Dani~

I look back at him, smiling, trying to hold in my laugh from his comment. We're a lot closer than I thought we were. Shit, maybe Mik's right.

He leans in as I still face him. "We shouldn't do this," I say quietly.

"Why?"

"Because it feels too right.  Because I know it won't stop." Jesus, tell him how you really feel.

He looks down and shakes his head, "That has to be some sort of double negative."

"Probably," I tell him, still quiet.

"Double negatives are technically a positive." He doesn't have to convince me any more than he already has. But, if we're being honest, I didn't need any convincing.

"I know. That's why I said it."

"Have you always been this difficult?"

I smile and nod, "Yeah."

He chuckles, my eyes still on him. He closes the gap between us, slowly. He stops millimeters from my lips. I shake my head, "You're an ass for that."

He takes that as an opportunity to lean in all the way. He brings his left hand around to my face, holding it gently. This is nice. More than nice, actually.

I find the button on my iPad to shut it off, blindly. He runs his left hand down my arm to my lap, taking the iPad and putting it off to the side. His hand finds its spot on the top of my hip. I can tell he wants to pull me closer but isn't sure how to execute it.

Fuck it. I'll do it myself. My dress rides up even higher as I hook my right leg over his lap. He groans, making me chuckle to myself.

Nice to know that I affect him. His hands find the hem of my dress. Probably a good thing I didn't change. I hold my arms on top of his shoulders as we continue to kiss.

His hands run down my backside, finding a spot under my butt. My dress rides up even more. He moves to the edge of the couch before standing up with me in his arms.

He walks a few steps to the bed and sits down. He holds his hands just above my hips as I reach behind me and get my zipper down. I leave the back of my dress open so he can make a move whenever he feels like it.

Oh fuck. Maybe that wasn't the smartest idea on my behalf. I try moving around but realize that I can't because Christian has got his arms around me. I won't complain about this. This is nice.

I feel him start to stir as I try reaching for my phone on the nightstand. "Sorry," I tell him, finally getting ahold of my phone.

I feel him sit up as I read all of the text messages

Coach Sheffield: Bus leaves at 10:45. Everyone needs to be down here by 10:30. Either eat at the hotel or eat whatever is provided at the arena
Mik: Got it
Lauren: So what I'm reading is eat at the hotel?
Coach Sheffield: Yeah. Is Dani up?
Mik: Wouldn't know
Me: I'm up

I feel him get out of the bed. "Here. Figured you probably didn't want to put your dress back on." He launches a T-shirt at me.

"Thanks, I'll get it back to you at some point."

"No worries," he says before disappearing into the bathroom. I get out of bed and put the t-shirt on before gathering my things so that I can head out soon. We leave in an hour. This means I have to eat and get ready in thirty minutes just to go talk to coach about something.

"You wanna go get breakfast?" Christian asks me.

"I would but I have to be down on the bus in a half hour. Another day?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Sure."

I grab my heels after slinging on my bag. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. We should be back here by 6:30.

"Sounds good." He hugs me again. I didn't perceive him as a hugger, but I guess he is. "Kick some ass today."

"That's a given."

He smirks as he opens the door. "Good luck. Not that you need it."

"Always need a little bit of luck."

I head to the elevator, quickly preparing myself for Mikayla to be at my hotel door. When the elevator doors open to the eighth floor, I look both ways to see if any of the girls are in the hallway. No one.

I head to my room. I scan my room key and push the door open. "Huh, there she is," I hear Mik say. These bitches are in my room.

I look around at every girl on my team as they stand or sit around the bed. "Does someone want to tell me how the hell you all got in here?"

"We all know coach keeps the other set of keys to our rooms."

"Okay, then why are you all in here?"

"Whose shirt is that? Why are you barefoot? Why's your dress in your hand?" Mik asks me. She's really gonna do me like that. She thinks this is the funniest thing ever.

"Although I'd love to explain, I have to be down on the bus much earlier than the rest of you for an unknown reason. So if you could please leave, that'd be great."

Some of them head toward the door, smirking at me. Mik and Lauren stay back after the rest of them left. "Would you much rather tell us?"

"Not really."

"Too bad. You just disappeared last night and didn't respond until 9:30 this morning," Lauren adds.

"I didn't disappear," I tell them. "I hung out with a friend, that's it."

"And fell asleep in his room without a change of clothes? Bold of you to do so," Mik says.

"What do you want me to say?" I ask while putting on our team gear so I can head down to the bus soon.

"We know something happened. We're not stupid."

I brush my hair up into a ponytail, "You guys can't say anything." They nod, urging me to continue, although they already know what happened, "We hooked up. I fell asleep in his bed. End of story."

"Took you long enough to admit to that."

"It just happened. It wasn't supposed to but it did."

"Are you regretting it?"

No. Not at all. "My body is regretting it. We have two matches today and my body hurts."

"Ew," they both say.

"You wanted answers and I gave you answers. You want to give me an answer to why you had every single girl in here?"

"They all know you went to his room last night. You don't just get up in the middle of our dinner and hug a random guy and not expect the rest of them to ask questions. Especially since he hugged you like it was life or death."

"He's not a random guy to me though. I know him. He knows who I am. It wasn't weird. It wasn't life or death either. It was an 'I haven't seen you in five months' type of hug."

"Fair enough. How was it? How many rounds?"

"Oh my god." It doesn't surprise me that she asked.

"What? Don't leave us hanging."

I refrain from rolling my eyes, "Four or five rounds. No, it was five. On a scale of 1-10? 15."

"That's my girl! So it was worth it?"

"Yes. Are we done with this conversation now? I gotta go see what coach wants."

"Yeah, you should probably get down there."

I grab my backpack and make sure everything I need is in there. "Any idea what he wants?"

"Nope."

Great.

They head back to their room while I head to the elevator. I get down to the lobby, head to the breakfast area, and grab a muffin, banana, and a yogurt cup. I pass Christian on the way out and he smiles, making me do the same. God, stop doing that. It won't work. That shouldn't even be a thought right now.

I get on our bus, "Hey, you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, about two things. One, for our first match, how confident do you feel about playing all around?"

"You know that defense in the back row is not my number one thing."

"I know, but I think it might help us."

"Can we see how it goes in the first set? I don't want to be the reason we lose because I can't cover the balls."

"That's fine. I'm working out the lineup right now and I'm thinking about having Megan and Mik switch so that Megan can serve first. But then I'm thinking about switching you and Mik so that you could potentially serve first. You're one of two who can topspin the ball well and that's going to help us."

"Okay."

"The other thing. Do you know that guy that you hugged last night?"

Oh my god. "Yeah, I do."

"You know I love you like you're one of my daughters but don't mess around with him."

Too late for that. "Why?"

"He's a baseball player. They have a bad rep. You don't need that." Bad rep? I don't think Christian is the type of person to have a bad reputation.

"He's just a friend."

"That's what they all say and then it turns into something more."

"Yep. Done with this conversation now," I say before eating my breakfast.

"Just saying."

Christian~

"How the hell did you end up dragging me here?" Travis asks me as we find out seats in the arena.

"Don't act like you didn't want to go. You were all ears about this last night."

"I didn't think you'd actually get tickets."

"Dude, she's like my best friend and I haven't seen her since December. How often is she going to be in the same place as us? Not very often."

"This better be good."

"I promise you it will be."

The lights dim around the seating and the court lights up. Both teams run out to the court, huddling with their respective teams on the sidelines. They must've already warmed up.

"What number?" Travis asks me as six girls line up in rows of three on each side.

"2. She's behind the white line right now."

The whistle blows as she waits behind the white line. Bouncing the ball a few times before sending it spinning in the air. She takes a few steps before jumping high enough where her palm makes contact with the ball. The ball soars over the net, falling between two girls.

"So you're making me watch this for two matches?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I promise it's good."

Dani goes back to the line again. I watch her look over to her coach and nod. She sends it over again, a different spot this time and the other team is able to make a play out of it. One of her teammates doesn't get to the ball quick enough and puts the ball in a weird place, sending it behind her. Dani races to the ball, getting there just in time to touch it again and hopefully send it back towards the court. She lays out and almost hits the wall. They really sacrifice their bodies for a ball.

"You sure you want to leave now?" I ask Travis as he sits there in awe of how far she had to run to get that ball.

"Yeah, I'm good here. That was impressive."

"See."

She goes back to the service line, serving it again in the same spot. "What'd you do after we got back?" Travis asks me.

I look back at him and quickly smile. "Oh, I see."

"We just hung out," I tell him even though he knows I'm partially lying.

"Hung out?" he says.

"Yeah."

"I'm gonna go find something to drink. Want anything?"

"Nah, I'm good."

He gets up and I lean back on the seat as I continue to watch.

Brazil gets the ball and Dani trades spots with another girl. She sits on the sidelines with her coach as she takes a drink from her water bottle. This was such a good idea to come and watch. One, it gets me out of the hotel room. Two, I get to see another sport that I normally wouldn't watch if I didn't have a reason to.

Dani~

"Where's the tape?" I ask frantically as I jammed my two fingers when I dove for that deep ball. I go over to the trainer to see what she has.

She gives me the thin white tape and I rip off a few pieces. "Move your fingers," she tells me and I do so.

"Do they hurt?"

"I mean, yeah, but I can still bend them. The tape will do for now. I'm fine."

"Okay."

I go over to the bench and sit down by Coach Sheffield. "They're just as good as when we played them last year," I tell him.

"You guys are better though. Nice save though. Your fingers okay?"

"Yeah, just gotta not dive headfirst into a wall anymore."

He pats me on the back, "When you go back in stay more medial. Their blockers aren't blocking anything up the middle."

"Sounds good."

I head back in and switch with Claire. Mik serves the ball over and they play it out. "Up!" I say as I watch the setter's hands and she pushes the ball over to their right-side hitter. Carolyn and I jump at the same time, hoping to get a good block in. The ball hits my hands but takes a weird angle and goes outside of the net on their side. "Damn it," I say to myself.

"That's on me," I tell them as we meet in the middle.

"Do you wanna run the fast attack?" Megan asks.

"Let's do it. Make sure you're covering. They are very good with their hands."

I watch as the ball gets served over and Mik passes it perfectly. I get to the ten-foot line and watch as Megan sets it right in front of me. I put it down between them all.

"Yes!" I scream. That's what I needed.

Mik serves it into the net. Happens to the best of us. Megan pats my butt, "Let's do it again."

She serves the ball over the net right to Alyssa. "One, one, one!"

Hitting the ball down, straight to their libero. Her dig makes the ball go straight back up. I jump up again, this time aiming for an open spot.

When I land, I feel my knee hyperextend, making me fall onto my butt. That didn't feel good. Whatever. It's fine. Mik and Lauren are there to help me up. "You good?"

"Yeah." I walk around trying to figure out if I should go out right now. It feels fine.

"Dani?" I look over at Sheffield as he talks with the athletic trainer and our assistant coaching staff. He calls a timeout.

I walk around as he talks with the rest of the group as the trainer watches me. "No more fast-attack for this match until you are deemed fine," he says looking at me.

I crouch down, bending my knee for the first time. "I'm fine."

"Megan, give Dani a break. I don't care where the points end up. We don't need her hurt."

I know I won't get a say in this decision so I'm not even going to fight it. I jump a few times to see if it's hurt more or less. I'd say about the same.

"Ladies, let's go," the ref says, breaking up the conversation being had.

We go back to the court. It's our ball. Lauren serves the ball over and they play it out. Their setter goes to their outside hitter and she pummels the ball across the court. I dive for the ball. Definitely not my best idea. I get back up after Lauren hits it from the back row. We meet in the middle, "Don't give me any balls for the rest of the match. If I have to, I'll get it but I don't want to risk it."

Christian~

"What's going on?" Travis asks me, getting back from getting a drink.

"Dani just went down."

I watch as she paces back and forth on the court behind her team. She jumps a few times before the ref blows the whistle.

I can read her lips from our seats as she looks to her coach and the athletic trainer. "She just said she's fine."

"You can see that?"

"Sort of but she's also the type of person to not let something like this get in her way."

"Similar to you."

"I guess."

I watch as the ball goes straight toward her. She dives to reach it and quickly gets up. Must not be that bad. Or she's just hiding it really well.

I can tell they're trying to avoid giving her the ball which I'm sure she's not happy about. Sometimes it's inevitable where the ball ends up though. When she hits it over, there's no towering jump, no leap. Just a simple hit over the net that I could probably get if I were playing.

"You think she's hurt?"

"Potentially. She's not going for anything unless she has to."