Page 15 of Stroked Hard
“You’re right, I deserved it. But shit, you should know how sensitive I am.”
“Yeah, you little pussy.” There is light in her voice, causing me to smile.
“So tell me, Dr. Phil, what is it that you think I’ve suffering from?”
She doesn’t even skip a beat when she answers. “You miss Coach Wilson. This is your first trials without him by your side, cheering you on, coddling you.” Shit, I do love being coddled. Coach Ted doesn’t even know what the word means. “You miss him.”
“I do, but that’s not just it. Coach Ted is a fucking prick, Holly. I spent four hours on the mats yesterday practicing my take-offs. Four fucking hours. I wasn’t even flipping. I was just walking, jumping, or doing a handstand.”I could barely lift my arms to dry myself this morning. Asshole.
“Well, how are your take-offs?”
“Fucking fine. Nothing I need to be spending an infinite amount of hours on.”
“Infinite amount of hours? I thought it was just four?”
“Felt infinite,” I huff out.
“If you don’t like Coach Ted, then why have you stuck around with him? You could have been with Sherry.”
Yeah, fucking right. There was no way in hell I would be using Sherry. Not because she’s younger than Coach Ted, hot, and walks around in yoga pants like it’s her damn job, but because she coached Holly. There is too much emotion there, too much resentment. Sherry wouldn’t do me justice; I just fucking know it. I’ve only seen her a few times since the accident and I know she blames me, I know she sees me as the one who should have been injured, not Holly. I already live with enough guilt. I don’t need to look into her eyes every day and call her coach as she stares me down, wishing I was the one out of the game, not my sister.
No fucking thank you.
“Sherry and I don’t click.”
“Maybe because you stare at her ass every time you see her.”
True. That’s very fucking true. But for a good reason. She’s had four kids and despite the amount of times she’s popped a human out of her vaginal canal, she still has a fine ass worth staring at.
“That’s not it.” Not wanting this to be awkward, I continue. “I don’t know, Holly. I’ve just felt off this go around. It doesn’t feel right.”
She sighs into the phone. Am I frustrating her? Look at me being a fucking priss when she can’t even dive anymore. “You know what, never mind,” I say, trying to change the conversation. “I think I can figure it out. Uh, how’s everything over there?”
“Don’t,” she says sternly in the phone. Even though she’s five minutes older than me, she still treats me like her baby brother, lecturing me with her harsh tone. “Don’t change the topic. You always do this.”
“Always do what?” I feign innocence even though I know she’s about to catch me red-handed.
“You always want to talk to me about your diving but then after a few minutes you quickly change the subject, as if you don’t want to hurt my feelings for bringing it up.”
“That’s not the case,” I lie. “I just didn’t want to bore you with my petty problems.”
“And what, do I have bigger problems than you?”
The fact that you’re paralyzed from the waist down? Yeah, I’m positive she has bigger problems than me but I don’t say that. In fact, why do I think she merely resents me? The bitterness she deserves to feel goes beyond resentment.
“No, I just . . .” I take a gulp of my water that rests next to me and try to tamp down the anxiety rising in my chest. “Can we not fight right now? I didn’t call you so you can be mad at me, again.”
“Well, then stop treating me like a fucking invalid and talk to me, Hollis.”
Knowing she’s not going to back down, I concede. “Fine, I’m sorry. It’s just, I’ve been feeling off. My training leading up to the games is not my regular routine I had with Coach Wilson. The only reason I’ve stayed with Coach Ted is because I feel like he’s the last piece of Coach Wilson left on this earth. I’m sore as shit, sick of working on the mats, and the girl I want to get to know wants nothing to do with me.”
She’s silent for a second and then starts chuckling. She’s actually laughing at me, at my expense. If I wasn’t so happy to hear the sound of her happiness coming through the phone, I would be mad at her.
“What’s so fucking funny?”
“A girl is saying no to you? That explains the sex drought. Never thought I would see the day someone doesn’t fall for your idiotic charm.”
“It’s not that she’s not falling. I see the way she looks at me.”
