Love, Ally by Hannah Gray
sixteen
Cole
“Where the fuck did you take off to last night?” Knox gripes during practice the next day.
“You did take off rather suddenly, man,” Weston chirps up. “What, did you find yourself a sweet little something to take home?”
Lifting my shirt up, I wipe my face. It’s fucking hot out here today, and my friends are nosy.
But I’m glad I left. Not only did I get to sink myself deep into Ally again, which is worth far more than going to a party, but also, apparently, some of the guys on the team got into a fight at the party last night, and word got back to Coach. And now … well, now, I’m pretty fucking positive he’s going to run us until we die.
“I had something to take care of,” I huff out. “I’m glad I wasn’t there. Sounds like it was a fucking mess.”
Knox nods, his eyes wide. “You fucking know it, bud. Straight-up fucking shitshow is what it was.”
“What the hell happened anyway?” I ask him just as Coach blows the whistle. “Fuck. Back to running, I’m sure.”
We make our way back over to Coach as Weston scowls.
“A few of our teammates fought some of the baseball players,” Weston gripes. “Fucking idiots.”
“Were either of you involved?” I shoot them a hard look.
They both hold up their hands.
“Fuck no. We stayed the hell out of that disaster,” Weston says.
“One of the fellas on the baseball team diddled Dex’s girl.” Knox shrugs. “Guess Sexy Dexy was mad.”
“Diddled?” I shake my head. “The fuck does that even mean?”
“Means he gave her the meat. You know, the D,” Knox says, serious as can be.
“I can fucking hear you, asshole,” Dex growls from behind us.
“My bad, man. She was probably a lousy fuck anyway. You’re way better off without her,” Knox tells him.
I wait for Dex to punch him in the face. Only he doesn’t. He just grumbles.
“Dude, why not just say fucked?” I laugh at his word choice of diddled.
He shrugs. “In Maine, we say diddled. Besides, it’s less crude, ain’t it?”
I can’t help the stupid-ass grin that spreads across my face. “I mean, yeah, I guess. But since when are you concerned about being crude?”
That fucker is one of the crudest dudes I know.
We stand there, waiting for Coach to tell us to run, and I’m just counting my lucky stars for this short break. He has half of the guys puking.
“Guess you have yourself a point there, ol’ boy,” Knox answers nonchalantly. “But back to you. Where were you last night?”
“Sloane told me that Ally was working. I know she doesn’t have a car, so I didn’t want her walking home in the dark.”
He smirks and looks at Weston. “Bet he got some good ol’ lovin’ for being such a gentleman. What do you think?”
Weston laughs. “Nah. If it’s the girl from the diner, she definitely told him to go fuck himself.” Looking at me, he crosses his arms over his chest. “That chick don’t play. I was a little frightened of her myself.”
“Same.” Knox nods. “Then again, she’s hot as fuck. I’d let her punish me.”
“Watch yourself,” I growl. “You like running, right? So, you really don’t need your legs broken.”
Best friends or not, they will know better than to talk about my girl that way.
Just then, Coach yells, “Back to work, boys. You want to go act big and tough, fighting and shit? Well then, be prepared to run. Head back to the field for round two.”
Glancing at the scoreboard clock, I see it reads four o’clock. Ally is working a double today. She won’t even get out until eight tonight after being there at six this morning.
“Hey,” I yell to my roommates as we make our way back onto the field. “Can one of you pick me up at Lenny’s after practice?”
“Yeah?” Confused, Knox says, “Why though?”
I know I’ll catch shit when I tell him my plan, but I don’t really give a fuck.
“I’m going to drop my truck off there. Don’t need Ally walking home late,” I tell him.
I’d offer to get her, but we have a team dinner tonight as a bonding exercise. I’d not go, but because I’m the one who planned it, I can’t ditch just to give Ally a ride.
“Ohh shiiiit. Storm is whiiiipped!” he yells obnoxiously to Weston, who pretends to be holding a whip in his hand.
“Oh, fuck off. You’re just pissed because Blondie saw how small your dick was and ran away,” I say to Knox.
“Yeah, right. She hasn’t seen my dick yet. If she had, she’d be texting and calling nonstop.” He tries to laugh it off, but I’m sure I struck a nerve. He was interested in that girl, and she didn’t give him the time of day. Nudging me, he grins. “And if she had touched it, well, fuck, man, she’d be stalking me.”
“Keep telling yourself that, man,” I say, shaking my head.
I’m sure it seems like overkill, letting Ally use my new truck. But she isn’t just some random chick. She’s Ally. She’s my family. She probably won’t take me doing this lightly. It’ll just be another way she thinks I’m taking her independence away. But that isn’t it. She’s mine to take care of, just like I’m hers. If I needed something, she’d be there, no questions asked.
It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t think we’re actually together right now. Besides, soon enough, we will be.
Coach blows his whistle, and no matter how much I don’t want to run, I know I’ll see her face when I drop my truck off, so that makes this punishment a little less shitty.