Page 28 of Call the Shots (For The Arena #1)
BEAR
BACKGROUND CHARACTER
After practice on Monday, I left with the sole purpose of telling Xavier that I had sex with June.
I couldn’t ignore the doubts anymore. Nothing made sense, and for as much as June snapped at me, I couldn’t get over the feeling that she was telling the truth.
He wasn’t in the housing department but when I mentioned it was an emergency, they told me where I could find him, at the unveiling for an exhibit at the art school.
It was the opposite of the party he invited me to.
Everyone was dressed in slacks while I had my jersey on.
I shouldered through the crowd until I found him, in the middle of telling a story to a dozen people, one of those glass pottery awards in his hands.
“Bear!” A grin split across his face as he held out the award. “For ‘the enrichment of the community.’ Nice, huh?” He set the award on a table and took my arm, pulling me away from the conversation. “You’re my savior, did you get those receipts?”
“You lied to me,” I said flatly.
“What?”
“You lied to me. You’ve been lying to me.”
His eyes flickered to the rest of the crowd, and he led me further from everybody. “Those receipts only say June’s name because she processed the paperwork. They’re for my stuff, in my office?—”
“We had sex.”
Xavier froze. “I—what? You what?”
“June and I had sex,” I repeated, my voice low.
“You—?” He gripped my arm, trying to formulate words. “I don’t—what are you—you didn’t?—”
“I did.”
“No. Because she wouldn’t have sex with you .” A hard laugh burst out of him. “She wouldn’t fuck you!”
“Why wouldn’t she?”
“Because she—she?—”
“You said she fucks everybody.”
“But not you, Bear!” His voice jumped up.
“She wouldn’t fuck you! There’s no fucking way she’d ever fuck you, I don’t believe it—” He jerked back to see everyone staring at us.
Even the music seemed quieter. His friends raised their eyebrows, inquisitive, and people craned their necks to see why Xavier was yelling.
With steps to the right, Xavier hid us by the stairs. “This isn’t funny?—”
“She has a mole on the bottom of her left thigh.”
The breath wheezed out of him.
“She owns a pair of bright blue panties with flowers on them.”
Xavier’s face darkened.
“She doesn’t like pet names.”
It was like a flip switched. He gazed back, triumphant.
“She fucking loves pet names, she’d cum when I called her cupcake.
She doesn’t like pet names from you! ” The laugh tore out of him.
“She fucked you to get back at me! You’re not even involved in our game, you’re a background character, she doesn’t give a fuck about you?—”
Hurt welled up in my chest, but it didn’t compare to the anger simmering under my skin.
“I can’t believe you,” he continued. “I said she’s Gangbang fucking June and?—”
“Don’t call her that. ”
“Bear—”
“I don’t care if she’s gone through a thousand gangbangs, if you call her that again, I’ll punch you in the fucking mouth.”
His gaze hardened but his smile remained. “What? You like June?” he taunted. “You think you have a chance with her? You wouldn’t be in the same fucking astral plane if I didn’t accidentally put you in the same dorm. You think she’d take a two-second look at you in the real world?”
That was enough. I learned what I came for. June was right all along, and it wasn’t a surprise having that confirmed. I’d known for a while. I’d just been in denial over it, hoping against reason. Taking out my frustration on her because of it.
Fuck, I felt sick.
“Don’t you walk away from me—” Xavier threatened, following me to the outside gardens.
“I don’t want to do anything I’ll regret,” I said. “We’re family and?—”
“We’re not fucking family, Bear,” Xavier hissed, and I turned back to see him, spitting every word. “Your dad married my mom, that’s the extent of how we know each other.”
“You know why I transferred? Because I thought you and I could?—”
“You transferred because you’re a moron who trusted the wrong person and now your dick is on the fucking internet!”
“You’re a fucking asshole.”
“And you’re a roach in her dorm,” he retorted, dripping venom. “If she wanted to make Gangbang June come true, you’d be the guy cleaning up afterwards?—”
His words stuttered when I swung my fist, a clean hit to the jaw. Xavier crashed into the wall of the art school. People poured out from the event, his friends racing over to see if he needed help.
I ground my back teeth. “I told you what would happen if you called her that again.”
The noise returned, everyone panicking over him, and I left, hands shoved in my pockets. Xavier screamed threats but I didn’t bother looking back.
I just kept walking.
I didn’t stop until I came to my dorm. There wasn’t peace and quiet to be found.
Fridge and Montoya were in the kitchen with June, baking something.
June had her blonde hair twisted in a bun, flour smeared up her arms while she rolled dough on the counter.
Seeing her was as big of a punch as the one I gave Xavier, and I passed by with barely a nod.
“We’re making treat bags for professors!” Montoya said cheerfully.
“And dishes for you to clean,” June added.
I threw a thumbs-up sign and closed my door behind me. My call sent me to his voicemail, same as always.
“This is Warren Hodges. Leave a message.”
I shifted my stance, trying to figure out what to say to my dad but I couldn’t come up with anything.
In the end, I cut the call short and laid on my bed.
I had a gaming session with my cousins later but until then, I grabbed my Boston Bulldogs cap from the nightstand, trying to push down the emptiness that swallowed me whole.
There were voices in the kitchen.
“Montoya?” June asked, her voice low.
“Yeah?”
“Go talk to Bear.”
“What? Why?”
There was silence but I had no doubt June was gesturing to the door. Before Montoya’s knock finished, I caught the hat midair. “I’m fine, Montoya.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I caught it again. “Why wouldn’t I be?”