Page 76 of Game On

I nod. A cry rips through her throat. “It’s not what you think,” I try and tell her. But isn’t it? It’s obvious someone ended up with my underwear for a reason. “Well, maybe it is. I don’t know, Mom.”

Her fingers curl around the steering wheel. “You’re not seeing those boys again.”

“It’s not their fault those girls are torturing me.”

“It’s not? You also don’t see them doing anything about it, do you? Don’t tell me they don’t know or that they can’t do anything. I’ve been around this school for ages. I get how things are. I’ve heard your father’s stories. I know, Tess. Those boys are trouble, and you’re not seeing them again.”

I put my hands over my face and lean my head against the car back. “It’s just one of them.”

“They’re all the same,” she snaps. “Anyone can see that.”

She doesn’t know. What I’ve done and felt with Sloan and Alec, hell even Ryan, the way he looked me in the eyes and said those things when we were in the shower together…you can’t fake shit like that. I think. Maybe I’m just completely fucked in the head.

She pulls into the driveway, and I step out. “Call Dawn,” she says. “She was worried about you.”

I nod, grab my bag, get out of the car, and don’t stop until I’m stripping in my bathroom, letting the hot water fill the tub. I drop a bath bomb in and step into the slicing hot water. The only thing I’ve brought in with me is my phone so I can call Dawn. I push her face in my Contacts list. The first thing out of her mouth is, “Fuck those bitches.”

I try to laugh, but instead, I cry. One sob turns into two and then I’m sniffling. There’s no hiding it now.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Tessa. If it makes you feel any better, I smashed Rhonda Kyle’s face into a locker.”

That makes me stop. “No way.”

“Yep. It’s done.”

I hear David’s voice call out. “Oh, she did it! My girl looked hot.”

I laugh at his interpretation of what happened. “Thank you?” Is that something I thank someone for? I don’t know.

“So, what are you going to do?” she asks.

“About…?”

“You can’t still want to stay on the team, right? I mean, Tessa, that was awful.”

“A scout was there tonight. WNBA.”

She sucks in a breath. “No.”

“Yep.”

“I should’ve hit her twice.”

“I don’t know if it matters. Coach said it probably didn’t make a difference.”

“I thought you played great,” Dawn says.

I laugh. “You have no idea what you’re talking about though.”

“I know your balls went through the hoop. That’s good.”

On the other side of the line, I hear David say, “Hey, isn’t that…?”

“No!” Dawn says, her voice in shock.

“What?” I ask, sitting straight up. Bath water sloshes everywhere.

Dawn curses under her breath. “David and I are going for a walk. We just saw the Ballers pull up to Ryan Linc’s house. Bunch of assholes. I should go in there and kick all their asses.”

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