Chapter 30 #2
“No need. It’s not crowded, but thanks.” I wave them off. The bathroom is empty, so I take care of business quickly.
As I’m leaving, I find Ben leaning against the opposite wall. “Hi Summer,” he smiles.
“Ben,” I nod and start walking. Geez, this guy seems to be everywhere.
He steps into sync beside me, hands stuffed in his jeans. “Are you going to the party tonight? It’ll be fun.”
“No, I’m not.” I increase my pace, uncomfortable without the guys nearby.
“I can take you if your friends don’t want to go.” He steps in front of me so I have to stop walking. “Come on. I’ll make sure you have a great time,” he says, reaching to touch my arm.
I quickly step backward out of his reach, cradling my arms across my stomach. “Ben. I’m sorry, but I’m not interested. I told you already, I have a boyfriend.”
“Then where is he?” Ben spreads his arms wide, looking around. “I’ve asked, and everyone says all your guy friends are single except Alex. I’m thinking you don’t actually have one, so what's the problem?” He takes a step towards me.
I step backwards but into the center of the hallway so he can’t trap me. “Listen to my words. I’m not interested in you, Ben.”
“You could be if you get to know me. You haven’t even given me a chance yet,” he smiles.
“Is there a problem here?” Alex interrupts, walking up behind Ben and continuing to stand beside me.
“No, let’s go, Alex,” I reply, just wanting to get away from Ben. Alex puts his hand on my lower back and guides me towards to court. Fortunately, Ben doesn’t follow us.
We watch the last quarter of the game that’s playing.
Seb and E hang out with us for a while before they have to meet their team.
Our section fills up the closer we get to our team playing, so I move to sit between Alex and Bay again, with Troy and Nick behind me.
Ben shows up with his friends and sits in the bottom row, but turns and waves at me with a big smile.
What is his deal? How can he ignore all our interactions and my lack of interest?
He’s not getting the hint. He’s as persistent as Cara, it seems. Hopefully, it doesn’t escalate past this point.
The game is tough, and the two teams are evenly matched.
There hasn’t been more than a 6-point lead since it started, and Seb and E haven’t taken a break yet.
At halftime, the game is tied. Both teams are going hard at the beginning of the second half.
Neither team is allowing any shots before the clock runs out.
Finally, E intercepts a pass, and Seb takes off down the court.
E sends a long throw down the court to him.
As he’s going up for a layup, he gets fouled hard by a defender who hits Seb mid-air on his right side trying to block the shot.
We all jump up, concerned, but Seb is still standing, rotating his shoulder and stays in the game.
He misses one of his free throw shots but sinks the other.
The coach removes him from the game to rest, but the opposing team pulls ahead quickly without his defense, so he’s back in after a few minutes.
Both teams exchange the lead until the last few seconds.
We’re all on our feet cheering for the guys.
E gets fouled going up for a shot with 8 seconds left.
He makes both shots to win the game. We’re all hollering and clapping for E as he smiles up at us and gives a wave.
We settle down after both teams leave the court. Gabby arrives first, saying hi and asking Troy to spend the night at a friend’s house. He agrees, so she’s off again quickly. Seb and E head this way, with Seb sporting an ice pack on his shoulder. “Are you okay? Is your shoulder worse?” I ask.
“It’s swelled up, so I’ve got to ice it for a few hours. The guy hit me just right. It’ll probably bruise, but I’ve only got to last for one more game. I am hungry, though. Where are we eating tonight, guys?” He asks the group.
“Let’s return to my place,” Alex offers. “We can pick up dinner on the way.”
Everyone agrees, so we head out. We all say goodbye to Troy as we get to the vehicles.
The guys debate what food to get but ultimately decide on a pub.
I ask E to choose something for me since I haven’t eaten there yet.
E offers to pick up the food, so I hop in with Alex, Nick, and Bay and call Zander to check in as we drive back to Alex’s house.
Dinner turns out to be amazing. E ordered me a steak, garlic mash, and green beans. He knows the chef, and he makes all the food from scratch.
The guys want to go for a swim after we eat, so Seb takes me into his room to change. “Sunshine, did you bring a bathing suit with you?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“You can use our bathroom to change. Same deal as before. Wear clothes over the top if that makes you comfortable. No pressure here,” he smiles at me.
I take my backpack into the bathroom and put on my new swimsuit.
When I gaze into the mirror, I notice my scars.
My stomach is hardly visible between the two pieces, but you can see the one on my thigh and my upper arm.
Realistically, people are going to notice my scars when I’m running track.
Between the tank top and the shorter shorts, I won’t be able to hide them forever.
Maybe it’s best to let the guys see them first. I’m comfortable with them, and they won’t judge me.
Deciding, I pick up my clothes from the floor and shove them back into my bag, but leave out a t-shirt to cover up with until we get downstairs.
Taking a deep breath, I walk back out to the bedroom to find Seb waiting for me on the bed.
I gaze up to watch him devouring me with his eyes, starting at my calves and moving slowly upwards to my face. He blinks twice, then breaks out into a big smile. “Damn, Sunshine, you are hot!”
“Um, are the scars too much?” I feel more self-conscious than I ever have in my life standing here in front of him.
Seb stands up and comes over to me, grabbing my hands.
“Sunshine, you’re beautiful. I didn’t notice the pale traces of your scars at first. It was your curves and the strength of your body that caught my attention.
Yes, I can see them, but they don’t diminish you.
They’re a testament to your strength, a story of resilience etched into your soul. ”
Wow, so poetic. I nod at him, taking another deep breath. “Thank you, Seb.” I drop his hands and pull my t-shirt over my head.
“Give me a second and we’ll head out,” he says, grabbing his board shorts and going into the bathroom.
He quickly returns with all his muscles on display.
I can see discoloration on his shoulder now, although Seb doesn’t mention it.
We walk out to the living area to find all the guys waiting in swim trunks and tees.
“Let’s go,” Seb waves his arm, gesturing for us to follow.
We head down to the main floor and to the right end of the house.
Down a few stairs, there’s a glass-covered hallway to a pool house.
It’s a massive structure with a large in-ground pool and two different diving boards on the far end.
The left side has loungers, a towel shelf, and a small kitchen.
The changing rooms appear to be behind the diving boards, and a hot tub sits off to the back right side of the room.
Nick, Bay, and E quickly strip off their shirts and dive into the water.
“I’m going to float in the shallow end, Sunshine. I don’t want to aggravate my arm by swimming tonight,” Seb says. I nod, take off my t-shirt and follow him into the shallow water. The pool is cool but not cold, so it must be heated. Alex joins us.
“Grab anything you want from the kitchen, Summer. There are washrooms and changing areas in the back.”
“Thanks, Alex,” I smile at him. Alex takes off, swimming towards the deep end where the rest of the guys are.
“Are you a good swimmer, Sunshine?” Seb asks, lying on his back, to float around.
“I think so? There was a pool in town, so I went every summer with Jake and Lily bee.” I tread water close to Seb. My legs protest after a few quick minutes, so I stand and swish my arms through the water.
“Good. We usually end up doing races, or volleyball, or diving competitions when we all get together.”
I nod, swimming slowly around Seb, using my arms mostly, as he floats in a circle. “Hey Summer,” Bay calls, “have you ever dived before?”
“No,” I yell back.
“Come try it,” he says as the guys get out of the deep end.
“Go try it, Sunshine. It’s fun,” Seb encourages.
I step out of the shallow end and walk down to the diving boards, noticing Nick is walking out onto the lower board. He does a bounce and then executes a front flip into the water, entering feet first. “Would you like to try diving, Summer?” Alex asks, coming to stand on my left.
“Um, sure.”
“Jump off the lower board or do a straight dive until you are comfortable,” he smiles at me, not looking at my body or scars, which I appreciate.
“Okay.” I walk over to climb the ladder up to the first level.
It’s actually not too far up. I step onto the diving board, bouncing to gauge its feel.
I lean forward and do a regular dive into the water.
As I’m swimming to the edge, I get splashed from behind.
Glancing back, I see E surfacing with a big smile on his face. He swims over, and we both get out.
“Watch Bay,” E tells me, pointing up. I look and watch Bay walking out onto the higher diving board. He stands with his back to us and jumps backward, twisting his body like a corkscrew and entering the water with very little splash.
“Wow,” I say. “That’s so cool.”
“It is. Now Alex will try to outdo him.” Alex takes his place at the end of the board, but facing out. After a few bounces, he jumps off and does somersaults with his legs straight, entering the water just as smoothly as Bay.
“They’re crazy good, E,” I comment. I know little about diving, but to me, they look like pros.
“They really are. Wait until you see them diving together. Come on, let’s do another dive,” E encourages me.
I climb back up after E does a cannonball. I follow suit by doing one of my own. We each take turns doing whatever we want, diving into the water, and it’s so much fun. My legs get tired quickly, though, so I excuse myself and join Seb in the shallow end.
The guys are getting crazier and crazier with their dives.
From the pool’s far end, Seb and I laugh and cheer for them.
Eventually, we all get tired and head back upstairs after drying off.
Seb and I both do salt soaks while everyone else showers.
I get some recovery cream massaged into Seb’s shoulder and back when he’s done, before remaking my bed and getting under the covers.
Popcorn is passed around as we watch another action movie. I must have dozed off during the movie, because I wake up to Nick in the kitchen with the lights off. I turn on the tv and hold the remote in the air over my head. A minute later, Nick grabs it from me, and I fall back asleep.
It’s a packed crowd for the championship game on Sunday, and I’m surrounded by the guys, Troy, and Zander.
The cheer team is hyping up the crowd as the players warm up, and you can feel the excitement in the air.
Gabby lent me her extra set of pom-poms to wave around during the game.
I have my jersey on, and I painted my cheeks blue with the guys’ numbers.
Everyone else is in some combination of blue and white as well.
Both teams seem to have an equal number of fans today.
The players take the floor after the light show and introductions, and the game begins.
Both teams are pressing hard from the moment the game starts, and every point is hard won.
Seb and E are working seamlessly, as usual.
We’re on our feet cheering non-stop for them.
As the buzzer sounds at halftime, the game is tied.
The cheer team performs an amazing routine to keep the crowd hyped.
The second half starts just as fast-paced. I’m waving my pom poms in the air as we all stand and cheer for the guys. Seb and E play the entire game without a break, both drenched in sweat, but the game is tied when the clock runs out.
The teams take a break, and then the game starts again in overtime.
The teams trade baskets back and forth evenly.
One of the other teams’ starting guards fouls out with one minute left.
That gives Seb the opening he needs. He sinks a 3-point shot with seconds to spare, and we win the game by 1 point.
The fans press forward to run onto the court to celebrate with the team, while Zander and the guys surround me until they pass.
Seb and E are pushing their way out of the crowd towards us. I get picked up in a sweaty hug and swung around. “We did it, Sunshine!” Seb gives me a huge smile.
“You did Hurry. Congratulations,” I smile back. “Congrats E.”
The coach yells for the guys to come back, so Seb sets me down as we all take a seat to wait for them. The third place team joins the other two teams on the court, and the players receive their medals. Seb gets awarded MVP for the tournament. We all holler and cheer as he accepts his trophy.
Zander offers to take us all out for a celebratory dinner. After the guys shower, we drive to a little Italian restaurant, and the food is superb. We all go our separate ways after dinner, as I head home with Zander.