by Ivy Smoak
The end of the article mentioned that the odds of the tiebreaker actually happening were extremely small, which made me think that maybe the tiebreaker was Rodrigo's ultimate goal. After all, if he wanted to make money fixing the ITAs, the best way to maximize his investment would be to bet on the outcome least likely to happen.
I got up and started walking toward the practice arena. Luckily there was something else that helped distract me from Rodrigo. Or someone else, rather. Alina. I knew that she needed time to get over her ex. It was good that I hadn't gotten to say goodbye to her last night, because I would have ended up kissing her goodnight. And if I gave into kissing her, I knew it would lead to more. I wouldn't be able to stop myself. It wasn't the sex ban that was getting to me, though. It was more so the fact that I hadn't had sex since I broke up with my last girlfriend six months ago. I guess it was a self inflicted sex ban.
It wasn't just a lack of sex that I wanted Alina, though. I had never been so attracted so instantaneously to anyone. And it wasn't just physical. She was easy to talk to and funny. I'm sure we didn't have similar childhoods. I wouldn't have wished my childhood on anyone. But she seemed to understand me. Maybe it was because of what happened between her and that bully at NYCU. Or maybe it was something else. But I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to take the time to get to know those things.
Certain parts of my anatomy disagreed with me. And I could tell that the same thing was on Alina's mind. The way she pressed her thighs together when Tim was talking about devil's threesomes. The way she reacted to my hands on her hips. The way she looked at me when she bumped into me in the locker room. The way she looked at me even when I was fully clothed. I knew because I was looking at her the same way. Like I wanted to rip all her clothes off and fuck her wherever the first place we could find to be alone. And now I was starting to get hard. Shit. I shifted my athletic shorts. They were horrible at hiding boners.
I opened my locker and saw a flyer for a prostitute laying on top of my stuff. There was a message written on top of it: "Dude, I think I found the one!"
It took me a second to realize that Alex had put this here. Why didn't Rodrigo kidnap him instead? I was sure he would have loved to help Rodrigo in exchange for some quality time with Rodrigo's girls. It was a match made in heaven.
Wait a second! That's it! All of a sudden, a plot started for form in my head. I knew what I had to do. And it was absolutely perfect.
I pulled out my burner phone and created a new draft:
Consider it done. I need your help though. Send Isadora to the north village exit tonight at 8. Have her bring her favorite sex toys.
The sound of wet feet slapping against the tile floor made me hit save and throw the phone in my locker. I looked up just in time to see Tim skid to a stop at the end of the hallway. He put one hand on the wall to stop his slide and grabbed the top of his towel with his other hand, just barely saving me from getting an eyeful of his junk.
"Dude, you've got to come see this!" he yelled.
"What is it? A naked girl?" I hoped the answer was yes, because that was the only acceptable reason for a man to be so worked up after coming from the showers in the men's locker room.
"No time to explain. Just come look."
"Oh God, did you find Liam? Please tell me he's alive."
"What? No. Come on, hurry!"
"I'm coming." I slammed my locker shut and reluctantly followed Tim into the foggy showers.
After passing a few shower stalls, Tim turned to me and whispered. "Okay, don't be obvious about it, but walk past and look in that shower." He pointed at one of the shower stalls on our right.
"Why shouldn't I be obvious about it? Unless there's a naked girl in that shower, I'm leaving."
"Just look. I promise it's worth it."
A guy with a towel around his waist exited a shower stall at the end of the hall and came towards us. As he passed, he gave us a weird look.
We stood there awkwardly until he was out of the hall. "This is getting weird," I said. "I'm leaving." I turned to walk away.
"If you don't look, I'm going to yell pervert."
"You wouldn't..."
"Three, two..."
"Okay, okay. Fine. I'll look."
Tim smiled triumphantly as I walked toward the shower stall that he so badly wanted me to see. The curtain was mostly pulled, but it was cracked enough for me to be able to look in. I faced straight ahead as I passed, just looking out the corner of my eye into the stall.
There was no body, and there was no naked girl. In fact, there didn't seem to be anything at all. I stopped and pulled the curtain back more.
"Dude! What are you doing?" whisper-yelled Tim. "You're going to freak him out!"
Him!? Was Tim seriously trying to get me to check out some dude in the shower? I was about to tell Tim that there was no one in there, but I decided to mess with him instead. I leaned back out of the stall and turned to Tim. "It's okay. He said he wants to meet you."
Tim's eyes got wide. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, come on." I beckoned him over.
He hesitated for a second and then approached. The eager look on his face dissipated when he saw the stall was empty. "What the hell? Where'd he go?"
"Where did who go?" I asked. "Did you really want me to look at some guy showering?"
"Well it sounds weird when you say it like that."
"Is there another way to say it?"
"Uh, yes. You could say I wanted you to see an interesting physical specimen."
"That might be worse. Actually, it's definitely worse."
"Seriously, where could he have gone? He was there one second, and now he's gone."
"The other set of lockers?" I said. "Or maybe this interesting physical specimen of yours has magic powers and turned invisible."
"I hadn't considered that, but I guess it's possible. That's the only explanation of how his penis could be that big."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I said, no longer whispering.
"No. Dude, you'd understand if you saw it. This thing was insane. It was bigger than most fully erect penises, and I don't think he was even hard."
I couldn't help but laugh. Tim was already the weirdest person I knew by a long shot, but this just confirmed it. "Tim, can you do me a favor?"
"Track down the penis magician so that we can learn his ways? Yes. Challenge accepted."
"What? No. Not even close. In fact, that's the exact opposite of what I was going to ask."
"Oh my God." Tim's eyes widened and he took a step back from me. "You want me to kill him because his monstrous penis is too powerful for mankind to handle? I think that's a little extreme."
"Never mind. I was going to tell you to not mention this to anyone to save you from endless teasing at the hands of Alex, but I can see that you're too far gone to help. Just don't mention my name when you tell people about this. And anyway, what are you doing showering before practice?"
"I always shower before practice. A gentlemen always presents himself..."
"Okay, whatever. Just hurry up and get ready so we can finish practice early and catch some of the girls' volleyball match. Or should I just tell Kristen you were too busy checking out dudes in the shower so we had to start practice late?"
Chapter 19
Tuesday
Alina
We crushed Serbia in the first game. I was sitting on the bench gulping down water when Kristen nudged me in the ribs.
"They're here."
I turned around to see where she was looking. Bryce, Tim, and Alex were squeezing their way past some other spectators. Bryce smiled and winked at me as soon as he caught me staring. Tim blew Kristen a kiss and Alex slapped his hand, clearly embarrassed by what Tim was doing.
But I didn't dwell on what Tim and Alex were doing, because my gaze was stuck on Bryce. He was still sporting his workout clothes. He had this sweaty V down the middle of his T-shirt that made me gulp. Some of his hair was sticking to his forehead. It was someho
w sexy and adorable at the same time.
I had dreamed about him all night. I wasn't sure if Kristen had gotten in my head or if I was a lot kinkier than I had originally thought, because I had dreamed about being with Bryce in the village square. Or at least, near it. He had pulled me down an alley in the village square, pressed my back up against the wall, and kissed me like he had during Operation Red Rip. Only this time, I was encouraging him to go farther. His hand slowly traced up my thigh while his other hand unzipped my dress.
The ref blowing the whistle drew me out of my daydream.
I squeezed my thighs together.
"You okay?" Kristen asked.
"Mhm." I'm just ridiculously horny. I took one last long sip of my water and got in the circle that my team had formed.
"Two more games like that first one, and we're going to the semi-finals," Coach Hammond said. "Stay focused and let's get this done."
The ref blew the whistle again and I ran onto the court. I looked back over at Bryce. He was waiving a poster in the air. It read, "I Dig Alina - Go Team USA." Tim was holding one that said, "Kristen Loves Juggling Balls - Go Team USA."
Bryce digs me.
Kristen laughed in front of me. She turned around. "Tim is really trying to get that devil's threesome going."
"Pay attention," I said and gestured to the other side of the net. I smiled to myself and looked at the girl that was about to serve for Serbia. I thought I might be nervous with Bryce watching me. Instead, it made me play even better. I wanted to impress him. I wanted to forget about Chris, win gold, and win over Bryce. It was just like Kristen had said. I could have it all.
The hitter on the other side spiked it hard. I dove to the left and bumped it perfectly to our setter. I was on fire.
***
The crowd went wild as Kristen landed the final spike on Serbia's side. I joined the hug in the middle of the volleyball court. We were soon surrounded by all the members on our bench too, laughing, crying, and screaming. We're heading to the semi-finals!
After shaking hands with the other team, Kristen and I rushed toward the exit. I wanted to see Bryce. All I could think about was kissing him. I wanted to jump into his arms. Him bringing that sign and cheering me on was such a sweet thing to do. I just hoped he was going to kiss me back. Kristen seemed just as eager to see Tim, even though she would never admit it.
"Is that Chris?" Kristen asked, stopping in front of a row of bleachers. I almost ran into her as she abruptly stopped in the middle of the crowd exiting the stadium.
I turned toward where she was looking. Chris was standing on the stairs talking to some tan brunette girl with big breasts. She was a Gabriela Santos wannabe. He was holding a bouquet of flowers and smiling at her.
If I hadn't been about to go meet up with Bryce, I probably would have burst into tears. Chris had seriously come to my game to give some random girl flowers? What an asshole. He never brought me flowers. He said they were a waste of money because they died so fast. Apparently this girl was worth the wasted money. Chris leaned in and whispered something in her ear. The girl laughed and touched his bicep.
I rolled my eyes. "Who cares if it is?" I said. I brushed past Kristen.
"Alina!" Chris' voice made me cringe. I looked over my shoulder to see him running down the steps. Before I could say anything, Kristen was walking toward him.
For some reason, I felt frozen in place. The stadium was too loud for me to hear what they were saying. So I just watched the scene unfold in silence.
Kristen poked him in the middle of the chest and said something. Chris laughed and lifted up the flowers. Kristen pointed over his shoulder at the girl he had clearly been flirting with. Chris shrugged and looked over at me. He gave me one of those looks that used to get him anything he wanted. But today I wasn't fazed.
He put his hand on Kristen's shoulder and lightly shoved her to the side so he could get past her.
My feet unfroze and I walked over to him. "What do you want, Chris?" All the joy I had felt from my team's victory seemed to evaporate.
"To give you these." He held up the flowers. "Congratulations, babe." He leaned forward to kiss me.
I put my hand on his chest to stop him. "Chris, stop."
He pulled back and gave me a funny look. "I stayed away for a few days to give you time to cool off. Let's move forward, okay?"
"Is that an apology?"
"Yes. We've already talked about this. Gabriela tricked me. We shared a kiss. End of story."
"Shared a kiss? You said she kissed you and you shoved her off."
"Yeah, that's what I meant."
"Those two things are different, Chris. How do you expect me to trust you?"
He smiled again. "Babe, come on. It's me. Don't do that thing you always do."
"What thing?"
He sighed. "Where you don't let things go. You need to learn how to forgive people. If you had forgiven Gabriela years ago, this whole thing wouldn't have been that big of a deal. And she couldn't have used your own anger against you. You're not even mad at me. You're just upset with her. So how about you come back to my room and we can celebrate your victory how we should have celebrated mine."
Each word out of his mouth made me even more angry. "You're such an asshole, Chris."
"Because I'm right?" There was that damn cocky smile again.
"Why do you always have to be right about everything? I told you that stuff about Gabriela so you'd support me, not hang it over my head. How could you do this to me? With her?"
"I said I was sorry."
"Actually, you didn't say you were sorry. You just shoved flowers in my face."
"Well, I'm saying it now."
I stared into his eyes. He didn't look sorry. Last night I had promised myself that I wouldn't let Chris ruin this week for me. Yet, here he was ruining this victory. I should be celebrating right now, not fuming. This wasn't what love was. Love was putting the other person first. It was supporting them. It wasn't hooking up with their arch nemesis during the most important week of their life. This relationship was so one sided, and I had been too blind to see it before. "I don't forgive you, Chris. And I don't believe it was only one kiss." I turned around to walk away from him.
"Alina." He grabbed my wrist. "I'm choosing you."
"Over Gabriela? I didn't realize that was a choice you were debating."
"You know what I mean."
"Well, I'm not choosing you."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"It means that what we have isn't healthy. All you care about is physical needs, not emotional. You don't love me because you're too in love with yourself."
"God you're pathetic." He said it under his breath, but I still heard him.
"You know what? How about you just be you. And I'll be me. And one thing's for damn sure. We're not together anymore, Chris."
"Fine. If that's what you want. Good luck in the rest of your games. If you end up facing Brazil in the finals, you're going to need it. Gabriela's so much better than you." He tossed the flowers at me and walked away.
My whole body felt cold. It wasn't just what he said, but the way he said it. He wasn't talking about Gabriela being better at volleyball. He was talking about their kiss. Or whatever else they did. And it didn't matter how horrible Chris had been the past few days. His words cut through me just like they would have when we were happy. His opinion had always mattered so much to me. I wasn't good enough for him. I wasn't as good as Gabriela. It felt like I was a freshman at NYCU again. Gabriela had spread rumors about me to the rest of my team to the point where none of them would even look at me. Then she found a way to barricade my dorm room from the outside so that I'd miss important practices and games. And finally, the night before our term papers were due, she snuck into my room and smashed my laptop and shredded all my papers. After that, I went home and never went back. But this time I couldn't run home.
"Why didn't you tell me the whole story?" Kristen asked.
I too
k a deep breath. How much had she heard of that? The expression on her face made it seem like she had heard all of it. "I don't know. I didn't want you to hate him anymore if we got back together. You don't have to worry about that now."
"Alina." She put her arm around my shoulders. "I'm so, so sorry."
And even though she hated Chris, I knew she meant it. "I can't believe he kissed her back," I said.
"I know."
"You were right about him. Why didn't I listen to you?"
"Because he's pretty. And you never had a boyfriend before."
I laughed.
"Can I tell you something, though?" She let go of my shoulders and stood right in front of me. "I'm actually glad that you two dated."
"Seriously?"
"Because now you'll recognize a good thing. In comparison."
"You mean Bryce?"
Kristen smiled.
"I'm already sold on Bryce. Do I look okay?"
"You look like you just played three games of volleyball."
"So...bad?"
Kristen laughed. "But he's already seen you after ugly crying with snot all over your jersey. And he still likes you."
"Still." I wiped some of the sweat off my face with the back of my hand.
"Come on." She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the exit.
Bryce was standing by the door with his friends. I chucked the flowers in the trash right before we reached them, but not before Bryce had seen them. He glanced at the trashcan and then back at my face.
"Congrats on the win," Alex said. "Who knew our volleyball team was so good?"
Kristen laughed. "Everyone except you, apparently. We're favored to win gold. And we're going to win."
"I like my women confident," Tim said.
I tuned them out and looked up at Bryce. He was smiling at me. I suddenly felt extremely self conscious.
"You dig me, huh?" I asked. "I like the volleyball pun."
"I'd never lie on a poster." He had rolled the poster up and was holding it in his hand. I thought he might give it to me, but the fact that he didn't was even better. It meant he wanted to use it again.
