Page 48 of Spin The Bottle
“Why should I be? People are going to talk shit whether I’m fully clothed or half-naked regardless.” Damn. When she puts it like that. “You want some?” she asks. My instinct takes over, my head shaking before I can even decide if I wanted some or not. She eyes me carefully but shrugs it off, dropping the rest of the chips in her mouth.
“So how’s college going?” she asks, sitting down on the couch.
I drop onto the seat beside her, rolling my eyes. “I don’t know how I put up with it every day.”
She laughs. “Best thing I did was drop out. No responsibility and no headaches.”
I bite my lip. I don’t know if I could do that. I love going to classes, having something to do.
“But I do miss the parties,” she says.
“Yeah.” I let out a laugh. “They’re not so bad.”
17
Hands behind your back
“Ruthers! Keep up the pressure on defense.” Carter turns his head at Coach’s directions and blocks a pass. He grabs the ball, looking around and I turn, trying to get the ball, but I’m being blocked. Ethan crowds me, blocking Carter from throwing me the ball. Carter passes it to Jordan, and in less than a second, he has the ball in his hands, spinning around, trying to find someone who’s open.
“C’mon,” Coach shouts. “Move that ball with purpose.”
I manage to find myself open, calling out his name for him to pass the ball. Jordan glances at me but he shakes his head, looking around. What the hell?
“Jordan. I’m open, man.” He doesn’t even turn around, dribbling the ball away from me.
“Pierce is wide open,” Coach tells him. “Don’t wait to make a pass.”
He looks back, throwing the ball to Andre who doesn’t catch it in time. Ethan snatches the ball, spins on his heels and shoots. We all stare at the basket as the ball sinks, scoring for the opposite team. Fuck.
The whistle blows and the opposition celebrates, patting each other on the back.
“Wright. What the hell happened?” Coach asks Jordan. I blow out a breath, wiping the sweat from my forehead. I don’t know what happened, but I was wide open and he made a bad call. “Don’t wait around next time,” Coach tells him. “You have to keep up the intensity. You can’t let the opposite team get comfortable.”
“Yes, Coach.” Jordan replies, glancing at me.
“Practice is over,” Coach says. “Get out of here.”
“Unlucky, Cap.” Ethan Campbell grins, running back to the lockers.
When I push through the doors to the locker room, Ethan walks out of the showers, towel wrapped around his waist and stops in place when he sees me. “You’re losing your touch, Cap.” He shakes his head. “Are you sure you’re up for the job?”
My jaw clenches when all of my teammate’s eyes are on me. “It was one mistake,” I grit out. “I get I made a bad move when I lost the game, but it’s been over a month.”
He scowls at me, opening his locker and pulling his clothes on.
“It’s just weird, that’s all,” Carter says.
I furrow my brows at him. “What is?”
“That you haven’t made any more mistakes like that one,” he says with a shrug.
Yeah, I got that. Such a silly mistake that cost us the win. I don’t lose. Ever. That one game has doubted their trust in me. It’s fucking working. Whatever the blackmailer wants, it’s working.
I turn, ripping off my shirt and stuff it in my locker. “It slipped.”
He’s silent for a while before he turns to face me. “You coming to hang out with us at Murphy’s tonight?” Carter asks, throwing on a t-shirt.
I place my cap on my head, shutting my locker. “Not tonight. I’m gonna head home.”
