Playing the Game Read online

  18

  “What does the rest of your day look like?” Randi asked as Berkeley backed the trailer into her driveway.

  “I have to wash these,” she said, referring to the ATV and four-wheeler, “then I’ll probably eat something, take a shower, and go to bed.”

  “Do you keep the same schedule on your days off? Staying up all night, I mean.”

  “I work four days on shift with three days off. Then, three days on shift with four days off. I usually adjust a little on my days off, but yeah, I try to keep it close. Otherwise, it’s a jumbled mess. We usually switch every other month between days and nights, but I prefer nights, so I have no problem switching shifts,” Berkeley answered as she got out of the truck. “What about you? Do you all train every day or do you get days off?”

  “We are doing something every day. We have training with the team four days a week and the other days are our days off and game day. Although, we do recovery on our days off and light activity every day to stay moving. When we are traveling it’s a little different. We sometimes only get one day off that week. Our workdays start on the field early in the morning to beat the heat. Then we have lunch and usually do gym workouts or other indoor training in the afternoon. I’m actually leaving for LA in the morning for national team camp.”

  Berkeley nodded.

  “By the way, we’re staying to help clean up,” Randi said.

  “You really don’t have to. Don’t you need to pack and stuff?”

  “It’s fine,” Randi said. “I have plenty of time. My flight leaves tomorrow morning.”

  “We want to help,” Jorja added. “Thanks again for taking us. I had a blast.”

  “No problem. I enjoyed it. You guys don’t have to stay. It’s really not a big deal. I just hose them off, then put them back on the trailer.”

  “I don’t mind,” Sasha said. A big smile plastered on her face.

  “Okay then. There’s a bucket with soap and a brush on a stick inside the garage. If one of you will get it, I’ll get them off the trailer.”

  *

  With the trailer neatly tucked away in the garage, Berkeley stood in her driveway, waving as the white BMW drove away, unsure when she would see Randi again. It was already noon. She was starving and should’ve been in bed an hour ago. She went inside and quickly ordered a pizza, then she hopped in the shower to wash the dirt and sweat from her body while she waited for her food to arrive.

  As the hot spray washed over her, she thought about the kiss with Randi. It wasn’t exactly a mistake. Randi kissed her, she just allowed it for a brief minute before pulling away. She hated that Randi had felt like she’d invited her to go to their property purposely to get her alone, but at the same time, she wondered why she’d even let it happen in the first place if she was with someone else. Either way, Randi was with someone else. Berkeley knew the game; she’d played it many times. However, mostly with straight women. She enjoyed flirting with Randi, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to go down that road with her. She had a strong feeling she’d find heartbreak at the end of it. “Why’d you have to kiss me? Damn it!” she growled at the showerhead. “Fuck!” she yelled, hearing the doorbell. She’d obviously stood under the water, lost in thought, a lot longer than she realized. She quickly turned the knob and got out, towel-drying her body as she searched for a pair of shorts and a shirt.

  The young pizza delivery guy had turned around to walk back to his car when the door opened.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear the bell,” Berkeley said apologetically. Her stomach growled when she inhaled the scent of fresh pizza.

  “No worries. Sign right here,” he said. “Are you a cop?” he asked.

  “Yep. Are you a hoodlum?” she questioned.

  “Nope,” he replied, shaking his head.

  “Good. Hopefully, when I see you again, it’s because you’re bringing me dinner.” She smiled.

  He nodded and quickly walked away.

  “I’m going to pay for you at the gym tonight,” Berkeley said to the box as she tossed it on the bar in the kitchen. “It’ll be so worth it though,” she added, sitting on a stool as she swung the lid open. Her cell phone rang, lighting up with Dena’s picture before she could swallow the first bite. She knew why she was calling and contemplated pretending she was sleeping, but she answered anyway, chewing a mouthful of cheesy goodness.

  “Hello?” Dena said.

  “Hold…on,” Berkeley mumbled as she devoured the rest of the piece.

  “You sound like you’re in a tunnel or something,” Dena laughed. “What are you doing?”

  “Eating pizza.”

  “Oh…I’m telling Garrett!”

  “Big deal. He ate a cheeseburger the other day.”

  “Oh my God! You’re both cheating. You already had donuts earlier!”

  “No one is cheating. I’m still going to the gym tonight to work it off. It’s not like I eat like this every day. It’s once a month at most. And, why are you busting my balls? Don’t you have better things to do?” Berkeley huffed, snatching another piece from the box.

  “First of all, you don’t have balls. I’ve seen you naked. Second, I’d love to be doing something else, but he is sleeping at the moment.”

  “That’s…where I…should be,” she replied between bites.

  “Having sex?”

  “What? No! Sleeping,” Berkeley grumbled.

  “So…you want to talk about today?”

  “Not much to talk about?”

  “Really? Care to explain why you were gone over half an hour with Randi…alone?”

  Berkeley sighed. “She has a girlfriend. I already told you, I’m not going there.”

  “By the way she looks at you, I’m pretty sure she’s been there and back in her head.”

  “Good for her.”

  “Why are you so snappy?” Dena questioned. “Is there more to it than that?”

  “No. We sat there watching that mountain lion for a while. I also gave her some history on the land. I lost track of time, and I’m snappy because I’m tired. I’ve been up for twenty hours.”

  “Alright. I’ll let you eat and go to bed. Call me tomorrow. Let’s do something.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know…go shopping.”

  “I hate…shopping,” Berkeley muttered as she started on another piece of pizza.

  “Or something else. Hell, I don’t know.”

  “I’ll think about it. I’m meeting GT at the gym around ten-thirty tonight. Why don’t you come with him?”

  “The gym is your guys’ thing, not mine. I do what I need to do to stay in shape. That’s it.”

  Berkeley laughed. “Fine. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  *

  Randi maneuvered through the afternoon traffic as Pony, a throwback tune by Ginuwine, played on the radio. Sasha reached over, turning the volume up as they all sang, “Jump on it, let’s do it. Ride it. My pony!”

  “We’re gonna get nasty, baby!” Jorja sang.

  As the song ended Sasha said, “I’d like to ride Berkeley’s pony. She’s so damn hot!”

  Randi shook her head.

  “You couldn’t handle that,” Jorja laughed.

  “Oh, please. She couldn’t handle this,” Sasha replied, sticking her tongue out as a new song started. “Apple bottom jeans…boots with the fur!” she sang, bobbing her head.

  “What about you?” Jorja asked, looking at Randi in the rearview mirror from the backseat.

  “Me? What about me?” Randi said. “I think they’d probably kill each other,” she laughed, checking her side mirror as she changed lanes.

  “I’m so jealous of you,” Sasha said.

  “Me? Why?”

  “You and Berkeley…” She trailed off, singing more of the song.

  “What about me and Berkeley?” Randi’s chest began to tighten. Had Berkeley said something to her?

  “You guys
saw the mountain lion!” Sasha pouted. “That’s okay, she’ll just have to take me back out there.”

  Randi nodded without saying anything.

  “I love this station,” Jorja said.

  “Me too! Love me some throwback tunes!” Sasha cheered.

  Randi pulled into the apartment complex where a lot of the team members lived, including Sasha and Jorja, who were also roommates. She rolled to a stop in front of building two.

  “I had a blast, and can’t wait to do it again,” Jorja said, getting out of the car. “Thanks for inviting us.”

  “No problem. I’m glad you guys went. I wish Olivia and Carrie could’ve come along,” Randi replied, hugging her bye.

  “I know. They would’ve had fun,” Sasha added, also hugging her.

  “You girls don’t have too much fun without me. I’ll see you in four days,” Randi said, getting back into her car.

  The song on the radio changed as soon as she drove away. She quickly changed Usher’s U Got It Bad. She wasn’t in the mood for slow jams that made her think. “Keith Sweat…seriously?” she muttered, changing the radio to a different genre. When another love song started playing, she switched the radio off. “What the hell was I thinking?” she whispered, replaying the kiss with Berkeley in her head as she drove home. That’s just it. You weren’t. She answered herself as she turned into the driveway and hit the button for the garage. The space was empty as she pulled inside. For a split second, she felt a bit of relief wash over her knowing Olivia wasn’t home and she wouldn’t see her for at least four days. It wasn’t like she’d slept with someone else, and flirting was harmless, but she’d taken things too far by kissing Berkeley.

  Her phone beeped with a text message from Carrie as she walked into the house.

  How did it go? Call me when you get home.

  Randi knew her best friend would scold her if she told her how it really went, so she opted to keep it to herself as she pressed the call button.

  19

  The plane ride over to Houston was less than an hour long, but it beat the three-hour drive. Randi had felt like as soon as the plane was in the air, they were beginning the descent. She and Carrie had just received their drink and package of cookies when the pilot had alerted the crew to prepare for landing.

  *

  “Home sweet home…or at least close to it,” Randi said as she drove along the busy streets.

  Carrie laughed. She wasn’t from Texas, but had attended University of Texas along with Randi.

  “I’m so glad you got a rental. I hate when the coaches shuttle us around,” Briana said from the backseat. She was another national player who’d flown in around the same time, so Randi said she’d bring her to the hotel with them.

  “I got it so I can go see my family, but also to get away from the hotel when I want.” Randi smiled. As a senior member of the team, she had a little more pull with the coaches than the newcomers who were being called up as the coaches began preparation for the next World Cup. She didn’t need the GPS on, telling her turn by turn directions. She knew her way around the area like the back of her hand. Growing up in Galveston, she was only an hour from Houston and ventured all around the area in between every chance she got until she actually went to college in Austin.

  “Well, that didn’t take long,” Carrie said, referring to the time from the airport to the stop and go traffic Houston was known for.

  Randi often missed the laidback beach life in Galveston, but she hated the traffic in the big cities. “We only have to go about two miles, but it’ll take about thirty minutes,” she sighed in frustration, thankful their little car had cold A/C.

  “Great. We’ll arrive in time for lunch,” Briana said.

  Carrie laughed. She hadn’t paid much attention to their surroundings because she’d been texting with Anna.

  “Text my mother and tell her we landed safely and are on the way to meet up with the team. And, I’ll call her tomorrow,” Randi said, handing Carrie her phone while she watched the traffic pattern, hoping to pick the correct lane.

  “You have a message from Olivia. Miss u. Have a safe flight,” Carrie said.

  “Tell her the same thing as my mom, except miss her too and I’ll call tonight,” Randi replied, quickly cutting someone off, who blew their horn. She laughed as she turned down a side road.

  Carrie chuckled and Briana quietly buckled her seatbelt.

  “Is all of Texas like this?” Briana questioned. She played for North Carolina and was fresh out of college.

  “Every big city has bumper to bumper traffic at rush hour, some just have it all day long…like Houston,” Randi said.

  “Yep.” Carrie nodded.

  The side road took them to another road that ran parallel to their destination, but they were moving much faster now that they were out of the main traffic through the center of town. Instead of nearly forty minutes on the road, they arrived at the hotel in twenty.

  “Welcome to your home for the next few days, ladies.” Randi smiled, pulling into the hotel parking lot.

  *

  After an afternoon of team meetings, followed by a rubber chicken dinner, Randi and Carrie made their way back to their shared room. Carrie flipped on the TV, while Randi stepped out onto the balcony with her cell phone.

  “Hey, babe,” Olivia answered on the first ring.

  Randi closed her eyes, breathing in the thick night air. “Hey,” she said softly.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, just tired,” Randi lied. How could she tell her the truth? She was feeling like shit for kissing another woman, while wondering why she even did it in the first place. What had driven her that far? She talked with Olivia about everything…until now.

  “Me too. I think I’ve been tested more in the last twenty-four hours than I have all season with Richey. Our new goalkeeper coach has us doing all kinds of crazy things. Today, we were catching tennis balls while standing on one foot.”

  Randi laughed. “That sounds crazy. All we’ve done is had meetings about meetings. I’m ready to pull my hair out. We start in the weight room at sunrise tomorrow and go from there. I can only imagine what we’ll be doing.”

  “How’s the weather down there?”

  “Hot and muggy,” Randi sighed.

  “It’s nice up here. Mom says hi, by the way. I saw her this evening.”

  “I love Vancouver…and your mom. I’m going to see my family tomorrow when we’re finished for the day.”

  “Wish I was going. I love her cooking.”

  Randi laughed. “Carrie can’t wait, especially after the meal they served us tonight. I’m pretty sure a blind person could’ve cooked better chicken and vegetables.”

  “We’ve had a buffet every night. It hasn’t been too bad.”

  “I miss you,” Randi said.

  “Miss you, too. How was the four-wheeling trip yesterday?”

  “We had a fantastic time. You would’ve loved it. I’m pretty sure all Emergency workers have some kind of adrenaline habit,” she chuckled. “But, they kept us safe. Their land is gorgeous. I even saw a mountain lion!”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes. We were I don’t know, maybe thirty yards away. It was just lounging up on a rock like a huge cat.”

  “Wow. Now, I’m jealous!” Olivia said.

  “Hopefully, we’ll get to do it again. It really was a lot of fun.”

  “I bet Sasha was in heat the entire time. I’m pretty sure she has it bad for your cop.”

  “My cop?”

  “Your friend…what’s her name?”

  “Berkeley.”

  “Right. Sasha trips all over herself around her at the stadium.”

  “She pretty much did yesterday, too. You know Sasha. I don’t think she actually wants to date Berkeley. I think it’s a conquest to sleep with her.”

  “Of course, it is. That’s how Sasha operates,” Olivia laughed.

 
Hearing enough of Sasha and Berkeley, Randi quickly called it a night and said goodbye. She set her phone on the table next to her chair and picked her feet up onto the rail.

  “Whatever it is…I’m here if you want to talk,” Carrie said, stepping outside and taking the seat next to her.

  “Can I say it’s complicated…and we leave it at that?” Randi muttered, lulling her head to the side to see her best friend’s eyes.

  “I just want you to know I’m here.”

  “I know. And, I love you for that.” Randi reached out, grabbing her hand.

  *

  A popular Spanish tune played on the Bluetooth speaker in the kitchen, sending thumping sounds through the house. The smell of spices wafted through the air, tickling Randi’s senses as she opened the front door. Home.

  “Mamá y papá, estoy en casa!” Randi called, telling her parents they had arrived.

  “My stomach is growling already,” Carrie laughed.

  “Miguel, ella está aquí!” her mother, Pilar, yelled, rushing out of the kitchen, still holding a spoon. She looked like an older version of Randi with darker hair and a little more weight around her mid-section. “Mi pequeña niña,” she said, pulling Randi into her arms.

  “Hola mamá,” Randi said, kissing her cheek.

  Her father sounded like a herd of elephants coming down the stairs. He adjusted the waistband of his trousers before reaching the bottom. “Mi superestrella,” he said, throwing his arms around his youngest daughter.

  “Hola Papá,” she said, returning his hug and kissing his cheek.

  “Come in. Come in,” Pilar said. “Is good to see you, Carrie,” she added, hugging her.

  Miguel hugged her too before Randi and Carrie followed Pilar into the kitchen.

  “Where is Elisa?” Randi asked, taking a seat at the counter.