Somethin' About That Boy

“Dawson is a military badass that nobody understands,” Titus said. “My dad and him met in high school. They were deployed together to Afghanistan where Dawson nearly got killed. My dad said that half his body was blown off, and he was still laughing and joking. The man is good people.”

I imagined that he was.

I also imagined that if I fucked up even a little bit, he’d know it. And make me pay for it.

The announcer moved on to the Bulldogs team, and the first person to be announced was Perry, who wore the number one.

I couldn’t help but stand and shout for her, causing her to flush bright red.

Granted, I wasn’t the only one hollering—her dad and mom were doing the same thing four rows over and up.

She just shook her head and ducked it into her chest, but her face was lit with a breathtaking smile that made Titus say, “Damn. You’re good for her.”

I rolled my eyes and sat down, doing much the same thing for Blue when she came up.

Titus called out as well, causing Blue to glare at him.

Over and over the process went until finally all of the girls had been called and the teams started to take their places.

“Now, explain to me what the fuck is going on,” I ordered as I watched Perry get up to the line at the back of the court.

“Perry’s serving the ball. That open space in the front is where she’s moving up to play,” Titus muttered.

Perry did just that seconds later, serving the ball so low over the net that it tipped over it barely, catching the very bottom of the ball and rolling to the other side, falling to the ground without any of the other players making a dive for it.

I blinked. “Does that count?”

The crowd erupted seconds later—all of them Bulldogs fans.

“Yep,” Titus confirmed. “It can hit the net.”

So that was what we did over the next twenty minutes. A play would be made, Titus would explain the game as best as he knew it, and then the ball would land on the other side of the net for the other team to do their thing.

But I could see how they were both playoff potential teams. Each had great strength in playing the game, but the Bulldogs were just a little bit better, and I had a feeling it had a lot to do with the fact that the entire team was made up of seniors.

“Next year,” I said softly. “This team is going to have a lot of making up to do when all the seniors leave.”

“Agreed,” Slone said. “They’re losing ten of their team. That’ll leave four on varsity when it’s all over.”

“Sucks for them,” Abbott murmured.

It did. Greatly.

Last year had been one of those years on my old football team. It’d been a learning experience for sure, but they’d been lucky that I’d come back as had Vance.

Though, after all that had gone down with Vance’s dad, it’d turned into a shit show that I’m surprised that I survived.

Perry took a running jump and went up high, her arm outstretched.

The ball went flying perfectly in her direction, and Perry slammed her hand forward, forcing the ball over the net and straight down to the ground.

Sadly, one of the other chicks was there and received it, popping it right back over the net and in Perry’s direction.

Perry dove for it, already off-balance, and slammed so hard onto the floor that everyone inhaled deeply at the impact.

She popped it up, though. Getting it to where another girl on the team could get to it.

This time Blue was the one to spike it from the back row, and nobody was able to return it.

The ball hit with a slam, and everyone in the gym erupted with applause and cheers.

“Wow,” I said. “I guess I didn’t expect volleyball to be this in-depth… or athletic.”

Titus snorted his water.

He coughed, looking at me with humor on his face. “Don’t ever let Perry hear you say that. Or Blue. They love this game, and will argue with anyone that is willing to listen about how much they love it and why it’s the best sport ever created.”

I grinned at that, thinking quietly to myself that I’d love to see Perry argue with me about it… as long as she was in those shorts.

The game went smoothly, and I loved watching up until the point where Perry took a ball to the face that made her nose start to bleed.

When she came out, she looked at me and rolled her eyes, causing the knot in my stomach not to be so tight.

Just as the game was finishing up, my dad called, and I answered it just as the band started to play their victory song.

“Hang on,” I yelled to my dad, putting my finger in my ear as I hurried out into the empty hallway of the school.