Page 8 of Scrimmage

“You’ve gotta be creative.”

“Just keeping her in the same building is impossible.”

“I’m right here,” I snap.

“She had a rough morning,” Penny whispers loudly.

“Fuck. You.” I glare at her from the side of the shower curtain.

Cole stands there with his light brown hair swooping across his brown eyes and a dimpled smile. Over the summer, he exchanged the glasses for contacts and stopped looking so soft. He's cute. I won’t deny that, but I like having him around. I have self-destructive tendencies. If I sleep with him, he’ll want a relationship. I don’t. Our friendship will be destroyed in the process. It’s better if we're flirty friends.

“Well, I’ve gotta go. Brunch date.” Penny finishes her mascara.

I can't even think of who she could possibly be meeting up with. “Who?”

“Short Chance.”

“Didn’t he ghost you?” Cole asks.

Penny shrugs. “Free brunch. See you cunts later.” She doesn't bother closing the door behind her.

“So I saw Avery on the way here,” Cole says nonchalant.

I dump soap into my hair and scrub. “Who?”

“Tall? Skinny? Still in his clothes from last night?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.” I rinse my hair out and comb in conditioner.

“Jesus.” He sighs. “Chance?”

“Ohhhh,” I reply. “Yeah. Don’t get me fucking started. He was trying to cuddle me, and I almost chopped his arm off before I kicked him out.”

Cole snorts. “I’ll bet that was a first for him.”

I wash all of the makeup off of my face, finally feeling human again.

“Towel.” I turn the water off and reach out. Cole puts one in my hand, then I hear him in Penny’s bedroom. He knows mine is off limits.

“I was kind of surprised you left with him." He picks at the drink carrier.

“Big mistake. Weird dick.”

Cole coughs. “I really wish you would stop talking to me about dick. Please reserve those details for Penny.”

I waltz into Penny's room and get dressed while Cole keeps his back to me. “What? I’m just saying that—”

“No!” He plugs his ears. “Nope. No.”

I throw my bra at him, and he flinches before facing me again. “Fine. Whatever. I saw you talking to Stacy last night. Great rack.”

“Her name is Ava." He rolls his eyes. “And objectifying her is not what I’m trying to do.”

“I said great rack. I’ll tell her that.”

“You already did,” he deadpans. “Like six times before you left with Avery Chance.”

“You sound mad.”

---