Page 14 of Weak Side

A low grumble shot from the back. “She could be the one giving all the favors.”

My teeth slammed together at the same time my stick split against the ice. “For fuck’s sake. I’m thankful she’s my roommate and none of yours. Do any of you know how to keep your head on straight when there is a female involved?”

There was a slap against my shoulder pad. “And this is why you’re team captain.” Coach shook his head as he stood beside me. “You should take the advice of Wolf. Trust me when I tell you that all it takes is one good woman to bring you to your knees and change the complete direction of your future.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, Coach.”

My gaze lingered on Jett and the way his mouth curved. He was a big, burly guy who played defense and had been with his current girlfriend since freshman year of high school. She came to every single game and wore a jersey that had his last name plastered on the backside. There was no doubt that Jett was happy with his decision to settle down so soon with a girl, but it wasn’t always that easy, and I’d seen enough heartbreaks to make me shy away from the entire thing.

“Yeah, let’s all be like Wolf. He has a line of girls outside the locker room after every practice, willing tomassagehis sore muscles, and then they’re on their merry way because they all know that Wolf doesn’t date.”

Mostly everyone laughed. I didn’t deny it because it was true.

Coach blew his whistle. “Alright, alright, boys. Back to work. Line up at the blue line, and let’s go.”

8

Claire

My toes felt relievedthe second I untied my pointe shoes, and it was another reminder that Ireallyneeded to get some new ones. There was chatter around me, and I caught the eye of Taytum as she landed hergrand jeté. Our smiles matched, and I quickly forgot about the aches I felt as I rushed over to her and squeezed her tightly in the middle of several applauses.

“That was the best leap I have ever seen you do, Tay.”

Her chest was rushing as she caught her breath. “Thanks. I literally practiced all summer.”

Regret hit me like a brick wall because I knew that I’d fallen behind this summer. I picked up every shift I could at the coffee shop down the street from the apartment to save so I didn’t have to kill myself with work at The Bex this semester, knowing that it was going to be difficult to manage working along with my class schedule. Classical ballet was a mixture of technique and academics and was one of the most vigorous classes within the dance major. And not to mention, if I scored the lead role, I would win a scholarship for next year, which would cover the rest of my tuition, and what a freaking blessing that would be.

“Well, it paid off. That blew Kate out of the water.” My tone turned into a whisper as I said Kate’s name because she was somehow always listening, even if she wasn’t on the stage. Kate was always gunning to be number one, which wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Not many people considered ballet a competitive sport, but I would argue that it was more competitive than most. There was only one lead role, and that meant you had to be flawless. There was no relying on your teammates to pick up the slack if you fell behind. It was all on you, and that was pressure like no other.

“Fuck Kate,” Taytum mumbled, not really bothering to lower her voice. I smothered a laugh as I rushed over to my bag and continued untying my ballet shoes. I had a shift to get to, but instead of heading to an empty rehearsal room after my shift to perfect my audition, I could go back to my room and catch up on some much-needed sleep.

My mother had dropped a bomb on me two days into the semester, and my seamless plan of saving as much money this summer and taking less shifts than normal at The Bex was completely obliterated as she informed me that our landlord of the last twelve years gave her a notice that if she didn’t fix the flooring in the bathroom and stopped the leak from dripping to the first-floor tenant’s ceiling, she was going to be evicted.

I knew I couldn’t blame Ralph. The leak had been there for far too long, and I was certain he’d given my mother the proper amount of notice to get it fixed. As much as she tried over the years, she was irresponsible with finances, alwaysneeding a helping hand or a favor, which was exactly how she got her job working for Chad’s parents. This was the type of situation where I learned from her mistakes, not from her guidance. She did try, though. I’d give her that.

“I gotta get going.” I threw my backpack over my shoulders, cursing myself for my own irresponsibility. “I forgot my jeans for work.”

“I bet you’d get more tips if you wore none.” Taytum laughed as she shuffled through her bag. “Let me see if I have any in here.”

I glanced at my phone and saw that I had just enough time to stop by my room to grab my jeans and head to work. “You’re good,” I shouted, backing away. “I have time. I’ll see you tomorrow morning in class.”

“Get there early!” she demanded, pulling her hair out of her bun. “We need a venting sesh.”

Venting seshequaled her demanding I answer the questions about Chad—that I had successfully avoided—andTheo. Everyone on campus was interested in what it was like to room with Bexley U’s right wing for the number one hockey team in the NCAA. Even some of the other dancers were looking at me a little longer than before. But I didn’t really have anything to report about Theo, other than he was completely inconsiderate.

I wasn’t a hard person to live with. I was clean, tidy, and I tried to be quiet. I even turned my desk lamp off the other night when I kept hearing him toss and turn in his sleep.Thatwas being considerate. Theo, on the other hand, blared his alarm every freaking morning right when I hit my REM cycle, and it seemed like the moment I finally fell back asleep from being brutally awakened, he’d come tromping back in the room, huffing and puffing from his run.

That was why I was so excited to get my shift over. I was going to head to the library to finish my paper and then zip right off to sleep at a normal time for the first time since starting classes.

Just the thought made me smile as I skipped up the stairs to the second floor. A few guys passed me, looking at me a little suspiciously because it still wasn’t accepted that I was, in fact, rooming with Theo Brooks. I felt their stares every time I crested the top of the stairs, but I had successfully mastered the skill of shutting out their whispers as I entered my room. It was annoying but nothing high school hadn’t prepared me for.

A faint snicker came from the left as I put my key in the door and slowly turned the knob. A tall, mammoth-looking guy with curly blond hair covered his mouth with his hand as he watched me. I wanted to say something, but my gaze shifted to the left as I caught the surprised look of another mass of a human. His eyes widened, and he shifted his gaze to my door, and that was when I rolled my eyes. “You guys are so immature,” I mumbled. “Why is this such a big deal? We’re adults, for goodness’ sake. Just because I don’t have a Y chromosome doesn’t mean I can’t room with someone who does!”

I opened the door and stepped inside my room, hoping Theo wasn’t there so I didn’t have to deal with another encounter between us. This morning started off rough, and there was an awkwardness that followed me throughout the day when I thought back to my unexplained behavior of undressing in front of him. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to irritate him, or if I was trying to subconsciously pay Chad back for the way he’d been treating me lately.

Shaking my head and jumbling up my thoughts of my boyfriend, I headed straight to my bed where my jeans were laying. I wasn’t even halfway in the room before I turned my gaze to Theo’s side of the room and yelped. It was like a car crash. I couldn’t look away even if I wanted to.

I was mortified, embarrassed, and completely shocked. My cheeks flamed, even though I wasn’t a prude by any means. I’d had sex. I’d been to frat parties with Taytum where people were openly undressing each other as they flew up the stairs. But this? This stole the words right out of my mouth. There stood Theo with his black joggers pulled down to his ankles, completely shirtless and glistening with sweat as his large hands cupped a girl’s waist. She was bent over with her long wavy hair hanging down past her shoulder. Her flushed cheeks matched mine, but hers were for a completely different reason.

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