Team Player 2: A Sports Anthology

by Paige, Rochelle

  Bottom of the fifth inning, I’m more aware than I want to be of Benny and his little girlfriend in the stands. I wish they would just disappear, but instead, Benny’s been there cheering since we took the field. I’ve not allowed myself to even glance up in his direction. The only reason I know that they’re still there other than the fact that he’s turned into my personal cheerleader is that either my sister, Lakyn, or Kenna have had something to say about them being there.

  “Can you believe he’s sitting up there with her like he wasn’t kissing my fucking sister yesterday? Just wait until I tell Levi. He’ll really beat his ass now!”

  “Here I thought he was one of the good guys,” Kenna says disappointed.

  “Don’t even sweat it, baby girl. He’s not worth your time,” Lakyn reassures.

  I don’t respond to any of them. Just do my best to keep my head in the game. Right now, the other team has one out and a runner on second. Eyes on the batter, I’m ready for the line drive that comes right at me after a bounce just this side of the foul line. What I’m not ready for is the player running at me, trying to tag up before I do. She plows into me with her arms extended in front of her, sending me flying and knocking every bit of air from my body. It leaves me in a great whoosh. My head thumps off the hard clay ground, and my hat falls off in the process. All I can do is lay there and try to catch my breath, the tears rolling from the corner of my eyes to mingle with the dirt and my loose hair. My eyes slowly open at the sound of my name as I struggle still to pull air into my lungs. It hurts so bad. Coach Hayes and Hannah are standing over me, concern evident on their faces. I can faintly hear Millie. She sounds a mile away, coloring the air with a string of curse words that my brother would be proud of. I’m not sure who she’s talking to, but I’m guessing it’s the girl who mowed me down. Mingled with the faces of my coach and trainer are little white dots that I can’t seem to blink away. And a worried looking Benny.

  “Maeve, can you hear me? Don’t try to talk just squeeze my hand if you can,” Hannah tells me. I can just barely make out what she’s saying over the blood rushing through my ears, making that canned wah, wah, wah sound. I squeeze her hand, and she nods. “That’s good. Does anything feel broken? Squeeze once for no,” she instructs. Even as I squeeze no, she goes about checking my limbs one by one, followed by my collarbone, and then my head for any bleeding.

  “That’s good. As soon as you can catch your breath, we’ll help you off the field, and I’ll do a better check. Make sure you don’t have a concussion or anything, okay? You just take your time; they can all wait.” Hannah smiles down at me and tells Coach that I won’t be back in the game today, and that the girl who ran me down should be thrown. They go on talking about it as I lie there and try to get my breathing under control, which is harder to do with Benny hovering, watching but not saying anything. After a few moments, I move to sit up, but Hannah guides me back down. “Whoa, whoa, we’re gonna take it nice and easy. You took one hell of a hit, and although you may not have broken anything, you may have other injuries. We’ll get you up gently.” I nod my agreement but only slightly so I don’t jar my head and the already blossoming headache. I’m ready for them to help me up when Benny pushes them both out of the way and gently scoops me into his arms, cradling me to him and leaving me no choice but to put my arm around his shoulder and let him take me to the locker room amidst the clapping of my teammates. He’s lucky I’m in too much pain to resist him right now because after earlier, I totally would. I would fight the shit out of him.

  Benny

  Watching Maeve go down on the field today was rough. I’ve seen plenty of players get hurt in hockey before, but we’re guys playing a contact sport, so it’s expected. After that whole shitshow with Samantha, I’m surprised she even let me help her off the field. But I couldn’t not help her. I had to. The urge to sweep her up and run her to the nearest hospital was real. I managed to wait but just barely.

  Hannah kicked me out of the exam room as soon as I set Maeve down on the table, and I haven’t seen her since. My sister took her back to the hotel earlier. She wanted to make sure she was okay, so I took her group of girls back to the hotel before heading to my parents’ for dinner, wishing I hadn’t already agreed to go. Impatiently, I stab at the elevator button, not really wanting to take the stairs to the tenth floor like I do in the morning, but I will if it means I can check on Maeve faster. Just as I’m about to bail for the stairs, the elevator doors whoosh open, and I step in. They’re just closing when Lakyn yells, “Hold the door.” Quickly, I stick my hand out to stop the door from sliding closed. She and Kenna make a mad dash and practically tumble into the elevator laughing. They silence abruptly, and both go from smiling to glaring Millie style. “Ugh. I would have waited for the next one had I known you were in here,” Lakyn says, flipping her hair over her shoulder with her hands planted on her hips.

  What the fuck did I do? “Ummm…what?”

  “Oh, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Where’s your girl now?” Her lips are pursed as she waits for my answer. Kenna’s staring me down like she might actually hit me if she doesn’t like my answer.

  “Who are you talking about, Lakyn?” Then it dawns on me. Samantha. They’re pissed because of this morning when she just showed up at the fields to stir shit. “Ahhh, Samantha. She’s not my girl. Hasn’t been in a long ass time.”

  “Sure looked like she was.” Kenna’s tone is hostile as fuck.

  “Well, she’s not. We dated in high school and broke up when I left for Boston. That’s it. We hook up sometimes when I come home.” When Kenna’s eyes narrow into slits, I feel the need to add to that statement. “Not this time, though, and I don’t have any plans to either, so you can chill.” I don’t know why I’m defending myself to them. I don’t owe them any explanation, but clearly, they’re pissed. My guess is it’s because they heard about the kiss between Maeve and me last night, and then this morning, Sam shows up acting like she’s my girlfriend. If these two are this pissed, I don’t even want to know how mad the twins are. I only care about how upset one Sexton is, though.

  As soon as the doors open, I head right for Maeve’s room with the girls right behind me. At her room, I come to a dead stop at the sight of a red scarf hanging off her doorknob. What the fuck? At Hockey House, if one of us hangs something on our door, it means we’re in there fucking. Instant anger mixed with a whole lot of jealousy bubbles up quickly. I raise my fist to pound on the door when Lakyn and Kenna both grab me and pull me away.

  “That’s Millie’s signal, not Maeve’s, you goon. Calm down.”

  I don’t have time to be impressed by Lakyn’s use of hockey terminology because my blood is pumping through my veins quicker than I want it to be. The thought that it was Maeve in there with somebody has me shook. Shocked and more than a little pissed, I ask, “She kicked her sister out after she was hurt today?”

  “Maeve would just come by us,” Kenna assures.

  “Yeah, except you two weren’t here,” I point out. They both have the decency to look sheepish. “Not real fucking helpful.”

  “Benny, our whole team is here. It’s not like we’re the only people she can crash with.” Kenna doesn’t sound confident in that statement, which makes me feel even less than confident that she’s crashing in one of her teammate’s rooms.

  “We’ll find her. Don’t worry your pretty little head over our girl. We got her.” Lakyn is obviously still pissed about Samantha and not buying my story. Tough shit.

  “You check with your teammates, and I’ll check with my sister.”

  Kenna pulls her phone out. “I’ll just call her.” We all stand there and wait. “Voicemail.”

  I hold my hand out. “Gimme your phone.” She hands it over reluctantly. I punch in my number and hit send. “There, now you have my number, and I have yours. If you find her first, text me.”

  “You’ll text us then if you find her?” Nodding, I take off for the elevator, pulling my
own phone out to text Liv. I don’t want to get Maeve in trouble for not being in her room past curfew, and I don’t want to stress my sister out either. I know her nerves were a little frayed after the accident today.

  Benny: Hey Liv! How is Maeve? Have you seen her since you guys got back?

  I watch as the three dots that tell me she’s typing dance across my phone.

  Olivia: She’s okay. Last time I saw her, Hannah had her in the pool and hot tub to try to loosen up her muscles and keep her from being too sore tomorrow.

  Benny: Sweet. I’ll see you in the morning.

  Olivia: Sleep tight, little bro. And alone! Xoxo

  Skipping the elevator for the stairs, I take them two at a time to the rooftop pool. It’s supposed to be closed right now, but it’s worth a try. The pool and hot tub can’t be seen from the door, so I step out and walk through all the patio furniture and potted palms to the other side of the L-shaped roof. Just like the other night at the party, the pool is throwing off steam in the cool air, making it look like a hot spring. Through the mist, I see a form sitting on the pool ledge, submerged to her neck. Careful not to startle her, I quietly walk closer. Maeve’s eyes are closed, her pale skin glowing from the mixture of pool lights and the full moon, her red hair floating on the water around her shoulders. She looks like a mermaid. I can’t tell if she’s sleeping, but she still hasn’t heard me approach. I squat down next to her, appreciating the tiny black crocheted bikini she’s wearing. The ties at her waist floating against her thighs, drawing my attention. The triangles barely cover her tits, and I’m trying to figure out if it’s her skin I can see through the material or if it’s some kind of lining.

  “Are you finished?” Maeve asks in a low voice, scaring the shit out of me.

  “You scared me!” I chuckle. “Finished what?”

  “Ogling me while I sleep.” Her eyes are still closed.

  “Should you sleep in a pool?” I don’t bother denying that I was checking her out. She cracks an eye for a moment before closing it again. “I was doing just fine until you showed up.” My phone pings in my pocket. “Your girlfriend?” Maeve asks sardonically.

  “She’s not my girlfriend, Smalls.” The text is from Kenna wanting to know if I found her. I debate answering but don’t want them to come up here.

  Benny: Yeah. All good

  Kenna: Where r u guys?

  Benny: With my sister

  The lie comes easily. They won’t go looking for her because they know they’ll get in trouble for curfew.

  “It’s Kenna. They were looking for you.”

  “Yeah, my sister has company.”

  “Saw that. How do you feel?” I don’t want to tell her for a split second I thought of knocking the door down when I thought it was her in there with some guy.

  “Okay. Just a little sore. The water helps a lot, though. My head was what Hannah was most worried about, but I don’t even have a headache.”

  “How’s the water?” I trail my fingers through it, flicking her with the droplets clinging to the tips and smiling at her scrunched face when they hit my target.

  “It’s nice. Relaxing.” She sits up, the water lapping at the tops of her breasts, legs kicking making gentle waves. Dying to feel their silky smoothness against me, I stand and kick of my shoes, my shirt following. I’m just pulling down my shorts when she squeaks in a panicked voice, “What are you doing, Benny?”

  My hands still on my waistband. “You said the water was nice. So I’m coming in.”

  “With me? You can’t come in here with me.” Her eyes are wide and a little wild.

  “Why not? You afraid I’m gonna go all baby shark and eat you?” I smirk at the flash I see in her eyes. Maeve Sexton might not like me very much at the moment, but she still wants me, and that’s enough to work with. Dropping my shorts on the pile with the rest of my things, I decide to save her modest little soul by keeping on my boxers. They’re white, though, and they’re not going to cover much once they get wet. It won’t bother me in the least, though. I’ve been stripping down in a locker room full of guys for over a decade now. I have zero modesty left. Toes on the edge of the deck, I dive in, swimming underwater to the end of the pool before coming up for air.

  “You can just stay on that side of the pool!” she calls to me.

  With a laugh and a shake of my head, I dip back under the warm water and glide over to where she’s sitting. Breaking the surface right in front of where she sits on the built-in ledge. Water dripping down my face, I smooth my hair back from my eyes, dragging the water with the wet strands. I step into the space between her knees and brace my hands on the concrete deck on either side of her. “Why would I stay over there when you’re all the way over here, Smalls?” She’s doing her best not to touch me, and I’m doing my best to make sure she does.

  “I don’t know, Ben. Why would you want to be here with me?” She mocks me with the name that Samantha used yesterday. Literally the only person in my life who ever calls me Ben instead of Benny. Probably the reason I dislike it so much.

  “You know why.” I tower over Maeve normally, but with her sitting in the pool, we are closer in height but still too much to let me see into her face. Dropping down to my knees in the shallow water, I drop my arms beside her waist now, resting on the seat she’s perched on. My fingers find the strings that hold her bikini bottom on and twirl them around and around. I can see the flush making its way across the creamy skin of her chest and her neck, the freckles becoming more prominent as her color rises.

  “Why’d you kiss me?” Maeve’s voice is hoarse. Her eyes locked on my mouth.

  Tilting her chin, I force her to look me in the eye. “Because I wanted to. I’ve wanted to since five seconds after you sat next to me on the plane. I want to now,” I finish gruffly and watch as her eyes change. The blue bursts appear lighter as her pupils darken and expand. The more I watch her, the more the colors transform. “Why did you kiss me?” I ask to remind her that she did, in fact, kiss me too.

  Maeve shakes her head. “I’m not sure.” The lie slips from her lips effortlessly.

  “That’s not true, and you know it.” She averts her gaze as I call her out. Her lashes create shadows on her cheeks, water clinging to them and shimmering like diamonds in the moonlight.

  She takes a deep breath as if she’s summoning courage and looks back at me. “I kissed you because I wanted to, too. You made me feel safe.”

  “You kissed me because I made you feel safe?” I’m not sure that’s a normal reaction. I needed her to have kissed me because she couldn’t fucking help it. Because the desire to feel my mouth on hers was as strong as mine was. Safe?

  “No. Yes. No,” Maeve says, clearly flustered. “I mean, yes, you made me feel safe, and I liked feeling that way, but I also felt protected in a way that I never have. Like I belonged to you, and that made me…want to kiss you, I guess,” she says a little shyly. “I mean, I know I don’t, and that we’re not together, but at that moment…” Her eyes dart around my face, away, back, and away again. Her timidness when talking about a kiss is fucking sexy, and it makes me wonder what talking dirty to her would be like. I should put her out of her misery, though. She’s clearly not used to such direct questions.

  “What about now?” I ask, tugging her a bit closer so that she can feel my hardness pressed into her, the only barrier the thin material of her bikini and the even thinner cotton of my boxers. “Do you feel like you’re mine now?” My eyes drift down to watch her mouth, her tongue darting out to wet her full bottom lip. My fingers flex into the soft flesh of her hips, my restraint is barely hanging by a thread.

  “I can’t be.” Her answer is barely audible. “My brother—”

  “Isn’t here. And what he doesn’t know can’t hurt us.”

  Maeve

  “What he doesn’t know can’t hurt us.”

  He’s so right, and I’m so tempted. There’s no way this could ever go any farther than here, though. I refuse to sneak around
back home, and Levi would never in a million years go for me dating one of the hockey boys. My body feels overheated, and it has nothing to do with the warm water of the heated pool and everything to do with Benny Hayes and his erection pressed against me. It’s literally taking everything in my power not to rub against him. Is it still considered dry humping if we’re in water? The dirty thought sparks even more heat. I’m no prude, but Benny seems to bring out a side of me I’m not sure I knew I had. He makes me feel bolder than I ever have before. Sexier and in control at the same time as he makes me feel completely out of control. It’s a heady mix, one I tried to ignore. Until he kissed me. Ever since that moment, it’s been all I’ve thought about. Even when Samantha showed up, and I was hurt and embarrassed. The thought of not being able to kiss him again weighed just as heavily on my mind as the fact that he wasn’t mine to kiss. Now here he is, telling me with his eyes, with his body, with his words meant to reassure, that he could be mine to kiss.

  “What he doesn’t know…” I trail off, lifting my face in silent invitation, hoping he understands what I’m asking for.

  Benny pulls his lip between his teeth and shakes his head. “You gotta ask me for it, Smalls.” His hands are at my waist toying with the ties holding my bottoms on, drawing my attention to their fiddling.

  I squirm against him, causing him to hiss out and me to swallow a moan. Just that little movement shot sparks right through my core, pebbling my nipples. Once I’m able to find my voice, I demand, “Kiss me, Benny.” Not even sounding like myself, I clear my throat and gather some courage to say it again. “Kiss me, please. I need you too.”

  Never have I been this direct, but never have I been this desperate for someone’s lips on mine. He stands, the water cascading down his chest and arms, causing me to look up at him now but only for a moment. With his hands wrapped around my waist, he lifts me effortlessly off the ledge I was perched on and sits with me still in his arms. Taking my legs in his hands, he wraps them around him, positioning me onto his lap more comfortably. I can’t help but look down to where the head of his erection in his now sheer white boxers rubs against the black triangle covering my center. He drapes my arms over his shoulders, letting his hands skate up my arms and across my throat to tangle in the wet ropes of my hair, tugging me tighter against him. His eyes travel over my face, the heat in them calling to me. We’re so close that I can feel the rise and fall of his chest against my own. “I don’t know about you, Smalls, but this feels right. This feels like you’re mine,” he whispers against my lips, his minty breath fanning over my mouth right before he closes the distance between us. I’m immediately pliant under his touch. My tongue darts to meet his in a duel. Lips, teeth, tongues. I slant my mouth to give him better access. I feel as if I can’t get close enough. Benny’s hands are kneading the globes of my ass, pressing me down harder onto his lap, rocking into me. Stars explode behind my eyelids at the delicious pressure. We break apart just long enough to drag in air, our lips crashing together once we do. His hands glide up my spine, and with quick work, he has my bikini top untied. I lean back and watch as it slips from my neck and lands between us, floating on the water. Benny grabs it up and tosses it over his shoulder on the pool deck where it lands with a plop. He runs the tip of a finger over my nipple, pebbled almost painfully. “You cold, Maeve?” he asks as he dips his head and takes my whole breast into his mouth. Benny knows I’m not cold, that my body is reacting to him and not the cool night air or the warm water lapping at my back with every gentle thrust.