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“I’ve been waiting all night for you to arrive,” the girl grumbled, obviously annoyed. “Can I show you your room so I can get some damn sleep?”
I raised an eyebrow, taken aback by how rude she was being. Had my family lost all respect in the nine years I’d been gone? The girl crossed her arms, waiting impatiently for me to join her on the porch.
She was stunningly gorgeous, even with her dark brown eyes narrowed at me. Her hair was pulled back in tight, small braids. Her black hair turned an amber brown near the ends. She had at least two inches on me and had the longest legs I’d ever seen. If it weren’t for the sweats and team T-shirt she was wearing, I would have guessed she’d be more comfortable on a runway than on a court.
She was already walking back into the house, and I hurried after her. We passed through a lounge area with a large TV in front of a sectional couch. A couple of bean bag chairs were on the floor in front of the couch. On the other side of the foyer was a dining room with a table large enough to fit the entire team.
She skipped up the staircase with me trailing after her. The ball of dread in my stomach had been growing ever since the guys showed up at my apartment. Even though I wasn’t near them anymore, it wasn’t going away. I was never supposed to come back to Braidwood. This house was beautiful, and from what I’d seen so far, had state-of-the-art everything. I didn’t want to be a part of any of it. Not if it meant I was stuck in this city.
The upper floor was covered in white carpet, a stark contrast to the glossy hardwood floors below us. Without a glance to see if I was still following her, she went to the end of the hall and opened the last door on the left.
“This is your room,” she said grudgingly, flipping on the light. “It’s the only single room in the house.”
I bit my tongue. That’s where her attitude was stemming from. I was the new girl and already getting special treatment. It wasn’t like I’d fucking asked for it. Stepping through the doorway, I gazed at my new room.
There was a queen-size bed sitting against the far wall between two large windows. Surprisingly, it was already fitted with a fluffy white comforter and a mountain of pillows. On the side wall was a large desk with a hutch that could fit a ton of books. Two small plush chairs sat in the corner.
I turned my attention to the curtains covering most of the other wall. The girl noticed what I was staring at, and with a huff, she crossed the room and threw the curtains open.
“This is the only room with a balcony,” she said, not hiding her dislike that I was the one staying in here. “And you get your own bathroom.”
“Close them,” I snapped, realizing what I was staring at. It wasn’t a view of the backyard like I was expecting. No. It faced another balcony on the guys’ house. And I could only guess whose room that was. These houses looked the same from the outside, and I bet the inside was similar too. If I got the best room of the house, they did too. Or at least one of them did.
“What’s your problem?” the girl snarled, getting in my face. “It’s nearly two in the morning. I have to work in the morning, but I’m stuck here making sure the new girl is doted on.”
“Are you the captain?” I changed subjects, not wanting to start on horrible terms with my new teammates. She had an aura of leadership surrounding her, making it easy to guess she was the one in charge of the team.
She nodded. “Yes. I’m a senior. And I’m not going to have some new girl messing up my last chance to win states this year.”
I threw my hands up. “I don’t like losing. I want to win as much as you.”
“Shit way of showing it,” she muttered. “Coming to school a day before classes start, and we weren’t even told we were getting a new teammate until earlier today.”
“Not my fault. I had no idea I was coming here.”
She frowned in confusion before shaking her head. “I’d rather sleep than stand here and argue with you. I’m Briella. The team calls me Bri. If I’m not here and you need anything, you can ask Abigail. Practice starts next week. Team meeting with the coach is on Thursday. I think I covered everything.”
She moved to leave the room, and I leaned against the wall. “I’m Kat—”
“I know who you are, Katie White. I wouldn’t meet a new teammate without knowing her name.” Bri was halfway down the hall before I got over my shock.
The guys had told her my fake name. Why? No way the families knew about that. I doubted that name was on any paperwork for the school. They wanted all their children to go to school here.
I bumped the back of my head against the wall, trying to figure out why they would do that. It wouldn’t stay a secret for long. The families would be livid if they found out. I was a Whitman. They wanted to flaunt our names across campus. My gaze wandered back to the curtains, and a lump grew in my throat.
I raced over to them and opened them just enough to make sure the sliding door was locked. The curtains in the other house were closed, but light escaped from the bottom. I wondered whose room it was. Either West or Eli. I doubted River had the pull to get the best room when he had only just returned.
Nerves refused to leave, knowing they were literally feet away. The balconies were so close they were almost touching. After the shit I’d pulled on them for the last two years, I had expected to have at least another year before I had to face them.
After they went through all the trouble of bringing me back, I doubted they were going to leave me alone. They knew the campus. The city. I’d been out of the loop since I left. I had no idea what was going on with the families or anything. I’d need to change that fast.
I fell onto the bed, yanking off my shorts before burying myself under the blankets. Hopefully, I could get my phone back from River tomorrow morning so I could try to salvage everything I’d been working for over the last six months. It would be next to impossible now that I was here. Every move I made would be watched. Either by the guys or our families.
I groaned, throwing a pillow over my face, waiting for sleep to claim me.
* * *
Something jarred me awake, and I sat up, forgetting where I was for a moment. Blinking the sleep away, I glanced at the clock to see it was only five in the morning. I’d gotten less than three hours of sleep. But now that I was up, my mind was already fogging up with my mile long list of problems.
