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We went to the other side of the gym, where the guys were already waiting. Of course, West, Eli, and River were starting. I glanced at the other two guys on the court, trying to decide which one to guard. I could tell River was about to choose me, and that wasn’t going to happen.
I caught the eye of a guy who was closest to me and shot him a smile. He grinned back, clearly happy to guard me. He was a few inches taller than me, and his amber eyes were kind, even as they raked over my body. His dark skin was covered in sweat, and muscles bulged under his workout shirt. He was cute and would be a welcome distraction if he wanted to have some fun.
“Hey, I’m Zack,” he introduced himself with a flirty wink as I stepped in front of him.
He seemed more interested in me than playing ball, and I raised an eyebrow, knowing guarding him was going to be easy until he realized how well I could play. His smile faded as his eyes moved behind me before a hand gripped my hip.
“She’s mine,” Eli murmured. His voice was quiet, but the danger was more than evident. “Go guard someone else.”
Zack let out a nervous laugh. “She picked me, man.”
“And I’m telling you to pick someone else.”
Swatting his hand off me, I faced him. “You and I don’t even play the same position. Go guard Bri.”
“No.”
Eli’s answer had me seeing red. After the shit River pulled at the bar last week, I’d wanted to keep a low profile and stay away from all of them at school. People were going to think I was fucking all of them if they kept showing me attention. I didn’t need that rumor circulating.
Every single person in the gym was looking at us as I went rigid. I shot a look at my coach as rage climbed through my limbs. Jack met my gaze but only lifted a shoulder in a small shrug. He knew as well as I did that he couldn’t interfere. Unless it directly involved the team, he was to stay out of family business on campus.
I glanced back at Zack, and he met my eyes before a vein above his eye twitched. He wasn’t happy with Eli either. But I already knew what he’d do. There was no way he was going to go against his team captain. Without a word, Zack backed up until he was standing next to Bri.
“All right, let’s play.” Eli grabbed my arm, spinning me around. His satisfied smirk had me wanting to hit him. Fucking dick. “Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you like I did the night you showed back up.”
“If I remember correctly, mine and West’s winning record was better than yours and River’s.” My smile was full of false sweetness as I kept my voice low so only he could hear.
“Kat, that was nine years ago.” He leaned closer as my pulse sped up. “And you don’t have West on your team anymore.”
“He seemed to be on my side last night.”
His grip on my wrist tightened, his eyes narrowing as I kept his stare. There wasn’t much he could do to me in public. A shrill whistle broke our building tension, and he released me so we could move into position. I didn’t know why Eli thought guarding me would be a good idea. He usually stayed under the basket, and I was a shooting guard. I shot far shots, because even at my height, I wasn’t tall enough to do any damage under the net.
With our coaches acting as refs, the game started. At first, Eli kept his distance, and I was pleasantly surprised that he was going to play fair. That quickly faded. When I had the ball, he kept himself nearly pressed to me. Whenever he had a chance, his fingers grazed my skin. My hip. My back. My thighs. A couple of times, I was shocked neither coach called a foul. Until I glared at Jack and noticed how red in the face he was as he argued with the boys’ coach before they both looked at Eli and me.
Eli chuckled beside me as we ran down the court, making me understand this was his doing. Whatever Eli had told his coach was enough that the whistle wasn’t going to get blown, no matter what.
“Scared you can’t win a fair game against me?” I snapped as West passed Eli the ball. “You need to rely on your coach to help with your dirty work?”
“No, I could beat you fairly.” He dribbled the ball between his legs when I made a move to steal it. “But this is much more fun.”
The game continued and stayed the same. My frustration was nearing its breaking point. I could barely keep hold of the ball, let alone shoot, because Eli was being all grabby with his hands. In a real game, his moves would have been called. But we were in a gym that was literally named after his family.
Technically, I could have pulled the same shit and gotten away with it. But that would involve throwing my name out there. And I didn’t want my team to find out this way. So, I dealt with it. Even when Bri sent me a glance of apology because they pretty much stopped passing me the ball. I didn’t blame her. I was useless to them right now.
West hadn’t so much as glanced at me since the game started. River was shooting Eli dirty looks but didn’t say a word. Tension swallowed the court, and it seemed the score wasn’t very important to either team. They were too busy with their curious thoughts about what Eli was doing.
I lunged forward, knocking the ball out of Eli’s hands. Not wasting a second, I scooped it up and dribbled down the court for an easy shot. Until I was yanked backward when Eli wrapped his hand in my shirt. The ball rolled away from me, and my sanity went along with it.
Spinning around, I slapped my palms on Eli’s chest and shoved him back. His eyes widened, as if he was surprised I was fighting back while we were in public. But I was done.
“This is fucking bullshit,” I shrieked, shoving him again. “You and everyone in here knows it. If you can’t play the game, maybe give up your fucking captain spot.”
A whistle rang through the shocked silence, and Jack stepped between Eli and me. “I’m calling the game. Ladies, hit the showers.”
Jack didn’t move, glaring at Eli until he and the rest of the team disappeared into the boys’ locker room.
“You okay, Kat?” Jack asked under his breath.
