Page 31 of Foul Line

He huffs. “That’s been the plan since we were kids.”

“But I mean, since they’re your best friends, you’d be happy for them no matter what, right?”

His gray eyes cut through me. “What the hell are you trying to get at, Tessa?”

I try to shrug his comment off. “I don’t know. Guess I don’t know what it’s like to have friends.”

“You have friends,” he says. “That spunky girl back home and David Russell.”

Of course he would know David’s name, but not Dawn’s. “Her name’s Dawn,” I inform him, putting as much aggravation as I can in my voice. “How’s Rhonda?”

He shakes his head. “You’re such an idiot.”

I don’t even know why I try, or what I was even trying to accomplish, I guess. I got no answers, just the butt end of Ryan’s terrible attitude. Again.

Jacquin kicks it back into gear once we turn down the road to camp. I follow after him, only this time, Ryan is hot on my heels. We pass the imaginary finish line at the same time. My dad’s there, clapping as we come across. He looks at both Ryan and I like he’s so pleased we performed well. My stomach squeezes at the thought that he’d be just as proud of Ryan as he is with me.

I grab a water and hide around the side of the building to get my breath under control. In the background, I can hear my dad talking to Jacquin, but that’s not everything. Ryan footsteps approach as he walks right up to me. We’re in the shadows of the building and like he’s done before, he gets right in my face, his heaving chest brushing against my own. He squishes the water bottle that’s in my hands against my ribs. “Do you remember what I said to you when you were in the shower, and you and I were alone?”

I nod. His presence throws me for a loop. He’s so close that if I breathe, I’ll breathe him in. No one else has finished yet, but they will soon. What will they see when they turn toward us? Two people who hate each other? Or two people who are great at pretending?

His gray eyes turn molten in front of me. “I thought you would understand you can only believe what I say when we’re alone. Now…and then.”

I swallow, his insinuation is clear. It’s what Hayes has been trying to tell me, too. Though the guys picked Lake, that didn’t mean they stopped liking me. “That’s not enough.”

“It’s all I’ve got.”

My jaw hardens. There’s really nothing more to say to him then.

Ryan moves away, cursing. He runs his hands through his hair. Instead of turning back around, holding me against the wall like he did at the school to try to force me to bow down to him, he just walks away. He grabs a water from the cooler, and then separates himself from everyone else as the rest of the guys finally come running back in.

Ryan Fucking Linc. Each and every time.

I drop my head against the wall of the building behind me, forcing my breaths to slow. I don’t know what amped me up more, finally having Ryan close to me again, or the full sprint at the end of that run.

16

Fuck me.

My stomach drops when my dad lays down what we’re doing today. Hayes moves close to me. He’s not even trying to be nonchalant about it. Today is position specific day. We’re not going to work general skills, we’re working skills for our position and for our position only. Meaning, it’s all me, Lake, and River.

My fingers tingle. The thought of spending the day with the O’Brien boys makes me want to hurl. At least before, there was one other impartial player there besides me and Lake. Now, there’s River. River is just Lake’s clone. They both hate me.

When Dad finishes talking, Hayes looks down at me. “This isn’t good.”

“It’s not like this is new. We knew this was going to happen.”

He looks from Lake to River, seemingly having the same exact conversation with himself that I just had. It seems worse that it’s going to be two against one. At least Jacquin is going to be our coach for the day. He knows Lake and I have an issue with one another, so hopefully he’ll be cool about it. When I look up to find the coach in question, Ryan is next to him, their heads bent together.

My dad is waiting for Hayes while the other two Centers are already next to him. “I’ll be fine,” I tell him, urging him to go off with my dad and learn Center stuff. There’s nothing he can do unless he wants his own training to suffer. But this is the exact reason why we come to this camp. Position specific skills. Working with the best of the best. I’ll just have to remember my motto for this summer:Bigger. Badder. Better.

I end up having to give Hayes a shove to get him going. Once he’s striding toward my dad, I walk up to Jacquin. When we’re all in a tight circle that’s too close for my comfort, Jacquin turns, and Lake, River, and I follow him to one of the outdoor basketball courts on the outskirts of the cabins. There’s a basketball rack already waiting for us along with a cooler of sports drinks and waters.

He turns around as soon as we get onto the court, his arms crossed in front of his chest. “First thing’s first, no bullshit in this training. You play hard, but you play fair. No cheap shots.” He stares at Lake as he says this. “No personal shit. No smack talk.” He grabs a basketball from the rack, spins, and takes a shot at the basket. He makes it. It catches the rim and follows it until it drops through the net. “We’re starting off with a game of Pig.”

I smile at this. My dad and I used to love to play Pig. We’d take the craziest shots and see who could make them. He used to beat me every single time when I was a kid, but as I got older, I got better.

“We’re going in alphabetical order. First Lake, then River, then Tessa.”

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