"Right, well, I spoke to my mom and dad about what happened, and neither of them are comfortable with me dating you anymore. My father, especially." I lied, not caring about my guilty conscience. The asshole on the phone was only focused on preserving our relationship to stay connected to the great Scotts. My stomach turned at the thought, and for the millionth time in my life, I honestly wished I were from a poor family on the shitty side of town. It would have been so much easier to just be me in a different family. I didn't fit into the wealth I was born into, nor would I ever care to.
"What? Why would you do that? You're not even close to your family," he growled. "Look, just send me your father's number and I'll call him. I can patch this up for you and then we'll just get on with our relationship."
For me?
"If you want to impress my father, you're going to have to do far better than simply dating me, Paul. You're going to have to graduate at the top of your class, debt free. Then after that, you'll need to start a company from scratch and push it to the top within a few years. They'll be impressed with two and a half kids that have rosy cheeks, blond hair, and are extremely well behaved. Oh, and don't laugh at anything until someone else does because chances are your humor isn't at all like theirs. And don't complain – ever. Don't sneeze, or smack, or yawn, and for fuck’s sake, don't you ever cry." Tears burned my eyes as he sat quietly on the other end of the phone. "Get it? You don't, do you? No, no one does. Do me a favor and lose my number. I'm not interested in marrying a man who wants anything to do with my family. Not ever."
I threw the phone across the room as a cry left me. He was no different than they were. That he thought he could sleep with the one girl who hated me most and then call and apologize so that we could move on was sickening. These people had no clue who I was, at all.
After drying my face, I got up and tore through my clothes, looking for a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. I laced up my shoes, grabbed my gym bag, and walked out into the hallway. Several of the girls in the house called after me or waved as I walked by. I responded with a curt nod for each of them. Opening my mouth was dangerous and wouldn't do any good. I wasn't willing to shoot arrows and leave useless wounds.
"Get your coat." Katelyn stopped by the front door and stood in front of me. "Please."
"Fine." I turned and grabbed my long winter coat from the closet before pulling it on and walking out into the chilly night’s air.
"You okay?" she called after me.
"I will be soon. Just going to shoot hoops." I tried to steady my voice, but it didn't help much. Hopefully, the poor people playing against me would blame my shaking on being cold and not furious. I was sick of sitting back and letting life take me for ride after ride – especially, seeing that I'd not signed up for any of the fucked up adventures I'd been on as of late.
I picked up my walk to a jog as my phone buzzed in my pocket. I ignored it, not wanting to talk with anyone just yet. I'd call them back after the game, maybe.
The gym was brightly lit up, and the sight of it offered me an odd sense of peace. I ran toward it and tugged off my coat as I approached. The dark-skinned girl at the door gave me a bright smile as I stopped in front of her.
"Scott, we were hoping you would show up. Some of the guys from the next county over came in tonight to play. We need a strong player on the blue team. It's mostly guys, but we figured you'd be down." She lifted her eyebrow. "Could get ugly."
"Excellent. Sounds like my kinda game. Just don't tell Coach on me, or I'll have hell to pay for real." I tugged my bag up higher on
my shoulder and opened the door. "Give me a heads up if Coach shows up. Okay?"
"Yep, I got your back." She patted my shoulder just before I disappeared down the long dark hallway that led to the main gym. The sound of shouting and cheers left my blood racing. I loved the feeling of being important and needed, just like everyone else did, and basketball allowed for that reward.
I pushed open the door and moved to drop my bag next to the large group of guys in blue shirts. They glanced over at me with a bit of confusion on their faces, but Dill, their captain, walked toward me and tossed me a shirt.
"Scott, I'm glad you're here. We need one female on the team tonight. That you?" His dark eyes moved around my face as a smile lifted his lips.
"Nope, It's you, but I'm happy to play captain." I winked at him, finding myself like I always did with the shiny wooden floor beneath me.
"How about point guard, instead? Pretty close." He reached out and squeezed my shoulder.
"Alright, but don't say I didn't try." I dropped my bags and tugged off my t-shirt with far too many eyes focused on me. My sports bra covered me well, but boys would be boys. I pulled the blue shirt over my head and ignored them as I started to stretch.
"We're going up against Waller in fifteen minutes. You're going to be a starter." Dill moved up beside me before addressing everyone. "Guys, this is Val. We call her Scott. She's the captain of the girls’ basketball team here, but she wasn't here with us tonight, okay? Her coach is a bitch and a half about the girls playing out of season or on other leagues. Mum’s the word. Yeah?"
They all yelled their agreement, some of them a little more enthusiastic than others.
A familiar voice pulled me from my thoughts. It was Katelyn's boyfriend, Martin.
"Hey, I thought you guys were having some game night bullshit thing at the Gamma house?" He stopped in front of me as a look of concern moved across his face.
An idea burst inside of me, and I went with it before getting cold feet.
"They're all playing games tonight, but you know I don't like that girly stuff." I rolled my shoulders. "I need a favor."
His eyebrow lifted. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"
"I got stranded on the side of the road last night-"
"Shit, Val. In that storm?" His expression tightened.