Rose

The following weekend Rose had a soccer tournament, and Vincent had said he'd try to make it down if he could switch his days off at work with someone, but so far there'd been no takers.

She walked out into the kitchen where Grace, whose belly looked ready to pop, was packing the small ice chest she always took to Rose's tournaments. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said the new uniforms were short."

Rose glanced down at her soccer shorts. "They're ridiculous. If they weren't loose, I'd look like I was wearing my volleyball shorts."

Grace laughed. "Well, at least you have great legs. They look good on you."

Rose smirked, thinking about how often Vincent made her tremble now by running his hands up and down her legs, telling her just how much they drove him crazy. A car honked outside, and she grabbed her soccer backpack. "That's them. I'm out. I'll see you at the park."

Grace gave her the usual "don't get crazy driving around with your friends" speech, and Rose ran out to meet Alison and Candace, two of her teammates and now closest friends. They'd both also been on the volleyball team last semester and had been best friends since they were kids. Somehow she'd clicked with them, and now they were a threesome. Alison got a boyfriend last semester, so Candace was glad since Alison's boyfriend hung out with her even at school that she didn't feel like a third wheel because she had Rose. So it had been perfect timing when Rose came along.

Rose got in the backseat. "Could these shorts be any shorter?" Alison said as soon as Rose was in. "But damn, Rose, you're rocking them with your long legs."

"Thanks. I just hope they don't start riding up my butt when I'm playing. At least our volleyball shorts are made to cling to our legs and not ride up. These aren't like that."

Candace was busy applying makeup using the front visor. "You're so crazy, Candace," Rose giggled. "How can you wear makeup knowing you're gonna be sweating up a storm in an hour?"

"Because," Candace continued to apply her mascara, "the boys are playing this weekend, too, and I think Jeremy is so smoking hot."

Alison stopped suddenly, making Candace squeal then curse.

"Sorry." Alison's remorseful expression made Rose laugh. Alison had only been driving a few months, and she wasn't the greatest driver.

"Have you gotten pulled over for drunk driving yet even though you don't drink?" Rose laughed.

This time Candace laughed, too. The last time they'd picked her up, she hit the curb twice pulling up just outside Sal's house. Sal's friend Romero had been there, and he was the one that cracked that joke. He said one of his uncles had. They gave him the sobriety test and everything, and he was stone sober.

"Not funny," Alison said as she stepped on the gas, and all their heads jerked back.

All three of them laughed this time.

"Oh my God." Candace turned around to look at Rose. "What was that guy's name at your house that day?"

Rose rolled her eyes smiling. "Romero."

"He was so hot." Candace gushed.

"But he's older." Alison said scrunching her nose.

"And hello! Married." Rose reminded them.

"Minor details," Candace said turning back to continue with her makeup. She wasn't even done with her thoughts on Romero when she was already gaping out the window as they pulled into the school's parking lot. "Quivering orgasms!"

"Candace!" Alison laughed as she pulled in very slowly into a parking spot.

Rose laughed, gathering her backpack. Candace was nothing if not boy crazy.

"Who is that?" Candace gushed.

They got out of the car at the same time. Rose was too busy adjusting her ponytail to notice who Candace was drooling over now. She looked up just in time to see who it was and nearly froze in place. "Oh wow, I know him."

"You do?" Candace was at her side in seconds. "From where?"

Just then Ben saw her. He did a double take then smiled big. Candace gasped as he started toward them.

"I went to prom with him last year. We were good friends until he graduated and we sort of lost touch." Rose flung her backpack over her back and went to meet him halfway since he was already walking toward them.

"You went to prom with him?" Candace said mouthing the words, "Oh my God," to Alison.

Before Rose could respond to that, Ben was already there. "Look at you, sexy girl." He blatantly checked her out from head to toe, slowing his gaze at her legs and her ridiculously short shorts as she and her friends came to a stop. He held his arms open with a smile so big and lustful it made her blush, and he actually groaned. "Bring them hot legs over here, girl. Damn!"

"The hell she will." Vincent's voice startled Rose. She turned just as he and Lorenzo walked up from behind her. "And her name is Rose." Slipping his hand in hers, he glared at Ben. "I'm her boyfriend. Who the fuck are you?"

"Vincent!" Rose squeezed his hand at first mortified then alarmed as he stepped in front of her. Lorenzo was right next to him ready to go head to head with not only Ben but the two friends walking up from behind him.

Ben turned around when he saw his friends closing in and held up a hand for them to stop then turned around and smiled at Rose. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend now, Rose."

"Well, she does."

That wiped the smile right off Ben's face, and he glared at Vince. "I was talking to her."

Vince took a step forward. "I don't give a shit. I'm talking to you!"

Rose jumped in front of Vincent, remembering all the fights he'd told her he'd been in. As far as she knew, he hadn't been in any since before last summer.

"He's my friend, Vincent." She grabbed a handful of his shirt. "Don't do this, please." Vincent's eyes were still glaring past her at Ben. She turned to Candace who was standing off to the side with Alison then looked at Ben. "Ben, this is Candace; she wanted to meet you. Candace, please go talk to him over there."

She motioned with her head, and her eyes pleaded as she prayed Candace would have the sense to take him far away.

"I'll call you," Ben said as he and Candace walked away.

Vincent flinched in an effort to get away from Rose. "Stop it, Vincent. Please."

His eyes were finally on Rose, and they were furious. "He'll call you?"

"Do you want me to go after the asshole?" Lorenzo asked.

"No!" Rose turned to him. "He doesn't even have my number!" She turned back to Vincent who still looked enraged. "I haven't seen him since last year before summer."

She soothed her hand on his chest, feeling how hard his heart thumped. He wasn't kidding when he'd told her his temper could go from zero to sixty if provoked. Not that Ben had actually provoked him, but that last jab about calling her was stupid.

"Who is he? How come I've never heard of this friend?"

"Actually, I did tell you about him," she said quickly.

Vincent's brows pinched, and she could almost see his mind racing.

"I'm gonna go stretch with the team," Alison said.

Rose nodded. "I'll be there in a minute." She turned back to Vincent who hadn't taken his piercing eyes off her. "I went to prom with him. Remember, I told you about that? But that's how long it's been since I've seen him. He's not even from around here. He's from Chula Vista."

"So what's he doing here?" Vincent's stare dug into her unwavering.

"I don't know. I didn't get a chance to talk to him."

Even though Ben was gone now, Vincent was still completely tense, and there wasn't a trace of that smile that turned her insides to liquid every single time. "How many more of your friends call you sexy girl?"

Rose fought the urge to cringe. If Vincent only knew what a huge flirt Ben could be, and all the other endearing nicknames he'd given her back in high school—all the times he'd played with her hair or her fingers during class—he'd hate Ben even more than he did now. Ben had asked her to be his girl countless times. Of course, he'd only been playing. The guy couldn't stay in a monogamous relationship if his life depended on it, and he was the first to admit it. Still, he'd always teased that he'd be willing to give it a go with her.

"None," she said leaning in and pecking his lips. "He's just always been that way, but we've never been anything more than just friends." She tugged his hand, thankful that disaster had been averted. "C'mon I can't be late. My coach will get mad. Wow, talk about an entrance, Vincent," she said trying to make light of things.

Vincent pulled her to him, and they stopped walking. He held her face in his hands. "I won't do this much. I promise. But is it okay if I ask you to not talk to that asshole ever again?"

Moments ago, there'd been fire in his eyes; now there was fear. She touched his cheek. "Sweetie, I probably won't ever see him again. Today was a fluke. I have no idea what he's doing out here. I'm telling you I hadn't seen him since he graduated last year."

"Okay," he took her hand away from his cheek and kissed it. "Just know that I'm gonna have a serious problem with it if you ever spend any amount of time with this guy, and that includes on the phone. I don't like him."

Smiling, she tilted her head. "He doesn't have my number. He was just saying that to push your buttons. But that's fine; I don't care if I ever talk to him again or not."

She really didn't. Ben had been a friend way back, and he'd done wonders for her ego. But ever since Vincent showed up last summer, he'd pretty much consumed her every thought. Then when she moved in with Grace, Sal had added her onto their cell phone plan and got her a new phone along with a new number. She'd lost her entire contact list. Even back then she knew better than to add Ben back onto her list.

Vincent had made no secret about this side of him. Via texts it was always fun especially because it was usually her just playing with him. He'd get all riled up anyway, but seeing it in person had been almost scary. She'd known even back in the beginning that Ben was not someone Vincent would be crazy about her being friends with, so she hadn't bothered trying to get his number or reconnecting. She could've easily done so through Facebook.

Vincent and Lorenzo went and sat in the bleachers where they were joined by Grace, Sal, Sal's brother Angel, and Sarah. They often came to watch her games. Having both played sports all through high school and college, they said they missed those days and liked watching her play. Sal had even printed out her schedule for them.

The first game of the tournament went well with them shutting out the other team. Vincent said he loved watching her play. He said for such a sweet girl, she was a badass on the field. She had to be. She played sweeper. If the ball got past her, the other team would likely score.

They were nearing the end of the first game and were up one to zero. All they had to do was shut them out, and they had the first game in the tournament won. Rose had been playing sweeper since she was seven. The other team's forward was fast, but Rose was not only faster she was taller, and after knocking this chick on her ass twice already, Rose knew she'd intimidated her.

Wincing when she saw her last defender get beat and the opposing team's forward heading for the goal, Rose turned it on going at her full speed. Running side by side, Rose did what she did best and used her body to push the girl toward the sideline away from the goal. She could hear everyone screaming for her to get in front of her, and when she got the chance, she did. She stepped in front of her and stopped dead in her tracks making the girl flop off her back.

Rose lifted her hands in the air when she heard the girl hit the floor with a grunt. She continued dribbling the ball away from the girl she'd just slammed on the floor, glancing at the ref to make sure he wasn't going to call a foul. What she'd done was completely fair, but sometimes these girls flopped so hard and really turned up the dramatics that the ref called it. When he didn't, she turned and kicked the ball, clearing it all the way to the other side of the field as the sidelines cheered.

"That's how you do it, Rose!" Caleb, a guy she knew from the boys' soccer team yelled, loudly clapping his hands on the sidelines as she held her hips catching her breath. "Way to use that body!"

She smiled, taking a quick peek up at the stands. Sure enough Vincent was watching the guy but continued to clap, while Lorenzo placed his fingers in his lips and whistled.

After the game while the coach gave the in between-games pep talk, Rose checked her phone. Sal had spared no expense. It was one of the fancy ones that had all the bells and whistles. She saw she had a few updates on her Facebook page.

She clicked as her coach recounted the few mistakes they had made in the first game and what else they needed to work on since the next school they were playing would be tougher.

Her heart nearly dropped when she saw a picture of her and Ben at the prom on her Facebook wall. It wasn't the formal picture Grace had hung in the front room of their old apartment either. Even that would've been bad because it was obvious why Ben posted it on her wall. He was being jerk.

That alone would've set Vincent off. But this was so much worse. It was one of them dancing a slow song, but since Ben and his friends had always been such clowns, the friend taking the picture had asked Ben to dip her. He did, and when Rose let her head fall back for an even more dramatic effect, Ben had kissed her neck. His friend snapped the picture at that very moment. It was all in fun, and she'd laughed at the time, but now here it was on her Facebook wall for the entire world to see, including Vincent, with a caption that read, "We have to do this again. I'll call you."

More to come!