Page 64 of Dirty Pucker

We all say we will. He walks out of the locker room.

Theo walks up to me. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

He’s quiet for a second. He tugs a hand through his sweaty hair. “That’s fucked up what Crowley did.”

“Yeah. It was.”

He rests his hands on his hips. “Thanks for standing up for my cousin.”

I nod.

“I’ve got your back. We all do,” Theo says.

Xander and Blomdahl and the rest of the team look over from their spots in the locker room and nod in agreement.

“Thanks.” I clear my throat. “Just please don’t tell Ingrid, okay? She doesn’t know about any of this and I don’t want to upset her.”

They all agree not to say anything.

Theo claps my shoulder before walking off. Xander gives me a nod. So does Blomdahl.

They start to walk off, but I tell Xander to hang on.

“I, uh, need to apologize to you,” I say.

He frowns. “For what?”

“For what an asshole I was to you when I made that joke about your sex tape.”

Xander blinks and that hard look in his eyes returns.

Everything in me wants to stop talking and walk away. I’m uncomfortable as fuck, but I deserve to feel like this. I did a messed-up thing and I need to make this right.

“What I did was fucked up. You didn’t deserve that. I’m really sorry.”

He blinks and that hard look in his eyes begins to fade.

“I don’t expect you to accept my apology,” I say. “I just want you to know that I regret what I said. If I could take it back, I would. And you have every right to hate me for it.”

His eyes widen the slightest bit, like he’s surprised. He nods once. I’m quiet for a second. That uncomfortable feeling fades. Now I just feel awkward standing there, staring at him.

I start to walk off, but Xander stops me. I turn to him.

“It’s okay. We’re good,” he says.

He heads back to his locker. I head back to mine. As I get cleaned up, my body feels lighter. There’s an ease I feel now that I’ve apologized to Xander and we’ve cleared the air.

I think about how when I joined this team weeks ago, everyone hated me. They all have my back tonight though. They support me, even though what I did to Crowley screwed up how we played and probably cost us the game.

I realize that this is the first time I’ve felt like part of this team. It’s the one highlight of this shitty night.

Chapter 23

Ingrid

“Can you believe the way Del slammed into that Bandits player?” Maya asks before sipping her cocktail.

---