Page 172 of Call the Shots
“Did you tell them?!” he shouted.
“We have a coach!” Fridge yelled.
Heads perked up, everyone swiveled to look. The air was still before the team shoved themselves up, almost knocking over the table with the breakfast remains.
“We have a coach?!” Nick demanded.
Denali cupped his hands around his mouth. “Anthony Sémajuste!”
“The Séma-automatic?!” a dozen different teammates said.
“SÉMA-AUTOMATIC!” Denali roared. “WE GOT THE SÉMA-AUTOMATIC!” He jerked over to look at me. “Did you writeProperty of June Basilon your fucking face? Jesus Christ.”
Everyone screamed, someone grabbed a bottle from their dorm to slosh drinks into paper cups, the team came unglued. Against all odds, the Gladiators weren’t down for the count after all.
“This is such a low bar!” Elijah laughed, grabbing his stomach. “I fucking love this team. We’re pumped to have a real fucking coach!”
CHAPTER 65
JUNE
A TIGER AFTER A BABY DEER
We leftRoman Villa as a team and Montoya helped me carry things to the Colo, telling me about Anthony Sémajuste. “His daughter’s an alternate captain for ASU’s hockey team. They’re a two-time champion?—”
I snuck a look behind him to see Nick talking to Bear, who lit up when our eyes met.
Face forward, June.
I wasn’t avoiding Bear. I mean, I couldn’t, we lived together, and I didn’twantto avoid him. I just needed a couple of minutes to figure out how to fix this.
At the Colo, everyone separated to clean before Sémajuste’s arrival. I lugged boxes to Cleo’s office, returning to grab the last one when I ran into Bear.
Like, took a sharp turn and almost hit him.
“Hey,” he said softly.
I took a step closer to the rink. “Hello.” I winced. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be awkward?—”
“I want to talk?—”
His lips tugged up for a smile and my eyes flickered to the rink. It’d been a long time since I was flustered with someone. I cleared my throat. “I didn’t mean to lead you on?—”
“I don’t want us to?—”
We fell silent again.
He leaned against the boards. “You didn’t lead me on, June.”
“We’re different people. I wouldn’t make you happy.”
“Oh. I understand.”
There was an uncomfortable twinge in my chest, but I nodded. “Good.”
“I’m not the kind of guy you’d swipe right on.”
“What?” I blinked, sure I heard him wrong. “No, Bear?—”
