Pride

Chapter 17- Jordan

I clamp my jaw shut so I don't scream again, and try to get a look at who's spraying us. I can't see through the spray of water, plus the sun is bright, and my hair won't stay out of my face. A moment later, the water disappears again and I look over to see Levi and Nate. I scowl at them. 


"What was that for?" 


"How about you two spraying each other? Because I count that as fighting," Levi tells us, and I make a face before pointing at Chase.

"He started it."

"You were complaining about the heat, what were you expecting?" He's smirking. It's irritating how unbothered by the cold water he is. We're both soaked right through, and he's smirking like he hasn't got a care in the world. 


"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting you to just pick up a hose and spray me!"

"It seemed pretty obvious, considering-"

We're blasted with freezing cold water again, and I let out a little yelp and wonder if I could tackle whoever's holding the hose without being able to see them (yes, I'm a quarterback, I still know how to tackle) before the water shuts off again. I glare at Nate, who is holding the hose.

"What was that for?"

"Mostly to shut you up."

"Seriously, though: Chase, what were you thinking? Are you actively trying to get thrown off the team?"

"You know I'm not," he tells Levi. "It was all in good fun."

"It was," I say, before either Levi or Nate can argue. Chase looks a little surprised, then gives me a small smile. I look at him for a moment, finding it hard to look away.

Nate narrows his eyes at me, but seems to accept my answer. "Fine."

"Were you actually going to tell the coaches?" Chase asks, and I was definitely thinking the same thing, because technically, we're not on school grounds, and it was only water and there was no provoking or attempted hitting involved.

"No," Levi says. "We discussed it, though. Decided we'd just spray you both for punishment."

"You definitely just wanted to spray us," Chase says, and Nate grins maliciously.

"You're right." And he turns on the water again.

This time, he doesn't turn it off right away, and he also follows us if we try to get away. I growl in discomfort as I get hopelessly drenched, before feeling a warm arm settle around my shoulder.

"We go opposite directions, they can't follow both of us. Whoever gets away takes the hose away from those lunatics," Chase says, his lips brushing my ear so I can hear his low voice over the loud hiss of the hose and the laughter of 'those lunatics'. I'm caught between agreeing to his plan, or instead holding his arm around my shoulders a) for the warmth and b) because I kind of want to grab him around the waist and hold him against me for a really long time. He doesn't mind the water, he can be my shield, and I also just want to feel him wrapped around me and-

I nod, and his body warmth disappears. I start in the direction that he didn't seem to go in, and the stream of water follows me. Of course they choose me to follow. Well, Nate is the one controlling the hose, so it's not entirely a surprise.

Fortunately, moments later, there are twin shouts of surprise, and the water disappears. I let out a sigh of relief and turn to see Chase (still soaked) pointing the hose at them. I press my lips together to keep from laughing out loud and instead look at Nate and Levi, who are standing in the stream of water and look like they might rat us out to the coaches just for this, or possibly just murder us themselves. I grin at Chase, who's smirking widely as he drenches our chaperones. Unfortunately, one of them gets too close for his comfort, and he turns it off rather than try and fight them for it.