Freethrown: Chapter 20

“Can you believe we’re undefeated?”

“No, Mayze, you are not getting out of this conversation that damn easily,” Ashley’s voice is hushed but still stings a bit. “What’s wrong with her?”

I look at her with a confused face, “What makes you think something’s wrong with either of us?”

“Give me a break, Sara,” she lowers her voice when heads turn in our direction. “You’re both hot and you like each other. You’ve been dating for almost 3 months now and you haven’t made it past the sports bra stage.” She looks around to make sure we’re still not being eavesdropped on, “Why haven’t you two had sex yet?”

I continue putting the Christmas decorations up and shrug, “I honestly don’t know.”

“Have you asked her?”

“No.” What an absurd thought! Why in the world would I ask her why she doesn’t seem to want to have sex with me?

Ashley grabs my arm and turns me around to face her, “You’re about to part for an entire week and a half. If it doesn’t happen before then or immediately after, I’d rethink being her girlfriend if I were you.”

I immediately feel the need to defend our relationship, “Why?”

“Because if she hasn’t tasted you by then, she doesn’t wanna know what flavor you are.”

The door to the locker room opens and Sam comes through it, carrying her duffle bag. Her eyes land on me and I can’t stop the silly grin. She drops her bag by the couch and saunters over to me, “Hey, baby.” She nods, “Ash.”

“I’m glad you’re here, Sam. Sara and I were just talking about whether or not certain members of our team are fuckable or not.”

I gasp, “We wer–” Ashley’s hand cuts me off.

“Anyway, we got to her name and she said she doesn’t think she is. What do you think?”

I watch Sam’s face and when she turns her gaze to me, I know my body is betraying me and turning red. She takes a step back and hooks her thumbs in a beltloop of her jeans, “Hmm.” She looks me over from top to bottom, making me fidget under the gaze, “Can you do a slow turn for me?”

I reach out and punch her arm, “No! You should be able to answer that just fine!”

She laughs and wraps me in a bear hug, “I can.” She turns to Ashley, “She’s, in my humble opinion, the only fuckable woman on this team.”

Out of nowhere, another voice chimes in, “I agree.”

Sam’s spine stiffens as she turns around to face Jesse, “Thanks, Cooper. I’m glad you see the value of my girlfriend.”

I slide my arms around Sam’s waist and nuzzle her neck, “Thank you, baby, for calling me fuckable.”

Jesse taunts her, “Why haven’t you fucked her, then?”

I close my eyes and swallow hard, “Just ignore her, Sam. She’s being stupid.”

“It’s okay,” she turns to face Jesse again. “I will never fuck her.”

“You should,” Jesse pauses to take the last swallow of her drink before standing and walking to the garbage can, “she’s really good.”

Like someone’s standing behind me with a flamethrower, I’m lit on fire and push past Sam, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I get in Jesse’s face, “Why in the hell can’t you just leave me alone?”

Something flickers over her face, lowering her eyes and voice at the same time, “I miss you.” Her jaw clenches several times and I see her eyes begin to water.

I take the edge and most of the anger out of my voice, “This isn’t the way, Jess.” She avoids my eyes and I don’t press, “Go calm down and we’ll talk later.” She turns on her heel and disappears through the doors. I take a deep breath, plaster on a smile, and turn to face the girls in the room, “Get back to work!” I clap my hands playfully, “Come on, let’s get this done!”

Sam makes eye contact with me and motions for me to follow her. We walk around the corner and into the training room, which is dark just like the last time I was alone with a team mate in here. She turns to me, “I need to know something, Sara.”

“Okay,” I reply, not liking her tone.

She erases the 3 or 4 steps between us and presses me against the wall. Her lips hover millimeters above mine when she whispers, “Do you want me?”

I am only vaguely aware of my eyes rolling back into my head, “God, yes, Sam.”

“How much?”

My eyes fly open, “There is no way to measure it. I want you more than I’ve wanted anyone.”

“Even her?”

I cup her face in my hands, “Even her, Sam. And everyone before. I want you to the point of pain sometimes. So much that doing it myself is a joke.” Her arms circle my waist and I pull her face to mine in a deep kiss. As we meld and separate over and over, I whisper, “I want you.”

She pulls away from me quickly, her breathing heavy and her eyes wild, “Can you leave here?”

“Hell yes.”

Her lips curl up in a smile, “Come with me.”

I smile back, “Okay.”

As we rush past Ashley, I murmur, “Take my shit to the room when you leave, please.”

She smiles the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on her face and calls after us, “No problem! You girls have fun!”

Sam pulls me into her arms just as we reach her Blazer, “Sara…”

I’m glad she’s breathing as hard as I am, “Yes?”

My heart stops cold when she whispers, “I love you.”

I gasp a couple of times before throwing my arms around her neck, “I love you, too.”

“Yeah?” She smiles and pulls me away from her so she can see my face, “You do?”

I stroke her cheek with my thumb, “Yes, baby. I do. I love you, Sam.”

She pulls me against her and kisses me hard, “I want you. Right now.”

I can only smile and breathe, “Where?”

“Your room is closer,” she says, hurriedly unlocking her truck.

I can’t stop the giggle and point at the Athletics Building, “I don’t have my keys, we left all my stuff in there!”

“Fuck!” She laughs and drops her head back, “Why God? Why right now?”

I drop my voice an octave and answer as if I’m God, “Because you’re a shitty planner, Samantha.”

“Fuck you, God!” She laughs, “Fu–!”

“Sam,” I say, staring at her vehicle and interrupting her, “you have a Blazer with really dark tinted windows.”

Her head snaps down to look at her truck, too. The evilest grin I’ve ever seen emerges on her face, “Oh it’s on, now, girl.”