40. Jamie
Jamie
The team bus riding back to campus is silent as a cemetery; everyone is passed out cold in their seats, exhausted from an intense game and a night of partying.
Because we fucking won.
But, boy, were they wrong.
Whatever the reason may be, NHU was not prepared for the absolute cage fight we brought them.
And now, for the first time in six years, Saint Augustine is heading to the Frozen Four.
“Are y’all going to ride the school’s bus down, or should we try to carpool?” Stella asks Maya, Chloe, and Dani, who are sitting around the kitchen of Colt and Beau’s apartment.
“The four of us would fit in my SUV, if we wanted to ride together,” Chloe offers. “Riding in a charter bus for that many hours with that many people sounds horrendous,” she adds, and the other girls nod.
In the last couple of weeks since I came clean about my relationship with Maya to Colt and Beau—which also meant bringing Stella in on the secret—we’ve all come here to hang out together a few times.
Getting to spend time in a private setting where we can be a normal couple in front of our friends is… surreal.
I want to hold her hand, pull her onto my lap, play with her blonde curls. I don’t give a damn about PDA, because it just feels too good to be free like this.
But, right now, she’s helping the girls plan their trip down to Tampa for the tournament. I’m sitting on the leather sectional with the boys, watching a replay of the Minnesota game from last weekend—the team we’re going to be facing first in the Final Four.
“See? Right there,” Drew says, pointing and rewinding the play. “Number fifty-six can’t go left. He was wide open and passed the puck off instead.”
We watch the replay, and sure enough, the right winger for team we’re up against has an open left-handed shot and doesn’t take it, instead slapping the puck over to the Center.
“If he does that every time he’s got a shot to the left, it’ll be cake to force a turnover. Like stealing candy from a baby,” Beau replies.
Colt chimes in, but I quit listening as I focus my attention back on Maya’s delicate laugh from across the way. She must feel my eyes on her, because she peeks over, and smirks at me when she meets my eyes.
“I’m trying to decide if I want to ride down with you guys or fly with my parents,” Dani says, and Beau, eavesdropping on their conversation, groans before he can stop himself.
“Do you have something to say?” Danielle asks him, crossing her arms over her chest and her voice dripping with animosity.
“I just can’t believe we might have to play your fucking brother again.
I’ve had enough of that shitstain to last a lifetime.
” Beau leans back against the couch, not looking in her direction.
She probably can’t see his expression from her place in the kitchen, but from where I’m sitting, it’s clear he’s agitated.
He’s been pissed off at her since he found out Drake was her step-brother, and that, combined with their history from the last two annual trips to Denver, makes for a pretty awkward environment when they’re in the same room.
Danielle, uncrossing her arms to reposition them on her hips, firmly states, “He’s not a ‘shitstain.’ And you better get fucking used to it, because he’ll be here in June.” She turns back to Stella, frowning, but Beau’s fired up now.
“Maybe you should tell him we don’t want him here!” He grits out, finally twisting in his seat so that he can look at the redhead as they argue.
“Oh, grow up! Put on your big boy pants and learn how to play nice, for once.”
Beau, either having no response to this or deciding to hold his tongue from further escalating the fight, slumps back down on the couch, not deigning to say anything else.
“We’ve got St. A’s versus Minnesota and Maryland versus Arizona State,” Colt says, looking at an updated bracket on his phone. “So, we may be playing him again in the finals.”
“Good thing we already beat them once,” Drew says.
“Barely,” Beau mutters. “And they beat us, too, the first time.” He glances at Colt, not bothering to hide the worry in his blue eyes. “I don’t want to play them again. It’s too personal.”
“That’s not our call, B. We do our best, and that’s all we can do,” I say, finally joining the conversation.
Stella comes over, lounging her legs across Colt’s lap and running a hand through his hair, feeling the scar hidden on the back of his head, almost subconsciously. “You guy’s are going to be fine, even if you do play Maryland. Drake apologized; quit letting him and his team get in your head.”
Maya, Chloe, and Dani are talking softly in the kitchen for another moment before Dani announces they’re leaving and says goodbye to the room. With a chorus of farewells—from everyone but Beau—her and Chloe walk out the door.
After her friends leave, Maya comes over to cuddle up next to me on the couch, my arm immediately going around her shoulders.
“You could’ve been a little nicer to her,” Stella points out to Beau once the two of them are gone.
“Trust me, I was nice,” Beau spits out, sinking lower into the couch.
“Dude, if that was nice, then I’m Jesus,” Drew says, turning off ESPN and scrolling for a movie to play.
“Whatever. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Turn on something scary,” he commands, snatching the remote from Drew, starting another tiff over what to watch.
Stella and Maya shoot each other incredulous chuckles, I roll my eyes, and Colt throws a pillow at the two of them. “God, you’re such an shit-stirrer, B,” he reprimands with a laugh of his own.
Smirking, pulling Maya in closer to my side, I make a suggestion. “Let’s watch Scream.”
Glancing down, I watch as Maya’s face goes beet red, and she tries to squirm out from under my arm.
Drew, immediately remembering Halloween, barks out a laugh and searches the movie.
“No, no, you don’t have to play it. He was joking,” Maya tried to say, but Beau cuts her off, laughing now too.
“Don’t worry, Maya; it’s Jay’s favorite movie for good reason,” Beau goads, and she throws the last remaining pillow at him as the three of us laugh.
Colt and Stella share a look of confusion. “What’s so funny about Scream?” she asks, causing another round of laughter to erupt from Dumb and Dumber sitting on the other side of the couch.
Ignoring the question, Maya twists in my hold, bringing her face to my ear so no one else can overhear as she whispers, “Don’t think about me in that mask while the movie’s playing, Jamie…
Don’t think about me coming on your fingers, or my tits in that corset.
I wouldn’t want you to get hard in front of your friends; that would be embarrassing. ”
Sucking in a breath, I squeeze her hip in warning. “Oh, you’re evil,” I grit out, blood pumping hot as I try—and fail—to ignore her words.
“Who wants popcorn?” Maya asks, pulling out of my hold and dragging Stella to the kitchen, shooting me a shit-eating grin as she goes.
I slouch down into the couch, trying to readjust my sweatpants as I watch her walk away.
“Oh, God, she’s got you by the balls,” Drew drawls, wiping a tear from his eyes as his laughing fit finally ends and he clicks on the movie.
“Give me that pillow,” I command, and Beau tosses it over with another snort. Colt looks even more lost as I settle deeper into my seat with the pillow covering my lap.
“I don’t know if I’m curious or concerned as to why Scream turns you on…
” he comments, and Beau leans over, whispering a recount of what happened on Halloween that Colt and Stella didn’t witness.
His eyebrows shoot up, and he fights back a laugh, understanding now that my joke about playing the movie to tease Maya severely backfired.
The girls come back with three bags of popcorn, and Maya smirks when she sees the pillow I’m cuddling. Stella hits the light switch, bathing the room in the dim light from the television, and we all settle in to watch the movie that definitely does not turn me on.