Page 51 of Call the Shots
“She looks like she’s having fun with the hockey team?” another said hopefully. “Tell her Joey sends his best.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Me too.”
Xavier abandoned lunch and led me down the walkway,separated from everyone else. The only thing back there was the dumpster. He took a deep breath. “What do you mean you’re living with June?”
“June had some kind of block on her housing account,” I explained. “We ended up rooming together.”
For long seconds, he stared like someone pressed a button and switched him to factory settings. “I—no.” His eyes darted to the dumpster. “Fuck.”
“I wanted to tell you in person…” I hesitated. “Since you two…had something or whatever?—”
“June and I didn’t have anything, Bear,” he said, his voice curt.
“Oh. Okay.”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t think it’d be a quick conversation, but I didn’t think he’d be that cold about June either. I shoved my hands in my pockets, thinking of a way to smooth this over, when Xavier’s gaze turned piercing.
“Do you want to sleep with June?”
I froze. “What?”
“Do you want to sleep with June?”
“I—uh—she doesn’t like me.” I cleared my throat. “June hates me?—”
“I didn’t ask if she hates you, I asked if you want to have sex with June,” he snapped.
Suddenly, the back of my neck was warm. I was really glad we weren’t having this conversation in front of my teammates, and I fumbled for an answer. “June has…pretty eyes—uh?—”
“What?”
“I mean she’s pretty—that’s what I was trying to say. But she can’t stand the sight of me?—”
“Bear.” Xavier rubbed his jaw. “Sorry, I meant there was nothingromanticbetween June and I. Yeah, I had June.” His jaw clenched. “Everybody has.” A hard laugh burst out of him. “We call her Gangbang June.”
I stared at him. “What?”
“June does everything. Threesomes, foursomes, whole trains. Anything you can think of, she’s done that shit. She’s not satisfied unless it’s like fifty dudes?—”
“I thought before…she was dating King?”
Xavier paused and his eyes narrowed. “They broke up constantly. Every time June was single, there was a new cock in her mouth.” He laughed again. “Fucking her is like getting a car out of a ditch, you need a buddy to make it work.”
I hung by the wall, silent. “I don’t know. I can’t judge. My freshman year was a blur of puck bunnies. They called me ‘six-foot-four and a whore?—’”
“Bear, I don’t care if you’re living with her,” Xavier interrupted. “It doesn’t matter to me. Doesn’t mean anything. Room with her, whatever, it won’t keep me up at night. You just can’t fuck her. Trust me, I’m looking out for you. Unless you want to make Gangbang June the new warmup for the hockey team?—”
“Group stuff isn’t my thing, Xavier.”
I didn’t know what to think. If June had done that stuff, whatever, but it was kind of hard to believe. June spent alotof time in our dorm. Didn’t gangbangs take evenings? Group coordination? Maybe Google calendars?
“For your own benefit, don’t fuck June,” Xavier warned. “Do you understand?”
I nodded, but I didn’t leave when Xavier did. I gazed at the limp weeds and patches of grass, thinking it over. June’s profile was clear, she wanted good sex. Nothing else.
Which was exactly what I wanted.
