I sigh and finally get up off the floor.
I can't think of anything to say.
"So, buddy, was it good for you? Because for me it was the craziest and best experience of my life. Shame I got really turnedon by you too in the middle of the process and almost asked you to let me suck you. But don't worry, it'll pass! And if you want to do it again, I'm in. Can even be without the sucking thing. Or the kissing."
Fuck.
I rub both hands over my face and run my fingers through my hair while I try to force my brain to work at 100 percent and, mostly, not to try to look at my friend still very naked under a white sheet.
I sigh and stretch my neck at the same time as I tap a finger on the screen of Logan's phone, which is on the nightstand. The big numbers reading 8:45 make me curse again.
We had practice in fifteen minutes!
I smack Logan's arm and he uncovers his face to look at me.
"It's 8:45!" I warn in a low voice, and the other player's eyes go wide.
"Fuck. We're going to be late!"
"Oh, no we're not. You have exactly five minutes to put on your uniform and meet me at the door. We'll wolf down some fruit on the way and that'll be it!" I decide and practically run out of his room.
Fourteen desperate minutes later, I park in front of the training center and we run inside, even passing Coach Frank and his assistant on the way, like it's no big deal. The assistant can'tresist laughing, but I don't care because, technically, we arrived right on time and Frank won't be able to make us do 200 push-ups or sit-ups.
After going over almost every play from the last game, analyzing the mistakes and wins of the victory, we move on to a not-too-heavy agility drill and then to physical therapy.
On the way back to the locker room, though, is when the magic happens: Johnny comes out of the shower and opens his own locker. A cloud of glitter flies out from the force with which he yanks the door, and the whole team stops to look and try to understand.
Logan and I look at each other, making a herculean effort not to be the first to laugh and end up giving ourselves away, but then Johnny, until now also frozen, finally reacts.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?" he exclaims and pulls out his shoulder pads. A lot, but a lot of glitter falls from the piece, and the whole team explodes with laughter.
"Come on, Blakely, if you wanted a sparkly uniform that badly, you could have just asked!" Zac mocks, and the other player huffs with rage. He shakes the piece, shouting curses and questions about who did it, but it's a big mistake, because the shimmer sticks beautifully to his body, still a little wet from the shower.
Logan and I laugh so hard that I find myself forced to sit down so I don't fall, out of breath. Not even Maddox can keep a straight face and laughs so hard his eyes water.
I take the chance to snap some photos of the situation so I can show Charlie later. I even wanted to film it, or better, do a live call with her, but I can't keep my hand steady in the middle of the laughing fits.
"We're going to have to change the name on the back of his jersey. Now it'll be Sparkles!" It's Dennis who suggests, and I could kiss him for it. It was perfect.
The laughter grows, along with a chorus of "Sparkles, Sparkles, Sparkles!", and with all the commotion, the coach and a good part of the coaching staff burst into the locker room right after. Frank uses his whistle and nearly deafens us, since it echoes in the room, and we shut up real fast.
"What the hell is going on here? Do you think this is a circus and..." Frank starts to yell, but he finally reaches the hallway where we're gathered and freezes at the scene. He looks Johnny up and down, complete with shimmer everywhere, skin red with rage, and several equally gleaming pieces of clothing around him, and then... the most impressive thing happens.
Adam "Grumpy" Frank, as he was secretly called around here, bursts out laughing. Obviously, everyone goes back to doing the same.
When he manages to stop laughing a little, the coach points at Jonathan.
"You must have done something really bad to deserve this prank, Blakely. And good luck trying to get rid of it," he remarks, and my cheeks even hurt. It was going way better than I expected. "Go shower again and see if you can get some of itoff, and then, deal with your locker. Tomorrow I expect to see it completely clean again."
"I have to clean it? They do this shit to me and I'm the one who gets punished even more?" he complains, completely and totally pissed off. Frank shrugs.
"Sure. You think anyone's going to volunteer to help you?" he mocks, pointing at the team. "And I'm not going to make someone from the cleaning crew suffer over this. If you're the one who pulled a prank and got retaliated against, now you face the consequences."
"But I didn't do anything!" Johnny keeps trying, but the coach just raises an eyebrow at him in a "yeah, sure" and turns around. The assistant, Glenn, even pulls out his phone and takes a photo of the scene before running off too.
Jonathan walks off cursing toward the showers, and little by little the circus winds down. Not before sharing the photos and videos of the moment among ourselves. Zac had managed to film it well enough for us to show Charlie and Maddie later.
Logan and I leave a few moments later, and I spend the rest of the day alternating between attending classes and having fun with the fallout of the prank on social media.
