I chuckled as I made my way to the locker rooms, my helmet in my hand and Titus and Abbott by my side.
The others had already left earlier due to them being considered ‘special teams.’ Meaning they were already showered and waiting for us when we arrived.
“Give us ten to get dressed,” Titus muttered.
“I’m showering,” I said. “I don’t want to go in there smelling like shit. I’m gonna need fifteen.”
There was a chorus of grunts in acquiesce and we made our way inside.
I stopped by my locker and stripped, finding my towel and my bodywash in the next second.
“Damn, son,” Titus said, holding his hand up in front of his face. “You don’t have to go around flashing that at us.”
A dorky sophomore flushed bright red and covered up.
“You do realize that you’re naked, too, right?” I murmured as we made our way into the showers.
Titus chuckled.
“I do,” he said. “But I also notice that you didn’t say that in front of him.”
I snorted. “I’m okay with the light hazing that y’all give these younger kids. But get any meaner and I might.”
Titus rolled his eyes. “We’re not that kind of football team. We’re tight. All of us. If that little kid back there got his ass handed to him on the field, I would be there just as much as the rest of the team to offer the other team an example as to why you don’t mess with Kilgore High.”
I liked that.
Something else Benton High didn’t have.
“Good,” I said as I found the first showerhead that was open and went to it.
After showering, I walked out of the shower area with a towel wrapped around my waist and my hair dripping down my no-longer-dry back.
I found Abbott already there, slipping on his jeans.
The sophomore was nowhere to be found, leaving it just us seniors when the rest of us finally arrived.
“You got a girl, Abbott?” I asked casually as I slid into my underwear.
He glanced at me over his shoulder and shook his head. “Nah.”
“Ol’ Abbie has a thing for Flo,” Titus said as he came around the corner. “Abbie won’t go after Flo, though, because Flo wants nothing to do with him. Their parents are rivals here.”
“Why?” I asked, looking from Titus to Abbott.
Abbott sighed. “Flo’s mom is a lawyer and Flo’s dad is a cop. My dad is a fucking drug dealer currently serving fifteen years in the pen. My mother is a drugged-out coke whore who doesn’t even acknowledge that I’m alive.”
“Flo’s mom put Abbott’s dad away for his crimes,” Titus said. “She’s a prosecutor. And they think that Abbott doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
I looked over at him. “You do drugs?”
He shook his head.
“You live at home?”
Again, he shook his head.
“Flo won’t talk to you, will she?” I guessed.
He shot me a grin. “She’s gonna one day.”
I had no doubt about that at all.
In fact, I had a feeling that one day soon, she’d be doing a lot more than talking.
“So you and Blue, huh?” I said to Titus. “Y’all got a thing for volleyball players?”
“Ummm, correct me if I’m wrong, but you have a thing for them, too,” Abbott pointed out.
I snorted. “It’s the shorts.”
Okay, it wasn’t only the shorts. But they were definitely a big reason I paid so much attention to her that first day.
“Tempy doesn’t play volleyball. She only runs cross-country and track.”
That was from Slone.
I looked up at him, but it was Titus who said, “And it was right around the time that you got Abilene pregnant with your kid that she quit volleyball, wasn’t it?”
My brows rose in surprise.
The drama.
“Yeah.” Slone sighed. “Fuck. You’re right.”
I knew he was right, too.
That would be a surefire way to get her to back away. Get another chick pregnant.
“Why are we even talking about this?” Graham asked.
“Because we can, dipshit.” Abbott jumped and caught Graham around the neck and messed up his hair.
Graham pushed him away with a laugh, and we all walked side by side into the gym.
I blinked at the sheer amount of people that were already there.
“Wow,” I said. “Volleyball is a big sport here, I take it?”
“You have no idea,” Slone said. “Kilgore High School is competing for their fourth straight state title. If they win, the seniors will have won it four straight years.”
“Wow,” I said as I finally took notice of the banners on the walls. “This place is hyped.”
The band was even there.
And the cheerleaders.
I grinned when I saw Symphony standing there, waving her pom-poms around with less than enthusiastic excitement.
“We normally sit down behind the team,” Slone said as he made his way. “I gotta go find my mom, though. I have to take Briley so she can go to work.”
I watched him leave and waited until Titus made his way down the bleachers before following myself.
I grinned when I saw my girl warming up in the middle of the court.
She looked fucking hot in her tiny black, tight as fuck shorts and her red sleeveless shirt. That was tight, too, molding to her body as if it was made specifically for her.
I paused when I saw her parents and then gestured at Titus. “I’ll be there in a minute. Gonna go say hi to Perry’s parents.”
Titus gave me a chin lift and made his way to a seat. I went back up a few rows and crossed over to where I could see Dawson sitting next to Autumn.
I grinned and dropped down next to Autumn.
“Hello,” I said, offering Dawson my hand.
He took it, his eyes lit with humor.
“I was wondering if you were going to make it over,” he said. “Perry said that you’ve never watched a volleyball game before.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I can’t say that I have. I mean, I’ve seen them, but I honestly have no fuc—freakin’ clue
