Viddy giggled. Her laugh sounded like bells.
“I think I like you, dear,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to attend one of Blue’s games, but we’ve never had a chance. Now… where do we need to go?”
I led them around the school to where they could come in through the gym’s entrance and then waved to them and went to get changed for my game.
An hour later, I was in the middle of the game when I looked over to find both of them sitting with Blue’s parents, staring at me intently, as if I was their kid and not just their son’s new girlfriend.
It made me feel all tingly inside. Happy and excited that they were here for me.
The ball came sailing over the net, and I jumped up to block it. It fell to the girl’s feet that was directly across the net from me and hit the ground.
My team went nuts, and I grinned as Rebel picked me up and twirled me around.
“Put me down,” I giggled as I slapped hands.
Rebel did, slapping me on the ass as she went to serve the ball.
Twenty minutes later, we switched sides, and there was a momentary break in playing as we all gathered drinks and prepared for the second set.
“Is that Banner’s parents?”
I looked over at my teammate, Rosa.
“Yes,” I said. “Banner looks just like his momma, huh?”
She nodded. “And did you see his daddy? I’ve never had a daddy fetish before, but holy shit. I’d totally do him.”
I felt my face flame.
“Me, too,” the coach said.
We all started laughing.
Our coach was happily married and very pregnant. Her husband was hot, but apparently she had no problem telling it like it is.
“I’ll share that with Coach,” Rebel teased.
The second set was won just like the first, and within fifteen minutes this time, we were slapping hands with the opposing team saying ‘good game.’
After grabbing my things, I headed up the bleachers saying hi to Blue’s parents as I passed them then smiled at Trance and Viddy.
“What did you think?” I asked, noticing a third person with a baby in her arms they had added to their group.
“I loved it,” the woman chirped.
Obviously, this was Oakley.
She looked just like Trance and Ford.
I smiled at her and held out my hand. “You must be Oakley.”
Oakley beamed. “I am.”
“You did good, girl,” Trance said. “You need to go change?”
I looked down at my outfit and shook my head. “Nah. I’m just going to go sit outside in the heat anyway.”
He eyed my short shorts and I could practically see the disapproval rolling off of him.
I hid my smile.
My dad didn’t like it when I wore the clothes out either.
But, it was what it was.
Hiding my smile, I gestured for the door.
“Y’all ready?” I asked.
Trance said something under his breath about ‘Banner owing him’ and jerked his chin toward the door. “Lead the way. We got no fucki—err, we have no freakin’ clue where we’re going.”
I grinned. “My dad is ex-military. Don’t worry about offending me. He’s already broken me in on the world of cuss words.”
Viddy snickered. “He’s trying not to scar you for life. He wants you to like us.”
I grinned at them over my shoulder. “I do like you. I really appreciate you staying for my game. It’s kind of lonely sometimes.”
Not that I would ever tell my parents that.
They got to the games that they could get to, but the majority of my games were always spent with no one there.
I had friends’ parents, but it wasn’t the same when they weren’t there for me and me alone.
“I’ll come again,” Oakley offered. “As long as you don’t mind my kid screaming at the top of her lungs.”
I grinned. “I have no problem with that. Gyms are meant to be loud.”
We made it to the top of the bleachers and fell into the long line of people trying to leave.
I was jostled from the side, and I felt Trance’s hand come out and steady me.
When I looked over at the big body that had done the jostling, I was unsurprised to find Vance doing the shoving.
I pulled back and allowed Trance to put himself between the two of us.
“Vance,” Trance said quietly. “Move along.”
Vance sneered at Trance, and I realized how awkward it was to have the two of them close.
Trance had shot Vance’s father. Vance was upset. I would be, too.
But… Trance was a police officer. It wasn’t like he could control who he had obey the law and who didn’t.
“I’m moving.” Vance grinned, his eyes coming to me as he stopped in the middle of the pathway. All traffic stopped with him. “Good game.”
I moved until Trance’s large shoulder blocked my view of Vance completely.
Viddy’s hand took mine, and I clutched it.
I was sweaty as hell, stuck in the middle of Banner’s family, and I knew that Vance knew exactly what he was doing.
He was taunting not only Trance but Banner as well.
There was no way that Banner wasn’t going to hear about this.
It’d be all over school in an hour.
“Move along, Vance,” Trance ordered again, this time trying to do it in a way that meant he wasn’t kidding.
Earlier, he’d said it in hopes of getting Vance to move without causing a scene.
Now it was obvious that Trance didn’t give a single fuck about causing a scene.
“Sorry, but you’ll just have to go around me.” He held out his arms wide.
So that was exactly what I did.
I took the bleachers down, moved two sets of stairs over, only to have him back up quickly and block my way.
Son of a bitch.
Just as I was about to walk around the long way—which required me to go all the way down the bleachers and across the entire gym floor to climb the other sets of bleachers—Banner was there.
He was wearing his game pants, his cleats, and a gray t-shirt that said ‘Bulldogs’ on it.
He pushed
