“Ugh.” I cough and almost throw up.
“It’s just a skunk,” Kane says. “Aren’t you glad I didn’t let you go out there now?”
I smile. “Yes. Thank you.”
I rise to my tiptoes and kiss him. He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me flush against him while still balancing on one foot. Impressive.
“I thought you wanted sleep?” I tease.
“Did I say that? Funny, I don’t remember saying that.”
“Coach,” someone whispers from the other side of the door. “Hey, Coach?”
There’s literally nowhere for me to hide, so Kane only opens the door a sliver. “Ford? What the hell?”
“It’s Warner. He got skunked.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Kane lets the door go to run his hand through his hair, and it opens enough to reveal me to Ford.
Ford’s eyes widen enough that it’s obvious, even in the dark. “Damn. Sorry for interrupting.”
“This is none of your business.” Kane shuts the door in Ford’s face.
“So much for keeping it between us,” I say, shaking my head.
Last time, we kept us sleeping together quiet for over a year, and this time, we only last one night. Go team.
But I find I care less than I probably should. I need to figure out why that is.
“You have to go help,” Jana says.
“The dumbass was probably trying to get to his phone.”
“Still. You’re the coach.”
I roll my eyes and open the door to Ford’s shit-eating grin. “Nailing the boss, huh?”
I put up my hand. “I suggest you stop right there.”
He shrugs. “Just an observation.”
Using my crutches, I stumble after Ford until we reach the firepit. Warner, Tweetie, and Cory are already there.
After I scowl at the stench, I plug my nose. “Goddamnit, Langley, what were you doing?”
“I think we have to pee on him, right?” Tweetie says.
“No, you idiot, we need tomato soup,” Cory corrects him.
“I swear it’s pee on him. I’m happy to help you out.” He starts lowering his pajama pants.
“That’s jellyfish sting, you asshole.” Warner runs in the other direction, causing the waft of the skunk stench to float over to the rest of us.
“Stop moving!” I yell, then we all look toward the house.
When no lights turn on, we huddle together again.
“What were you doing?” I ask again, because I’m sure I know why Warner was skulking around this time of night.
“I didn’t think they lock the doors,” he says all innocent, like a schoolboy who just tripped another boy at recess.
“Your phone?” I ask, and Warner nods.
“Imogen—”
“Is fucking fine. She can survive without you for three days. Good to know you can’t survive without her. She’ll be happy to hear that.”
My cabin door opens, and all eyes turn to see Jana walking out, wrapped in a blanket.
Most of the guys snicker quietly, a “way to go, Coach” thrown in there.
“Why are we all standing around? Is no one fixing the problem?” She plugs her nose.
“There was a debate—” Tweetie starts, but Cory’s quick to intervene.
“No debate,” he says.
“Someone has to sneak in the house and see if they have tomato soup,” Jana says.
“You’re the only one allowed in the house,” Ford says. “The rest of us? Clark might be a gun enthusiast or something.” He touches the tip of his nose with his finger.
Warner quickly does it also. Soon every one of them has their finger on their nose, including Jana, by the time I catch what’s going on.
“We’re not grade schoolers,” I say.
“No, but you lost, so you have to go in,” Ford says.
For a moment, I stare at Jana in disbelief.
“I don’t want to be caught going through their stuff. Who knows what kind of punishment Clark might have in mind for something like that. You wouldn’t want to put me in a situation that makes me uncomfortable, would you?” She gives me the most innocent expression I’ve ever seen on her face.
“I’m on crutches,” I argue.
No one says a thing.
I shake my head at Jana. “While I’m doing this, you better figure out where you’re going to put him to soak in it!” I point at each of them and dramatically put my finger on the tip of my nose. “Not it.”
I don’t wait around for them all to join in. I go in through the back door. Warner’s suspicions were right—they don’t lock their doors. Luckily, the kitchen is right there, so I use my crutches to head to what I think is the pantry. It’s as if Corin knew I was coming; she has those cloth grocery bags hanging on the inside of the door. I take one and find two cans of tomato soup, which isn’t nearly enough to cover Warner’s body.
“What’s going on in here?” The light turns on, and I squint for a moment. Clark is standing there in tight white briefs, his belly protruding over the waistband.
“Sorry, Clark, one of the players got skunked. We were trying to handle it ourselves.”
“Corin!” Clark shouts.
“Honestly, we can handle it. Just… do you have any more soup?”
Clark laughs. “No, no. Corin has a special remedy. Bring him into the house and she’ll take care of him.”
“How so?” I ask.
“She’ll bathe him with her homemade concoction.”
“Oh.”
“Well go, it’s the middle of the night.”
Going as fast as I can on my crutches, I head back to the cabins.
“We saw a light go on. Who woke up?” Jana asks.
“Right now, they’re both up. And they want Warner to come up to the house.”
“Hell to the no,” Warner says. “I’ll just go home like this.”
“No way!” we all yell.
“Come on. I guess Corin has some magic recipe or something.” I use one of my crutches to point toward the house.
Warner tentatively stands while his head hangs low. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
I don’t say a word about Clark mentioning Corin bathing Warner. What happens in that house is between them.
I go to pat Warner on the back but pull back at the last second. The last thing I need is to be on crutches and smell like a skunk. “Good luck.”
“You’re not coming with me?”
“No.” I laugh.
We all watch him go in the back door.
“Way to keep it old school, Clark,” Warner says loudly enough for us to overhear.
Everyone else looks confused, but I know he must be referring to Clark’s tighty-whities.
The bathroom light turns on upstairs and we all watch from below as though a movie is about to play out.
“Shit, I’m glad I’m not him,” Ford says. “What do you think they’re doing?”
“Trying to get him to join a threesome?” Tweetie asks.
“Stop it. They’re fine people. Odd, but fine,” Jana chimes in.
The smell must be overwhelming inside because the windows start opening, which allows us to hear more of the conversation. Corin opens the bathroom window, and we see a silhouette of Warner.