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“You’re gonna get us caught,” Ali murmured against Ashlyn’s lips, tugging her forward by her hips.
“I’m not the one who can’t keep her cool in the locker room,” Ashlyn retorted, rubbing their noses together. “Besides, we can’t be the first ones on the team who have hooked up.”
“Who else do you think?” Ali asked with wide eyes, pulling back to look at her. “’Cause I’ve wondered about Abby and Pinoe …”
“Psh, no way,” Ashlyn scoffed, leaning back to check the long hallway to be sure it was devoid of teammates. “That’d be way too weird.”
“Still,” Ali insisted, pushing away from Ashlyn as she went for another kiss, “we should cool it.”
“Cooling is the exact opposite of what I want,” Ashlyn said, reaching back towards her but having her hands batted away. “You’re too hot to cool.”
Ali rolled her eyes but smiled, pressing a finger to her lips. “Just until after the Cup,” she said softly, reaching to zip up her training jacket.
“So after the Cup you’re mine?” Ashlyn asked hopefully, her ears picking up the echoing voices of her teammates from the locker room down the hall.
“Maybe …” Ali trailed off, tapping Ashlyn’s nose with her fingertip. “Depends on how much you impress me before then.”
“The most impressive,” Ashlyn promised, crossing a heart over her chest. “You’ll be fucking stunned.”
“Already am,” Ali said quickly, looking over her shoulder and spotting Hope and Carli as they walked towards them, chatting animatedly in their typical post-practice breakdown.
“Wish I could kiss you,” Ashlyn whispered, looking into her eyes. “I could spend hours kissing you.”
“Then I’ll see you tonight,” Ali said, waggling her eyebrows deviously before taking off down the hallway, Ashlyn hanging back as planned.
“Hey Ash,” Hope said as she walked up. “Where did you run off to after practice?”
“Had to pee,” she quipped, watching Ali’s swaying ponytail disappear around the corner ahead.
Ashlyn paced around her room, ignoring Alex’s sighs as she clicked away on her cell phone. “You’re gonna put a dent in our floor like that,” she grunted, looking up at her shortly before resuming her typing. “Just relax.”
“I am relaxed,” Ashlyn insisted, but Alex raised an eyebrow as she turned another circle to walk across the room. “I’m just nervous.”
“I know,” came Alex’s disgruntled reply, “You’ve said as much.”
“Alex … She’s … God, she’s so great, you know? She’s funny and she’s smart. She’s got this drive and this power on the field and off it too –“
“Oookay,” Alex said, raising up a hand. “Don’t need to hear about that.”
“Not like that you asshole,” Ashlyn said, flopping down on the edge of her bed. “She’s … I didn’t tell her, but I Googled her. I knew almost everyone on the roster but her and when I saw her picture …”
“Yeah?” Alex asked, her interest piqued. “Did you have a crush?”
“It wasn’t a crush,” Ashlyn insisted, but the blush on her cheeks said otherwise. “I was just curious.”
“You’ve never Googled me,” she replied, turning back to her phone.
“’Lex,” she insisted, crossing to sit down right at her teammate’s feet folded up under her. She gently pulled her phone down, drawing her attention. “I knew it then,” she said earnestly, unable to hide her dazed smile. “Something about her picture, her name. I just … felt it. And God, that day we met.”
“Magic?” Alex asked with a grin but Ashlyn nodded fervently.
“Fucking fireworks,” she breathed, looking off into space. “I remember shaking her hand, dude,” she said, turning back to her roommate. “I remember almost everything. She’s … she’s unlike anyone – anything else.”
“Then you should tell her,” Alex said simply, lifting a corner of her mouth. “Trust your gut.”
Ashlyn suddenly looked nervous. “But what if she doesn’t feel that way about me?”
Alex sighed, only partially annoyed. “Ash, you’re a catch. As much as you’re going on about her, I assure you that you’re worth every inch of her.” She smiled kindly, reaching forward to pat her leg twice. “She’d be lucky to have you.”
“Yeah?” Ashlyn asked, interrupted by a quick succession of knocks on their door, feeling her stomach drop into the region of her knees. “’Cause now’s the time to tell me otherwise,” she said, rising to cross the room.
“Positive,” Alex said, nodding towards the door. “Don’t keep her waiting.”
Ashlyn took a deep breath, willing the tingling flowing up the back of her neck to stop as she turned the doorknob, trying to brace herself for who she was about to see. It was all for naught; the door opened and Ali stood there, dressed in a mint green sweater and black leggings, her hair falling in wavy strands around her suntanned face.
“Ready?” she asked, giving Ashlyn a blinding smile.
“Yeah,” Ashlyn replied, the double meaning coming from her heart. “Ready.”