Page 13 of What if I Told You

“Wait…her stuff?” Ledger asks from a few shower stalls down. “What does that mean?”

“Her stuff. You know, her belongings.”

“Oh, so she found a place to live and everything? That’s awesome. Which area did she decide on?”

“Uh, she didn’t, actually. She’s moving in with me.”

Silence falls over everyone in the room. The only sound is that of the few showers still running but one by one, the water is turned off and a towel is grabbed. Griffin is staring at me as if I just told a joke and he doesn’t understand the punch line. Harrison comes out from his shower stall, wrapping his towel around his waist.

“Did you just say she’s moving in with you?”

“Yeah.”

“OKAY, HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE!” Ledger shouts from the shower, still drying off. “Blackstone is skipping the fuck-around-and-find-out and going right for the move-in-with me?” He jumps out of his shower stall staring at me like I’m an alien as he steps toward Griffin, whose head is cocked to the side as he eyes me mysteriously. “Who is this guy and what has he done with August Blackstone?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Griffin mumbles back to him.

“Alright, alright, this isn’t that big of a deal guys.” I toss on a pair of shorts and grab my t-shirt from my locker.

A towel wrapped around his waist and still dripping from the shower, Ledger crosses his arms over his chest. “Uh…I beg to differ. Moving in with a woman is kind of a huge deal.”

“So, you guys really are a thing, then?” Griffin asks with a twinge of unhappiness in his voice. He almost seems disappointed, as if I’ve been keeping a secret from him. Like I would keep a secret like that from my best friend.

“Hell no.” I shake my head with a scowl. “I told you, we’re not a thing. We’ve never been a thing. We’re not going to be a thing.”

On the other side of the room Barrett lets out a laugh but says nothing. He lets his towel drop to the floor, his bare ass on display for the rest of us. Not that this is anything new.

“What’s so funny, Cunningham?”

“You are, Blackstone,” he says, pulling on his boxer briefs. “Not a thing, never been a thing, never going to be a thing? I call bullshit. If that girl moves in with you, you’ll have your dick inside her before the end of preseason.”

Fury almost chokes me as I march across the room, my fists clenched at my sides. I step up against Barrett’s huge frame. By all means I should be intimidated as fuck at the sheer size of him. He stands at least a head taller than me and probably has a solid fifty pounds on me, but I don’t give two shits how big of a man he is. I’ll be damned if I stand here and allow someone to talk about Ella that way.

“Say that again to my facecunt-ingham.” I pin him with a cold stare but he remains unfazed. The corner of his mouth turns up and he calmly takes a breath before he opens his mouth again.

“I said, you’ll have your?—”

“Oookay.” Griffin steps in between us, pushing me away while patting Barrett’s chest lightly. “I think we heard what you said the first time, big Bear, but thanks for offering to remind us again.”

Not really wanting to sport a black eye on the day my best friend is finally coming to town, I step back over to my locker and continue getting dressed, only to hear Barrett mumble, “Am I wrong?”

I turn toward the rest of the team, eyeing each one as they look between Barrett and me. My jaw drops and I shake my head. “Well, don’t all speak at once.”

“Yeah,” Ledger speaks slowly like he’s unsure of what he’s saying. “No, you’re very…uh…wrong, Bear. Very wrong indeed.”

Harrison leans over and whispers loudly, “Dude that was so not convincing.”

Ledger shrugs. “I know, but what was I supposed to say?”

“Wait,” I speak up. “So, you all agree with Bear? You think I’m going to fuck my best friend? Simply because she has a pussy and will be living in my house?”

It’s quiet in the room for a long awkward minute before anyone answers. Finally, Oliver asks, “Have you ever lived with a woman?”

“No.”

“Ever even had one in your house?”

“You know I haven’t. My house is my safe space. It’s not for random hookups.”

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