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“Okay. I should go try to take a nap myself.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Shay said.
Layne disappeared into the shower with her toiletries and towel. The towel was hung. The shower was turned on, and Shay just stood there. She contemplated for a second actually dropping her robe and towel to the ground and climbing into that shower, surprising Layne, no doubt, but then kissing her again and touching her, and that thought terrified her because Shay had just gotten out of a relationship with someone. She didn’t need to start a new one when she was about to graduate and had no idea where she’d end up. She definitely couldn’t start a relationship of any kind with a teammate when they had the biggest game of their lives coming up.
Shay went back to her room, dropped the robe and towel into the hamper to deal with later, and climbed under her blanket without putting any clothes on. She’d gotten interrupted in the shower, but now, she really had something she needed to take care of. Then, her phone rang.
“Fuck,” she said just as her hand was about to find its destination. “Fuck,” she said again when she noticed it was her dad. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”
“Honey, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Why?” she asked.
“Your mom and I have been worried about you there.”
“Why?” she repeated.
“People are getting sick. It’s not slowing down, and you’re on campus, sharing a room.”
“I have a single, Dad.”
“You’re sharing hotel rooms when you travel with the team. And bathrooms, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s not that bad, is it? I heard it’s just the flu.”
“I don’t think that’s the case. I’m really paying attention to things here, and it’s worse than just the flu. I want you to be careful, okay?”
“Okay. I will be,” she replied.
“Shay, I mean it.”
“I know, Dad. I will be.”
“Okay. Check in with your mom more than you do.”
“Okay, Dad,” she said, silently grunting.
Her parents couldn’t come to her games because her dad had earned a promotion that took him to London six months out of the year, and her mom always went with him. So, they couldn’t come to her games or even visit her on campus, but it was her fault that she only called her mom once a week.
“Okay. We love you. Be safe,” he said.
“I will. Love you, too.”
CHAPTER 10
“Okay. Looks like you swung out a little too far when you shouldn’t have,” Martin said as she stood next to the large TV in the multi-purpose room.
Layne sat there and watched Martin’s finger follow her along the baseline, pointing out what she’d done wrong in the previous game. Since they didn’t know which team they’d be up against yet, they had to watch film of their own game and focus on how they’d played then instead.
“I got pushed,” Layne replied.
“What?” Martin asked.
“Ref didn’t catch it,” Shay said and pointed to the TV. “Play it back.”
Layne looked over at the sofa, where Shay was sitting between Ledger and Hilton. Layne had arrived early because she usually arrived early, and she’d taken one of the four chairs. Two chairs were on this side, the sofa was in the middle, and the other two chairs were opposite Layne, which gave this part of the room a U-shaped seating area. Behind them, there was an old ping-pong table that two guys from the soccer team were using, an even older pool table that two women from the volleyball team were using, and another section where there were vending machines and more seating.
