Page 23 of Spin The Bottle
“Damn,” Gabi says. “I could kiss whoever made this.” She takes another sip.
Yeah, me too.
9
Swallow my pride
“You hesitated.” My head turns to the paused screen, pointing at it.
Ethan narrows his eyes at me. “Only for a second. I caught it, didn’t I?”
I nod, not giving him the satisfaction of telling him he’s right. He caught it, but that could have been luck. Next time he might not be so lucky. “That one second could have cost us.” I point at the screen where a player from the other team is surrounding him. “They were ready to attack, and Jordan was open.”
His brows lift. “So much talk from someone who lost two weeks ago.”
My jaw hardens, not liking how he’s undermining me in front of my team. “Just get your head in the game.”
He snorts. “Okay, Troy Bolton.”
The guys chuckle along with him. Fuck, I’m losing them. I know Ethan wants this position. He’s older than me, has been on this team longer than me, but ultimately Coach picked me. Freshman year, I was handed the captain position with the responsibility of bringing this team to a win. Some of the older guys weren’t too keen on having to listen to orders from a freshman, but they fell in line. Ethan, however, hasn’t.
“This isn’t a joke,” I grit out, hearing their laughter come to a halt. I don’t want them to hate me. I know what it’s like being on a team when everyone looks at you like you’re trash, like you don’t belong there. You start to believe it more and more, and I won’t ever go back there.
I don’t want to be an asshole captain, but I also need them to respect me, to listen to me. “That almost cost us a win.”
“Relax, Cap,” Jordan says, making my head snap to his. “It was one game. We were up against Crestview.” He lets out a laugh. “It wasn’t like they had it.”
“Do I need to remind you we won by five points? Five. It could have easily been them. Don’t get too comfortable.” I watch as Jordan settles into the couch. My shoulders slump, looking at the rest of my team. “Do you all feel like this?” I ask them. “Do you not care if we lose?”
“Of course not,” Carter replies. “We want to win, Pierce. You know we do.”
“Then listen up.” I turn off the tv, turning to face them. I was given captain for a reason. I take this shit seriously, and I will do whatever it takes for my team to win. It’s on me, the championship, the playoffs. It’s all on me.
“I’m your captain,” I tell them, pointing at my chest. “It’s on me to get you that win, to make sure you’ve all got your head straight. This is what’s going to get us there. But I’m not the only one on the team. You all need to pull your weight.” I raise my eyebrows. “You got that?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Good.” I nod, waving my hand. “You can leave.”
I watch as they leave, murmurs going off as they exit the living room. I sit back down, tuning into last week’s gameplay. We won. That’s all that matters. But we almost lost. Almost is too close. After what happened at the last game, I can’t let the team down again. I pause the screen where I’m about to shoot, my feet are too far apart. I need to reel it in.
I take my stance, pause again. Shit, that was too low, I need to aim higher. I click again, unpausing the screen, watching as I sink the ball into the net. It went in, the winning shot. I blow out a breath watching as we celebrate on the court.
I tune into the rest of the team coming onto the court, celebrating around me. My eyes narrow, watching their faces. Could it be one of them? Could this be about revenge?
I take my cap off, running a hand over my hair. I have no idea what they want from me. I groan into my hands. I don’t know how I’m going to get what I need. It seems impossible at this point.
The door opens, and I lift my head to see Grayson walk through the door. I let out a breath as he walks in. “Have they left?” I ask.
He shakes his head, scoffing. “Hell no, they’re raiding the fridge.” He takes a seat beside me.
“Great.” I barely have enough to buy groceries as it is.
“It’s on me, don’t worry. I’ll replace everything they ate.”
I’m already shaking my head as the words leave him. “Hell no, you barely eat here, Grayson. It’s on me.”
He lets out a scoff, nudging me on the arm. “You know that’s not true; when you cook, you make extra for me, don’t try to act like you’re the only one using that damn kitchen.”
