“Hey, hey—”
There was more movement in the hallway, more punches were shared, and another crash against the wall.
Jesse’s door was slammed shut. It was loud and sudden. I jumped from the tension and staggered to my feet. Now it was my turn to quickly dress. I pushed my arm through a sleeve, cursed when it caught and ripped a hole, but hurried to finish dressing. When I pulled my jeans up and my fingers couldn’t snap the button, I cursed again, and then pushed my hair out of my eyes. I wanted to chop it off at that moment.
I couldn’t let him get hurt, not because of me.
I reached for the handle, ready to yank it open when a loud voice boomed outside. “What THE HELL is going on out here?”
All the fighting stopped.
“Hey, Coach…” a voice strangled out.
“Hunt?”
“Yeah, Coach?”
I heard the hostility that was still in Jesse’s voice.
“Camden?”
A grunt was his response.
“You two, in Hunt’s room. Now.”
I sucked in my breath.
“Uh, Coach…”
“Now!” he barked.
I heard Jesse’s groan and grabbed my bag. Then I looked for a hiding spot. What the hell was I doing? I had no idea, but this was beyond embarrassing. I snatched my bra from the dresser and threw myself into the closet, just as the door opened again.
I could see through the crack between the doors. Jesse was the first one in. He paused as he scanned the room, then he hesitated to go further in.
“Hunt, let’s go.” The impatience from his coach was evident. “We don’t have all day and I don’t want my two best shooters to be fighting. I want this fixed and I want it done now. Camden, sit your ass down.”
He grunted again, and passed Jesse.
I couldn’t see where they all sat, but Jesse stood by the counter. I could see him clearly; he kept glancing towards the bathroom.
“Okay.” The coach let out a deep sigh. “What the hell is going on between you two?”
“Coach, he came out of nowhere—”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Camden. I heard what you said to him. My room’s across the hall and if I had a girl I cared about and you said the same thing, I’d beat the shit out of you too. This has been going on for awhile now. I want it dealt with, now.”
Jesse’s shoulders dropped down. He sounded regretful. “He’s got a problem with me—”
“He’s a fucking freshman and he acts as if he’s the entire team, Coach.” Camden was on his feet now. I saw his shadow grow in size. “I’m the captain. I call the shots—”
“I call the shots. Now sit down, Camden.”
He didn’t.
The coach stood now. His tone took an authority that made me grip my bag tighter. “You will sit down now, Camden. Now!”
He sat.
I almost sat.
He let loose with a string of curses. “I can’t believe my two best are pulling this shit now. Now! We have a big game tomorrow. We’re in Las Vegas and the two of you are trading punches in the damn hallway like teenagers who learned what their penises are for. Have you gone nuts? Are you high?” He shot a hand out. “Don’t even answer that. I don’t want to touch that with a ten foot pole.”
Jesse spoke now, softly, “We’re not doing drugs, Coach.”
“Then what the hell is going on?”
“He’s threatened by me.”
The statement was spoken softly, but clearly. There was no ego attached to it, and the simplicity of it had the rest of the room in silence.
“Camden?”
There was no response.
The coach prodded again, “Is that true?”
Then a fourth guy cleared his throat. “Walt, we should get going. We’ve probably missed our reservation anyway, but the rest of the guys are waiting outside. These two idiots can fix this later tonight.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” But the coach didn’t sound as if he was sure of it. Then he grunted, “Camden, if that’s true, that you’re doing all this shit because you’re threatened, then you aren’t the captain I thought you were. Straighten it up, lead the team, and leave your damn ego courtside. I don’t want this affecting us tomorrow.”
A soft curse was heard now.
“And Hunt?”
Jesse straightened.
“Keep doing what you do. You keep your head screwed on right. You come and play every time with the same consistency, and when you’re riled up, you dominate everybody. You hear that Camden? This ‘freshman’ can’t be beat when he’s pissed off. You really want to play that card with him? You the captain or not?”
There was silence.
“I didn’t hear you, Camden!” the coach roared. “You the captain or not?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you lead this team?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then lead it, Camden. It’s not going to be the first time you’ll run against someone better than you. It’s how you handle it that’ll determine your future. That’s for you to fuck up or get it right. Just don’t fuck it up when you’re on my team, you hear me?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Yes, sir what?”
“Yes, sir, Coach!”
He grunted in approval and passed the closet for the door. He stopped and sounded so close, I closed my eyes. I could’ve pissed my pants at that moment.
“And Hunt?”
“Yeah, Coach?”
“Get the girl out of the closet.”
It wasn’t long before the door slammed shut again. Everything on the wall and closet doors rattled from the strength of it.
Someone walked to the closet door, but I heard Jesse growl, “Reed, touch it and die.”
The doors swished open. I found myself staring at a tall guy, lean build, with striking blue eyes and blonde hair that looked styled to perfection. He was dressed similar to Jesse. He frowned at me, but offered his hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any