Chapter 9 Ash
Coach worked us hard all week. The team was really missing Gray on offense, and our backup RB wasn’t anywhere close to Gray’s talent.
Jett was working the wide receivers hard, his focus more on the running game than the passing game, and I was hanging back more, trying to be an extra defense for him in the pocket rather than moving up the field to catch a pass.
Tension in the ranks was high; we were all focusing on the game on Saturday, and tempers were short and getting shorter.
We were leaving Friday afternoon for the game, so Thursday night, I was trying to remember if I had everything packed, which was hard when half my stuff was at my house and half here in this apartment.
Thankfully, we’d been allowed to use the new shower room in the apartment from mid-Wednesday afternoon, something about leaving it to set for twenty-four hours.
Red was still pissy about her apartment furniture being changed, but I noted she spent longer than normal in the shower on Wednesday night.
Being the decent guy I am, I kept my mouth shut.
What I couldn’t keep my mouth shut about was the fact that I couldn’t find my spare cleats. I knew I’d brought them here, and now I had no idea where they were.
I could hear her practicing, and I had to admit the girl had a set of pipes on her, so I didn’t mind hearing her singing.
Very quickly in my four-day stay here, I’d learned that she did not like to be interrupted when she was practicing.
Glancing at my watch for the tenth time in about ten minutes, I couldn’t wait anymore.
Knocking on her door, I waited. She continued to sing, and I knocked harder. “Yo, Red.”
I heard her voice get higher, and I reacted to what I thought was her being petty by opening her door.
My mouth dropped open when I saw her standing in the middle of her room, in lacy red lingerie, her eyes closed, a white wire hanging between her breasts, and her phone in her hand.
I took my time to admire her curves, but I knew I was in shit if she caught me, so I backed out of the room only for her eyes to fly open, and a scream pierced my eardrums, causing me to wince.
“What the hell?”
“Sorry, I thought you said come in,” I lied hastily as she scrambled for a shirt to hold up in front of her.
“Why would I say come in?” she demanded as she glared at me, disconnecting the headphones from the phone in temper. “I’m in my underwear!”
“How was I supposed to know that?” I defended myself.
“Why are you still in here?” she asked me as she ripped the headphones out and hastily pulled the T-shirt over her head, covering her body. I don’t know why she thought it was hiding her; it barely covered her ass, and her legs were very much on display.
“You keep talking to me!” I replied incredulously.
“Go away!”
“Fine!” I went to slam the door when I stopped myself and stuck my head back in her room. “Have you seen my cleats?”
The death glare she gave me made Quinn look friendly. “What?”
“My, eh, you know . . . cleats?”
“Your sneakers?”
“Football boots, you know . . . cleats.”
“Why would your boots be in my bedroom?”
“I didn’t think they were, I just wanted to know if you’d seen them?” Her glare ratcheted up several degrees from pissed off to severely pissed off. “Jesus, I didn’t say you killed someone. Calm down.”
“You came into my room when I was undressed, without permission!”
“It was an accident!” Running my hand over my hair, I looked at her in exasperation. “And how many times do I need to say this? I’ve seen you naked already!”
“Just, get out. Go. Now!”
“I’m going,” I told her as I turned away. Taking the two steps into my room, I paced for thirty seconds before I settled down. She really was so fucking infuriating. Rolling my head on my shoulders, I tried to loosen up the tension.
With no warning, my door was flung open as one cleat, then the other, came flying into the bedroom, the second one narrowly missing my head.
Red stood in the same T-shirt, but because her hands were on her hips, the shirt was showing her panties, but it was obvious she didn’t know that, because she was . . . yup, she was furious.
Looking at the cleats and then at her, I beamed at her. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me, just pick up after yourself!” she snapped as she grabbed the door handle and slammed the door closed. I heard her door slam moments later, and with a grin, I retrieved my cleats from the floor. I knew she would know where they were.
Later, I was half-lying across the sofa, on my side with my hand propping my head up as I watched the TV, my legs stretched out to the side with one raised where my other arm rested.
As I watched the closing minutes of Thursday Night Football, I heard her come into the room, her face averted so she didn’t have to look at me.
Looking over at her, I saw she was wearing the same T-shirt, but she now had a pair of cotton shorts on.
Her long red hair was gathered at the nape of her neck in a loose ponytail.
She was still wearing the headphones, her lips mouthing the words as she sang along to whatever she was listening to.
She seemed to sing gospel choir music a lot, but from the way her hips were moving, I didn’t think it was suitable Sunday church music she was rocking out to.
As she closed the fridge door, she caught me looking at her, and I enjoyed the flush on her cheeks. Pulling one of her earbuds out, she raised the can of Coke in her hand. “Want one?”
“Sure,” I replied easily as she reopened the fridge.
“I’ve got Diet Coke and Sprite. Which one?”
I told her Sprite, and then she crossed the room to hand it to me.
“Did you, um, want a glass?”
Smiling, I shook my head, my hair falling into my eyes. “Nah, this is good.” Opening the can, I took a long drink as I turned my attention back to the TV.
“Can I sit?”
Looking at her in surprise, I gestured to the sofa. “It’s your apartment, Red. You don’t need my permission.”
With a snort, she sat on the edge of the sofa, drawing one leg to her chest as she watched the last few minutes with me. “I hate football.”
“You’re going to need to leave,” I retorted with a small laugh. I saw her lips twitch, but she said nothing else. When the game was over, I lowered the volume slightly, and she looked over at me, her cheek resting on her knee. “What?” I asked her, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
“You need to wear a shirt when you’re here.”
I had not been expecting that, and I looked down at my chest quickly before looking back up. “Why?”
“Because I don’t need to see all,” she waved her hand up and down at my torso, “that.”
“Why?”
“Ash, can you just wear a shirt?”
“I’m tempting you?”
Her eyes widened in surprise before she closed them in resignation. “No, you egotistical jerk, I just don’t want your sweaty body all over my new sofa.”
Laughing out loud, I propped myself up more as I finished my Sprite. “I don’t usually wear a shirt when I’m home.”
“You’re not home.” Her voice was soft but clear.
“No, I’m not, but I’m stuck here for however long I need to be, so for all intents and purposes, I’m home for now.”
“Do you resent it?” When she saw my questioning look over at her, she expanded. “Having to be here?”
“It’s not easy,” I admitted, sitting up properly. “My room has all my things, and I keep forgetting to take stuff that I need here.”
“Okay, inconvenience of being physically moved, do you resent it personally that you have to be here?”
“Nah, I know you need me.”
“I don’t need you.” Her mouth tightened in displeasure.
Nodding, I thought about it. “Did Quinn tell you everything?”
“Yes.” She hesitated. “I think so.”
“You think so?” I questioned.
“Well . . .” I watched her shift in her seat, pulling both legs to her chest and resting her chin on them as she looked at me. “It’s not really my place to know, you know what I mean?”
Frowning, I thought about it. “No,” I answered honestly. “You have four people, five including me, telling you that these people are bad shit, and you think it isn’t your place to know?”
“But it’s Quinn that they want, isn’t it?”
I knew my face didn’t hide my shock, and I blinked before I screwed my eyes shut. “Did you say that out loud?” I asked as I opened one eye to look at her.
Her face was beet red, and she buried her face in her knees. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You’re so fucking lucky Gray didn’t hear that.”
“He’s kinda scary.” She reached out to take a drink of her Diet Coke. “I meant that . . . you know, I’m . . . well, no one. It’s Quinn they know, maybe you guys. But Ava? Me? We’re okay. You should all be looking out for Quinn.”
“We don’t know that they don’t know you. If they’ve been watching Queeny because we’ve been, you know, making waves, then they will have seen her with Ava, and that means they will also have seen you.”
“If? You don’t think they have been?”
“No. Well, I’m not sure. I think they weren’t before, and because of us, they are now.”
She watched me as I finished my drink, the truth hanging heavy between us. “Why do you do Mayhem?”
I gave her my attention again as she studied me.
“That’s completely random and not related to what we’re talking about,” I said as I looked past her and around the small apartment.
For two girls living here, it was surprisingly not girly.
In fact, there were hardly any personal effects at all. “You sure you two are best friends?”
“Huh?” Red lifted her head and looked around. “Of course, why?”
“There’s no personality in this place.”