12. Betsy

Betsy

" B aby?" I screeched in a voice that would have been embarrassingly high if I was thinking clearly enough to get embarrassed.

I didn't even know what I was pissed about, to be honest. Our incident on the court today was the kind of thing that happened all the time. Collisions, near collisions, and falling due to both were pretty frequent. For some reason, I wanted to pick a fight with Kelly.

I wasn't proud of it, but I also couldn't seem to control it.

I think it was the conversation we had about her not having insurance. That on top of the previous conversation about her parents and losing her apartment, it was all making me feel protective of her. She'd opened up to me a lot since we got here, even though I hadn't returned the favor. Then again, I didn't have a lot to open up about, not the way she did.

But now that I knew at least a little bit of her life, now that I knew how different it was from mine, I couldn't help but feel almost guilty about how easy I had it. And those protective feelings, the guilt, and the increasing attraction I'd felt towards her ever since the day I pulled her over onto me on the bed, it was all making me feel things I didn't like.

And that pissed me off.

"What the hell is your problem?" Kelly asked.

Her anger was slower than mine, but no less intense. Her cheeks turned pink, her blue eyes narrowed, and her spine straightened as she marched over to me, so close our toes were only a few inches apart.

"You're my problem," I returned before I could think better of it.

"I've been very nice to you since we got here," she reminded me. "I tried to make friends, but all you do is snip, snip, snip. So I'm not the problem, Betsy, you are."

"No, you definitely are," I said as I grabbed her shoulder and eliminated most of the space between us. "Because all I can think about when I'm around you is how much I want to do this."

Before she could respond, I lowered my head and crashed my lips against hers. Kelly stood stiffly for a full ten seconds, long enough that my conscience started screaming at me to move back, but then she surged forward, bringing her body flush against mine, and gripped the back of my head, deepening the kiss.

I sighed as our tongues met, dueling as we explored each other's mouth. I'd always thought that was some weird saying you read in a book until this very minute when I decided that I wanted to memorize every single part of Kelly's body, including her mouth. I wanted to remember this. All of it.

I kissed Kelly like it was the only chance I'd ever have to do it, and she returned the kiss with equal fervor. Her hands slid down my back, cupping my ass cheeks hard enough to make me gasp. Our bodies were rubbing against each other in a coordinated rhythm, and I was struck by how perfectly we fit together.

The thought was enough to make me pull back, albeit reluctantly.

It took a second for Kelly to register my retreat. Her eyes snapped open, all dreamy-like, and I felt a surge of relief that I'd affected her as much as she'd affected me.

I saw the instant her brain caught up with her body. Her eyes hardened, and she leapt backwards like I was on fire.

"What was that?" she demanded. "You can't just go around kissing people."

"You kissed me back," I reminded her.

"That's beside the point. You need to keep your grubby paws to yourself."

She pushed past me and flopped down on her bed, pulling out her laptop and slipping on her earbuds. I stood still for a few seconds, chest heaving as I watched her, but she continued to pretend like I wasn't there.

With a sigh, I moved onto my own bed, cursing the thin mattress that did little to make the cardboard frame any more comfortable.

Neither of us said a word until it was time to go to lunch. Even then, we both just got up, freshened up, and headed into the hallway to meet the team. The minute we were outside we moved as far away from each other as we could, using the rest of the team as a buffer.

That homophobic bitch Eve was prattling on in the center of the group, like she thought she was the queen bee. Little did she know that half the team couldn't stand her, and a few others were tolerating her at best. I hadn't been the only person she'd offended. She'd also managed to alienate the people of color on the team with several "I'm not racist, but…" comments.

Once we got our food, Kelly and I sat at opposite ends of the table, and even though I was attempting to join the conversation around me, somehow I couldn't focus. I couldn't get that kiss out of my mind.

And judging by the way Kelly kept sneaking me looks I had a feeling she felt the same way. Or maybe she was planning how to kill me in my sleep. It could go either way, frankly.

After the lunch our team headed back to the arena, where we watched Brazil play against Australia. Both teams played well, but Brazil had been such a powerhouse in the sport the last few years, they were a hard team to beat.

We'd find that out for ourselves soon because our team was set to play the winner of this game. As Brazil rallied to beat the Aussies I found myself hoping fervently that we'd beat them in the semifinals. And not just because that would mean us going onto the gold medal, although I wanted that. But I also knew that winning would keep me in Paris longer and keeping me in Paris meant that I'd have more time to unravel my complicated feelings for Kelly.