“Co-captain?” I took my place beside Dakota. “What an honor.”
He smiled. “You seem like a good right hand.”
I placed a hand on my chest. “Flattery will get you everywhere. I was co-captain of the volleyball team… before I got kicked off.”
I said the last part under my breath, but Dakota heard it anyway.
He turned towards me, missing the next picks of his fellow captains as he asked, “Care to elaborate?”
I twisted my mouth to the side, trying to come up with the best way to phrase my mishap. “I might have stopped showing up to practice. Then, became friends with some of the girls from our rival school.”
He laughed. “So, what you’re saying is my judgment might be slightly off?”
“I’ve grown since then, I promise. Nowadays, I’m one hundred percent a team player.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” He pulled out an extra vest from his back pocket and handed it to me. “Because once a Dalmatian, always a Dalmatian.”
I snorted and tugged on the vest. “Who’d you lose to get stuck with that name?”
When he didn’t answer immediately, my cheeks burned. He grinned at my expression as I tried to come up with a suitable apology.
“I did lose.” He let me off the hook. “But I also kind of chose it. We were going by first letter of names, and it was either dalmatian or dolphin.”
“What’s wrong with dolphins? They’re the dogs of the sea.”
“Why have a dog of the sea when you can have one on land?” he countered. “Plus, I’ve always wanted to be a firefighter, so it felt appropriate.”
“Mm, I can see that for you.” I placed a finger on my chin and nodded.
“Really?”
“Yeah, saving cats and whatnot looks like your jam.”
Dakota looked amused. Our conversation paused because it was his turn to pick. He chose another girl. She wore a floral romper and square-framed glasses. Dakota greeted her as if they were familiar. Their conversation seemed to spark from there.
The more people joined our team, the more I faded into the background. Dakota spoke to every member of the team, conversating with ease as if everyone were his best friend. I watched, impressed at his openness.
By the time the teams were divided, I was at the back of the group. Yara blew on her whistle, summoning the beginning of the teams’ limited strategy session.
There were twelve people on our team. Too many for me to feel comfortable with stepping on people’s toes to join in the decision-making. I enjoyed acting out a plan more than creating one anyway.
As our team huddled, Dakota laid out a map of the campus in front of us. He circled all the fountains and pointed out the ones he wanted us to target.
“We’ll split up,” he said and looked at me as if to wait for an objection. I stared back with a blank look for a beat before remembering I was co-captain — even if it was in name only.
“Sounds good to me,” I said, trying to appear pumped for the rest of the team.
Dakota smiled at the thumbs-up I gave him and continued, “Remember, we’re going for smaller targets. I don’t care if they’re fewer points, we’ll claim them because the other teams like the big glory.”
“Who wouldn’t want bragging rights for ruining the fountain outside the student center?” a guy with heavy eyeliner asked.
“Exactly.” Dakota tapped on the map again, pointing out the largest fountain. “All the more reason to let everyone else fight over the big stuff while we’re claiming the small. There won’t be anything left after they’re done warring it out.”
I tilted my head to the side, trying to focus on his plan without getting lost in how cute he looked while trying to lead. It didn’t get past me that Dakota picked all the people who, like me, would have been fifth, sixth, and last choices.
“This could work.” I placed my hand out so that others would pile in. Contributing to the planning wasn’t my strong point, but I’ve been known to rile up a crew or two in my hay day. That was before the volleyball boot, of course. “Ready, Dalmatians?”
Dakota grinned, placing his hand on mine before any of the others joined in. His large fingers covered my chubby ones. Though tanned from the sun, Dakota’s skin contrasted with my darker complexion. As more hands moved on top, the weight pushed his palm against mine. My fingers tingled at the innocent bit of warmth filtering across my skin from Dakota’s touch.
