Flagrant Foul (gxg)

Chapter 21

"Do you know what you're gonna say?" I asked Leah the next morning. I'd spent the night on her couch, obviously not wanting to share the bed with Gee and Leah and spoil their evening when they were probably going to fool around if they could. Gee had already been blushing nonstop after their first time over the weekend, and I knew she'd liked it a lot because she was all over Leah and made it clear she wanted more. Leah wasn't much better, being all touchy feely with her and making sure that it was known that she'd make sure Gee got all she wanted. They were sickeningly sweet, and I was thrilled for them.

"Yep. You have the shoes. You're planning on taking them to coach to expose her lies unless she can at least explain why the hell she did this shit. I'll make sure she gets to Jack's after the scrimmage." Leah was almost as excited about this as I was. She didn't want to be Tegan's teammate either, but she didn't have much choice in the matter.

"Perfect. Thanks a lot Leah, I appreciate this. I just hope it works!"

"Hell yeah. I can't wait to see her face!" Leah crowed. "I'll say it right before the scrimmage, so she'll be scared and worried the entire time. I'll be happy to kick her ass again."

"Just don't do anything crazy, I don't want her coming after you too!"

Leah opened her mouth to say something snarky, and then thought better of it. "You know that crazy bitch just might do it. I'll just deliver the message and go from there. I still can't believe she's supposed to be my teammate. I already know I'm going to transfer after this season. Maybe we can hook on somewhere else together, because I need you on my team for more than a single scrimmage."

"Do you think another team would give me a scholarship after this?"

She nodded quickly. "Yeah, I do. And if your girl's plan for the evidence works, then you should have your pick of teams. They'll all know you did nothing wrong. Hell, they'll be fighting over you."

I hadn't even thought about that. If Leah helped get me the evidence I needed, then my life could get back to normal. I liked the sound of that. It might take a while though; my Instagram messages had been blowing up ever since I got kicked off the team with people calling me all kinds of names and saying a lot of disgusting things. I'd had to turn off messaging and comments just to stop all the nasty comments that were coming through. Evidently Tia and Jen had made awful statements on their accounts accusing me of everything that Tegan had lied about, and there was no evidence for me to refute it with. But maybe I could change that.

I had a feeling it wouldn't be a quick fix though. Tegan was a well known player, and also a fan favorite, so even if I had evidence, it would take time to get people over to my side. "I wouldn't mind that. My other two choices had been Duke and UNC, just so I'd be near my grandparents. I would be fine with either of them again. Hell, UNC is just a quick drive across town. I could even do Wake Forest if I had to."

"Well, wherever you go, tell them I'll be right behind you!"

"Me too!" piped up Gee. "I'm not letting you two go alone! I can transfer too!"

"Are you sure you want to transfer?" I was worried that she'd regret her decision if she followed me. She'd obviously chosen NC State for a reason too.

"Absolutely. I don't want to be on a team with people like that," replied Leah. "If you can't trust them not to screw you over, then you'll never be able to trust them on the court either. Every time I passed any of them the ball, I'd want to hit them in the face with it."

"I'd be happy to see that happen!"

With that taken care of, I got on the road to Charlotte. It wasn't a bad drive, only a couple hours, and right around lunch time I pulled into my grandparents' place. Yes, I'll tell you right now I planned that so I'd be able to have some good food for lunch, and I wasn't disappointed.

My grandparents were thrilled to see me, as I had told them I probably wouldn't see them till the Thanksgiving break. It was a stressful visit because every time they asked how I was doing, I had to omit a lot of the drama. The funny thing was, I could truthfully say that I was doing well, and that I'd made a few good friends, and was interested in a girl. Like my parents, I was happy that my grandparents also supported my sexuality, as a lot of others don't get that from their family.

I didn't want to involve my family unless things went downhill with Tegan on Wednesday. I don't know how much further downhill they could go, but I had to hope that the plan that Skye had come up with would work. It was pretty simple, there were already some security cameras in the bar, and I would record Tegan on my phone so that the audio could be synched up with that video. I just needed her to tell me why she did all this, and I would be home free.

But that was still two days away, and in the meantime, I had family to visit and hugs to share.

"There is my favorite granddaughter!" my pops said with a grin as he pulled me into a hug. The scent of hickory smoke wafted around him, letting me know there was something going on in the smoker. "I'm glad you came for a visit! You're not going to miss any classes, are you?" I got my height from my pops and dad, as they were both well over six feet. As tall as I was, my pops still had me by several inches.

"No, pops. I have no classes today. I just needed to pick something up here that I'd forgotten to bring up to school, and I wanted to see you and granny." It wasn't a lie, I wouldn't have classes any time soon since I wasn't in school, but I wasn't going to say that. I couldn't even imagine what was going to happen when I had to explain everything to my family. They're going to freak out.

"I hope you're hungry, we have a big lunch going. I have some ribs on, and your granny has some cornbread and beans cooking up." I didn't have to answer, my belly started grumbling as soon as he mentioned that and made him chuckle like an earthquake in his belly. "I guess that answers that!"

I followed him into the house, where my granny was bustling about the kitchen, taking the cornbread out of the oven, and stirring up the beans. Damn, this house smelled amazing! It didn't matter what was happening, the scents here always made my mouth water. Coming back on Thanksgiving would be a joy, because that feast was something that was out of this world. My granny went all out, and always made extra to donate to the local homeless shelter.

"There is my baby!" granny said when she saw me. She pulled me into a side hug, never stopping her hand from stirring. "You sit down, the food is almost ready!"

I got the placemats out of the drawer and started setting the table so we could all eat. My pops went out to the patio, pulling several racks of ribs from the smoker and bringing them inside. Only a few minutes later, the table was heavily laden with a big bowl of means, a giant pan of cornbread, and more ribs than I knew what to do with.

"Now, I want you to bring some of this home with you," my granny said while pointing her fork at me. "I know that school lunches won't put meat on your bones, and maybe you can share this with a special lady friend."

"Oh? And if I have a special lady, should I bring her for Thanksgiving?" I asked before taking a bite of the ribs. They were so damned good, just falling right off the bone. I didn't know much about Skye's family, nor her holiday plans, but I wouldn't mind bringing her here for a visit if our dates worked out. At a minimum, she could show my pops how to make her wings!

"If you have a special woman, you better! I want to meet any girl that has a piece of your heart!" My granny would kill Tegan if I ever mentioned what was happening because of her. It might be a long line though!

I was silent for a bit, not sure what I could say about Skye without making me sound like a crazy person who already likes someone too much after meeting her twice. "I do have a date on Sunday. If it does well, then there might be more, and then I'll see if she wants to come for Thanksgiving."

"Excellent! You know I love a big family feast!" Granny started rubbing her hands together happily and I could only smile at her. She just needed the littlest excuse to make a feast and she'd take it and make enough food to feed an army. Hell, maybe I should invite Leah and Gee too.

"Yes, you do!" my pops agreed. "I think I can already see myself gaining ten pounds that day!

"We all will!" I snorted. I'd have to have a major workout after that visit! "Maybe I'll bring some other friends too, if I can."

"Oh!" Granny gasped. "Please do! I need some young blood around here!"

"I'll bring as many as I can then!"