BROKEN & SCREWED (BS #1)

Chapter 13

13

Hours later the sound of someone pounding on the door woke us up. Jesse jerked upright, startled. I flipped to my back and grabbed the blanket to cover me. He grimaced when someone yelled through the door, “Hunt, come on! We’re f*****g waiting for your ass.”

When the unmistakable click of his lock sounded, we both threw ourselves into motion. I grabbed the rest of the blankets and pulled them over my head as Jesse threw himself on the ground for his clothes. Then the door opened, and I cringed. It sounded like more than one guy entered the room. One of them grumbled, “What the hell, Jesse? You take a nap or something?”

“Uh, Reed . . .” a guy cleared his throat.

“Oh, s**t!”

“Stop,” Jesse barked the last one.

And then there was silence, interrupted by someone snickering, but I let out a breath of relief when I heard all of them leave again. It was so silent for a second that I almost squeaked when someone landed next to me. Still, I didn’t make a move. No way. I was sure it was a trick.

“You can come out,” Jesse said flatly. “They’re outside now.”

I poked my head out from the blankets. He grinned at me as he was zipping up his jeans and pulled on a Grant West University sports blazer. Then he disappeared into the bathroom, and I heard water running.

I exhaled. Holy smokes. When the realization of what almost happened settled over me, my arms shook a little. I couldn’t believe a bunch of Jesse’s teammates had almost seen me naked and in his bed. Well, they did see me in bed but not the naked part. I was hoping Cord and his two friends wouldn’t put two and two together, but who was I kidding?

Jesse came back out, a slight whiff of outdoor cologne clung to him; his hair glistening with gel.

Oh dear goodness. I swallowed over a very dry throat again. How was it possible for him to be that dangerously good looking after only five minutes? I wanted to pull him back into bed with me. I licked my lips at the lustful thoughts swirling in my head.

He flashed me a grin before he tossed the same key card from before at me. It landed beside the pile of clothes he had tossed earlier. “I’d invite you to come with, but it’s a team thing.”

I flashed him a look. Like I would want to have breakfast with all those guys, knowing they knew what I’d been doing an hour before.

“So.” My voice was so husky it made me flush in embarrassment.

Jesse smirked.

I tried to clear my throat. “What are you doing for the day?” It didn’t work.

He dropped his arms to his sides and straightened from the wall before stalking toward me. My lips were dry again. He got closer. Oh goodness. Slowly, so slowly, he leaned down so his face was inches from mine and both his hands rested on the bed on either side of me. His lips brushed against mine as he spoke, “Lots and lots of sex.”

My heart was pounding.

“Really?” I squeaked out.

Then his lips moved into a perfect smile. “What are you doing today?”

“Wha—” But I stopped. I reached up and took hold of the back of his hair.

He tensed, waiting.

I shifted so I was on my knees, and he tried to move back, but my grip on his hair stopped him. The comforter was the only thing that covered me. It was tucked under my arm, but as I lifted myself up and pressed against him, it started to slip. His eyes darkened, but he didn’t move. I didn’t let him. And then I grinned. My lips brushed against his. His breathing grew shallow, and I felt his heart pick up its pace. It thumped against me as I whispered, caressing him at the same time, “Lots and lots of—”

A pounding on the door stopped me. The same guy yelled through it, “Come on, man! You already banged her. Let’s go!”

A mask of fury came over him quickly. He tore himself away from me and was out the door in a second.

“Hey! What the—”

There was a loud crash against the wall. One of the pictures that’d been hanging on the wall crashed to the floor.

“Hey-hey!”

“Hey, man—”

And then someone punched someone.

“Ow!”

“Holy s**t!”

“Hey, hey—”

There was more movement in the hallway, more punches were shared, and another crash against the wall.

Jesse’s door was slammed shut. It was loud and sudden. I jumped from the tension and staggered to my feet. Hastily, I threw on my clothes, cursing when, in my haste to cover myself, I punched a hole through my sleeve with my thumb. When I pulled my jeans up and my fingers couldn’t snap the button, I cursed again and then pushed my hair out of my eyes. I wanted to chop it off at that moment.

I couldn’t let him get hurt, not because of me.

I reached for the handle, ready to yank it open when a loud voice boomed outside. “What THE HELL is going on out here?”

All the fighting stopped.

“Hey, Coach.” a voice strangled out.

“Hunt?”

“Yeah, Coach?”

I heard the hostility that was still in Jesse’s voice.

“Camden?”

A grunt was his response.

“You two, in Hunt’s room. Now.”

I sucked in my breath.

“Uh, Coach—”

“Now!” he barked.

I heard Jesse’s groan and grabbed my bag. Then I looked for a hiding spot. What the hell was I doing? I had no idea, but this was beyond embarrassing. I snatched my bra from the dresser and threw myself into the closet just as the door opened again.

I could see through the c***k between the doors. Jesse was the first one in. He paused as he scanned the room, then he hesitated to go farther in.

“Hunt, let’s go.” The impatience from his coach was evident. “We don’t have all day and I don’t want my two best shooters to be fighting. I want this fixed and I want it done now. Camden, sit your ass down.”

He grunted again and passed Jesse.

I couldn’t see where they all sat, but Jesse stood by the counter. I could see him clearly and knew that he kept glancing toward the bathroom.

“Okay.” The coach let out a deep sigh. “What the hell is going on between you two?”

“Coach, he came out of nowhere—”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Camden. I heard what you said to him. My room’s across the hall, and if I had a girl I cared about and you said the same thing, I’d beat the s**t out of you, too. This has been going on for a while. I want it dealt with, now.”

Jesse’s shoulders dropped down. He sounded regretful. “He’s got a problem with me—”

“He’s a f*****g freshman, and he acts as if he’s the entire team, Coach.” Camden was on his feet now. I saw his shadow grow in size. “I’m the captain. I call the shots—”

“I call the shots. Now sit, Camden.”

He didn’t.

The coach stood, and his tone took on an authoritative tone that made me grip my bag tighter. “You will sit now, Camden. Now!”

He sat.

I almost sat.

He let loose with a string of curses. “I can’t believe my two best are pulling this s**t now. Now! We have a big game tomorrow. We’re in Las Vegas and the two of you are trading punches in the damn hallway like teenagers who learned what their p*****s are for. Have you gone nuts? Are you high?” He shot a hand out. “Don’t even answer that. I don’t want to touch that with a ten foot pole.”

Jesse spoke softly, “We’re not doing drugs, Coach.”

“Then what the hell is going on?”

“He’s threatened by me.”

There was no ego attached to the accusation, and the simplicity of it had the rest of the room in silence.

“Camden?”

There was no response.

The coach prodded again, “Is that true?”

Then a fourth guy cleared his throat. “Walt, we should get going. We’ve probably missed our reservation anyway, but the rest of the guys are waiting outside. These two idiots can fix this later tonight.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” But the coach didn’t sound as if he was sure of it. Then he grunted, “Camden, if that’s true, that you’re doing all this s**t because you’re threatened, then you aren’t the captain I thought you were. Straighten it up, lead the team, and leave your damn ego courtside. I don’t want this affecting us tomorrow.”

There was a series of soft curses before Coach spoke again, “And Hunt?”

Jesse straightened.

“Keep doing what you do. You keep your head screwed on right. You play every time with the same consistency, and when you’re riled up, you dominate everybody. You hear that, Camden? This ‘freshman’ can’t be beat when he’s pissed off. You really want to play that card with him? You the captain or not?”

There was silence.

“I didn’t hear you, Camden!” the coach roared. “You the captain or not?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you lead this team?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Then lead it. It’s not going to be the first time you run against someone better than you are. It’s how you handle it that’ll determine your future. Just don’t f**k it up when you’re on my team, you hear me?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes, sir what?”

“Yes, sir, Coach!”

He grunted in approval and passed the closet for the door. He stopped so close to the door that I closed my eyes. I could’ve pissed my pants at that moment.

“And Hunt?”

“Yeah, Coach?”

“Get the girl out of the closet.”

It wasn’t long before the door slammed shut again. Everything on the wall and closet doors rattled from the strength of it.

Someone walked to the closet door, but I heard Jesse growl, “Reed, touch it and die.”

The doors swished open. I found myself staring at a tall guy, lean build, with striking blue eyes and blonde hair. He was dressed similar to Jesse. He frowned at me, but offered his hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any disrespect to you. Reed Camden.”

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I certainly couldn’t shake his hand. He looked exactly like Ethan.

I bent over. I really couldn’t breathe. I started to wheeze.

“Hey!”

Gentle hands touched my shoulders. I bent my head between my knees and gasped for breath. I couldn’t—I couldn’t even see. “Jesse.”

“I’m here.” He lifted me out of the closet and carried me to the bed. As he sat, I curled into him.

“Dude, what the hell?”

“Just go with the team. I won’t make it.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

My hands grabbed on to Jesse’s blazer, and I pressed into him. His hands rubbed down my back in soothing motions the whole time. Oh God. He looked so much like Ethan, too much like him.

“Jesse,” I whimpered.

I felt him press a kiss to my shoulder and then he hissed, “f*****g go, Reed!”

I trembled in Jesse’s arms.

He cursed under his breath and readjusted his hold on me. His arms were more secure around me.

Reed went to the door, but he returned again. He sat on the other bed with a fierce frown. “What’s wrong with her?”

Jesse shook his head and cursed at him. “This is when you decide to be friendly?”

He shrugged. His voice came out wrangled. “My sister has night terrors. This hits home with me.”

“Oh, God.” The disgust was evident with Jesse, but he lifted me on his lap again. This time, he propped me up and smoothed my hair away from my forehead. His tone gentled. “Hey, hey. Come on. Look at me. Please stop crying, Alex.”

His desperation did the deed, and I swallowed all the pain away. He needed me. I might’ve been losing it, but I knew that Jesse was on the verge as well. He needed me to come back and be the strong one. My hand slipped into his as I took gulping breaths to stuff my hysteria down.

The guy looked like him. So what?

There were lots of guys that looked like Ethan, but then I looked at him again. Everything stopped in me. Oh God. He was the spitting image of him. How could this be? How could there be another Ethan in the world?

“Hey, hey.” Jesse sat me up even more and ran his hand up and down my back in a brisk motion. “Come on. Breathe, Alex. Breathe.”

I breathed. Then I gulped for more air.

“You want me to call Angie?”

I shook my head. Some tears slipped down my cheek, but I ignored them. I had to deal with it. It was about time I started dealing with it. But I couldn’t look away from the guy’s piercing eyes. Someone stabbed me in the gut. And then someone reached inside me, took hold of my heart, and ripped it out. I felt like my heart was beating in a stranger’s hands and I was staring at it. The trembling started in. Jesse cursed again, but lifted me in his arms.

“Jesse!”

“This is enough.” The resolve on his face made me pause. It was set and determined. He was tired, hell, he was exhausted as he carried me into the bathroom, turned the shower on full blast, and dumped me into the tub.

I screamed.

“Dude!”

Jesse held Reed back. Jesse’s eyes caught mine as I gasped against the onslaught of cold water. I couldn’t look away. There was a fevered determination in him, and I knew he’d had enough. It was time to stop.

I stood then. Something centered in me that I hadn’t felt in a long time, maybe ever. Ethan was with us in the room right then. I felt him, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood upright.

Jesse’s eyes blinked rapidly. His face faltered for a second. I knew he felt him, too. But then his impassive mask slipped back into place. His eyes bored me down, and he leaned against the doorframe. His captain was behind him with an expression akin to surprise and amazement on his face.

I rasped out, “He’s here.”

Jesse nodded. The wall was back in place. I couldn’t reach him, but I wanted to. I needed to.

As I stood in the tub with the cold water beating down on me, shivers wracked through me. Goose bumps ran up and down my arms and legs. Ethan was dead, but his memory felt so alive. I jerked my eyes to Jesse’s captain. He paled, but he didn’t look away. Then I held my hand out.

He looked at it strangely.

Jesse moved aside, and Reed stepped forward. He shook my hand.

“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.”

His eyes were wide as he looked from me to Jesse and back, but his hand squeezed around mine. “Thanks. You, too.”

He pulled his hand back and retreated into the hallway. “I’ll—um—I’ll see you later, Hunt.”

Jesse didn’t blink an eye or react when the door slammed closed. But he gave me a sad smile. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “I think I will be.” And I meant it.