by Steph Nuss
I stood upright and turned to find him smiling at me. “What do you want?”
“I just wanted to come by and wish you good luck.” He raked his eyes over my uniform, lingering a little too long on my chest.
“Yeah, well, your girls already wished us luck,” I said, stretching my arm across my chest. “Oh, and you have a little bit of lipstick right here.” I touched my cheek to show him where it was and rolled my eyes at him.
He wiped it off quickly and moved closer so he could whisper in my ear. “Jealous much?”
“Not at all.”
“And now, the bitchiest jammer around, Megs-N-Bacon!” Cash announced loudly.
I turned and faced the track at the sound of her name, and Fletcher moved beside me. “She’s good, but you’re better,” he said, giving me an encouraging smack on the ass. “Go kill it out there, Bay.”
“Thanks, Haney.”
He walked away and wished the rest of the team good luck as I put my helmet on and covered it with the star emblem each jammer wore on her helmet. I made sure my pads were situated on my elbows and knees, and then anxiously waited with the girls as Cash talked us up.
“Now, I don’t know if you all heard, but there’s a new team in the league this year and they mean business! They’re young. They’re hot. They’re the Rosie Rollers!”
The beat of Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business” blared through the speakers as we stepped onto the track and skated around in a pace line. We clapped our hands to the song along with the crowd, and then squatted down to slap the hands of fans reaching through the fencing as we skated around. As the chorus came on, we flexed our biceps like Rosie the Riveter and the crowd erupted into a frenzy of cheers.
“Starting for the Rosie Rollers tonight is Guns-N-Rosie! A security guard by day and night, watch out, bitches, this Rosie blocker has some guns!” Imani continued skating around the track and waved to the crowd at the sound of her name. We’d given her the nickname Guns-N-Rosie because the woman had some serious muscles. “Next up for the Rosie Rollers is the ever so cold, Paige A. Doctor! Mav, do we have an ambulance on standby just in case?” Paige skated around the track, waving just as Imani had done. “And the last starting blocker for the Rosie Rollers is the scrappiest of them all. She’s little but she’s fierce! She’s Tessa the Terrible!” Tessa pumped her arms in the air and waved both hands as she skated.
Elly was up next, and she skated up beside me and smiled. “I can’t wait to hear what Cash comes up with for me. He’s such a smartass!”
“I know!” I laughed, yelling over the crowd.
Cash cleared his throat and continued. “The Rosie Rollers’ pivot recently tied the knot with their coach, so sorry, ladies and gents, you may look but you can’t touch or else the Ellynator might take you out!”
Elly laughed and flexed both of her biceps playfully, and then waved to the crowd.
“And last, but certainly not least, is the Rosie Rollers’ jammer. Not one to do anything half-assed—no, this Rosie Roller goes all the way! Your jammer for the night, folks, All-The-Way Bay!”
I waved to the crowd as I skated around and then finally came to a stop in the rink with the rest of my team. We huddled together and continued clapping to the music with the crowd. When the music started to fade, we put our hands in the middle, threw them up and yelled, “We can do it!”
The refs took their spots on the track and I lined up next to Megs-N-Bacon on the jammer line. Elly, Tessa, Paige and Imani all positioned themselves ahead of me in the pack.
“Hey,” Megs said, nodding my way.
“Hey.”
“I heard what you said to Beth earlier,” she said, holding her fist up for a bump.
I bumped her fist with mine and smiled.
“It’s a shame that I like you because now I’m going to have to beat you.”
“We’ll see about that, bitch.”
She laughed as we both took our marks and tightened our helmet straps.
The first whistle sounded and the pack in front of us took off. Shortly after, the second whistle blew and we took off after them. In every bout of roller derby I’d ever played, I was the lead jammer, always the one who made it through the pack first. But as I skated neck-in-neck with Megs, I worried for the first time that I wouldn’t be the lead. I pushed myself even harder to seal the position.
We came up on the pack and the Bitches were pushing and shoving my teammates. I focused on my girls and went toward them to the left to avoid getting tangled up with the Bitches. Megs apparently had the same idea as she moved to the right, over to her own teammates, so I pumped my arms harder and faster, trying to pick up speed. We came around the bend in the track, and I did a crossover to go around the curve quickly.
Pretty soon, I was out of the pack and Megs was nowhere to be found. I was the lead jammer, and now it was time to score. I flew around the track as fast as I could. As I came around the second bend, with Megs trailing far behind me, I heard Carter calling out a play to the pack. I didn’t hear the play number, but I watched as Elly set the team up in front of me. With Tessa, Paige and Imani on her right, Elly motioned me forward, ready to help me through. Our blockers had the Bitches trapped on the right, next to the railing. As I skated closer, Elly threw her right leg back to me and I latched onto it. She whipped me out of the pack so quickly that I gained more momentum, flying around the bend again, crossing my legs over one another as I flew.
Checking the scoreboard, I saw our first four points. We had one more minute in the jam, and Megs was still trapped in the pack. Imani, Paige and Tessa had formed a defensive circle around her. I looked at Carter, who was waving me forward, and I kept on pumping my arms and legs as fast as I could.
I met up with the pack again, and with my three blockers trapping Megs, it was Elly and me versus the Bitches’ blockers. The four of them locked their arms together, forming a human fence between me and the pack, but I had speed on my side. I weaved in front of them until I had them questioning which way I was going to try to get through, and then I dropped down low and skated through one Bitches’ spread legs. Reaching up, I grabbed Elly’s outstretched hand. She pulled me along with her until I was completely out of the pack, scoring another five points for our team.
I tapped my hips twice to call off the jam, and Maverick blew his whistle to signal the end of it. Elly threw one of her arms around my shoulder and pumped the other in the air in victory.
“Folks!” Cash shouted to the crowd, jumping to his feet inside the rink. “We’ve just had our first grand slam of the season from All-The-Way Bay and the Rosie Rollers!”
“Bayler!” Elly squealed, smiling widely. “I cannot believe you just did a grand slam on our first jam!”
Out of breath, we skated off the track to the middle of the rink where Carter stood with the rest of our bench. The other girls came up to me and gave me hugs and high-fives, but all I wanted was water. I sat down on the bench, winded and desperate for a drink. I took out my mouth guard. My muscles were burning from all the exertion. Carter handed me a water bottle and smiled.
“Way to go, sis.”
“Thanks,” I said, before gulping down half the bottle.
Maverick skated over to me with his whistle stuck between his teeth. “You better teach my little girl how to skate like that someday.”
I laughed. “Deal.”
He blew his whistle again, signaling the start of another jam.
“Okay,” Carter said, gathering us into a huddle. “Bayler will sit this one out. Elly, you’ll take the jammer position. Kat, you’ll take over as pivot. Everyone else stays the same. Got it?”
“Got it!”
I removed my star cover from my helmet and tossed it to Elly, who tossed her pivot stripe cover to Kat for her helmet. The girls slipped their mouth guards back in and then took their positions on the track. Kat was one of the girls who worked at Batter Up with me. She was the loud one at work, very sarcastic and witty, so we nicknamed her Kat the Ri
pper.
From the bench, I heard the whistles blow and watched as our second jam started. I cheered my team on, yelling out tips and praises to the girls. When Elly got through the pack first, I high-fived Carter, knowing he wasn’t just proud of her as our coach but as her husband, too.
Gazing into the crowd, I found Fletcher sitting next to Harper. His eyes were on me, his charming smile easily spread across his lips. I thought he’d be sitting with his floozies but he wasn’t. He was with my sister and staring at me with that perfect smirk outlined on his beautiful face, which had me wondering for a split second if he was proud of me and the way I skated.
But at the sound of another whistle being blown, I mentally snapped out of it and turned my attention back to the jam, silently chastising myself for even thinking that way about him. What he thought didn’t matter and it never would. He was just sex.
The second jam ended with Elly kicking our lead up a good notch, and then it was my turn as jammer again, and I was thankful to get my ass off the bench and my head back in the bout.
***
We ended up winning our bout, 62 to 38. After hitting the showers and slipping into regular clothes, we were off to Judge’s to celebrate not only our first win, but also Cash’s birthday since it was only a few days away.
In my cut-off jean shorts and white mid-drift tee, I walked into Judge’s and was greeted with a bunch of hoots and hollers from my teammates and friends hanging out by the bar.
“Ladies and gents, the MVP has arrived!” Cash announced loudly, exciting the bar crowd even further and eliciting a blush out of me.
“No!” I shook my head, waving my hands at him. “It was a team effort, birthday boy!”
He laughed and led me over to the bar where our friends and my siblings were seated. I felt Fletcher’s eyes on me the moment I walked into his establishment. The feeling only intensified the closer I got to the gang, but I didn’t acknowledge him. I was worried I’d go back to analyzing his features and what they all meant. The rest of the Rosie Rollers took over a table near the bar and they all raised their glasses as Cash and I walked by.
“You’re gonna have to get me Kat’s number,” Cash murmured, flashing a smile at the blue-haired beauty. “That blue hair is fucking hot.”
I laughed again. “I’m gonna need a drink before I start setting you up with my co-workers.”
“I’m a fucking catch and you know it,” he said, nudging my bruised side and making me wince. One of the Bitches had hip-checked me into the railing during our second-to-last jam, and now I was sporting a pretty hellish bruise along my right side.
“A little bruised there, Bay?” Harper asked, smiling brightly.
Back in Texas, we always compared bruises after our roller derby bouts. Bruises were considered cool when they were linked to victories.
Cash’s gaze quickly turned apologetic, but I immediately waved him off. “It’s nothing.”
“Whatever! Let’s see it!” Maverick exclaimed.
“Yeah, we already showed off all our battle wounds,” Tessa said. “Show us yours!”
I threw my bag on top of the bar and then stood in front of them and lifted my right arm up in the air. Pulling my mid-drift up further, I revealed the bruise over the right side of my rib cage. It was dark purple and blue with a hint of yellow coming through.
“Jesus,” Justin murmured, shaking his head.
“That’s a good one,” Maverick deemed.
“Yeah, it is,” Fletcher said.
“Does it hurt?” Carter asked, digging his index finger into my injured flesh.
“Hell yes, it does!” I cried, knocking his hand away. I righted my shirt, glaring at him. “Asshole.”
He grinned, amused by my pain, but then Elly slapped him in the arm and his smile faded. She patted the empty barstool next to hers—the same unoccupied stool next to Fletcher—and motioned me over. “Sit down! We just started talking about our Fourth of July plans before you came in.”
Taking my seat, I smiled weakly at Fletcher as he waved the bartender over.
“I can’t wait to get out of the city for the holiday,” Paige said.
“What do you guys normally do for the Fourth?” Harper asked, sipping on her water.
“We usually go to the Hamptons for the weekend and stay at Fletcher’s beach house,” Tessa answered.
Fletcher turned his attention toward me and smiled. “What would you like to drink?”
“A Cape Cod, please.”
“Holden,” he said, grabbing the bartender’s attention, “one Cape Cod for the lady.”
The kid grabbed a glass and started mixing my drink in front of us. Fletcher continued ignoring the rest of the gang as they continued to make plans for the Fourth. They talked about the beach and a badminton tournament, but the only thing I could focus on was the guy next to me. His masculine scent lingered around him, all woodsy and delicious, drawing me in like a dog begging for a bone. At this point, I was surprised I wasn’t drooling every time he was around. Like most of his tees, the gray shirt he had on tonight hugged his powerful arms, bringing them to my attention and reminding me just how fucking good he looked during sex. His black cargo shorts showed off his sculpted calves, and I knew the moment he stood up, they’d hang from his hips just like the rest of his shorts did. And if he raised his arms, his shirt would ride up, giving me a peek of that insanely sexy V carved into his body.
Holden placed my drink in front of me, and I immediately reached for it, needing the cooling sensation it’d bring.
“Good?” Fletcher asked, staring directly at my mouth.
“I’ve never had a bad Cape Cod,” I said, chewing on my straw. Running my eyes over him one last time, I demanded myself to stop thinking about him naked and change the subject. “So, you think we’ll give your floozies a run at that league title this summer?”
“My floozies,” he repeated, with a huff of laughter.
“Hell yeah, you will,” Cash interjected, giving me a high-five. “Fletcher’s floozies have never done a grand slam before.”
I nudged Fletcher, smiling. “And you didn’t think we could even skate!”
“Yeah!” Elly accused, stirring her drink.
“Oh, I knew you could skate.” His lips pulled up in a full smile, showing off his panty-melting dimples. “I just didn’t think you girls had it in you to be so ruthless on the track.”
“I gave a girl a bloody nose,” Tessa explained proudly.
“And you wonder why I call you the scrappy one,” Cash said, giving Tessa a pat on the head.
“Hey, when you grow up in Grand Concourse, you learn how to throw a punch.”
“Where’s Grand Concourse?” I asked curiously, gazing around at the gang.
“You don’t wanna know!” they answered in unison.
***
After way too many drinks, I finally stumbled my way into my apartment and started getting ready for bed. My body ached from the exertion of roller derby, and my head throbbed thanks to all the alcohol we’d consumed at Judge’s. I’d had a good time, but I was tired and ready for my bed. I threw my purse on the floor, changed into a t-shirt, and proceeded to my bathroom, where I scrubbed the makeup off my face and then started brushing my teeth. Mid-brush, my phone started ringing.
But it wasn’t my normal ringtone.
No, it was 2 Live Crew’s “Me So Horny.”
Pulling the brush out of my mouth, I rinsed and then picked up my phone and saw Fletcher’s name on the screen.
“He gave himself a ringtone,” I whispered aloud to myself, rolling my eyes at his choice of tone. I answered the call. “What do you want, Haney?”
“What can I get for ten dollars?” he asked amusingly.
“Absolutely nothing,” I replied.
“Wrong. You’re supposed to say, ‘Everything you want’,” he said, mimicking the woman’s accent and moans from the song.
I laughed lightly, shaking my head. “I repeat, what do you want?”
“I’m getting ready for bed,” I answered, pulling the sheets back.
“Can I come over?”
I sighed tiredly, staring blissfully at the bed calling my name. “You can come over, but there will be no sex. I’m too tired.”
“Be there in a minute.”
I hung up and tossed my phone on my nightstand. Walking into the living room, I unlocked my apartment door for him and then shut the lights off and crawled into bed. This girl was so not horny.
Minutes later, I heard the door open and saw him walk into my room, pulling his shirt off.
“Hey,” he said, in a deep, soft voice that made goose bumps pebble across my skin.
“Hi,” I replied, watching as his hands undid his shorts and they fell to the floor.
The light from my bathroom was still on, and he looked magnificent standing beside my bed in nothing but his boxers. Even drunk, with his hair slightly disheveled and the smell of whiskey mixing with his rugged, woodsy scent, he still appeared sexier than sin. I watched as he moved into the bathroom and started brushing his teeth.
Since when did he start keeping a toothbrush here? I thought. He’d been to my place numerous times, but I’d never noticed any of his things left behind. Disturbed by this thought, I sat up in bed and rubbed my tired eyes.
“So you have a toothbrush here now?” I asked curiously, in my least bitchy tone. But that was my bathroom. How could I not notice his things starting to take over? Okay, it was just a toothbrush but still. What’s next? His clothes needing a drawer? His guy things taking up half of my closet? No. Not happening.
“No,” he said, smiling back at me. “This is your toothbrush.”
“WHAT!” Jumping out of bed, I ran to the bathroom. I pulled the brush out of his hands and noticed the pink and white handle, indicating that it was, in fact, my toothbrush that he was using on his perfectly straight pearly whites. “Why the hell are you using my toothbrush?! That is so gross!”
“Is not. It’s just like kissing,” he said with shrug.
“It is so not like kissing,” I said, tossing the brush in the trash. “Kissing does not fight cavities and plaque and gingivitis, and God knows what else going on in your mouth.”