Page 25 of Vexing the Viper

"Hell, yeah!" Mateo yells, jumping up and grabbing the system from him. "What kind of games do you have?"

We spend the rest of the night playing different video games, switching between taking shots and drinking some wine coolers. My eyes stayed trained on King far more than necessary. I watch as his thick arms flex every time he presses buttons on the controller, and how each time he smiles; it lights up something inside of me I didn’t know was there. But as long as no one notices, then it's like it didn't happen? Right?

12

KING

"Dude you're draggingass today, what's going on with you?" Sam's face comes into view above the weight bar and I flinch, knowing I haven't been paying attention. Lifting the bar up high, Sam grabs it and sets it on the rack, giving me a break.

"Sorry, I stayed up late with my roommates and didn't get enough sleep." I grab my towel off the rack, wiping my face and then the bench. I walk over to the treadmill and hop on, deciding I can't hurt myself if I'm only walking.

"Mateo?" he asks, coming up and taking the treadmill beside me.

"Yeah, him and Niko. We went and got some drinks, then ended up playing some games until way too late."

"Next time, invite me, man. I would love to hang out with you all."

"Sure." I know he truly just wants to hang out with Mateo, but I'll wait until he's ready to tell me more about that. It's not my place to pry. "I actually invited Mateo and Niko to our scrimmage tomorrow, so you'll probably be able to find them in the stands."

"Oh, hell yeah. I love when our buddies come and watch us. It gives me a chance to show off." Most people don't care about showing off to their friends, but once again, I'm not going to call him out. "So, I've been wondering, how weird is it to be living with the coach's son? I mean, that has got to be weird, right?"

"We don't really chat about baseball much, or about the fact his dad is my coach. I mean we've discussed it here and there, and of course we had to talk about it since Coach asked him to tutor me, but other than that he's a normal roommate."

"Still so weird." He shakes his head, blowing out a breath.

"Eh, sometimes."

Trent walks into the weight room, a clipboard in his hand. "Hey guys, Coach wanted me to come in here and see if anyone wanted to sign up. They're setting up a fundraiser type game to raise money to get the locker rooms updated. It's pretty badass, because if we want, we'll get to play in shifted form, which hell yes, me playing with all of my legs? Can you imagine how much better I'll play?"

Holy shit. That sounds like it'll be fun. Watching my monster teammates play in their shifted forms? Sign me up.

"I'll do it," I raise my hand, pressing the stop button to slow the treadmill.

"Thanks, King. Anyone else?"

One by one, each of the players in the weight room walk over to Trent and sign up. I love the idea of letting them play in their shifted bodies, since for the actual games they have to be in their human form because of some stupid rule. I know Coach is trying to get the rule lifted, so I guess this is an alternative while he works on that. Trent heads out to the field to ask the other players there while Sam and I find our way to the locker room, done with working out for the day.

"You wanna head out and get something to drink? Maybe Mummy Mocha?"

"The coffee shop in the library?" Sams asks, undressing in front of me with no shame.

"Yeah, let's shower and head there."

We head for the showers, both of us taking our own stalls. I’m in and out of the water quickly, dressed and sitting on the bench before Sam slowly saunters back to our lockers.

"Took you long enough,” I joke, pulling out my phone. I smile when I see a text from my mom. I quickly text her back, letting her know I’ll call her later, and focus my attention back on Sam. "You ready?"

"Let's go."

Stepping into the library, I head straight for Mummy Mocha, already knowing what I'm going to get.

"What's good here?" Sam asks as we stand at the counter, scanning the menu intently.

"I like the Sarcophacappuccino, but the Mummified Iced Caramel is good, too, if you're looking for something cold." I take in the guy who's at the register who’s reading items off the menu. He’s a handsome guy with ochre skin and a blue and gold apron. "By the way, I'm Seth, but really you can't go wrong with any of our drinks.”

We order our drinks and watch as Seth makes them swiftly. He eyes Sam the entire time, but my friend is too preoccupied by his phone to notice. I wonder what has all his attention. We grab our drinks and sit at an open table, both of us playing games on our phones.

The screech of the chair next to me being pulled out draws my attention away from my phone. Niko plops down into the chair and grins at me.

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