Page 10 of Floored By Love

“Oh god, yes, but not yours.”

I rolled my eyes, but watched Cam’s smirk become a throaty giggle. And then I noticed her. Cassandra was bearing down on us, and she looked pissed.

“What is so funny? Lucas, let’s go. I have already warned you about being near him,” she said, gesturing to Cam with her head.

I sighed, but Noah cut off my reply as he appeared. “What’s going on here?”

“I’m getting my athlete away from yours. No more distractions.”

“I’ll never understand you and his parents. It’s not like Cam has cooties.”

“I’m right here, Noah. I can stick up for myself.” Cam stood up.

“It’s fine. I’ll just go,” I said, dejected.

“What’s all this about?” Coach asked, walking up. Colton practically charged in a few seconds later.

“Nothing. It’s settled,” I said, walking away. I didn’t want Cam to deal with Cassandra any more than he had to. I heard Coach tell her and Noah he wanted to talk to them later. Something about team unity, and letting the past go.

But that was the problem.

I didn’t want to let it go.

The rest of practice was uneventful, though I felt like garbage and Cassandra could tell something was off. Her yelling increased as time wore on. I kept my mouth shut, knowing she’d eventually realize the yelling didn’t help. It had happened many times before. I needed time to calm down, but she needed to realize that herself. Telling her had never worked.

“We’ll try again tomorrow,” was all she said as I headed to the locker room. I saw Coach pull her and Noah to the side. I was hopeful that what had happened today wouldn’t happen again. We were teammates. She had to get over it. My parents too. It had been four years. Enough was enough.

“Hey man, that was intense,” O said, as I sat down next to him. I had moved my locker a few over, so hopefully I would have less of Colton’s naked body in my face. “What was that about?”

I had never told O about me and Cam. I tried not to think about it too much, but honestly I didn’t want to be told how foolish I was for making the wrong choice. “Just some stuff from Brisbane.”

O shrugged. “Wanna go explore the city? Do some shopping?”

“Thanks, O. But, I’ll, uh...have to check with my chaperone.”

“Well, let me know. I can try to drag Alex along too.”

“Where y’all draggin’ Alex off to?” Colton asked, swaggering in from the gym. Cam was close behind.

“Thinking about doing some exploring later. Wanna join?”

“Sounds like a party. We’re in. Right, Cam?”

I had to swallow my disappointment. There was no way Cassandra would let me go now. I hurriedly pulled off my tank and my shorts, leaving me in just my jockstrap. I saw it fly out of my pocket before I could catch it.

The coin.

In slow motion, I watched it arch through the air, over the bench and away from my grasp. It hit the floor.

Tink. Tink. Tink tink.

And started rolling until it hit Cam’s foot and fell on its side with a final reverberatory flourish.

“What’s that?” Colton asked, as Cam bent down to pick it up.

Cam turned it over in his hands and I watched as his eyes widened. I awkwardly had my hand already held out, waiting.

“What’s that, a platypus?” Colton asked innocently, leaning over to look.