Page 9 of Jockstraps & Newspapers
"And yet, you always win."Elliot shoved him affectionately, rubbing his sweaty palms on Toad's shimmering scales.
"You just don't want to admit you let me," Toad rolled his eyes before heading for the locker rooms.Elliot let him think what he wanted to think.The truth was that Toad was a mean, green, charging machine, and there were very few who could outrun him.Like a lightning bolt, Toad went from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye.Elliot was fast but he wasn'tthat fucking fast.
He swallowed down air, cooling his heart rate as he leisurely strolled toward the locker room.
"Bonesaw, morning!"
Good vibes gone.Elliot whirled on his hooves to find Stevie McMatterson jogging down the track toward the minotaur.Great.Elliot felt his skin crawl and fur stand on edge as the human strode up to him.In black sweats and his chestnut hair slicked back, the owner's son was alwaysprettybutslimy.Marvin McMatterson owned the field, the arena, and the league.The SportsBall League was created a long, long time ago, and had been in the McMatterson's possession the whole time.Someone had to sponsor and fund the entire game.Marvin wasn't a slimeball.He was like every other rich investment broker Elliot had ever met: boring, dry, and too rich for sense.But Stevie?Oh, Stevie was a whole other can of worms.
"McMatterson, morning," Elliot faked a smile as bright as he could.
Stevie slapped him hard on the bicep.Learned our lesson, have we?Elliot remembered the last time Stevie slapped his ass unprompted.Stevie went to the healers that night and Elliot had been afraid he'd lost his job for a long seventy-two hours.But Marvin McMatterson loved Elliot; second to Mr.Pearson, he was Elliot's biggest fan.Stevie also didn't have any scars from getting all his teeth knocked out.Since then, it seemed Stevie learned to keep his hands mostly to himself.I can forgive him for the bicep.Stevie grinned slimy ear to ear."How’s practice going?Dad and I are swinging by today to see some of the practice while we plan the event part of the arena this season."
Great."Great!"Elliot laughed, nodding."Sounds like fun."
"Oh, we're gonna make your last season a blast, buddy.Just you wait."Stevie charged on, leaving Elliot frozen in disgust.Oh great.The worst part of SportsBall was the gross amount of money that went into funding it.He wasn't going to complain, it made sure his teammates had food to put on the table and roofs over their heads… but if he had a choice, he'd do it without Stevie McMatterson.
Elliot shivered, shaking the gross experience off and ducked into the locker rooms.Toad was already dressed and taking steady gulps of water.When Elliot tossed his bag into the locker, Toad sighed, "So, that was Stevie's dumb voice I heard outside."
"They're here to plan the events this season."
"Great!"Toad rolled his eyes.
All the players on the team knew about Stevie.He was handsy.He was slimy.And he was rude.Stevie McMatterson saw everyone on the field as a toy for him to play with because his dad paid their bills.They weren't people to him; they were chunks of meat he could talk to anyway he wanted.And he could…because daddy paid for the lights of the arena and for the uniforms on their backs.Elliot shivered again.Thankfully, he'd learned his lesson with Elliot and the butt slaps had stopped.
The minotaur cranked on some jams while the two prepped the locker room for the team.Within the hour, their players trickled in and began to get themselves stretched and dressed.Elliot forgot all about Stevie as the ruckus of the team filled the locker room.The merriment began and all the icky feelings went away.It was just him and his team.Elbow to elbow, fluff to scales, they shoved and played as the team got ready for practice.And when the alarm went off, they jogged in a line out of the lockers toward the track.Elliot was bicep to bicep with Toad when he saw Stevie, Martin, Coach Renner, and Tens at the side, talking.They all waved at him and he waved back."Gonna just go ahead and get into warm up, Coach, if that's okay?"
"Absolutely, Bonesaw, get these lazy bones up!"Coach cheered.
The players cheered back, pumping their arms as Elliot led them in a rousing jog around the track, then onto the field.Starting light, they did pushups, high knees, bendy straws, and then finally ups and downs.He was in the middle of getting them to run lines when he saw a familiar bundle of blond curls.His heart soared as he saw Cassie step up to the side of the field, tucking her tote under a bench.Didn't even have to ask and Toad waved him off.Elliot flashed his co-captain an apologetic smile before he jogged to the side.Only, his heart stopped as he whirled to face the Fae and found Stevie McMatterson lingering beside her.He was talking with his hands, leaning into her.
That fake, customer-service smile was on her face as she slowly edged her way away from him.Not again.Elliot jogged faster, rushing for the side of the field.The last thing the poor journalist deserved was to be accosted by Slimy Stevie.
Elliot was inches from the sideline when he heard it."But you know, if you want, I could show you around the arena, all the—"
"Cassie!"Elliot barked, panic coursing through his veins.
Relief filled her pinched features as she glanced Elliot's way.Cassie was bent backward an inch, away from Stevie like he reeked of sewer and cigarettes.She laughed sheepishly, putting up a finger to Stevie and rushed across the grass to Elliot.Her face was a blistered tomato as she scrambled away from the slimy human."Oh, bless the dragons, Elliot.Hi!"
"Hey," he panted, gaze glued to Stevie.The human furrowed his slick eyebrows down on his face.Elliot peeled his attention away from his worst enemy and smiled down at Cassie."Great timing, you should come talk with me while everyone's warming up.Gonna be hard to catch me today."
"Oh!Perfect!I did have some starting questions about the game itself."Then her face paled as she looked back at her tote."Uh, I…Um, need my notebook."
Elliot nodded, "No worries, Stevie won't bite, right Stevie?"
Stevie frowned, a deep-set scowl around his lips."You two, uh, know each other?"
"Yeah, Cassie here is writing about the team and me!"Elliot slapped at his lightly damp chest before flashing his best smile at Cassie, "We're gonna be attached at the hip all season, basically."
"Huh," Stevie let out a disappointed huff.
Cassie mouthed something to Elliot before the two walked to her tote together.Elliot didn't catch it.He didn't trust Stevie not to try something.Yet, as Cassie grabbed her notebook and pen, she stayed an arms distance from him at all times.They both watched the man stalk off, back toward the group of other people at the base of the stands.Cassie let out a heavy exhale, "That's Stevie McMatterson, isn't it?"
"Unfortunately," Elliot grumbled.
"I've heard rumors about him.Mr.Pearson told me that his dad owns the league and the field?"She said it more as a question as she faced Elliot.
"Yeah, Marvin's fine; rich guy, kinda boring like watching paint dry but uh, he's fine."Elliot shrugged before noticing."Hey, you do something new with your hair?"
