Page 15 of Foul Line

Stepping out of the cabin right after Lake and River are my dad and Jacquin. He introduces him to us—like he needs an introduction. If someone here doesn’t know who he is, they should probably just leave camp now because they’re not taking this basketball thing seriously enough. “Sellers is going to lead your morning run,” Dad announces.

Jacquin smiles and then stretches alongside us while my dad runs through how the day is going to go. I’m shaking my calves out when my dad finishes and Jacquin tells us all to follow him. I start out in the middle of the pack, but that’s not good enough for me anymore. I move up to right beside Jacquin who’s keeping a really good pace. He leads us out of the camp and down the side roads.

Ryan and Lake’s voices sound behind us. There’s even some bitching, which I can only gather is coming from Lake himself. There’s no way in hell he’s beating me on this run though. He can groan all he wants.

I strike up a conversation with Jacquin and learn all about how the Cavs recruited him. I’m not going to lie, it’s inspiring, and I’m almost dying of jealousy.

“Hear that, Dale? That’s as close as you’re going to get to your own Cinderella story,” Lake crows.

I hold my hand up to flip him off.

Jacquin looks behind us, taking Lake in. I don’t even bother. I already know I’m going to see the most pompous face ever. Jacquin looks at me briefly before switching back to watch the road in front of us again. Instead of commenting about Lake, he says, “Your dad tells me you played for the Rockport Warriors boys’ team last season.”

I nod. I’m sure Jacquin has seen all the stats on the camp attendees, including mine. He’s seen our playing time and numbers. I’m not going to tell him what happened at RHS, I’m going to show him during camp why it should’ve been different. Lake, however, says, “Did he also tell you she barely played?”

“He did, actually,” Jacquin says.

Jacquin picks up the pace, and I push it alongside him. This is faster than I normally run my long runs, but I’m determined to stay in front of all the Ballers.

Jacquin looks over after another mile or so. “Nice stride, Dale.”

I smile at him, but because we’re going faster than normal, I’m also breathing harder than normal and at the same time, trying not to let that show. I don’t feel the others breathing down my neck anymore, so I could let off the gas if I wanted to, but I don’t. Before I know it, we’re at five miles as we swing back around toward camp.

“Pick it up near the end,” Jacquin shouts back.

I take my chance to look around. Ryan and Sloan are the only ones close to us now. Sloan is glaring at Jacquin and me. Lake is running with River while Hayes and Alec are intermixed with the rest of the guys invited to camp.

Jacquin starts to sprint, so I kick into the next gear, too. He looks over at me. “Are you trying to prove something, Dale?”

“Yes,” I push out, my breathing harsh.

“Good.”

He flies across the bit of grass between the two trees near the main building that symbolizes our finish line, then slows, placing his hands behind his head. I finish right after him. Well, like five strides, but I do finish closer to him than anyone else. He winks at me right before I bend over, pulling in air as fast and even as I can. Someone’s helpfully left a bucket of water bottles near us, so I grab one of those, too, gulping it down. With what’s left in the bottle, I place it on the back of my neck as sweat drips down my face and onto the front of my RHS tank top. It’s almost completely soaked through with sweat, but I don’t care about that. I care that I smoked Lake fucking O’Brien. Douche.

Hayes runs across the imaginary finish line and immediately smiles at me. “Nice work, Tessa.”

Lake glares at him while the rest of the Ballers raise their eyebrows. I don’t know if it’s because he talked to me, or if it’s because he talked at all that surprised them the most.

“Take fifteen,” Sellers says, “Then meet us out on the outdoor court.”

I toss my empty water bottle into a recycle bin and bend over for a new one, but there’s already one in my face. I look up to find Hayes smiling at me. I take the bottle from him and drink some more. “Thank you,” I say finally after I feel like I have my breathing under some sort of control. I look around. The Ballers are still nearby. River O’Brien is staring at our exchange with narrowed slits for eyes. “You’re brave,” I tell him, realizing that what he’s doing is pretty significant. Fraternizing with the enemy in front of his people.

“You out of everyone should know that I’m not that brave. I’m just making up for being a dick.”

I chuckle. “You’re going to have to try harder than this then.”

I walk toward the side bathrooms. I want nothing more than to jump in the lake right now but throwing water on my face will have to do before I head out onto the court. Right when I’m about to pass by the main entrance to the building, Chase and his lacrosse team come out the door. He looks at me from head-to-toe, and something more flares in his eyes than has been there previously. He moves forward, catching me before I pass him and drops a kiss on my cheek. “Jesus, Tessa,” he almost growls.

“Lucky Dick,” one of his teammates says.

I laugh even though the catch in Chase’s voice makes me uncomfortable. I head toward the door with the girl painted on the front, but turn when a voice says, “Looks like someone’s about to get his dick sucked.”

Chase is right behind me, acting like he’s going to follow me into the bathroom. He stops when he hears the words. Whipping around, we both stare at River. I open my mouth to tell him off, but I don’t have to. Hayes says, “Shut the fuck up, Baby O’Brien.”

My eyebrows raise. I just stand there, my mouth hanging open. I guess I don’t need to stick up for myself this time. Too bad for Hayes he’s getting daggers from Lake. Oh well, they can fight it out for all I care. “See you later, Chase,” I say, making sure he’s not actually going to follow me into the bathroom.

He mumbles something back that vaguely sounds like, “Yeah, sure.”

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