Hidden Play (MalexMale) 《COMPLETE》

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

My face swelters from the heat of the gym, the stagnant smell of sweat clinging to every inch of my skin. A bead of sweat drips into my left eye and I blink away the burning sensation that follows. Coach has the starting varsity team scrimmaging the second string team in addition to a few JV players. Each of us is being covered two guys instead of one, making the opportunities for shots minimal at best.

The JV guard who's blocking me isn't all that great, but the other guy blocking me is Kurt. I've decided that asshole does still have his panties twisted from being cut from varsity. He's beyond vicious on the court, fouling me every chance he gets when the coach's back is turned.

"Alright! Bring it in," Coach yells towards us and blows his whistle with finality.

He glances down at his clipboard, giving Kurt an opportune moment to give me another shove.

"You played like shit tonight," he snarls under his breath.

"I'd hate to see my performance on a good night then," I say, pretending not to be completely out of breath. "Considering I still managed to score more points than you did even though the coverage was two to one."

Kurt swears something under his breath and jogs away. My performance tonight wasn't exactly stellar, but I still outplayed Kurt every chance I got. I could give two shits if pushing me around makes his ego feel a bit less bruised; as long as the coach sees I'm twice the player he is, that's all that matters.

"Tomorrow we're going to do be doing another scrimmage," Coach says when we all reach the huddle. "Wednesday we're having a light practice – just going over a few drills and plays. Thursday is our first game. Questions?"

Mike bumps his way past me and puffs out his chest. "I designed a few plays, Coach. Can I run them by you?"

Coach doesn't seem at all impressed but nods anyway. "Bring 'em out here. The rest of you – good job tonight. See you tomorrow."

I jog towards the bench, throw my sweat towel over my shoulder, and guzzle down the rest of my warm Gatorade. My stomach growls in protest. Despite having two, perfectly good sandwiches in my backpack, I haven't managed to eat anything of substance since breakfast. I try to limit my intake of shit food during the season, but I may have to coerce Gigi into swinging us through a drive-thru on the way home.

When I get into the locker room, Casper and Radik are already half-way undressed. I can smell Radik's underarm odor from here and force myself to breathe through my mouth. It's beyond offensive. The direction of my gaze betrays me twice, my eyes sweeping over Casper and absent-mindedly admiring his naked torso and lean stomach.

"You played great tonight, man," Radik says to me.

He glances towards the door to make sure no one else is coming and then gives me a wry smile. "You have the patience of a saint dealing with Kurt's temper tantrum."

Casper turns towards the two of us. He opens his mouth, as if he's about to say something, but then smacks his lips shut and throws his gym bag over his shoulder. He gives us a short goodbye under his breath and leaves the locker room without so much as another glance in my direction.

Ouch.

"Thanks," I finally respond to Radik, though my thoughts are still with Casper and his unusually quiet exit. "But I'm not a big whiner. Kurt can throw as many fits as he wants. As long as I show Coach my talent is stronger than his, it won't matter either way."

As soon as the words leave my lips I wish I could take them back. Radik nods in agreement and pats me on the back as if he understands completely. After hearing Casper's words from the other night though, I know what his gestures really mean; he's storing the information away to divulge to Zion and Kurt later. I toss on a new shirt and throw my old one and sweat towel into my gym bag.