“Liar.” Her eyes snap to mine. “I’ve seen your tape jobs with my own eyes, and even with two good hands, you’re like an unattended toddler.” She narrows them on me, and I feel the burn from her glare.
"Stop it,” I grind out.
Kaia cocks her head to the side and gives me the look.
“Brighton.”
“I knew it!” She squeezes my hand, and I hiss at her. “You dirty slut,” she says, holding tighter. “Tell me what happened, right now!”
“Nothing, he cleaned the cuts, wrapped them up, and I blacked out on his couch,” I confess, “when I woke up, he was half-naked in the kitchen cooking me breakfast, and he helped me put my boots on. Did you know his hands were the size of two of mine?”
“Yes,” Kaia says instantly, “back up, half-naked?”
“Half. Naked.” I emphasize.
“God, I bet he’s fucking packing under that shirt. I’ve seen Boone. Those brothers are built for roughhousing with wild animals.” Kaia groans, letting go of my hand.
“Imagine a Discovery Channel show of just them, half-naked, wrestling bears.” I tease.
“Theyarebears.” She moans louder. “Wait, you said he put on your boots…” Kaia refocuses on the conversation.
“I tried…more than once to do it myself, but couldn’t get them on, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer!” I slump over and put my head against her shoulder. “Sunday is going to kill me.”
“For what? Her brother is a big boy.” Kaia laughs. “Avery…verybig boy.” The moaning returns, and I pinch her arm to make her stop. “Ow!” She slaps my hand, “You don’t have to tell her what happens in the upstairs of the Hollow, stays there.”
“I do, though,” I say, “he offered me shifts at the bar to help pay off the renovations that I’m going to have to do to the condo.”
“I’ve known those men since I was seven years old, and you got Bright on his knees, at your service and offering jobs?” Kaia starts laughing like it's the funniest thing she’s ever heard, but I don’t find the humor in the situation. “Never in my life did I think he was capable of being wrapped around someone’s finger; he probably keeps hunting knives in every pocket just to cut the strings and yet…” She stares at me with big brown eyes and an expression on her sharp face that screams over exaggeration.
“It’s just a job, Killer,” I warn her before she starts to fantasize too much. Once that starts, she’s impossible to reel in, her imagination takes hold, and she starts messing around in everyone’s business with plansthat no one asked her to make. “I know that look, it’s a couple shifts at the Hollow.”
“For now,” Kaia hums, standing up and hauling me off the bench with one hand. “When’s your first shift?”
“After practice,” I say tightly.
“Sunday!” Kaia barks. “Rhea is starting at the Hollow tonight so she can drive you over for your shift instead of me!” she says, backing away and darting out of the locker room before it can explode.
“I’m going to kill her,” I grumble under my breath and turn to see Sunday, in all her adorable glory, looking at me, confused. She finishes her braid as she closes the gap between us and makes a face. “I needed to pick up a second job to help with the renos, and there was a bouncer position opening up. Brighton offered it to me tentatively…” I say, waiting for Sunday to flip out.
“Brighton?” She giggles at the way I say his name. “Kaia’s probably pissed ‘cause she’s asked a billion times and he always says no.” Sunday teases, “I, on the other hand, can’t believe it took this long to get a carpool buddy,” she squeals.
“So you’re not mad?” I ask, a little scared that she might be, and hiding it well.
“Reaper, this is going to be so much fun,” she says and skips from the locker room onto the field.
I join the rest of them on the field as Coach starts to give us the rundown of what the next couple of weeks will look like. Kaia still leaves a space for Addy at her left, and it makes me a little sad to know it’ll always be there. Adeline Sarah was our fastest, most determined, loving Hillcat. It's always been the group of us, but she was offered a oppurtunity none of us would ever dream of turning down. Professional league. She left for California the summer before; it’s been nearly six months without her, but she is thriving in San Francisco on the team there. We were all just trying to get used to the Addy-sized hole she left in our chosen family.
“Drake, what the hell happened?” Coach points to my hand, and I tuck it behind my back sheepishly with a tight smile on my face.
“Would you believe me if I told you that I fought a cougar to save a baby duck on the side of the road on the way to work this morning?” I ask, and she narrows her icy blue eyes on me. “Bar fight, at the Hollow.”
Coach sighs. “Please stop getting in fights on and off the field.”
Kaia groans, “It was at Sunday’s defence.”
Coach looks at all of us and raises an eyebrow; the implications of her repeating herself are clear. No more fights. She runs practice hard, whether or not she’s trying to make me feel punished, the drills put me on my ass, and by the time the sun starts to set over the fields, I’m completely drained of life. My arms and legs burn like I’ve been running for days, and my lungs are screaming for reprieve as the girls join me to stretch.
“I’m going to shower, and then we can head over?” I say to Sunday, who gives me a quick nod and rolls over in the grass to stretch out her hips. I climb from the ground, my muscles jelly as I struggle to get to the locker room. Inside, it’s quiet, most of the players are still on the field, and I take the opportunity to get clean for the first time in twenty-four hours.
