Page 29 of Call the Shots (For The Arena #1)
JUNE
THE NO FIGHTING RULE
For Montoya’s birthday, my dorm looked like the casting call for Ben-Hur.
Which was by design. When the hockey players showed up in jeans, I marched them to their rooms. Seriously, jeans?
For a toga party? Not on my watch. I tied bedsheets around their shoulders until we were ready to celebrate Montoya, the only one who came prepared.
“Mm-hmm, Ma,” he said quietly to the phone. He was in a complete Gladiator’s costume, with a red mohawk helmet that had to be taken off whenever he walked under door frames. “Yes, Ma.”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Montoya.” Nick looped an arm around Montoya’s shoulders. “We’ll take good care of Kid’s Toy.”
I butted in. “Nobody’s calling him that, it’s his birthday.”
“I don’t want my baby in any trouble,” Mrs. Montoya warned. “He’s my youngest, my shining star, the blood of my heart, the fire of my soul?—”
“ Ma. ”
Elijah guffawed. “You’re the youngest everywhere? ”
“Nothing will happen to him,” Fridge assured her before Montoya said a goodbye to his mom, and another goodbye, and a final goodbye, ending the call.
“Okay.” Montoya whirled back, mohawk helmet teetering dangerously. “I’m ready to get sloshed! ”
I had everything prepared, a special bottle of Tequila and a round of Marrs shot glasses. Montoya was from Illinois, Fridge was from Florida, and Nick was from Minnesota. I needed to show these boys a Texas party. I opened the fridge, searching for limes.
Bear arrived with a curse under his breath. “Sorry, captain bullshit took forever—we’re out of so much shit. Skate laces—fucking skate laces—how are we out of skate laces? What the hell are you guys wearing?”
“It’s a great breeze for your nuts,” Elijah boasted.
“ Please say you’re wearing underwear,” I pleaded.
“You’re actually dressing up for the party?” Bear asked.
“Uh, you’re dressing up too,” I said, shutting the fridge.
Bear fell silent when I walked out of the kitchen, his eyes dropping to my dress. “ June .”
Of course, Bear, too cool to dress up for frat parties, wanted to make fun of me for going all out. “It’s an old greek goddess costume, I wear it for toga parties. And Halloween three years ago.”
Thank goodness it still fit. My Playboy bunny and cat girl costumes were in storage, waiting until I could wear them again. I had too much hip now.
“I—uh…” Bear blinked a few times and met my eyes again. “We need to talk.”
“You need to get dressed first.” I motioned towards his bedroom.
The guys took shots behind us, Fridge offering moral support to Montoya through it.
“That’s so gross,” Montoya coughed.
Fridge chuckled. “You don’t drink it for the flavor.”
I motioned towards Bear’s bed. “You need a bed sheet for the toga, I’ll show you how to tie it.”
“Do I have to wear something?”
Montoya’s voice flowed from the kitchen. “You two aren’t fighting, right?”
Our eyes met again. I forgot about the tentative truce during Montoya’s birthday. No fighting, no arguing, no snappy one-liners. It was going to be a long night.
I raised my voice. “We’re not arguing!”
“No fighting,” Bear confirmed.
“Yeah, we’re not.” I snapped my fingers. “So grab your sheet.”
Bear grumbled under his breath but dug out a clean sheet from his dresser. “I don’t get why I can’t wear pants.”
“They ruin the look, so you’ll need to take those off.” He started unbuttoning before I smacked his arm. “The toga goes over you. You don’t need to shed clothes in front of me, be a gentleman.”
“June, I’ve been inside of you.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“It’s not like there’s anything you haven’t seen.”
“I deleted the memory, it gives me peace.” I tied the light green bed sheet over his shoulder. “I know King’s on the list for people not allowed in the dorm…but he’s coming for Montoya’s birthday…”
Bear grunted. “Hm.”
“He’ll just be in the hallway.”
“King hasn’t been to the Colo in a while.”
I tightened another knot. “He’s busy.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Tell him…?”
“Did you tell your boyfriend we had sex?”
A slow heat crept up my spine and I avoided his gaze, finishing my work. “I tell King everything—” I straightened his makeshift toga. “Basically everything. It came up. Then we talked about summer training, end of story.”
“That’s all he had to say?”
“No, he called you Beau and I had to correct him.”
“King doesn’t know his girlfriend’s roommate’s name? Who’s a dude?”
“What’s with the inquisition?”
There was something restless about Bear, the way he kept picking and adjusting his toga, like he wanted to pace. “I didn’t want to talk about this before the party but—I told Xavier.”
“Told Xavier?” I froze, realizing what he meant. “You didn’t.”
“You were right. I’ve believed you for a while, I was too hardheaded to admit it,” he confessed. “Xavier had this exhibit thing at the art school, I told him, and he melted down?—”
“You asshole! I wanted to be there!”
Montoya’s voice stopped me from the kitchen. “June?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Fuck. That was my big card against Xavier and Bear tossed it in the garbage disposal. That was the one thing I knew would upset Xavier. And Bear had to take it away from me.
When I opened my eyes again, Bear was watching me, surprised. “I didn’t think it was that important to you.”
“Are you serious?” I whispered, careful to keep my voice quiet. “I wanted to call the shots! Why did you take that away from me? This guy has fucked me over and over and over. The one time I could get back at him and you—” I put my head in my hands. “Bear. Why? ”
“I wanted to be sure?—”
“That your stepbrother is an asshole? I could’ve told you that!”
“I didn’t want to admit that—that?—”
“That you were wrong?”
“He said I wasn't his family. I guess he’s been saying that to me all along, I just didn’t want to hear it.”
I stared, shocked. Xavier said that? How could he say that to Bear? Memories surfaced, the times when Xavier complained about Bear, about how distant he was. Those memories had a pattern the longer I thought about them. Drawing away from Bear, I leaned against the dresser, arms crossed.
“Last April, were you with Xavier?” I said softly.
“April?” Bear shook his head, eyebrows furrowed. “No, we were in playoffs. It was too busy.” Silence settled and his frown deepened. “Why?”
“I had a pregnancy scare but Xavier was out of town.” I crossed my arms over my chest and rubbed my forearm, remembering how petrified I was. “He couldn’t drive back because he was spending time with you.”
More silence.
“Are you—uh—sure you have your dates right?” Bear asked.
I was sure but I shrugged. “I might be wrong.”
“Because if he…” He raked a hand through his hair. “Because that’s really fucked up. If that—I…I’m sorry that happened.”
“Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know.”
Bear shoved his wallet in his pocket and stalled over his words. His eyes met mine again. “Xavier said something about how you having sex with me was like your…revenge plot or whatever against him?—”
“Yeah, it’s not my best work,” I admitted, and Bear's eyes fell to the floor. “I’m sorry you got involved in this. You were trying to protect your brother.”
“Stepbrother,” he corrected, pulling the door open. “Let’s get drunk.”
Fuck it. It’d be my first frat party since January and with the revenge plot gone to hell, I wanted to focus on pounding shots. I followed him to the living room. “Agreed.”
“I’m not leaving unless it’s in an ambulance to the fucking sobriety center.”
“That’s not funny,” I chided. “Don’t let Montoya hear that.”
“Hear what?” Montoya asked.
“Hear how safely we’ll drink alcohol tonight,” I said pointedly. “Staying hydrated, not accepting drinks from people you don’t know, and never drinking alone?—”
Elijah groaned. “Boring. I’m bored. You’re boring me.”
I quickly poured shots for Bear and me, but when Montoya reached for the bottle, I shook my head. “We’re pacing you, you’re sticking to the one until we get to the party.”
“When’s King coming?” Montoya asked.
That was a good question. I double-checked my phone and disappointment coursed through when I read the messages.
king
I cant go sorry june
Jazz emergency
Oh, shit.
Montoya really liked King. They spent a lot of time renovating the Colo together. This would crush him. As quickly as I could, I downed my shot, feeling it burn the back of my throat.
“King…can’t come tonight.”
Montoya’s face fell. “He’s not coming?”
“He’s skipping the party?” Bear tossed his shot back. “You’re kidding.”
“He really, really wanted to come.” I bit my lip, thinking it over. “I was saving this until tomorrow but might as well.”
“Saving what?”
I brought out a box from the fridge and Montoya’s mouth fell open at the reveal of the birthday cake with the chocolate hockey sticks.
“Oh, dude .” He pulled me into a big hug. “Thanks, June.”
“Let’s fuck up this cake and get fucked up.” Elijah grinned.