Twenty-Eight
Reece
I wake up alone.
And with a killer headache from too much beer, might I add.
Stacy’s queen sized bed smells like peaches and laundry detergent, too big without her in it as I stretch out.
I pull my phone off her nightstand and see a text from Stacy herself telling me she headed to the gym to get in her morning workout and that she’d see me at our one-on-one practice in a couple of hours.
Huh. Out of all the one-night stands I’ve had, waking up without Stacy might be the only time I’ve ever cared about waking up alone. Usually, I’m pleasantly surprised when the bed next to me is empty after a night out.
I’m disappointed and a little bit confused.
I wasn’t that drunk last night so I know I didn’t do anything too stupid but when I came over to Stacy’s after the bar, I could tell she was off.
Something was bothering her last night and for her to up and leave while I’m still in bed feels cold.
She feels cold, something that I should be used to when it comes to Stacy but something that’s also become a rarity lately .
Stacy’s warming up to me. Hell, more than that, I think Stacy actually likes me. As a person, as a teammate, maybe as something even more. At the very least, I know Stacy is physically attracted to me.
Maybe that’s why she’s acting weird. Maybe she’s realizing that she has these feelings for me and it’s freaking her out so she’s pulling back.
She’s doing what I should be doing because god knows I shouldn’t be reveling in these feelings I have for her either.
But why not talk to me about it? Why not tell me we need to dial it back, why just flip a switch and put the walls back up—
The walls. The walls of my apartment, the very thin walls that I could hear Tashia and Evan talking through last night.
They were both drunk, blabbering on and on at a very high volume about the wedding and nonsensical things, and even a pillow over my head wasn’t enough to drown out the chatter.
Gemma uses earplugs to sleep so she was golden on the couch but I couldn’t even fathom falling asleep in my apartment.
That’s why I sneaked out to Stacy’s, sending my siblings a very believable text about going to spend the night with my girlfriend.
I was basically dead on my feet when I got to her apartment, from both the alcohol and the extremely overwhelming, long day .
I was trying to sleep but I can’t because Tashia and Evan…
That was when Stacy’s whole demeanor shifted. I brushed it off last night because it was late and I knew she was tired but she thought I came here because it hurt too bad to be around Tashia and Evan.
She really thinks I still have feelings for Tashia, even after all the times I’ve told her otherwise.
“Fuck,” I mutter to myself, scrubbing my hands down my face.
I shoot Stacy a text back, asking if we can meet for practice a little bit earlier, before hopping up and making her bed.
I let myself out of her apartment, heading back to my own to say my goodbye’s to Evan, Gemma, and Tashia.
They’re all worse for wear after our night out and ready to get on the road, so I usher them out with a couple hugs and throw on my gym clothes.
Stacy sends me back a text saying she’s good to meet whenever I am so after a quick protein shake and gathering my cheer bag, I’m on my way to our practice gym.
And to hopefully clear the air with Stace about the reasoning behind my late night visit last night.
“Morning, sunshine,” I greet her when I walk into the gym, my voice bouncing off the walls of the large, empty space.
Stace is stretching on the mats, a hot pink workout set plastered to her body like it was special-tailored just for her. The sight makes my knees wobble but when I peer up at her serious face, I snap out of it.
Just as I suspected. Stacy’s pissed.
I swing my bag onto the bleachers before heading over to the mats, stretching my arms across my chest as I approach her. “Want to start with hands to hands since we’ve finally almost got it?” I ask.
She looks up at me from the splits she’s in on the mat, her light brows pulled together with her thick lips turned upside down. “Tashia, Evan, and Gemma leave?” she asks instead of answering me.
I nod. “Yup. Think they’re all feeling pretty rough this morning so they wanted to get home.”
Stace grunts instead of responding, switching from her right splits to her left.
God, I love cheerleaders. Athletes are my type in general but something about girls who do cheer and dance. Their flexibility is insane, something that I’ve found firsthand can be a blessing in the bedroom.
I shake my head to banish my inappropriate thoughts. Stacy’s mad at me and I can’t stop thinking about throwing her legs over my shoulders and pressing her up against a wall. What the hell is wrong with me?
I clap my hands together. “Ready?”
The silence from Stacy continues as she gives me a quick nod and hops to her feet.
We throw a couple of warm-up stunts before going into our hands to hands.
The first couple wobble and fall, but our third attempt sticks as well as our fourth try.
They’re both a little shaky and the dismounts aren’t pretty, but we’re getting better.
“Nicely done, Dunn,” I tell her when I dismount her for the fourth time, holding out my knuckle for her to bump.
She glares at my hand before flinging her ponytail over her shoulder and walking to get her water bottle.
Groaning, I drop my head forward. I don’t know why I was expecting Stacy to open up to me all on her own. At this point, I should know better. Stacy’s walls are more like a fortress, a terrifying moat full of alligators and crocodiles leading up to Dracula’s castle.
“Want to talk about it?” I ask as I approach the bleachers.
She takes a big swig of her water before answering. “Talk about what?”
I give her a droll look, placing my hands on my hips. “Stace, call it a hunch, but I think you’re pissed at me.”
She doesn’t meet my gaze, taking another drink. “I’m fine.”
I let out a dry laugh. “Want me to take a guess?”
“Let’s go to the weightroom. I wasn’t able to finish my arm routine earlier,” she rushes out instead of responding, turning on her heels and sprinting to the small weightroom off of our practice gym.
I shake my head at how stubborn my girl is but trail after her anyway.
The weightroom in our practice space is small but mighty.
The far wall is lined with mirrors, dumbbells and barbells stretching across the length of the mirrors ranging from five pounders all the way up to a couple hundred pounds.
There’s a cable pulley system and a leg press situated on the wall to the left with a bench press and squat rack in the center of the room.
The whole room smells like rubberized mats and faint sweat, and it’s just big enough to hold a few people at a time.
Yet I feel a million miles away from Stace as she grabs a couple of free weights and starts doing bicep curls in the mirror.
“Stacy,” I say, meandering up behind her as she faces the mirror.
She doesn’t stop her workout as she huffs out, “I’m fine, Reece.”
“You’re not,” I challenge, taking a step into her back.
She glances at me in the mirror, continuing on with her set. “Don’t act like you know everything,” she spits, a slight sheen of sweat coating her forehead.
“I don’t know everything but I do know you.”
She rolls her eyes in the reflection of the mirror but I can see the hurt beyond her icy exterior. “I’m just tired from yesterday.”
“That may be part of it,” I concede, moving in another inch until my front is flush with her back.
“It’s all of it,” she argues frustratedly, her curls becoming more aggressive as she pins me with a glare.
I place my hands on her hips and drop my mouth to her ear. “Are you going to tell me the truth or am I going to have to fuck it out of you?”
The dumbbells clatter to the ground as Stacy gasps. She whirls around to glare up at me, her eyebrows pulled down over her eyes, but I just smirk back.
“What did you just say to me?” she huffs, folding her arms over her chest.
I shrug. “You’ve got an attitude. Might help.”
“I don’t have an attitude,” she grunts, shoving back against my chest. “I just wish you’d be honest with me for once.” She turns back around, racking her dumbbells before shooting me an icy glare in the mirror.
Ah. The first step to crossing the life-threatening moat is complete.
I step up behind her again, cocking my head to the side. “What haven’t I been honest about, Stace?”
She sighs, rolling her eyes again as she places her hands on her petite hips. “I’m so tired of you acting like this fake relationship isn’t for Tashia’s benefit, Reece. I know seeing her and Evan together bothers you but I just wish you’d admit it.”
“It doesn’t bother me,” I say truthfully. “I don’t know what to do to prove to you that none of this has ever been about getting Tashia back.”
She studies me in the mirror, worrying her bottom lip before muttering, “You couldn’t even be in the same apartment with them last night.”
Damn. I’m good.
I move another inch closer to Stacy as she drops her gaze to the rubber mat below our feet. “Stace, I couldn’t sleep because they were being loud . Not because being around them bothers me too much.”
Her eyes snap back up to mine and she hugs her arms over her chest. “Oh.”
“I wish you would ask before making assumptions,” I tell her, lightly placing my hands back on her hips while holding her gaze in the mirror.
Her jaw ticks. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” she tells me.
I smirk at her reflection, digging my fingers into her workout set. “It doesn’t?”
Stacy shakes her head vigorously. “No.”
“So, the thought of me having feelings for Tashia doesn’t bother you at all?”
“Why would it?” She chuckles but her voice wobbles. “This is all fake. But can you do me a favor?”
I say nothing, waiting for her to continue.