by Misha Horne
“What the fuck’s wrong with you? You got crabs? Sit still!”
Juno burst out laughing.
“What so funny?” Hogie demanded. “If you really do have crabs, you better get the fuck up, I’m not doing that again.”
“I don’t have crabs,” Kyle muttered, flushing as he folded his arms across his chest, forcing himself to stop moving.
“I’m glad you’re all having such a good time this morning,” Mackey said, as he strode through the door. “Maybe you can let me in on what’s so funny.”
“Apparently Kelley has crabs,” Moss said, sitting down in the chair across from Mackey’s desk.
“Yeah. And he pissed himself,” Hogie said, leaning over and pretending to punch him in the nuts.
“Cut it out!” Kyle pushed him off, but was grateful for the distraction. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Mackey leaned back against the front of his desk like they were all just having a casual conversation. He looked the room over briefly, frowning at all of them before his hard gaze landed on Kyle, turning him cold.
“I don’t know what the hell happened last night. But here’s what I do know. I have a rookie who’s been in trouble since he got here, and a bunch of seniors who sure as shit know better. So who’s the bad influence here?”
There was a pause, while everyone waited for someone else to talk first. Kyle could feel words filling his head faster and faster, knew if someone didn’t talk soon, they’d come spilling out. He wasn’t sure he’d ever realized how difficult keeping his mouth shut really was.
Finally, Moss spoke up.
“Burkett and his crew came and started shit like they always do—”
“And Kelley finished it,” Hogie interrupted, laughing.
Mackey shut the laughter down quick.
“Is this funny to you guys? This is who we want to be? A bunch of thugs? Do you have any idea how many laws you broke last night?”
After a collective eye roll, Hogie sighed. “Coach, seriously, it’s not that big of a deal. Guys fight in there all the time. No one even—”
“You know what? Tell me it’s no big deal when Jeff Miller calls you screaming at six a.m. on a Sunday morning.”
“Well, you called me,” Hogie muttered.
“You’re lucky it was me and not the cops.”
“Coach, come on. This is blown up way out of proportion, you know? I mean, we were just bystanders, and Kelley was just defending himself. You know what an asshole Burkett is. He asked for it.”
“Yeah. Seriously.” Moss drummed his fingers on the arms of his chair. “What kind of dick rats to his coach after he gets in a fight, anyway? The guy’s a drama queen. He’s probably just trying to get the kid in trouble.”
“The kid’s already in trouble. Now who gave him the alcohol?”
They all shifted simultaneously.
“Guys, this isn’t kindergarten. He’s underage, you know he’s underage, why aren’t you smarter than this?”
Moss cleared his throat. “You know, I mean, twenty-one is mostly just a guideline at certain places. There are certain things you can get away with if you wear a certain uniform…”
“Twenty-one is not a guideline anywhere. If it was a guideline, kids fresh out of high school could buy their own drinks. Did you buy your own drinks, Kyle?”
It was the first thing Mackey had said directly to him, and he panicked as he bit back half a dozen stupid responses. Thinking about what he said before he said it seemed to make his brain work outrageously slowly.
“There were a bunch of girls buying him drinks,” Moss said. “He’s very popular.”
“Really.” Mackey frowned. “You guys are going to blame this all on a rookie and a bunch of girls?”
“I bought the beers,” Juno said. “Okay? It’s not his fault. He came out with us, and he just wanted to… fit in. We should have kept a better eye on him.”
Kyle scowled. A better eye on him? What the fuck. The whole think before you talk thing really wasn’t going to work if people kept saying things that pissed him off.
“So, you knew he wasn’t twenty-one, but you thought the responsible thing would be to take him to a bar, buy him drinks, and then try to babysit him?”
Juno shrugged. “I fucked up. Poor judgment, okay? What do you want me to say?”
“And how did the fight start?”
The three of them started explaining at once, but Mackey held up his hand to quiet them.
“Kyle. How did the fight start, Kyle?”
With everyone suddenly staring at him, he squirmed, and it had nothing at all to do with his ass, which he hadn’t thought about at all since Mackey came in the room. So that hadn’t worked. He glanced at Juno, expecting him to be scowling, but he was completely calm— that totally relaxed expression he had that made Kyle feel anything but relaxed. He was definitely going to fuck this up.
“Don’t look at them, look at me,” Mackey snapped. “What happened?”
“It was hardly even a fight,” he finally said.
“You sure as hell look like you were in a fight.”
“He started it. He came after me. He wanted to fight.”
“And you didn’t.”
“No. I was just having a good time.”
“I can definitely confirm that, Coach.”
“Hogie, shut up.” He turned back to Kyle. “Go ahead.”
“That’s it. He came at me, and I was just defending myself.” He had no fucking idea if that was true, had almost zero memory of how it started, or who did what. But Mackey didn’t need to know that.
“And what about his hand?”
“I don’t know. Nothing. Is it really hurt?”
Mackey smirked then, trying to hide it as a rubbed a hand across his jaw. “I think his feelings are more hurt than anything.”
Kyle relaxed. Slightly.
“Well, okay, then!” Hogie clapped his hands together and stood up. “No one got hurt, no one got arrested, let’s call it case closed and all go the fuck home, then.”
“Yeah. You can go the fuck home,” Mackey told him. “But be back here at five tomorrow, because you’ve all volunteered for groundskeeping duty. “
“Shit. For real?”
“Yeah. For real.”
“For how long?”
“For as long as I decide. That work for you, Hogie?”
“Oh, yeah. Fantastic. I was thinking maybe I’d change my major to groundskeeping, anyway.”
“That’s five a.m. Not 5:05, not 5:30. I’d better hear you were here on time and worked your ass off.” He turned to Kyle. “And you, you’re done for the week.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you suit up and sit on the bench. Again. You getting sick of it yet?”
“That’s stupid! You need me!” His mouth was up and running before he even realized it was open. He could feel Juno watching him, knew exactly the frown that would be on his face, and he refused to even glance in his direction.
“No, what I need is someone dependable, who respects his position enough not to fuck it up. You’re flashy and you’re a fast, but you’re also a kid. The fact that you’re playing so often has less to do with you and more to do with the fact that we don’t have a solid center right now. So do not sit here under the impression that you can’t be replaced.”
The room went quiet, and Kyle wasn’t sure if that meant they felt sorry for him, or they agreed with Mackey. Either way, his face burned, and keeping his mouth shut was the last thing he felt capable of.
“You’re killing my season,” he muttered.
“The rest of you can go,” Mackey said, pushing himself off the desk and walking around it to ease into his chair. “Kyle and I need to talk about his season.”
Moss and Hogie didn’t need to be asked twice, and when Juno followed them to the door, Kyle’s entire body became a mass of nerves, tension bouncing around the room like a pinball, because what the hell?
“Front and center, superstar,” M
ackey said, pointing to the chair Moss had just vacated.
Kyle wasn’t at all sure he could even stand up, but when he saw that Juno was just closing the door and not actually leaving, he managed to move up to the desk. Juno dropped into the chair next to him, his knee just inches from his, completely relaxed, or at least pretending to be.
“And you’re still here why?” Mackey asked him.
“I just am.”
Mackey looked at him thoughtfully for a minute, and then pointedly ignored him as he turned to Kyle, leaning forward and tapping on his desk for emphasis.
“Let’s get one thing straight. This is not your season. This is our season. And so far, I’m not loving your contributions. I don’t know what the hell is going on with you, but I have no intention of letting you pollute this team. The last thing I need is some kind of PR shitstorm over underage drinking and entitled college jocks. You have no idea how much that would piss me off.”
Based on the tone of his voice, Kyle had at least a little bit of an idea, and he didn’t want any part of it.
“Look, I’m sorry.”
“This isn’t about apologies. I don’t care about apologies. You’re in here every fucking week for something, Kyle. And now you’re bringing half the team in with you. Why can’t you follow directions? All I’m telling you to do is act responsibly. Why is that so hard for you?”
“I don’t know.”
It was completely humiliating, being scolded like that in front of Juno, for Mackey to have zero regard for his embarrassment, probably even think he deserved it. And it was fucking hot. To have Juno sitting right there, hearing about how badly behaved he was. God, he was twisted.
“You’re representing this team and this school for as long as you’re wearing that uniform. Which might not be much longer.”
Kyle jerked his head up. “You can’t do that. You can’t… my parents haven’t even seen me play. If they come and I’m not playing— ”
“They’re going to want to know why, and you don’t want to tell them. Maybe I should just call them now and let them know what’s going on.”
Kyle snorted. “Why would you call my parents? I’m not a kid. You can’t just call them.”
“No? I’m sure their number is in your file.”
“That doesn’t matter. You—”
“Kyle. Stop.” It was quiet, barely above a whisper. If his body didn’t react so violently to Juno’s voice, he might have missed it. Instead, he stopped. The entire room stilled.
Juno turned to Mackey, who seemed to have been waiting for him to say something. “Ease up. The yelling and the tough love, that’s your game, I get it. But you’re harassing the fucking kid. Be mad all you want, but you know we’d be shooting blanks this year without him. He’s a firestarter, and you keep benching him for stupid shit. I don’t know what your problem is, but you’re messing with someone’s future here.”
“I’m trying to make sure someone actually has a future. You know exactly what I’m doing. Or, you should.”
“You’re not going to do it anymore. I want you to leave Kyle alone.”
Mackey leaned forward like he hadn’t heard. “You want what?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Hands off.”
Kyle blinked, astounded by the dark, ominous tone. All the times Juno had said You belong to me seemed to mean something now, not just in an abstract way. Suddenly, he felt owned, protected. Safe in a way he never had before. He wasn’t sure if he loved it or hated it.
Mackey looked slowly between the two of them, and the nerves in Kyle’s stomach multiplied as the conflict in the room seemed to shift.
“Whatever’s going on between the two of you, I don’t like where it’s headed.”
“It’s none of your business,” Juno told him calmly.
“I wish it wasn’t. But, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you haven’t been in here for years, and suddenly Kyle’s problems become your problems. So, now it’s my business.”
“Kyle, wait outside,” Juno said quietly.
He hadn’t been sure what would happen next, but it wasn’t that. “Why?”
“Because I told you to, and you don’t want to argue with me right now.”
That was actually exactly what he wanted to do. But not in front of Mackey, and not when he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. Not when he wasn’t even sure exactly what was going on. But for some reason, the part of him that liked being told what to do actually listened, and then his feet were moving, his body heading for the door without his consent.
* * *
He felt completely unsettled that he’d left without argument. Not to mention annoyed that he hadn’t thought to slam the door behind him. Not that he would have done that. Probably.
There was really no reason for him to be so agitated, so nervous and anxious and angry. Yeah, he hated waiting, and yeah, he hated being talked about behind his back, but this went beyond that. Juno was taking away something that he wanted. That he needed.
Okay, so, he was doing a shit job of being accountable after Mackey punished him. But he was trying. Sort of. And if he happened to find being punished incredibly hot, that really wasn’t his fault. Actually, it wasn’t his fault at all.
Not that there was anything Juno could say to change things. There was a contract, after all, even if it was just a stupid, crazy piece of paper that didn’t mean anything. Mackey wasn’t going to just stop… fixing him, no matter what Juno said. Still. He really wished he knew what they were saying. Surely Juno wasn’t telling him about last night. Surely he wasn’t— Jesus, what was he saying?
The way his head was spinning was pulling him closer and closer to barging back into Mackey’s office, to do who the hell knew what, and he forced himself to head for the showers instead. He stood in front of the sink and scooped water into his mouth and splashed it down the back of his neck until his shirt was dripping. His headache seemed to be gone, probably chased away by the adrenaline. But he was still nauseous. Nervous over a thousand different things, and it would really be nice to be calmed down.
He rubbed the seat of his pants, his ass barely stinging now. The pain faded so quickly, and it was like his brain went with it. He seemed to be developing a serious fucking problem.
“You didn’t do what I told you.”
He jumped, glancing up into the mirror. Juno was leaning against the cement wall, frowning. God, he really fucking liked that frown, the way his eyelids got heavier and the way he set his jaw, making the strong lines of his face even stronger.
He spun around to defend himself. “I tried. He asked me a question. It wasn’t— ”
“I swear if you tell me it wasn’t your fault, I’ll spank you right now.”
Kyle’s pulse danced across his throat, and he bounced on his toes as he considered it. This wasn’t public, but it definitely wasn’t private. It seemed like—
“Rook, that was a warning, not an invitation.”
“Oh.”
“So, I’m just never gonna be able to get mad without turning you on.”
“Maybe not. Are you mad?”
Juno sighed, taking a step in his direction. He kind of seemed mad. In a Juno sort of way. “Wasn’t I clear? Wasn’t I so fucking clear before we left? What happened to not running your mouth?”
As he moved closer, Kyle’s heart beat faster, his tongue teasing his lips as he licked them nervously.
“I’m not playing around. It’s one thing to be a pain in the ass, but it’s like nothing sticks in your head at all. What’s the matter with you?”
“I don’t know. I forgot.”
“How could you forget? It was an hour ago.”
Fuck. Every time they were toe to toe, he remembered all over again how big Juno was. How easy it was to feel small when he could just keep his eyes level with his broad shoulders and enjoy being scolded.
“I get excited,” he said, honestly. “I can’t help myself.”
“Alright. Fair enough. We’ll
just have to work on that.”
“What do you mean?”
Juno settled a hand on his chest and pushed him backwards until he was edged up against the lip of the sink. Then he held out a sheet of paper folded into quarters.
“Here.”
When Kyle unfolded it, he was staring at his own scrawling signature, at the bottom of a bunch of words that still made him blush. The memory of signing Mackey’s contract was still overwhelmingly strong, and he closed the page again in a hurry.
“Where did you get this?”
“I told you I’d fix it.”
“Did you look at it?”
Juno shrugged. “I know what it says.”
Kyle wasn’t entirely sure why he was so angry, just that everything about Juno was suddenly pissing him off. The way he was standing so close— practically smothering him. The way he was constantly rubbing the black thumbnail he’d smashed in his locker. The way his eyelashes were entirely too long to be practical. And especially the way he somehow seemed to know that he was getting pissed off, but wasn’t saying anything about it.
“So, what? You bought out my contract?” The words were barbed with sarcasm, and hurt rolling off his tongue.
“Something like that.”
“He just gave it to you? What did you say to him?”
“I told him I’d make you behave.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I told him that we both wanted the same thing out of you. For you to stop being a jackass. And that I could keep you in line better than he could.”
“That’s stupid. Why would he believe you?”
“Maybe he doesn’t. But, I also told him if you didn’t get your shit together, he could start taking your punishment out on me.”
At first, Kyle was sure he hadn’t heard him correctly. And then he waited for him to laugh. And then he panicked.
“You did what?”
“But that’s not going to happen, is it, rook? You’re going to be a good boy when you’re here from now on. Gold star, teacher’s pet, good boy. Keep your mouth shut and your head down and just play fucking ball like you’re supposed to. I know you can. That’s how much I trust you.”
Kyle stared at him, horrified, watching his face for some sign that he was joking. It wasn’t there.