"Okay, maybe that was a little unnecessarily rough."
My eyes scanned over the video Jason had pulled up on Finn's laptop as the five of us sat on our couches eating pizza and drinking the beer Jason had bought for us. Benefits of a 24 year old best friend.
"Unnecessarily rough?" Kelsey asked in an incredulous voice. "You almost took Chad's head off. I mean, solid hit, but damn girl."
"Can you do that to my roommate?" Sam asked in wonder while staring at the ten second video on replay.
"Goalies don't typically get tackled. Especially if they're on the bench." Finn pointed out before taking a sip of the dark beer. His arm was draped over the couch while I leaned into his side, Sam sat on my right while Jason and Kelsey were on the leather loveseat to the left.
"No," Sam shook his head in rejection while gesturing at the screen with the neck of his beer bottle. "It doesn't have to be on the field. Just show up at my dorm and drop him like a sack of potatoes."
"What? So I get expelled?"
"You already got that whole Olympic thing going. Who needs college?" Jason shrugged.
"Says the man going for his masters."
"But on a serious note, Jessy said to tell you he was sorry. It looked like a solid hit." Sam said, bringing back the seriousness he had previously dissolved.
"Not just his fault. It's the refs." Kelsey commented while taking a bite of her pepperoni pizza and crossing her legs on the couch. "They see a 180lb guy knock the girl on her ass and they think it's fine because she just can't handle it. Then the 6 foot giant gets thrown a foot by the girl made of pure muscle and they think she's too aggressive all the sudden, when the same thing just happened to her."
"In Jessy's defense, he pushed me; I literally threw a shoulder like a bartering ram into Chad." I spoke up. Watching the video, it was clear to me now that the adrenaline was getting to me. Granted, the referee was a little unfair, but it was still borderline violent on that hit.
My phone buzzed while Jason shut the laptop and turned on ESPN to watch the highlights of the game. Why? I don't know. He just watched it live. Maybe he just wanted to see me get a yellow flag again. More than likely, knowing him.
I leaned forwards to snatch my phone of the glass coffee table before hitting the twitter notification on my screen.
TheRealMalfoy: I'm beginning to think I need to make an account dedicated to your fails. @Freemason #WreckedAndDecked
Attached was the clip of me getting tossed into the air and then onto my ass. The gif already had hundreds of likes and retweets and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Is this what the next four years of my life looks like? I need new friends.
Freemason: An account with two clips? Not your brightest idea, @TheRealMalfoy #IdioticAndProud
I turned back to the television where Kelsey was turning up the volume. A second later my phone pinged twice again.
TheRealMalfoy: Three* #HitTooHard
Jason attached the gif of me ramming into Chad at full speed and getting a yellow card. I scoffed audibly and glanced at Jason who was already looking at me with a smirk. "Fuck you, Jason." I muttered under my breath, loud enough for everyone to hear.
NotFinley: It'd definitely have more than three videos if @ValentinoValentine and I had anything to say about it. @Freemason @TheRealMalfoy
"Fuck you too, Finn." I muttered. Sam probably had enough stupid videos of me to last a lifetime. Not to mention the stories he tells to embarrass me, Finn's sexcapade being his favorite.
"You already do. All the time."
I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at the cocky boy smirking down at me.
"Shut up! The highlights are on." Kelsey interrupted, surprising all of us.
"Since when are you a lacrosse fan?" Sam asked with a suspicious look on his face.
"I'm not. I just want to see you get your ass beat again,"
And there was the Kelsey we know and love.
"And here we have the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship. John Hopkins at University of Maryland. Many sports reporters have dubbed it the 'Groton Whales Bowl' due to the fact that three of the 20 starters between the two teams hail from the same high school team." Elliot Johnson narrated as the large television flashed pictures of the three of us smiling in our high school uniforms. They must have taken that one off of Sam's Instagram.
I remember the day that picture was taken. It was in October when Finn and I still hated each other, hence why we are on opposite sides of Sam. We had just won our fifth scrimmage in a row to Trumbull and the CT Post wanted a picture of the two captains and the goalie. Sam ended up putting it on his Instagram, quoting the name of the article, 'Another Unstoppable Season for Groton'.
The next was a video the media had managed to snag a video of Sam, Finn, Jameson, and I leaving the courthouse the first day. The last video was from just hours ago when Sam, Finn and I shared a hug after the game upon seeing each other face to face for the first time in weeks.
"The first face off was won by Riley, 42. Pass to Marsh... oh! And perfect interception by Kelvin, number 9. He's going, he's going, past Jensen, and Kelvin scores for Hopkins. 1-0."
We watched the replay of the video while Sam reached over me, punching Finn in the arm. "Nice pass doofus." He said sarcastically at Finn's failed pass. It was more of Owen's fault but Sam was just pulling his strings.
Finn reached in front of me, hitting his best friend back. "What was the score? 4-5 Maryland? And who scored 3 of those shots? That's right, me."
"Details." Sam scoffed dismissively while the next few by Hopkins and Maryland were scored.
"Pretty major details, buddy." Jason pointed out while Kelsey voiced her agreement.
"Why do I hang out with you four? I should be with my team instead." Sam grumbled while crossing his arms. "They won't have my ass for this."
That defiantly wasn't true but I'll let him believe that.
"Here we have Mason, 35, with a flawless check, and ooh! That's quite the hit. Layly, 18 has the ball and he shots at the ten meter arch. Brilliant save by goalie Marvin Callahan, 10. Riley is open at the fourth yard line. Interception by Kelvin. Here comes center defender, Mason, and holy crap, that's a solid hit by Mason! Mason is yellow cared with Unnecessary Roughness with four minutes left in the fourth quarter." I watched the replay of the video on the screen in slow motion. My shoulder when right into Chad's gut. Mid-impact my knees pushed my body up, sending the 180lb midfielder into the air before he crashed down twice as hard as I had earlier.
"Damn, Finn." Kelsey said while watching the replay, her brown eyes glued to the screen. To be honest, I looked just like a short guy. No one would be able to tell that I'm a girl under all the padding unless they stared at my ass for too long. "Don't ever piss Sylvia off or she might deck you into a coma."
"Tell me about it. She slapped me in the cafeteria at school so hard I had a bruise. I bet if we weren't on school grounds she would have broken my jaw." He muttered, earning a chuckle from Sam.
"She didn't just hit him!" Sam exclaimed in a fit of laughter next to me. Kelsey looked away from the television; we already had Jason's attention. "She jumped over a fucking table and tackled him. I had to drag her off of him before they beat each other to a pulp!"
"Shut up, Sam. I was a little annoyed at the situation." I growled in a low voice. I felt Finn's chest still beneath my back, obviously remembering when he basically called me a slut and an attention whore. It was long in the past, and he had apologized profusely but it was still on his mind, I guess.
Sam rolled his eyes, dismissing the topic while turning back to the television with everyone else. I took a long sip on my beer. I'm sure those leaked nudes were still out there somewhere. I couldn't let that get to me, though. Half the pictures on my Instagram were just as revealing. The picture of Finn grabbing my bare breasts was just as, if not more revealing and the pictures of my almost bare ass at the beach didn't leave much to the imagination either. It wasn't content, it was context that made me feel embarrassed. I didn't share those nudes on my terms.
But to be fair, me from a year and a half ago wouldn't even have imagined posting such risqué photos to over a million people.
Or having a Nike sponsorship.
Or an Adonis boyfriend.
Or a nude photo shoot.
Or going to the Olympics.
In sum, my life had changed a lot.
Finn was still slightly tense beneath me while I leaned against him. I took my left and had caressed my thumb back and forth over his muscular forearm that rested on his leg. He seemed to relax marginally while I snuggled into his chest more. That was good enough for me.
By the time I focused my attention on the screen again, the replay of my goal was on the screen. "Flawless play by Marsh, Mason, and Axel Liao. Perfect goal by Mason on Valentino brining Maryland to the lead." The clip faded to black before turning to Elliot's face. He had dark skin and eyes with close cut hair. "Here's a tip, Coach Burns; next time you make it to the Lacrosse Championships, use the goalie that brought you to semifinals last year. Not the one who's playing against the two people who warmed him up for the last four years of his career. Or at least take the poor guy out at half time after all three goals on him were scored by his ex-captain. Then we can talk about a championship trophy."
"Damn. Elliot's ripping your coach a new one." Jason laughed. "Although I can't say he's wrong."
"Oh big deal," Sam scoffed while knocking back a gulp of beer. "I let up five goals. That's almost unheard of in a championship game. I didn't expect Sylvia's defense to be so perfect."
Maryland was a defensive team. Obviously, we could score because we won games, but the other teams were always low scoring. Marvin was a good goalie, not as good as Sam (in my opinion, but I'm also biased), but a close second. Our defense was the best in the league and all of the midfielders played an exceptional defensive game. If anything was lacking, it was our attack. The midfielders actually scored most of the goals with attack players assisting them.
"I'm offended." I scoffed back and put my hand over my heart. "My defense is always perfect. You should know that by now. Some best friend you are."
"Oh, get over yourself. I'm not here to stroke your ego." Sam joked with a smile, hitting my arm lightly.
"Than who will?"
"Your boyfriend."
Finn snorted from above me. "Do you even know your friends?"
"Apparently he doesn't." Jason cut in without prying his gaze from Elliot ripping Sam and his coach a new one. "If anything, she strokes his ego."
"Not intentionally." Kelsey countered. "I think she strokes his dick more than his ego."
"Kelsey!" I exclaimed with wide eyes and an open jaw. The blonde smirked back at me just like the smirk I knew was on my boyfriend's face. I could practically hear him smiling. Jason's snort and Sam's obnoxious laughing made a serious blush spread across my cheeks. I buried my face in Finn's warm chest, his soft dryfit shirt rubbing against my face.
His deep laugh rumbled in my ear, only encouraging my embarrassment. Finn's other arm wrapped around my body, holding me close.
"Finn's pride grows every two minutes so she must be getting him off a lot." Sam choked out between fits of laughter.
"I don't doubt that!" Jason replied.
"Fuck all of you."
"We love you too, Sylvia." Kelsey laughed. "We love you too."