Chapter Seven
Rin
I step up tothe window, smiling at the woman working. “Hi,” I say, loud enough that she can hear me past the crowd around us. “I have tickets waiting for me to pick up. My name is Rin. I’m a friend of Maki’s.”
“Got you right here,” she says, sliding three tickets through the window towards me. “Enjoy the game.”
“Thank you!”
I hand a ticket to Rodney and Kei. We head through the gates. Once inside, I make my way straight towards the gift shop.
“Hey! Don’t get lost, asshole,” Kei says, pulling Rodney along so the three of us don’t get separated. Rodney tends to be a bit of a wanderer in places like this.
One time, when the three of us were out at a bar, Kei and I looked over and Rodney was just fucking gone. It turned out, he’d drunk just a tiny bit too much and headed outside. He started walking through the neighborhood until he found a nightclub that would let him inside. It took us hours to track him down. We found him surrounded by a bachelorette party with him square in the middle.
It was a sight to behold but even so, Kei was livid. Which in Kei language means he was worried about Rodney.
Now, we always make sure we have our locations on for each other, just in case.
“I have to find something to wear,” I explain, looking through the jerseys. “Oh, shit! Look! I can wear Maki’s jersey! That would be so cute.”
“You’ve been on one date and you’re already disgusting,” Kei murmurs, rolling his eyes at me.
“Why is Maki’s jersey orange instead of black like the rest of them?”
The guy working behind the counter perks up. “That’s because Maki is our libero. They follow their own set of rules and are allowed on and off the court outside of substitutions. To help the refs keep track, liberos wear the opposite color as the rest of the team. So when they’re home, Maki is orange and when they’re away, he wears the usual black.”
“Oh,” I say, nodding my head. “I still have so much to learn.”
Rodney squeezes my shoulder. “We can make a stream out of it. Watching game footage and learning the rules,” he says with a grin.
“Owl will be so excited,” Kei says in his deadpan way.
“I love the way you think, Rodney. We can make content out my dumbassery.”
“We usually do,” Rodney says back with a grin.
I buy the jersey and run to the bathroom, quickly switching into it. When I look in the mirror, I can’t help but flush. I turn around, checking out the back.
There’s something very exciting about wearingMaki’sjersey. The bold number five is plastered across my chest and across my back.Hisnumber. His last name, Quinn, written across my shoulderblades.
Not only is it exciting, but it’s also kind of erotic if I’m being honest with myself.
I can picture it now; standing in the living room wearing nothing but this jersey, tugging down the front to cover my goods. Would Maki like that? Would he find it as hot as I do? What if I stole hisactualjersey instead of just the merchandise version of it? I bet it would be even longer than this, going down to the middle of my thighs.
Okay, fuck. I can’t think like that right now! After splashing a bit of cold water against my flaming cheeks, I head back out into the hallway, finding Rodney and Kei waiting for me.
Rodney does a low whistle when I step out, looking me up and down. Kei totally clocks my blush but for once, he doesn’t comment on it.
“Popcorn?” I ask.
“Popcorn,” they both say.
After grabbing some popcorn and some beer, we make our way into the gymnasium, finding our seats. These tickets couldn’t have been any better. We’re above the floor so we can look down at the court, having a bird’s eye view. We’re right at the net, so we’ll be able to perfectly see both sides.
“Damn,” Rodney says as we sit down. “Your man is really treating us well.”
“He’s not my man,” I say, shoving my elbow into Rodney’s side.
