Page 53 of Taking Sides

“The guy is a total dick. Always has been,” Penn says. “But he does seem to get a special kind of pleasure pissing you off.”

I’m a bully magnet. Everyone always says that things will get easier after high school, but the truth is that most bullies never grow up. They just find new targets.

“He doesn’t know about me and Whitney,” I assure them.

“Well, that’s something.” D-Low lifts both brows. “The thought of that guy knowing your relationship status before me would have me seriously questioning our friendship.”

“I didn’t want you all to tell me what a bad idea it is to keep seeing her,” I admit.

“How’d she break the news to you?” Trav asks.

“I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation,” D-Low notes.

“She has his jersey hanging in her house. I saw it and commented on it.” I wince a little internally. I didn’t even try to hide my dislike of Victor. Would I if I’d known? Maybe. I’m not sure I could have done it convincingly.

Galaxy sucks air in through clenched teeth.

“So they’re close?” Trav’s mouth pulls into a thin, worried line. “Fuck, I’m sorry about the shit I said in the game about his sister. That must have been weird.”

I nod. Weird is an understatement. “It’s fine. You didn’t know. And yeah, I think they’re pretty close.”

“Which means if Victor doesn’t know, he will eventually,” D-Low points out.

“What do you think will happen when he finds out?” Galaxy asks. It makes sense that he’s the one worried about how it might impact the team. He’s our captain, after all.

“I don’t know, but I don’t care.” We only play Houston once more this season, unless we face them in the playoffs again. And honestly, the guy already hates me. How much worse could it get?

“Fuck Aven,” Trav says.

D-Low’s lips quirk up into a grin. “You mean fuck his sister.”

The guys laugh, and while I know they still have their reservations, it feels like some of the tension has lifted. I’d never do anything to put the team, or our chance of winning, at risk, but I promised myself a long time ago that I wasn’t going to let the bullies win and I’m not about to go back on that now.

“Man on Fire or The Equalizer?” D-Low asks as we settle into our seats on the plane. We’re headed to Colorado and then to Utah for two away games.

“I don’t care. You pick.”

He nods as he pulls out his laptop and sets it on the table between us. I’m holding my phone in both hands, staring at the dark screen.

“Texting with Whitney?” he asks, grinning.

“No. Well, earlier, yeah.” Now I’m wondering what to text next. I’m sure I’m overthinking it, but I’m not great at idle chitchat.

“When do I get to meet her?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Thinking about ending things because of Victor?”

“No,” I say quickly, then shrug like maybe I’m not sure.

That’s a lie. I’m not thinking about it at all, but that’s mostly because I’ve pushed her connection to Victor out of my mind as much as possible. Aside from the guys’ reminders, it’s been easy to separate. She’s nothing like him. Thank fuck.

It’s been almost two weeks, and while our schedules have made it impossible to hang out again, we’ve continued texting.

“What’s she like?” He sits back in his seat, laptop forgotten.

“The opposite of him. I can’t even believe they’re related.”