Royal Flush

by Ella Goode

  “Wasn't enough.” Owen shakes his head. Yeah, it’s still eating at him. Melody sent me a picture of Billy. I hadn't told her what happened but she’d asked me. She probably assumes that Owen would have told me since they were teammates. I knew exactly who Billy got that busted face from but I kept my answer casual to Melody. It looks like his face met a fist is the only thing I said. It was the truth. She’d seen him at the store and snuck a picture. It might not be enough in Owen’s mind but it was damn close from the look of Billy’s face. I’d say the score had been evened but Owen would disagree, based on his expression.

  “I love you.” I say the words that have been on the tip of my tongue for days now. When he said them to me it felt so right. I wanted to say them to him then but I didn't want him to think I was only repeating them back. Those are powerful words to say to someone and I wanted them to come in the right moment. He needs to know that I mean them with all of my heart. His head jerks back, causing his eyes to lock with mine. The emotion I see in them brings tears to my own. His hand reaches up to caress my face while his lips gently kiss mine. The kiss is sweet and tender, just like my Owen always is with me.

  “I love you too, Ace,” he says against my mouth. “It’s about time you admitted it,” he adds, making me laugh. He gives me one of those dimples.

  “I know. I give in.” I fake an eye roll. This time he does toss me down onto the sofa, but he tickles me.

  “This was not how I thought I’d find you two on the sofa.” Mom says standing with Dad in the entryway to the living room.

  “Don’t just stand there. Help me!” I shout at them through my laughter. They both only stare at us in amusement. I think it is safe to say my parents are a little in love with Owen too. I can’t blame them. He is easy to love and I am lucky to be the one that gets to do it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Owen

  I hadn’t realized that JJ disappeared. I search for him on Monday but don’t see him. When afternoon practice rolls around, I corner Carter by his locker first thing.

  “Whatever happened to the dude JJ?”

  “Anderson? The basketball player?” Carter shrugs. “Heard he transferred over to Jefferson.”

  “Why?”

  Carter gives me a look. “You don’t know why?”

  I don’t budge. “No. I don’t. I’m a dumb football player. I need things explained with pictures and bold type.”

  “You’re in three honors classes,” Carter says with annoyance. “I thought he’d fuck with your performance. He sucks at basketball so I suggested he leave and he left. End of story.” He pushes by me.

  I hadn’t thought of driving Billy out of school, but I like that option. I crack my knuckles. The best way is to just beat him up every day. I don’t have money to threaten him with, which is the tool I bet Carter used, but I am capable of punching Billy in the face every time I see him. In fact, that idea makes me pretty damn happy.

  “No.”

  I turn to see Carter frowning behind me. “You talking to me?”

  “Yeah and I see what you’re thinking. You can’t get rid of Billy.”

  “The fuck I can’t.” Carter’s beginning to annoy me. “He’s a third string running back. A freshman could play his part.”

  “It’ll mess with the team dynamic. We’re two games away from the end of the season. Do what you want after the playoffs, but until then Billy stays on the team.”

  “Why? He’s a shit player. Adds nothing to the team chemistry. Is literally more useless than the waterboy. Unless he’s blackmailing you, why shouldn’t he be forced off the team?”

  Carter throws his pads over his head. “Because I’m superstitious, that’s why,” he huffs impatiently. “Dance with the girl you brought and that shit. You know? Fuck. Newbies,” he mutters under his breath and stomps off.

  “You didn’t know?” Grant asks. “Home boy puts on his shoes in the same order every day. Left foot first and then right foot. He always eats a quarter of a Snickers bar and then tucks the rest of it away until after the win.”

  I rub my head. “First, I never watched him dress and second, I thought he only ate a couple of bites because Snickers are terrible candy bars and he kept forgetting about it because of all the hits he takes on the field.”

  Grant snorts. “You’ve got good hands, Fast, but sometimes you’re as oblivious as fuck.”

  He means off the field. On the field, I’m razor sharp and even though Carter is irritated with me, he still throws me the ball and I still catch everything.

  After practice, I make my way to sewing class. Ace is already in her seat with a bunch of girls huddled around her. They scatter when I step inside.

  “Did I interrupt something?”

  “Nope.” Ace smiles sunnily up at me, but I see the furtive way that Melody tucks her phone away.

  “You guys looking at porn? Pillowcases? Trig formulas? I can take it.” I slouch down in the seat next to my girl.

  “Tampons. We’re talking about which ones have the best leak protection,” Melody says with a tiny defiant tilt of her chin.

  “Let me know in case I have to buy any,” I reply.

  Ace rolls her eyes. “I can buy my own supplies, thanks.”

  “Sure, but if you have an emergency, I should know. That way I can take care of it.”

  “Are you for real?” Melody interjects.

  “Pretty sure I am. What do you think?” I glance to Ace, who colors cutely.

  “He’s real,” she says. She pats the pile of fabric. “Let’s get working on these.”

  These are baby hats we agreed to make for the children’s hospital. When Ace delivered the blankets, she asked if there was anything else we could do and they suggested the hat project because they send each newborn home with a blanket and a hat.

  The other girls do as Ace suggests and we get busy cutting out squares that will eventually be turned into baby caps. I volunteer to join the cutting team. Ace heads for the group that will hand sew the two layers of fabric together.

  Melody ends up by my side. “If you hurt, Ace, I will take these scissors and cut your dick off,” she whispers menacingly. Melody is all of about five feet four. I could squash her with one hand.

  “Okay.” There’s no point in arguing with her. Ace looks over at us and I smile sweetly at her. She doesn’t need to know that her best friend wants to take a sharp object to the very piece of me that Ace is dying to have thrust inside her.

  “Will you take me seriously for one second?” Melody demands.

  “I have no plans of hurting Ace. I love her so make all the threats you want.”

  “It’s the football team,” Pixie says at the sewing machine two people over.

  “What do you mean?”

  “We don’t trust the football team. Carter runs that program and he doesn’t care if there are bad apples so long as they win. Billy isn’t the only guy that runs around thinking he can touch girls because he wears pads on Friday so excuse us for caring about Ace here.” Pixie nods her head toward my girl.

  Ace gives me a resigned look. “It’s true. Ever since I started here, there have been rumors about the football team. You’re a good guy but the guys you hang around with have a bad reputation.”

  “They’re not all bad,” I start to argue but then I wonder. What do I know about these guys? I didn’t even realize that Carter was superstitious. “Are they all bad?” I ask, genuinely curious. I never much liked Billy from the start, but the other guys seemed decent.

  “Not all of them,” says another girl. “And, sure, if you complain, that guy gets punished but there’s no, like deterrence. No one explicitly comes out and says Billy got his nose broken because he touched a girl wrong. Instead, it’s all just assumed. And Billy? He’s saying he ran into a door so half the school believes that and not that Aly was assaulted.”

  “It’s the silence that’s part of the problem,” Ace affirms. “I know you took care of Billy for me, but what about all the other girls
that don’t have a boyfriend to beat Billy up? The other guys seem to think that the football team believes it’s okay so it must be okay.”

  I lay my scissors down and fold my hands together. “So what do you think needs to be done?”

  “Make an example out of Billy. Get him to say what he did was wrong and why. Start making the guys talk about what’s wrong instead of making the girls try to protect each other,” Melody says.

  I stare at Ace. “That what you want?” Because she’d be in the middle of it if I made a scene. She’d be the one that Billy would be apologizing to.

  She licks her lips and gives me a terse nod. I straighten up. “One apology coming up.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Alice

  “Where’s your shadow?” Melody asks as she drops down into the seat next to me in the cafeteria. She reaches for a few fries off my plate.

  “Said he was getting me something sweet,” I tell her before shoving the last bite of pizza into my mouth. I look around to see where Owen has disappeared to. I would have been good with a kiss or a makeout session for my dessert but he was up and out of his seat before I could tell him that. I don’t see him anywhere. Normally he’s easy to spot because he’s so freaking tall but the cafeteria is packed. He’s probably waiting in line at the vending machine or something.

  “Hope he gets something good,” Melody says before grabbing more fries off my plate. I’m used to this by now. So is Owen. She never wants to wait in the line so she is always stealing food off my plate. She’s normally late to lunch too, letting her art class bleed into her eating time. I can’t complain, though, because she always brings killer snacks to our study sessions so it makes us even.

  “I’m sure he’ll get you something.” He normally does. I don’t think it’s because he is trying to be extra nice to Melody. It’s more likely that he doesn't like her eating my food. He has gotten into the habit of making sure he gets enough for her too. I’m still not sure either of them like each other. Often watching them argue over something is entertaining though. They bicker like brother and sister.

  “Oh shit.” Melody gasps. I look up at her from my phone I have lying on the table. Her eyes are wide while her mouth hangs in shock. I turn to follow her line of sight to see what’s going on. That’s when I spot Owen. You can’t miss him now because he’s got Billy by the back of the neck, leading him my way.

  Billy’s face doesn't look much better today. It probably doesn’t help that it is a nice shade of red right now. Everyone is turning to look at what’s going on. Even I’m not sure what Owen is up to but it’s starting to dawn on me rather quickly. The sound of chairs pushing back from lunch tables are all you hear as people move to get out of the way. Owen continues to guide Billy toward me. His eyes stayed glued to mine as he pushes him forward. Instantly I stand, not sure what I’m supposed to do but I don’t want Owen to get in trouble. Worse, I’m worried he’ll get kicked out of school or off the team because Billy was an asshole. Billy deserves whatever happens to him but Owen wouldn’t deserve the consequences he might have to suffer for making sure Billy takes accountability.

  “Ace.” Owen calls out my name. He smiles, giving me those dimples like he’s just brought me a puppy or something instead of a football player. Billy looks like a pathetic rag doll in Owen’s grasp.

  “Owen?” I answer back. The whole cafeteria has gone quiet now. All attention is on us.

  “Never mind. I don’t want any,” Melody says from beside me.

  I turn my attention to her for a split second because I have no idea what the hell she's talking about. “You don’t want any what?”

  She looks at me like I’m the crazy one. “That disgusting piece of shit that Owen dragged in here. He said he was getting us something good. This is bullshit.” If I wasn’t so nervous about Owen getting in trouble, I would have laughed. I turn my attention back to the big elephant in this cafeteria, readying myself for whatever Owen has in mind. The sooner we get this over with the better it will be for all of us.

  Billy’s eyes remain focused on the floor. He has not looked up once since they stopped in front of us. Owen’s grip tightens on Billy’s neck as he forces his head up, causing him to look directly into my eyes. His face looks like he went a few rounds with a professional boxer. I have a second of sympathy for him before I push it aside, remembering the words he spoke to me. The fear that he had tried to instill in me is fresh in my mind. I’m not doing this only for myself but for every girl that has suffered at his hands. I am fortunate because I have someone to protect me. Most girls don’t, and this will send a clear message. One saying that this will no longer be tolerated.

  “On your fucking knees, asshole. You’re going to beg for my girl’s forgiveness. Actually, you’re going to grovel for the forgiveness of every girl in this school and anywhere else that you may have disrespected them.” Owen pushes down hard on Billy’s neck, causing him to drop to his knees in front of me. The entire cafeteria lets out a gasp but no one moves. Owen bends down, his face right in front of Billy’s. “I can’t fucking hear you.”

  “I’m sorry.” I barely hear the words that Billy has whispered to the floor. Owen looks as though he’s getting more upset with every second that passes by.

  “I said I can’t hear you. Speak the fuck up. Look at my girl when you’re apologizing.” Billy raises his head, his eyes meeting mine.

  “I’m sorry,” he says again, this time loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear him.

  “Do better than that.” Owen taps him upside his head. “That apology is not fucking good enough. Listen to the next words I’m going to say very carefully. I want you to look at my girl and say, ‘I’m sorry that I’m a fucking pig douchebag. One that doesn’t even deserve to look at you never mind say vile disgusting things in your presence. I’m a sleezy bastard that will never speak to you or any woman in that manner again’.” Owen stops talking and waits for Billy’s response.

  Billy eyes meet mine. “I’m sorry.” I’m not sure if he means it or not. It doesn’t matter. It’s not the point. Owen lets go of Billy’s neck with a push, making him almost fall over. He reaches out, taking my hand. I lock my fingers with his. Still no one says a word. I’m pretty sure everyone is in shock as Owen leads me out of the cafeteria. I let him. I’d follow this man anywhere.

  Chapter Twenty

  Owen

  With the last game of the regular season in the books, we all decide to let off steam. Grant hosts a party at his house down by the lake. It’s massive, even bigger than Ace’s, with more garages than my house has bedrooms. The upstairs is off-limits he said, but we have free rein of the basement, which goes on forever. I swear I could sprint down the football field faster than I could cross from one end of his house to the other.

  Most everyone’s outside, though. The weather is turning chilly so Grant lit a huge bonfire on the shore. About fifty of us are huddled around it. The rest are up in the house. Ace is huddled between my legs with my jacket wrapped around her. I’m hot from the fire, the win, and most of all, Ace.

  “Things must be okay between you and Carter,” she says, looking across the fire at the dark figure sitting on one of the few chairs down here.

  “He still throws me the ball,” I answer. There’s space around him that I hadn’t noticed before and I don’t know if that’s because he wants it or because everyone’s too afraid to get close to him. He can be a mean son of a bitch, but, I don’t know, in this moment he looks kinda lonely.

  “Haven’t you talked about it?” Ace glances up at me in surprise.

  “Why would we talk about it?” I did my thing. Carter accepted it and we’ve moved on. “There’s nothing to say.”

  Ace shakes her head. “Guys,” is all she says.

  I assume that’s an insult, but I don’t get worked up about it. Billy’s gone. JJ’s gone. We just finished the regular season undefeated. I’ve got scouts from several colleges sniffing at my jock strap and the best damn girl in
the whole world snuggled up against my cock.

  The world couldn’t be better. Well, it could. I could have my cock inside the best girl in the world. I take a swig of my beer and bury my face in Ace’s neck. She smells like smoke and sweetness. My shaft swells and Ace notices immediately. I guess it’s difficult to miss since she’s sitting on my lap. She swivels her hips in a slow, grinding motion. I bite her neck in retaliation. If only we had a blanket. Grant and his girl have one and I swear he’s fingering her underneath it. No judgment, though. I’d love to have my fingers buried inside Ace’s juicy cunt. My hand strays to her waistband. Ace freezes and then jumps to her feet.

  “Oh, it’s late. My mom said I had to be home by eleven,” she declares. I quickly say our goodbyes and then hurry after her.

  “When did she say that?” I ask, worried. I haven’t ever missed a curfew of Ace’s before.

  “She didn’t,” Ace admits. “I just wanted to go home.” She slips her hand in mine. “I’m tired and cold.”

  “Sure. No problem.”

  Ace lives only a few minutes away from Grant’s so it doesn’t take us long to get to her house. I walk her to her door, wanting to make sure she doesn’t get in trouble for staying out too late, but when we get inside, the house is dead quiet.

  “Where are your parents?” I ask, suspiciously.

  “Dad’s at his doctor convention and Mom went with him.”

  “That was this weekend?” I remember them talking about it, but I thought it was happening next year for some reason.

  “Yes.” Ace pulls me through the kitchen, past the great room and up the stairs.

  I stop halfway. “Ace, baby, I think I should go home.” Being alone with her in this place is too much temptation. Already my head’s emptying of all thoughts but one—how fast I can get her naked.