Team Hate

by Hart, Rebel

  “Can we go somewhere? I don’t think sleeping is going to work for now.”

  Jim rubbed the top of my head in a very ‘big brother’ fashion. “Of course. Where do you want to go?”

  “Remember when dad would take us on those really long drives. Just kind of cruising through the city with no real destination?”

  Jim nodded. “You got it.”

  I grabbed one of my favorite fuzzy blankets, an iced coffee from my fridge, and then we piled into Jim’s Silver Dodge Charger. He pulled out of my driveway and started off driving around the city. Charlotte was so beautiful, and I think that’s what my dad really wanted us to appreciate when he would take us driving around when we were kids. I thought of his warm smile, or his heavy arms holding me when I was sad. I wished he was there to help me now.

  “So.” Jim pierced into my thoughts. “How are things with John?” I looked at him with wide eyes and he snickered. “I already told you I knew that you liked him. I saw the way he was looking at you at the training facility and all that stuff he was saying. Are you guys becoming more than mortal enemies?”

  A smile did creep onto my face at the thought of him. “It’s weird. We still fight like cats and dogs, but it makes me feel like me.”

  “I think the moral of that story is that you enjoy arguing.” He smirked. “But…?”

  I shook my head. “There’s no but. We argue and then we laugh it off like it never happened. He’s so patient with me and, I don’t know, I kind of feel like, maybe… He could be, I don’t know…”

  Jim gasped. “The one?”

  I shrugged. “We’re a good fit.”

  “Wow. And did you guys…?”

  “No, we didn’t.” I side-eyed Jim. “We kissed though.”

  Jim slapped his steering wheel. “Kissed! I knew it. I knew it was your Disney voice.”

  “Will you quit it with the Disney voice thing?” I waved my hand through the air. “And you know what, let’s not get away from the real question at hand. What were you doing in Fayetteville?”

  Jim’s caramel-colored cheeks got a little darker. “Stuff.”

  I pointed. “Oh my god! You’re blushing.”

  Jim rubbed his cheek with one hand as if it was possible to rub the blush away. “I’m not.”

  “Does ‘stuff’ have a name?” Suddenly there were a few beads of sweat pooling at the edge of Jim’s hairline. “What? You don’t think I’d like her or something?”

  Jim pulled the car over on the side of the road. I looked out the window, but we were nowhere in particular. A little outside Charlotte, where we could see a little more of the countryside, but that was it. “What’s going on?”

  Jim’s hands strangled the steering wheel. “I’m scared.”

  “Of what?” He took a deep breath and then another and then another. “Jim, what’s going on? You’re freaking me out.”

  “Stuff does have a name.”

  I recoiled a bit. “Oh, is that all? What is it, what’s her name?”

  Jim cleared his throat. “Andrew.”

  I leaned forward. “What?”

  “Andrew is the name.”

  I hunched my brow. “You met a woman named ‘Andrew?’” I sat for a minute and then the realization washed over me. I sat back in my seat. “Oh.”

  Jim nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Um… Wow. I had no idea.”

  Jim shrugged. “Me either. A friend of mine from college set me up on a blind date because he hadn’t seen me dating anyone recently. I got to the date, and it was this guy.”

  “That’s risky.” I looked at him. “Did your friend know?”

  Jim shook his head. “Not that I know of. I was expecting a woman. When I saw him sitting at the table, I rushed back outside and called my friend and asked him what the hell was going on, and he said that he didn’t think gender was an important part of dating and that when he first met this guy all he could think about was how well we’d get on. I told him I was going to cancel, but he told me to just give it a shot.” A smile started to rise on Jim’s face. “He’s really athletic and loves football, and apparently he hates the Knights, so it was a little awkward telling him I was the head coach. He’s got a younger sister that he’s crazy about who is hard-headed like you. He loves cooking and concerts and dogs.” Jim grabbed my arm. “Oh, and he puts peanut butter on his hot dogs!”

  I gagged a little thinking of Jim’s disgusting habit. “You’re kidding?”

  Jim was damn near glowing. “Nope. He brought it up first. I was shocked.” Suddenly he got sheepish and sank into himself. “Sorry.”

  “Why are you sorry? It’s so cute. You really like him.” I tilted my head. “So have you tried, like, intimate stuff yet? I mean, listen, I’m not looking for details, but this is new for you, so it’s probably good to tick that box sooner rather than later and make sure it’s not going to be an issue.”

  Jim blushed again. “It’s not an issue.”

  “Wow. So, like, do you think you’re going to be in ‘l-word’ territory? How many dates have you been on?” Jim looked over at me and his expression was back to being nervous. “What?”

  “Don’t be mad.”

  “About what?”

  “We’ve been together for about eight months.”

  “What?! What do you mean? It can’t have been that long. I would have known.” My heart cracked a little. “You didn’t want to tell me? You didn’t trust that I’d be okay?”

  “No, it’s not that. Just, well you know, you’re a female coach, you get it. Being anything other than a straight man in this profession is difficult. That’s why I was in Fayetteville. We’re hiding, I guess?”

  “You shouldn’t hide. And you definitely shouldn’t keep relationships from me for eight,” I whacked his arm, “months!” I gasped. “Mom is gonna kill you.”

  Jim dropped his head to the steering wheel. “I know!”

  “You have to tell her.” I put my hand on his arm. “Hey, I was suspended for being nearly raped, my schedule is wide-open, I’ll go with you!”

  Jim looked over at me. “Not funny.”

  “The fact that I said it like that or the fact that it’s a 100% true statement?”

  Jim sighed. “Both.”

  My phone rang and I pulled it out of my purse. “Oh, It’s John.”

  “Do not tell him.”

  “I wouldn’t do that. You’re sitting right here.”

  Jim rolled his eyes. “I hate you.”

  I answered my phone as Jim pulled back out onto the road. “Hi.”

  “Hey, you sound like you’re doing better.”

  “I’m out driving with Jim. It reminds me of my dad, which helps.”

  “Good, I’m glad to hear that. So, um. Here’s a question.”

  “Okay?”

  “I know that we have a bye this week. And as much as I hate it, you’re out for now. Would you maybe want to go out on Saturday? With me? Formal first date?”

  My heart soared. “I would love that.”

  “Okay. There’s a local band that I follow, a guy I went to high school with manages it. They’ve got a gig in Uptown this weekend. Then maybe we could get dinner?”

  “That sounds great.”

  I could hear John grinning on the other end. “It’s a date then.”

  “Yeah.” I smiled too. “It’s a date.”

  22

  Jane

  Jim watched me doing my hair nervously. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  I looked over at Jim. “What is this all of a sudden? I thought you liked John.”

  “I do, as a player, and a friend, and he’s saved your life a couple of times.”

  “The nerve.”

  “But now he’s actually dating my baby sister. That changes everything.”

  “It does not.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t make me give you the ‘strong, independent, woman speech.’”

  Jim held up a hand. “Nope. Don’t need that.”

  “You’r
e going to go see Andrew and tell him that your sister and mother can’t wait to meet him now that we know he exists and have a nice night out not worrying about me, because that’s all you’ve done for like the past month and you deserve to do something other than that.”

  I finished flat ironing my hair and then stepped back from my body-length mirror and looked at myself. I’d put on one of my favorite dresses, a pear-colored qipao dress with gold accents, and was wearing a pair of gold pumps. My hair, now straight as opposed to its normal curly appearance, hung down just past my shoulders. I decided to go free of accessories apart from a white clutch which would be my purse for the evening. I was pretty impressed with myself.

  My doorbell rang, causing my heart to burst with excitement. I looked back over my shoulder at Jim and I could see mischief all over his face. “Don’t you dare.”

  He jumped up from where he was sitting on my bed and went bolting out of the room. I raced after him, but I knew I wasn’t going to catch him with him already thundering down the stairs. He threw my door open, revealing John standing on the other side. John took a step back and then laughed.

  “Hey co—”

  Jim held up a hand. “Nope. None of that here. I’m not a coach today. I’m big brother today.” He reached out and took John by the collar and pulled him in. “And I swear to God, if you hurt my angel, I will use a dull blade to cut your favorite parts off and feed them to a variety of woodland creatures.”

  “Well, I certainly wouldn't…” I got to the bottom of the stairs and when John saw me, his eyes went wide and his sentence trailed off. “Wow. Hi.”

  My reaction was similar. John was wearing a black suit vest, with a maroon button up on under it, and a black tie. His pants matched his vest and he finished off the look with a diamond-studded watch and a pair of clean dress shoes. He looked good.

  “Hi yourself.” I walked around Jim and John reached out and took my hand, kissing the back of it sweetly.

  “Don’t ignore me.” I looked over my shoulder at Jim and he had his arms crossed.

  I reached in and grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door closed. “Okay, bye Jim.”

  “Jane!”

  I shut the door to Jim’s face and John’s laughter. He pulled on my hand and dragged me to him. I wrapped my arms behind his head and he immediately went in for a kiss. It was more passionate than our kisses had been up to that point. I could tell when he was doing that, that it was meant to be softer and sweeter, computing without being aggressive. This was different. This screamed ‘I want you’ and my mind was in a similar place.

  “You look fantastic.” John ran his hand through my hair. “Your hair looks different.”

  “It’s straight instead of curly.”

  “It’s sexy.” He squeezed my back a little and goosebumps rose to my skin. “Ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  John drove us to a small music club in Uptown Charlotte. Instead of going in through the front, John walked us to a different building next door. The security guard shook hands with John and then let us in without question. John led me through a small restaurant to a door down the same hallway as the bathrooms. Another security guard gave John a high-five and then stood aside and opened the door. We walked through it and were on a balcony overlooking the crowd and stage down below. The balcony had a few other people, but was mostly empty and was a fantastic view.

  I stood against the railing and John positioned himself behind me with his arms on either side of me. I shivered, feeling him press against me. His cologne swirled around me and lit me on fire. The band started playing; a punk rock, hip-hop fusion; it was really good. As the music played, we swayed together, and I even took some initiative to grind my backside against him to some of the faster paced songs. Every now and again, he would kiss my cheek or nibble at the back of my neck. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t turned on.

  We were really getting into the music and enjoying one another when all of a sudden I heard John gasp behind me. “What the fuck?” I turned around and noticed John staring across to the balcony perpendicular to the one we were on. “Do you see that?”

  I followed his gaze to a couple that was making out. The guy was totally wrapped around the woman and they seemed consumed by one another.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Uh. Is it a jealousy thing?” John took me by the hand and dragged me down the balcony to where the couple was standing. He reached out and grabbed the man by the collar of his suit coat. I pulled his hand trying to drag him back. “John!” John snatched the man away from his partner and when he looked over, I could see it was Jack and John’s sister Bailey. I gasped. “Whoa!”

  John snatched Jack over to him. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “John!” Bailey grabbed at his arm trying to get him to let go. “Stop.”

  I pulled on John’s arm. “Let him go.”

  To my shock, John listened to me, but then he whipped around and looked at me. “Why are you defending him?”

  “Hey! Don’t get loud with me.” I looked at Jack. “What’s going on?”

  Bailey was smoothing out the collar of Jack’s jacket. “Are you okay?” She glared at John. “Stop being such a bully.”

  “What are you doing? This is my sister, dude.”

  Jack held up his hands. “I know, and for a really long time I tried not to go there, but…” He looked at Bailey. “I’m in love with her.”

  Bailey’s concerned expression went elated in an instant. “Really?”

  Jack smiled. “Yeah.”

  I pulled John a few feet back. “How sweet is that?”

  John snatched his arm away. “What’s sweet about my best friend boning my sister?”

  “Knock it off!” I ordered. “They’re clearly crazy about each other.”

  I looked at Bailey and Jack. “Sorry, we’ll leave you alone.”

  John threw his arms up. “No, we won’t!”

  “Yes,” I raised my eyebrows at John, “we will.”

  I grabbed him and dragged him back towards the door. We’d missed the tail end of the concert while John was yelling at Jack, so I opened the door and pulled him out. I continued to drag him until we were on the street again.

  “What the hell?” he barked at me.

  “Me? What the hell you. Are you really one of those boorish ‘bro-code’ brothers?”

  “I mean… Kind of. It’s my sister.”

  “Yeah, and from what I can tell she’s an intelligent woman perfectly capable of making her own decisions. Jack’s a great guy. What’s wrong with him dating your sister? Don’t be such a brat.”

  John looked at me for a minute and then snatched me over to him and slammed his lips against mine. His tongue licked out from between his lips and danced over mine, requesting entry, which I offered. His tongue slid inside and I grabbed his waist and pulled as close to him as I could. It was mind-boggling how good it felt. I wanted all of it, over and over, until it felt like it was going to kill, and maybe even then some.

  When he finally pulled away from me, he only did so enough to look down into my eyes. “Never stop putting me in my place, okay?”

  “I don’t even know what it means to not do that.”

  John laughed. “I believe that.” He looked around us and then turned and started to pull me with him. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat.”

  We passed by a food truck selling some of the best Italian I’d ever had. It was my favorite food, and I guess I must have said it at some point, because John mentioned that it was his reasoning for picking the place. We got our food in the strangest little ‘to-go’ cones I’d ever seen, and then walked down to the North Carolina Hall of Fame to look at the football entries specifically.

  As we walked through, I noticed the way John looked at the hall of fame with adoration in his eyes.

  “You’ll be here one day.” I pointed to a blank spot of wall near some of the other heavy hitters. “John Sceptre.”

  He looked up at the spot like a ki
d in a candy store. “You think so?”

  I rubbed his back. “I know so.”

  When we got back to his car after enjoying the Hall of Fame, John looked over at me. “I’m so sorry for the way I treated you when you started.”

  It took me aback a little. “Well thank you, but where did that come from?”

  “I was reading all those guys’ bios. Almost all of them thanked their moms or their sisters or their wives for their success. I don’t know what I was thinking. Women have played a big role in sports since the beginning.”

  “It’s not often reported, but women have contributed to a lot of sports, both in the science behind why some sports even work as well as some of the regulation of sports that would otherwise be horses without bridles.”

  I shook my head. “Here I consider myself to be this huge sports historian and I had no idea that women were so significant. Really, I’m sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing. You’ve more than made up for it, and as long as you’re learning and growing, I can’t ask more from you than that.”

  “Well, I promise to always be making it up to you.”

  Something came over me suddenly that I couldn’t name if I tried. It was as if I got a quick premonition of everything that lied ahead for John and I could no longer contain my desire to get to experience it.

  I placed my hand on John’s knee and put on the most minx-like expression I could muster. “You can start tonight.”

  23

  Jane

  John and I barely made it in the door. My open invitation was all he needed before we were cruising back to my place at a speed that we probably would have been pulled over for was it not that John's Land Rover was something he was kind of known for and the police were willing to let it slide.

  No surface we could find was safe. Couches, counters, walls; if I could be placed on it or pressed against it, our tirade included it. My own house became a minor detail to me. I was an ice-cube and John was a blazing fire. Each place he touched me was a cleansing ritual. His hands worked away the grease-stains of Dax, leaving only his own mark on me; a mark I welcomed.