Lena: You owe me.
I quickly texted my older sister back as I pulled my shirt over my head, watching the locker room clear quicker than normal. We had a game tomorrow night, so everyone was ready to head home and catch some z’s before our match against Crown Point University. The Hawks were good, but so were we.
Me: Was the package delivered?
Lena: This sounds like a drug deal. Yes, little brother. The pair of women’s underwear, size small, was delivered by Maggie. They’re on your windshield. Now are you going to explain? Or do I even want to know?
Aasher snorted, and I spun around to see Ford standing on the locker room bench, peering down to look over my shoulder.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I clicked my phone off and glared up at him.
“Women’s underwear? What are you up to, Wolf?” Ford’s face split in two, and I wanted to punch the smile right off of it.
Aasher pulled his hood up on his head and leaned against the lockers, glancing up to see who was lingering around in the locker room. “I know what this is about. It’s about Bryant.”
I rolled my eyes and packed my things up, knowing I would have to explain before Ford started to run his mouth and told the team I liked to wear women’s underwear the night before a game or some shit. Not that anyone would believe a word that came from Ford’s mouth, but I’d like to avoid it altogether if I could.
“Oooh, your roomie? Please, do tell.”
Although the other guys in the locker room weren’t looking in our direction, they were like a bunch of gossiping girls. I shot Aasher a look, and he smirked, waiting for my explanation.
“You buying your girl underwear now?”
There was a knock in my chest at the thought of someone calling anyone my girl. “One,” I started, “I don’t have a girl.” All eyes were on me now, and I knew my team was eager to learn more about Claire, if their longing gazes in her direction every time we were at The Bex said anything about it. Or if they caught a glimpse of her walking into our room for the evening wearing her tight leotard, as if she didn’t have pants she could put on over it. To her benefit, though, the girl was perpetually running late. “And two…I accidentally gave one of the puck bunnies a pair of her panties, and she was pissed, so I told her I would buy her a new pair.”
Silence filled the locker room until Coach’s laughter echoed around us. His bright-red cheeks rounded with laughter at my explanation that he was apparently listening to, and it wasn’t until he shut the door that the locker room filled with silence again.
It only took two seconds before the rest of the team began chuckling. Ford’s mouth hung open as he shook his head. “I’ve gotta see this.”
“See what?” I asked.
“I gotta see her face when you give her these panties. What color are they?”
I groaned. “You guys are so fucking relentless.”
I left the team in the locker room as they tried guessing the color of Claire’s panties and strode to the parking lot with Aasher and Ford tailing me. I stopped a few feet from my car and spun around, glaring at them both. “What are you two doing?”
“Following you so we can watch you get your ass handed to you by Bryant.”
My eye twitched when Ford used the nickname I’d given her.
Aasher chuckled. “Honestly, I kinda wanna see what she says too. I can’t see this going over well, and I’m in the mood for entertainment.”
I grabbed the bag that was sitting on my windshield, crumpling up the note that was left by my older sister’s best friend with her number scribbled on it beside a drawn heart. I peeked inside and saw the black pair of “cheeky” underwear—whatever the fuck that meant—and threw it inside my car before climbing inside. My passenger door opened a moment later, and my resolve fell. “Seriously?” I asked, staring blank-faced at Ford.
His crooked smile was well-known around campus, and most girls fell for his Southern accent and golden-boy looks. They made me want to punch him most of the time, though. “I’ve gotta see this.”
“Same.” Aasher’s head popped in between us, and I pulled back.
“When the fuck did you get back there? I asked, hearing his seatbelt click. “We have a game tomorrow. Why don’t you two go back to your apartments and get ready?”
“Oh, come on, Dad. Let us watch you get your ass handed to you.”
My car came to life, and I shook my head. “I’m not going to get my ass handed to me. I told her I was buying them.”
“She wasn’t mad that you gave hers away?”
“Of course she was,” I scoffed, hiding my grin as I remembered the way her mouth formed a scowl. “That’s why I promised I’d buy her new ones.”
“Was that before or after you told her you’d get hers back from the puck bunny?”
I eyed Aasher from the rearview. “Remind me to never confide in you again.”
Ford gasped in between laughs. “You told her you were gonna get them back? You’re stupider than I thought. What girl would want used panties back from someone, let alone a puck bunny? And where were the puck bunny’s panties? I feel like I’m missing parts of the story.”
Aasher snorted. “That’s because you are. Either way, we need to see this.”
“There is nothing to see. I’m going to give her the panties, then chill for the rest of the night, and get a good night’s sleep for the game tomorrow.” I pumped the brakes at a stop sign and gave them both a look that an unimpressed father would give to their sons. “Something you both should be doing.”
“It’s six p.m. Where is she? The Bex? Let’s go get dinner, and then you can slip her the panties beside her tip.” Ford bit his lip to hold back laughter, and I cursed him under my breath.
It was Thursday. That meant she was at rehearsals. Thursdays were her long days. I kept all this information to myself because it would only give Aasher and Ford more ammunition to use against me. Everyone already assumed I had a hard-on for my roommate, and if they were aware that I knew her schedule, they’d run with it. I didn’t have a hard-on for her, though. I knew my last roommate’s schedule, too, but it just so happened that he was a male, and no one seemed to make a big deal out of that, now did they?
“She’s at dance practice. Or rehearsals? I don’t know what to call it. She’s doing her ballet stuff.” I questioned myself, not fully understanding what Bexley U dancers did. I knew, for a fact, that she wasn’t a part of the dance team that performed during basketball games, though, because I’d seen up most of their skirts and I’d remember looking up hers.
Ford whistled. “She does ballet?”
“Shut up or I’ll make you stay in the car, Ford.”
“And miss out on dancers? They’re flexible as fuck. Consider me a mute.” Aasher laughed under his breath, and before I knew it, we were pulling into the auditorium. The chill in the air cooled my heated skin, and I grabbed onto the bag tightly as Aasher and Ford murmured behind me, following me like two little ducklings.
“I bet you ten bucks that she’ll blush.”
“I bet you ten bucks she’ll slap him.”
I spun around before opening the doors and glared at them both. “I bet you ten bucks I’ll slap the shit out of you both if you don’t shut up.”
Aasher grinned at me before looking over at Ford, who pretended to zip his lips. We were all wearing our black BU Hockey hoodies, and I knew we were going to stand out like three giant billboards the second we walked in there. I wasn’t necessarily sure what to expect, but there was an unfamiliar part of me that was excited to see Claire in a different environment.
Could I have waited until later to give the panties to her? Sure. Or I could have just left the bag on her bed because I knew she wouldn’t get in until late, and there was zero chance I’d see her tomorrow night unless she came to the party after the game—fat chance of that.
There was loud music coming from the two large doors that were off to the right that was like a beckoning call to the three of us. The bag that Claire’s new panties were in suddenly felt heavy in my hand, so I opened it up and grabbed them before stuffing them into the pocket of my joggers.
“That’s even better,” Aasher said sarcastically from beside me. “Pull them out of your pocket and hand them to her in front of everyone. I’m gonna win this bet.”
Ford half-laughed, but I drowned them out as I slowly pulled the door open and snuck inside the back of the auditorium. The stage was glowing brightly. The lights were centered on the two people in the center. There weren’t a ton of dancers running around in tutus and classical music pouring through the speakers like I had half-expected. Instead, I counted four girls and one guy huddled in the corner of the stage, all of them sitting quietly, unaware of the three of us walking in and taking a seat near the back.
The song “Control” by Zoe Wees suddenly began playing from the speakers, and the moment I saw who was dancing, everything else faded. Claire’s brown hair was pulled into a bun on the top of her head, showing off the delicate curves of her cheeks and slender neck. Her skin was glistened with sweat, and although I saw the puffiness of her eyes from lack of sleep, her softness stole the attention of the entire space. She was agile on her feet, and each twist of her body made my heart pound a little harder. I hardly noticed the male dancer that was dancing with her until his hands grabbed her waist, and he lifted her above his head. My hands immediately went to the arms of my seat, and I gripped the plastic with force. I felt Aasher’s eyes on me, but I ignored him as I continued watching Claire dance with an absurd amount of talent.
My throat closed as I watched her twirl to the corner of the stage. I watched with bated breath as she took off on light feet and leapt into the guy’s hands. The breath escaped my chest, and chills coated my arms when he slowly dragged her down his body, holding her as if she were as light as a feather, and then, just like that, the music stopped, and my heart resumed normal beating.
Fucking Christ.
I pushed myself back into my seat, and for the first time since leaving the locker room, neither Ford nor Aasher made a single remark. The group of dancers that were sitting near the corner of the stage popped up, and they all squealed with excitement. It sounded like a bomb was going off in my head as I was fully snapped out of the complexity of what I had just watched.
Ford quickly stood up, his theater seat screeching in the process, and he began clapping. “Well done, Bryant! Woo hoo!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and wanted to knock the stupid right out of him, but I couldn’t force myself to remove my eyes from Claire and her wildly shocked expression from across the auditorium. Her jaw fell open as her chest continued to heave up and down from the exertion of her dancing.
Everyone turned to stare, and the looks of confusion on their faces only propelled Ford to clap harder. Some would say that Ford loved attention, and they were absolutely correct.
The dancers began dismantling across the stage after saying something to Claire and her dancing partner. Ford coughed under his breath for me to get on with why I was there in the first place.
Right.
Panties. Claire.
On legs that were feeling a little unstable, I smoothed out my expression and fell back into my usual arrogant self as I walked down the long aisle toward her. There were stairs on both ends of the stage, but instead, I placed my hands on the floor of the stage and propelled myself upward and landed on two steadier feet than before. Claire stood in the far back corner with a girl I knew had to be her friend because Claire didn’t laugh with people like she was laughing with her. Her smile wavered as she saw me walking toward her with my two idiot friends trailing behind me.
I stopped for a brief second, and as if on cue, Ford ran straight into my back. I spun around and gave him a look that made the amusement on his expression disappear for a moment.
Claire brushed her friend off when I stopped in front of her. Her arms went over her light-gray sweater that she was wearing over her black leotard, and the tights she had on were sheer and made her legs look that much smoother.
I opened my mouth, but Ford quickly stepped beside me and threw up a closed fist in her direction. “Knucks, Bryant. That was amazing.”
Claire’s lip twitched, and she gave him a tiny smile before pounding her small knuckles against his. “Thank you…”
“I’m Ford, and this is Aasher.” His gaze switched over to Claire’s friend immediately. “Hey, T. Haven’t seen you for a while.”
Claire’s friend, who was also sporting full dance gear, stared at him in disbelief. He turned to Aasher, grinning. “This is Emory’s little sister, Taytum.”
I huffed before putting my hands in the pockets of my joggers. “Ah, so you’re the one who helped Claire come up with the completely one-sided roommate rules?”
Taytum’s hip popped out, and her hands flew to them. Ford snickered under his breath and took a step toward her. “Watch how you talk to her, or her big bro will come out of the shadows somewhere.”
Ford began to tease Taytum about Emory, and before I knew it, they were in the midst of a full-blown argument where Ford came out on top, smirking wildly. I shifted my eyes back to Claire and dug my hand in my pocket for the panties.
“What are you doing here?” Her brows swooped down with confusion before she scanned the rest of the stage and eyed the few dancers that were waiting around, pretending not to look in our direction.
The quiet conversation between Aasher, Taytum, and Ford stopped abruptly when I pulled out the black panties from my pocket and handed them to Claire. “I told you I’d buy you new ones so…here.”
Claire’s pink lips opened immediately, and she formed a little circle with her mouth. Her cheeks matched the color of blood, and I swore I saw some steam come from her tiny, flared nostrils. She pounced toward me and stuffed my hand, still gripping the soft silky fabric, back into my pocket. There was a buzz present in my body with the way her nails dug into my skin, which disappeared the second she pulled her hand out of my pants. The soft blue in her eyes as she thanked Ford a few seconds ago was now replaced with a deep navy and burned like ice on hot skin. “What the hell, Theo!”
“What?” I asked innocently. “I told you I’d get you a new pair.”
She glanced around nervously and skimmed over my friends, who were smirking so hard I thought their faces might permanently get stuck like that. One of Taytum’s brows was cocked as she watched Claire and me, and then there was a faint slap on my chest, hitting me right where my heart was beating wildly.
“People are gonna get the wrong idea! They’re gonna think you have my underwear for a completely different reason! I swear, you love to mess with me, don’t you?”
I couldn’t help it. I smiled, and Claire stomped her foot like a brat. I loved every single second of our interactions. “A little, but come on. I do feel bad for giving your panties away.” I dug into my pocket again, and Claire lifted her leg to stomp again, but this time, her ballet slipper landed on my foot instead of the stage, as if it was actually going to hurt.
“Whoa, whoa!” Ford stepped in between us. “That’s our star player. We have a game tomorrow against Crown! Go easy on him, Bryant.”
The crease between her eyebrows smoothed out as she took him seriously, and I chuckled, bringing her attention back to me. “Relax. We all know you have a boyfriend and that there isn’t anything going on between us.”
Taytum exhaled as she grew closer to us. “Oh yes, we wouldn’t want your boyfriend to get jealous of your roomie, now would we?”
I kept my face even, but I made eye contact with Taytum for a split second, and it was obvious that we both shared a distaste for Chad. Brownie points for Taytum.
“Stop,” Claire said quietly. Then, she glanced back up at me and rolled her eyes. “Just put them in my drawer when you get back to the room.”
I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
She averted her attention quickly. Did she think a bomb was going to explode if she looked at me for longer than three seconds? I kept my chuckle to myself and ushered Aasher and Ford to the stairs to leave, but as if on cue, Ford had other ideas.
“You girls comin’ to the game? Or maybe the after-party?” His eyebrows moved up and down a few times before he looked at Taytum with a sly grin on his face. “Or will big bro Emory throw a fit if you show up?”
Taytum huffed with annoyance and sent Ford a look. She glanced over at Claire, and she shook her head so quickly it was hard to catch the panic lingering.
“Nah,” I answered for Claire, just to irritate her again because I simply could not fucking help myself. “Claire has a deep hatred for jocks, and she’d never be caught dead at a party at Chi Alpha Sigma.”
Blood rushed to her cheeks, and there was a miniscule pause in her breathing that I caught right away. Her tight shoulders dropped for a second before she smoothed her expression.
“What? A deep hatred for jocks?! Even us hockey players? Have you ever been to a hockey game?”
“No, she hasn’t.” Taytum bumped her hip into Claire’s and bounced right off because Claire was as stiff as a board.
The voice inside my head was telling me to retreat, but there was a game waiting to be played as I stared at my roommate. I prodded her just a little bit more because I couldn’t back down from a challenge as enticing as her. “And she definitely doesn’t party, right? She’d rather sit in her room on a Friday night and wait for her boyfriend to step out of his science lab to call her.” Science lab or out from between other girls’ legs. I swear it was him at the party last weekend.
Her eyes drove into mine, and if they were knives, I’d be bleeding. I grinned coyly, waiting to see what she’d say. She couldn’t argue with me. She knew it was true, and her best friend knew it too.
“That is not true,” she forced out, crossing her arms over her gray sweater. A peek of her black strap from her leotard laid still over her shoulder, and I zoomed in on it, waiting for her to back up her statement.
“Then I guess you two will be at the party?” Ford asked, smirking at Taytum. “Don’t worry, T. I won’t let Emory ruin your fun. We all know you like to have fun, yeah?”
I kept my attention on my roommate, ignoring the rising tension between her best friend and Ford. The little muscles along her cheeks ground back and forth as she shot me a dirty look. Then, she looked over at Ford and smiled, making me do a double-take. “We will be there.”
