Into Your Arms (Squad Stories #1)(43)
Time to go. Definitely.
I push myself to my feet and groan. I'm so full of snacks and a little sleepy from the beer. I'm kind of a lightweight. Not kind of. I am. One drink and I'm basically sliding onto the floor.
"Sure, whatever," I say, and then realize I'm being kind of a bitch. "Thanks." He nods once.
"You're welcome, Freya." I ignore the feeling I get when he says my name and head out the door.
* * *
"Okay, this is not working," Coach says, completely frustrated. I share that feeling. She's trying to up the difficulty on our Swedish Falls pyramid, but it's not happening. The timing has to be absolutely perfect, or the whole thing turns into a nightmare.
It's one of my favorite stunts because it's three levels of people, so the height is awesome. Well, it can be awesome when everyone has their shit together, which isn't happening. I want to shout and scream that it isn't that hard, but that's not going to get anything done. This is one of those practices where I'm really missing my old squad. Since I have a lot of experience, I'm in the middle for the entire thing and I have the most difficult tasks of being tossed, spinning, and landing in the arms of the girls on the second level and making it look effortless. One of them is Tobi, and she tries to salvage the stunt, but when one base's timing is off, the entire thing collapses and looks like a mess. I end up falling more than I end up actually flying.
"That sucked," Rhett says when Coach decides to leave the pyramid for the day and come back to it tomorrow. I'm sore and grumpy, and don't have a lot of hope that it's ever going to come together. It's just a skill that some of our squad isn't at the right level for. But Coach is reaching for the stars, so we're going to keep going until we nail the stunt or end up in the hospital. Whichever comes first.
"Yeah, and we have to get that if we have any chance at a bid to Nationals," I say with a sigh as I sling my bag over my shoulder. It's definitely on the list of things we have to hit, along with tumbling passes, jumps, partner stunts, and basket tosses. All in less than three minutes.
My old squad had been going to (and winning at) Nationals for decades. The MSU squad has never even tried. In order to get a chance to compete at Nationals, our squad has to submit a video in the winter of us performing our routine and also leading a crowd cheer. I always loved when we made our submission videos, but this year I'm not looking forward to it. Because I just don't think it's going to happen. I know what it takes and we are SO not there yet. Granted, we're not in the same division as my Texas squad, but still.
"Is it weird that I'm scared about that?" Rhett says as we walk out together. "I mean, cheering at the games is one thing, but being judged is something entirely different. I hope I don't fuck things up and then I'm the one who screwed us out of going to Nationals." I scoff at him.
"That's not how it works. We'll be fine. You're not the one to worry about, trust me. You're a great cheerleader, Rhett. You really are." He beams at me, and his smile is so cute that my heart does two backflips.
"Thanks. That really means a lot, Freya." And another backflip. I just can't help it. But my tentative friendship with Rhett is working out. For the most part? I still want to do things like bite his earlobe or scratch his back or lick his tattoos, but I can totally push those thoughts aside and focus.
Kind of.
Lately I've been having all kinds of, ah, dreams of a naked nature, and when I wake up in the morning, I'm so turned on that it's physically painful. There's absolutely nothing I can do about that, apart from not sleeping, so I just . . . do my best and try not to have lusty thoughts about Rhett before bed. Easier said than done.
"You coming over for dinner?" he asks. He's always the one who asks me to come over and I figure if I'm driving him up a wall or he doesn't want to feed me, he'd probably stop inviting me, so I agree, but say that I'm bringing salad stuff this time. I know he works, but college is fucking expensive.
I tell him that I need to shower and then I'll come over. We wave goodbye and I'm throwing my gym bag in the backseat of my car when Tobi sidles up next to me.
"So. Having dinner at his house more than a few times a week? Having breakfast. Hanging out. Looks like you've got yourself a boyfriend to me." I make a face at her.
"Guys and girls can be friends without having sex with one another, Tobi." She laughs.
"Sure they can, but not when there is as much sexual tension as there is between the two of you. When I spot for you, I'm afraid that I'm going to get burned by it." Rolling my eyes, I get in my car.