I drop onto the bench in front of my locker and stare at my shoes. My hands are shaking. I tell myself it’s adrenaline. That it’s normal after a loss like that. That I’ll breathe through it and it will pass.
Kirk doesn’t give it time to pass.
“Well,” he says loudly, peeling his jersey off like he’s putting on a performance, “that was a fucking embarrassment.”
I keep my head down. Marco stiffens two lockers over. I can feel it without looking.
Kirk keeps going. “All that hype. All that talk. And then we come out flat as shit.”
Dan mutters something under his breath, but Kirk plows right over it.
“Some of you might want to remember this is a team,” he adds, voice dripping with accusation. “Not a one-man show.”
Marco turns fully now. “You done?”
Kirk snorts. “I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking.”
“No,” Marco says evenly. “You’re saying what you always say when things don’t go your way.”
I lace my fingers together, pressing them hard enough that my knuckles ache.
Kirk’s eyes flick to me. His mouth curls. “Funny,” he says. “Because from where I was sitting, our golden boy couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.”
That gets a few uncomfortable laughs. Something tightens behind my ribs.
Marco steps closer. “Knock it off.”
“What?” Kirk says, spreading his hands. “We’re not allowed to talk about bad games now?”
Dan chimes in, voice calm but firm. “We all played like shit tonight.”
Kirk ignores him. “I didn’t get pulled.”
Marco’s jaw tightens. “You also blew three defensive rotations.”
Kirk scoffs. “At least my head was in the game.”
That lands. My breathing goes shallow. I tell myself to stand up. To walk away. To get in the shower and let the hot water pound this out of me.
Kirk isn’t done.
“Maybe if some people weren’t distracted,” he says casually, like he’s discussing the weather, “they’d play better.”
Marco steps directly in front of him now. “Careful.”
Kirk’s gaze slides past Marco, locking onto me. His smile sharpens. “I saw him,” he says.
The room seems to tilt.
“Saw who?” Marco asks.
Kirk chuckles. “Your little rock star friend. Sitting up there in the crowd like he owns the place.”
A few heads turn, and my heart slams hard against my chest.
Marco’s voice drops. “Shut. Up.”
Kirk raises an eyebrow. “What? Everyone saw him. Guy’s hard to miss.”
