Page 36 of Final Score

My footsteps echoed over the linoleum floor, as I stood in the middle of the NU Devils locker room. The teams loco had been painted across the main wall. Coach and staff offices were to the right, a row of bright red lockers lined the middle of the room. A bulletin board was tacked to the wall next to the door, full of flyers and practice schedule memos. The team’s bathroom and multiple showers at the far end of the hall.

Walking further into the room, I saw a single locker open a practice bag sitting on the floor below. Jenner’s jersey number etched into the red metal. Tapped to the inside of the open door, were three pictures. One of his family in California, another from the Devils first championship win, and lastly the picture Fallon had taken of us at the pizza parlor.

“Jenner?” I called, as he walked around the corner, looking startled running a towel through his freshly showered hair.

“Kat? What are you doing in here?” He asked.

“I was waiting outside the door. Coach Taylor said you were the last to leave. He told me it was ok if I waited in here.”

“He willingly let you in here. That’s unusual.”

“I can wait back outside if you’d like.” I answer suddenly feeling foolish.

“No, no it’s alright. Besides this is as good a place as any to talk. Probably the most privacy we’ll have the rest of the night.”

Jenner sits on the bench beside his locker, motioning for me to sit beside him. I sit a good amount of space between us, unsure of where we stood. I knew if I got too close to Jenner too quickly, I would act on the hormones racing through my bloodstream, and we wouldn’t have the conversation we needed to have.

“I know Oliver played you the voice note I left this morning. I meant every word.” Jenner drums his fingers along the side of the bench anxiously.

“I know you did.”

“I owe you an apology.” I look Jenner in the eyes, so he knows how serious I am. “The way I left California… that was in excusable. I was scared. Scared of my feelings for you, scared of my past, and what the future might look like with you in it. Please know you did nothing wrong. My decision was made completely of my own stupidity.”

“Apology accepted.” Jenner answers.

I try to stead my breathing, choosing my next words carefully. “You have every right to tell me to go to hell. That you never want to see me again. But I really hope you don’t. Because I… I’m in love with you. I have been for months; I was just too damn scared to admit I before.”

“You love me?” Jenner asks, his eyes brightening as a large smile stretches across his face.

“So much.” I answer.

Jenner grabs my leg pulling me towards him. “I’m not going to lie to you. When you left, it hurt like hell. I didn’t sleep, barely ate, and made more than my fair share of shit decisions. You were all I thought about, all I talked about.”

“I never meant to make you feel like you had to choose between your feelings for me, and your independence. I love who you are, because of those things. I never want that to change going forward.”

“So, there is a future? I didn’t completely ruin everything?” I ask, as Jenner’s hands cup both sides of my face.

“Baby, you couldn’t ruin it, ever. I would have figured out a way to get you back one way or another with or without our friends help. I don’t lose remember. I do have one request. Can we do this for real?”

I nod against his hands. “I’m so proud of you for the win today. It was an amazing game. My boyfriend is three-time championship winner.”

“Your damn right I am and we’re going to celebrate.”

I check my phone, the afterparty would start in one hour. “We’d better hurry so we don’t miss the party.”

“We will but there’s one thing I need to do first.”

“Ok, what’s that?” I ask

“This.” He answers bringing his lips to mine. The kiss is soft, and unhurried, like we have all the time in the world. I’ve missed this.

“I love you.” Jenner whispers against my lips deepening the kiss.

Pulling me into his lap, my knees resting on either side of his hips, I run my fingers through his hair. One of Jenner’s hands cups the back of my neck, the other rests against the small of my back pressing me closer.

Taking his full bottom lip in mine, I suck lightly. Jenner groans, a hand landing harshly on my ass. My breath hitches at the sting. Leaning me backwards Jenner stands pressing my back against a closed locker door. The metal shaking with our weight. I move my neck giving Jenner better access as he kisses down my throat. He sucks on my collar bone leaving a mark, as he rocks his hips against mine.

I can feel him hardening, the seam of my jeans providing the most wonderful friction against my clit as he runs his length against me.