Thoughts of a peppy cheerleader happily showing me around fills my mind, and I start to wonder if he’s going to have arranged for Ruby to be my guide. Surely, I’m not that lucky.
“It’s probably best you get to know each other, you know, captain to captain and all that.” Hartmann winks at me and I push from the chair.
So not Ruby then. I try to keep my disappointment off my face.
He hits the intercom button on his desk before barking, “Can you please send Jake in?”
A polite voice agrees before the door opens and a dark-haired guy wearing a Rosewood Bears jersey steps inside.
“Jake Thorn, this is Ashton Fury. Ashton was captain of his team in Seattle. He’s going to be joining you for conditioning in the hope of making the team. Jake is our current captain. He led us all the way to the championships.”
“Okay, great. Shall we,” I say, nodding to Jake and walking out of Hartmann’s office.
“So you were captain. You win anything?”
“Nah. Our school... it wasn’t like this one. The sports funding was shit but we did the best we could with what we had.”
“Well, I hope you’re good because our best players are about to graduate.”
“I guess you’ll find out soon.”
“I guess so.”
I trail behind Jake as he gives me a brief tour of the place, pointing out where I do and don’t want to go, where the team hangs out and how things work around here.
“That’s your first class down there.” He points to a green door at the end of the hallway.
“Great, thanks for the tour.” I turn to leave him but he stops me.
“Fury,” he says, taking a step toward me so our chests are only a few inches apart. “I don’t give a shit how good you are on the field. You hurt Ruby, and my boys and I will make sure you never play again. You got that.”
I stare into his narrowed eyes, not standing down in any sense as a smirk pulls at one side of my mouth.
“Warning heard loud and clear, captain. But I should warn you that I’ve eaten boys bigger than you for breakfast. So I’d like to see you try.”
I don’t wait for him to respond. I spin and take off down the hall, ready to introduce myself to my first teacher.
“We’ll see, Fury. We’ll see,” I hear him mutter after me.
I’m still smiling when I step into the classroom.
Silence fills the room immediately at my interruption.
“Oh hello, you must be Ashton,” the teacher says softly. She’s young, almost too young to be teaching high school, but whatever. It’s not her who captures my attention because when I turn to my left, I lock eyes with the one person I do want to see.
My smile widens as she swallows nervously and sinks down in her chair as if she’s going to be able to hide behind her desk.
Nice try, little one. Nice try.
32
Ruby
I wasn’t surprised when my body woke me before the sun came up this morning. I’ve been doing it for so many weeks as we prepared for nationals it’s become almost normal.
I tried to force myself to roll over and go back to sleep but it was pointless.
In the end, I got up and got ready as if I had somewhere to be. The sun was barely up when I pulled open the front door and made my way to my car.
I figured there was no chance of bumping into Ash if I left this early.
Mom accosted me when I escaped my bedroom last night for a snack and confirmed that he would be starting at Rosewood today and that Stephen was talking to him, warning him to give me some space.
I appreciated it, but Ashton has proved to me time and time again that he doesn’t really listen to rules, especially when it comes to me.
She warned me to be careful but thankfully, she steered clear of talking about anything else to do with the two of us. I can only hope I got through to her in the bathroom at Leanora’s funeral and that she’s going to back off and let us make our own mistakes.
I let out a sigh as I pull open the gym doors and walk inside the dark space.
I flick a couple of the lights on, just enough to see where I’m going and to alert anyone to the fact that I’m in here.
I cross my legs and sit right in the middle of the room as I run the events of the weekend through my mind.
Chelsea was right, our routines and performances were killer. I know I was hard on myself when we didn’t score first place, but it’s only because I want it for all the girls who have put everything into this. I want it more for them than I do for me. I wanted it for Chelsea. She deserved it.
I rest back on my palms and tip my head up to the ceiling as I wonder what the next few months will hold.
Is Chelsea right? Will the squad want me as their next captain, and if they do, who is going to replace the seniors? Harley and Stella are obvious choices, but the rest of the JV team, they’re going to need some work.
Hopefully, summer camp will help sort them out, help them see the mountain that they’ve got to climb if they want to match our success from the weekend, let alone exceed it.
I’ve no idea how much time passes while I sit there contemplating my future.
Ashton keeps trying to force his way into my thoughts, but every time his face pops into my mind, I shake it out. He’s consumed enough of my time the past few weeks. I’m done with it. With him.
Eventually, the door opening behind me drags me from my thoughts. Looking over my shoulder, I find Chelsea walking in.
“Couldn’t sleep either, huh?” she asks, correctly guessing why I’m sitting here like an idiot.
“Nope. You’ve ruined sleeping in for me,” I joke.
“Sorry, about that. It was worth it though.” She dumps her bag by the wall and walks over, before dropping down beside me.
“Yeah, it was,” I say with a smile.
“How are... things?”
“I haven’t seen him,” I admit. “But he’s starting here today, so I think my avoidance tactics are going to come to an abrupt end.”
“You need to talk to him,” she says, confirming what I already know.
“I know,” I sigh. “He just makes me a little crazy when we’re close.”
She chuckles to herself. “I know what that’s like.” Her hand rubs over her bump.
“How did you get over it?”
She shrugs and leans back on her palms. “I didn’t, I got under it.”
I can’t help but snort a laugh. “Your advice is for me to sleep with him again?”
“No, no. Honestly, I don’t know, Rubes. I’ve barely met him. I’m not sure those few angry minutes I witnessed in the arena really showed him at his best. But I saw the way he looked at you. It wasn’t a look of a guy who hates you, Rubes. Maybe just hear him out. He’s been through a lot. Maybe something has changed since you left him in Seattle.”
“Hmm... maybe.”
“At the end of the day, Ruby. You won’t ever find out if you spend your time hiding in your bedroom or in here. If he’s going to end up on the team, as you suspect, you’re going to need to be able to stand to be in the same room as each other. And you might need to do it fast because if he fits right in then you know he’ll be at Justin’s party this weekend.”