Page 19 of Call the Shots (For The Arena #1)
BEAR
GANGBANG JUNE
We weren’t expecting the news channels to pick us up, but now, instead of people not knowing Marrs had a hockey team, they mixed up things about us and gleefully announced them.
A group of us headed into Gianna’s and a guy raised his beer. “Hey! Spartans!”
“Gladiators,” I corrected him, irritated as we found a booth.
“Canadian Beau!” someone else exclaimed.
“Canadian Bear. ” I ground my back teeth, slipping in with Denali. “Why does everybody think my name is Beau Moreau? Why the fuck would I have such a sing-songy, cartoon-character, fake fucking name?”
Fridge arched an eyebrow. “You’re saying that like Bear Moreau isn’t a weird name.”
“Sorry, they’re pronouncing your name wrong,” Elijah said with a pleased sigh. “They should know it’s Canadian Moosefucker.”
“Do you ever realize how close you are to an ass-beating?” I demanded, rubbing my temples. I ran practices twice a week as alternate captain and was too tired to argue when Montoya roped me in for lunch. “I should’ve grabbed take-out,” I muttered, severely regretting my decision to come out.
“Everybody pull out cash,” Denali said.
We dug handfuls of bills out of our wallets and pockets while Montoya took out a coupon he printed from the library, carefully smoothing it out on the table.
“We have enough for…” Fridge frowned. “The two XL pizza combo.”
Montoya shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t have…uh…”
With Vernon gone, our paychecks were at a standstill. It was hitting some of us harder than others. I gathered the cash and slipped out my credit card. As long as I could pay it by August, I’d be fine. “I got you covered, kid. I’ll be back.”
The line didn’t take long, and the cashier gestured towards me. “Oh my gosh, Romans .”
“Gladiators,” I corrected, for the thousandth time.
“Not Romans?”
“No. Gladiators. Hockey team.”
“Oh. Because Romans eat for free…nevermind.”
Me and my big fucking mouth.
I swallowed back a groan while she rang me up, passing a buzzer for the food. I almost made it to the guys when a table outside caught my eye.
Xavier sat with a group, eating pizza. I’d been trying to meet up with him, but he’d been too busy to respond to my messages. And whenever I went to his office, there was always someone telling me he wasn’t available.
I passed the buzzer to Fridge. “I’ll be five minutes. If you guys eat the breadsticks, I’ll hit someone in the mouth, and I don’t care who.”
Outside, Xavier did a double take, a tight smile crossing his face. “Bear, I don’t have time?—”
“I need to talk to you. It’s about June. I’m living with June.”
Xavier chewed his bite slowly and gazed around the table. Everyone else’s faces lit with curiosity.
“Is June okay?” One of the guys winced. “Is she…better?”
“She looks like she’s having fun with the hockey team?” another said hopefully. “Tell her Joey sends his best.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Me too.”
Xavier abandoned lunch and led me down the walkway, separated from everyone else. The only thing back there was the dumpster. He took a deep breath. “What do you mean you’re living with June?”
“June had some kind of block on her housing account,” I explained. “We ended up rooming together.”
For long seconds, he stared like someone pressed a button and switched him to factory settings. “I— no .” His eyes darted to the dumpster. “ Fuck. ”
“I wanted to tell you in person…” I hesitated. “Since you two…had something or whatever?—”
“June and I didn’t have anything, Bear,” he said, his voice curt.
“Oh. Okay.”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t think it’d be a quick conversation, but I didn’t think he’d be that cold about June either. I shoved my hands in my pockets, thinking of a way to smooth this over, when Xavier’s gaze turned piercing.
“Do you want to sleep with June?”
I froze. “What?”
“Do you want to sleep with June?”
“I—uh—she doesn’t like me.” I cleared my throat. “June hates me?—”
“I didn’t ask if she hates you, I asked if you want to have sex with June,” he snapped.
Suddenly, the back of my neck was warm. I was really glad we weren’t having this conversation in front of my teammates, and I fumbled for an answer. “June has…pretty eyes—uh?—”
“ What? ”
“I mean she’s pretty—that’s what I was trying to say. But she can’t stand the sight of me?—”
“Bear.” Xavier rubbed his jaw. “Sorry, I meant there was nothing romantic between June and I. Yeah, I had June.” His jaw clenched. “Everybody has.” A hard laugh burst out of him. “We call her Gangbang June.”
I stared at him. “What?”
“June does everything. Threesomes, foursomes, whole trains. Anything you can think of, she’s done that shit. She’s not satisfied unless it’s like fifty dudes?—”
“I thought before…she was dating King?”
Xavier paused and his eyes narrowed. “They broke up constantly. Every time June was single, there was a new cock in her mouth.” He laughed again. “Fucking her is like getting a car out of a ditch, you need a buddy to make it work.”
I hung by the wall, silent. “I don’t know. I can’t judge. My freshman year was a blur of puck bunnies. They called me ‘six-foot-four and a whore?—’”
“Bear, I don’t care if you’re living with her,” Xavier interrupted.
“It doesn’t matter to me. Doesn’t mean anything.
Room with her, whatever, it won’t keep me up at night.
You just can’t fuck her. Trust me, I’m looking out for you.
Unless you want to make Gangbang June the new warmup for the hockey team?—”
“Group stuff isn’t my thing, Xavier.”
I didn’t know what to think. If June had done that stuff, whatever, but it was kind of hard to believe. June spent a lot of time in our dorm. Didn’t gangbangs take evenings? Group coordination? Maybe Google calendars?
“For your own benefit, don’t fuck June,” Xavier warned. “Do you understand?”
I nodded, but I didn’t leave when Xavier did. I gazed at the limp weeds and patches of grass, thinking it over. June’s profile was clear, she wanted good sex. Nothing else.
Which was exactly what I wanted.
When I used to invite girls over, I had this paranoia I couldn’t shake, like I was waiting for them to whip out a camera. It felt weird to ask somebody to power off their phone, and even then, how much faith could I put in that?
June was different.
If we had sex, I knew she’d rather jump into a jet engine than admit it to anyone. Pictures and videos would embarrass her, she’d never show someone.
The realization sank in.
June hated me but I was pretty sure she was the only one I could trust.