should just have sex.”
I skitter to a sudden stop and Reece bumps into me slightly. “What? Say it again?” I demand, my eyebrows in my hairline as I turn to face him. I expect him to laugh it off or wink at me but his green eyes are serious as he shrugs .
“I’m just trying to think of how we can connect our bodies. What’s more connected than sex, you know?”
“You are insane .”
“What are you doing tonight?” he goes on, ignoring me once again.
“Going with Mae to the hockey game and not having sex with you. ”
“Hey, just trying to think critically over here.”
I narrow my eyes at him and cross my arms over my chest. “I told you at the beginning of this agreement that we are not friends with benefits, Reece. We’re not in a relationship and I don’t want to have sex with you!”
I don’t. I really don’t. The fact that my nipples are hardening has everything to do with the morning breeze and nothing to do with Reece Taylor or the thought of having sex with him.
Reece holds his hands up defensively. “I promise I haven’t been plotting this. It was just a suggestion. Thought maybe it’d help our stunts stick.”
I scoff. “Your stunts always stuck with Kennedy. Did you have sex with her?”
He shrugs. “Just the one time.”
“Oh my god,” I huff, turning to walk towards my building.
Reece matches my pace again, catching me at my elbow. “I’m just trying to help, Stace. Honest.”
We’ve reached my building, the one with the navy and white paneling and bright blue doors. I shake Reece’s hand off as I reach the wooden staircase and pivot to face him again.
“Want to help? Send me the link to a good core workout routine,” I snap .
Reece smirks slightly like my jabs haven’t bothered him in the slightest. “Just let me know when you change your mind, angel. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He throws me a wink before sticking his hands in his pockets and sauntering off towards his building.
I grunt, climbing up to my second floor apartment to make myself a protein shake and take a shower before my eleven o’clock class. And to not think about Reece. Or having sex with Reece. Or what Reece might look like naked.
I almost succeed.