Chapter Twenty-One
Serenity
Boulder Creek is a suburb due south of Danube Stadium, on the east side of Canyon.
I’ve heard some of the players live on modern, gated properties here.
I’m sure to park my Ford C-Max a decent distance from Harmony’s apartment block.
I’ve known these girls a while now, and I’m grateful that none of them is yet to see the car I drive.
When I arrive, most of the other girls are pulling up in their own vehicles, or getting dropped off. When Jewel sees me, I give her a wave and she comes racing over, her curls bouncing with every step.
‘Hey, Ren!’ she beams.
‘Hey,’ I smile and give her a hug on the street. I woke up finding my resolve to quit had softened after sleep, though I still don’t see any way out of my situation without me being exposed as a liar.
‘You nervous?’ she asks.
‘Nervous? About what?’
‘You know. Our first team bonding session.’
I frown. ‘Should we be?’
Jewel’s eyes go wide. She lowers her voice. ‘I hear Angel and Shawny said they’re gonna spice things up a little.’
Upstairs, Harmony welcomes everyone to her apartment.
‘Phones at the door!’ is the instruction given to everyone and so, laughing, I surrender my cell.
Stepping forward, I take in my surroundings.
Her place is light and airy, with artwork on the walls and pictures of her extended family in frames.
It tasteful. Demure. It’s the kind of place I can only imagine leasing.
In the kitchen, there are fresh pastries, fruit and coffee and everybody helps themselves.
‘When you’re ready, take a seat!’ Harmony trills over excited voices.
She’s brought out extra chairs. It takes a few moments for everybody to settle. Next to Jewel, I sit on the carpet and hug my knees.
‘Welcome everybody,’ Harmony says as the room quietens. ‘Welcome to our first team bonding of the season.’
There is applause. Jewel elbows me in my side and I smile. Harmony makes it sound like a ritual, which it is.
‘Admin points first,’ our captain continues. ‘Everybody signed up for their community outreach choices, yes?’
There is a ‘yes’ in unison. In the end, I signed up to the same projects as Jewel.
‘Okay great,’ Harmony says. She sobers. ‘Second point, Mona opted out of today.’
There are some sighs of disappointment. ‘I invited her but… says she’s not coming back until the weight is off.’
I see some of the girls roll their eyes, keeping their views to themselves.
‘Come on, ladies, it’s what we signed up for,’ Ashlyn reminds everyone, twisting her pink-blonde braid between her fingers.
Harmony waits for the room to settle again. ‘Third point. I know there’s some gossip and rumours flying around already…’
‘Persia Takeda…’ Angel says in the same voice as a movie trailer, ‘and the case of the missing uniform.’
On the floor, I feel my muscles tense.
‘For those of you who haven’t heard,’ Harmony continues, ‘Persia Takeda’s CMC uniform has gone missing. I want y’all to know that Persia’s been questioned and she denies any theft has taken place,’ Harmony states, raising her eyebrows a little disapprovingly at Angel.
‘How the hell would she have even gotten into the stadium anyways?’ Shawny interrupts from behind me.
‘Exactly,’ Angel echoes. ‘They took her security badge the same moment they fired her ass. There’s just no way.’
‘I say they’re tryna make out like one rotten apple can taint the whole barrel,’ Imara argues with her mouth full of crescent roll.
‘Like, they wanted to endorse their own decision to have her fired, like, oh, in case there was any doubt, she stole her own uniform, looks like we were right about her all along. You know what? I think they knew Persia was badass and they decided she didn’t fit the mould. ’
‘Like, we all make mistakes,’ Shawny adds.
My stomach churns. I keep my gaze fixed on the carpet. To think that I know precisely who took Persia’s CMC uniform and that last night I wore it myself.
What would they all think of me if they knew the truth?
‘Look, let’s not speculate,’ I hear Harmony say, but it’s hard to hear over the voices that are screaming at me in my head. ‘There’ll be an investigation. Hopefully Persia will be exonerated.’
‘I can already guess the outcome of that investigation,’ Angel grumbles from behind me under her breath.
Solana, a Hispanic third-year veteran, speaks up. There’s an excitable glint in her eye. ‘Speaking of speculation, what’s the order of play for today?’
There is movement as the attention of the room shifts to Angel and Shawny on the couch, wearing smiles that say butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths.
‘We don’t have the green light yet,’ Angel says, looking across at Harmony and Ashlyn.
Harmony holds up her palms, as though in defeat. ‘What happens in this room stays in this room, alright?’
Jewel and I exchange nervous glances.
‘What’s it to be girls?’ Ashlyn asks.
Angel takes in the expectant faces all around her. ‘We thought about Never Have I Ever. But in the end, we went with good ol’ Truth or Dare!’
There’s whooping and applause. My stomach churns. Jewel squeezes my bicep.
‘And we’ve got questions!’ Shawny sings, pulling out two hats containing slips of paper that she’s seemingly been hiding all this time. I feel a sense of impending dread.
‘Can I please confirm that everybody left their cell phone at the door?’ Harmony asks, a little nervously.
‘First of all,’ Angel says to the group, ‘who wants cocktails?!’
‘It’s ten-thirty in the morning!’ Ashlyn objects.
There are cries of ‘I’ll have one!’
‘Ren, you want a cocktail?’ Jewel asks me.
‘Sure, why not?’ I say nervously.
I stay seated while Jewel returns from the kitchen with some bright pink fluid in a glass, the ice cubes clinking.
‘What is it?’
‘Think it’s supposed to be like an island punch or some kind of Sex on the Beach,’ she replies. ‘Try some.’
I do, and I can already taste a hint of vodka. A few minutes later and Angel is organizing everybody to sit in a circle.
‘We go round that way, but youngest cheerleader goes first,’ Shawny announces. ‘Tori, that’s you! Truth or dare, honey?’
‘Hold up, are there dirty truth or dares in here?’ Harmony asks.
‘What would be the fun in clean truth or dares?’ Angel asks.
Harmony pulls a face. I look across at Tori, a nineteen-year-old fellow rookie whose blonde hair is a similar shade to mine. Her cheeks have flared a shade of crimson. ‘Uh… truth, I guess?’ she squeaks.
Angel’s hand dives into her hat containing folded slips of paper. ‘I should warn y’all, there’s only three questions in here.’
‘Go easy on her, please,’ Ashlyn says in a warning tone.
Angel pulls a slip of paper, reads the question, then thinks the better of it. She chooses another. ‘What is your bedroom kink?’ she reads out.
Tori blushes for a second time, placing both hands on her cheeks. ‘My what? My bedroom kink? What even is that?’
‘It means how do you like it nasty in the bedroom?’ Solana says.
‘Uhm. I don’t know! My, uh, boyfriend licked Ben & Jerry’s out of my belly button once, does that count?’ Tori giggles, and the room descends into laughter.
‘Oh, honey, it counts!’ Angel cries as she moves to the next girl, who also picks truth.
After that, Harmony is next in the circle. ‘Truth,’ she says. ‘But I literally reserve the right to lie.’
‘NO lies!’ Shawny counters.
Angel pulls out a question, a wry smile creeping onto her features. ‘Given the choice, which Mutineer team player would you invite into your bed and why?’
There is a chorus of ‘Ooooh’ as Harmony rolls her eyes. ‘I think we all know the answer to that one, Angel, thank you.’
‘It has to be a team member who hasn’t been there before!’ Solana hollers.
‘He’s never,’ Harmony says with a degree of sincerity and some of the girls look surprised. ‘I don’t know why y’all think that.’
‘So…’ Angel begins.
Harmony goes on the defensive, crossing her arms over her chest. ‘Hudson Briar has never been here. And I’ve never been to his place either. Even if it is about six times the size of my apartment.’
‘So, are we allowed to know how far you have gone?’ Shawny asks.
Harmony looks coy. Resistance is not something I’ve ever really showed Jake, whereas Harmony’s obeyed the rules from day one.
‘I answered the question,’ Harmony says sweetly. ‘I don’t have to say nothin’ else.’
The room erupts as everyone wants to know the details, me included.
‘Alright, alright, we may have had a moment. At Brody Conway’s wedding. In the men’s bathroom. I may have gotten a little carried away.’
Shawny leans forward. ‘Carried away how?’
Harmony blushes. ‘He may have… Oh my lord, I am not getting into this. Next person!’
Angel and Shawny move around the circle. After Leona, Ashlyn and Imara take their turns, then it’s Jewel’s time to choose.
‘Truth,’ she grins.
Angel picks up a piece of paper. ‘Same question,’ she says. ‘Which current, serving Mutineer would you have your wicked way with?’
‘Jake Walsh,’ Shawny coughs out, muffling the sound with her fist, and everybody laughs. Everybody except me, because on the inside, I’m in a panic.
‘Not gonna lie,’ Jewel hums and I can’t look her in the eye. ‘Jake Walsh is some serious hot property. I’d ride him like a regular rodeo.’
There are literal squeals. ‘Yee-haw!’ Angel hoots and Harmony holds her face in her hands, like this wasn’t quite the team bonding she’d hoped for.
‘He is my official NFL crush, and I am crushing hard on that boy,’ Jewel admits, and her words are pin pricks against my skin.
I picture the last time Jake saw me in the Surly’s parking lot.
His look of blank indifference. Like in that moment, seeing me up on stage, he’d made up his mind that he no longer wanted anything more to do with me.
He’d be better off with a kind-hearted girl like Jewel.
‘Ren, you’re up,’ Angel says, and I snap back to the game. There’s no way I want to be asked that same question.
‘Um. Everybody else said truth,’ I say, ‘so I guess I’ll go dare.’