Swish

.02

"Uh-uh, sister.  Don't even think about it."

Maddie's words hit me before I even realized what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Eli.  Eli Shepherd.  Eli 'fuck 'em and dump 'em' Shepherd.  The most he'll ever do is look your way at a frat, try to get in your pants, and once he does because trust me, he will, he'll dump you like yesterday's trash.  Too many of my friends have had it happen to them, and I think you're really sweet from what I've seen of you so far, and I don't want you falling into that trap.  So, I repeat- don't even think about it."

My eyes widened into saucers as I registered that Eli Shepherd must've been Mr. Green eyes, tanned muscles, most beautiful guy I'd ever seen in my entire life- and I immediately wanted to disintegrate into a puddle of mortification.

"Was it that obvious?"

"Oh honey, I think we'll have to mop up your drool along with the player's sweat."

My cheeks would've been bright red if my skin was light enough to show a blush.

My raven black hair fell in a curtain in front of my face as I palmed my cheeks to dissipate said blush, and said, "I was just looking."

Maddie shot me a knowing smirk just as she threw her head back and laughed at the meek and faux shy way I had worded what I'd said, but after our moment, it was back to business.

Fluorescent lighting stinging my eyes, we focused on using the large paddle mops to make sure the court was clean, using disinfectant on all of the chairs, picking up their discarded Gatorade bottles, and straightening up the clean pile of towels on a table next to the chairs lining the court, all the while the Olivia O'Brien song 'Love Myself' was playing in a loop in my brain.

"So after we finish up on the courts, I go into the office and do invoices for members who don't have their card information linked to their account, the people who pay with cash or check monthly, and then check the list of members who's cards have been declined for the month.  The rest of the job kind of revolves around signing up new members, and signing people in with their guests, things like that, but we have to do the upkeep of the gym as well since there's not really a designated 'janitor' that comes in until the night shift."

I wished I'd brought a pen and paper to take notes.  Maddie was meticulous with her job, which was likely why she was the manager of the gym despite her young age.

"And do you work the night shift any?"

"Sometimes.  You're the newest employee so they'll probably stick you on that shift the most, but the gym is usually dead after ten and your shift ends at midnight anyway, so you really just get to chill at the desk and watch videos on your phone to pass the time, or you know, do homework if you're behind."

I knew exactly what I'd be doing during the dead hours, and it had nothing to do with watching videos aimlessly on my phone or doing latent homework.  This gym had the best acoustics I'd come across in the entire school, and I was going to make the most of it.

A basketball whizzed by my head just as we finished up collecting all of the dirty towels from the player's seats.

"Patrick!  I swear to god if you do that again-"

"You'll what?  You can't threaten to break up with me, you love me too much."

Watching the interaction between Maddie and her apparent boyfriend, Patrick, who was at least six and a half feet tall in contrast to her average height frame, I noted that she was dwarfed compared to him, but I could hold my own with the taller guys.