Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush or anything recognizable in this chapter.

alethea13: Agreed, Katie has it hard. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it!

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A/N: I know, I know. It's been over a month since I've updated anything, which might actually be a whole new record for me. But I can explain. The last month has been completely insane, what with family, friends, and school. And I've had an awful case of writer's block which actually made its way into my homework, so I've been spending the last week or so catching up on that. I wasn't even planning on updating anything for a couple of weeks, but I thought I'd post this chapter, since it was already written, and let you guys know that yeah, I'm still alive, I'm still writing for Jatie, and I haven't abandoned any of my stories. :) I'm also making my way through reviews, as some of you might have noticed. Hopefully they'll all be taken care of soon.

This is the chapter that really sets everything in motion and after this things should be moving a little more quickly. :)

Enjoy the chapter :)

Chapter Four – Hot Tubs and Bikinis

Katie's POV

I was the first girl off the rink and the first one dressed once practice had ended.

"Katie, come on," Kristen wheedled as I tied my shoes. "You can't let Benson or James upset you. Benson's stupid, he only said it to piss off Carter, and James never passes up the opportunity to prove that he's the best. You need to let it go."

"Oh yeah?" I snapped. "Then why was I the only humiliated by Benson and James? Hmm? Why was it me?"

"Because you're small and therefore, in Benson's eyes, an easy target. But I do think you made your point. If you notice, none of the other boys volunteered to give that shot a try."

"Still. I can't believe that just happened." I dug a hoodie out and zipped it up over my top, before tightening my ponytail.

"Are you still going to James' party tonight?" Jo asked me as she buttoned her jeans.

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "Because otherwise he'll think that I'm too scared and ashamed to face him and I'm not. I'm going to go to his party, drink his fruit water and eat his popcorn."

"Wow, fruit water and popcorn. You really know how to party," Mandy deadpanned as she brushed her jet black hair out.

"Your sarcasm wounds me," I said haughtily. "Anyway, you three still going?" I added, addressing Jo, Camille, and Stephanie.

"Of course," Camille nodded. "We have to go, if for nothing else than to support you."

I smiled a little. "Thanks. And who knows? Maybe we'll even have fun. I just hope James doesn't bring up what happened."

"I'm sure he won't. And anyway, I don't think he took the shot to humiliate you," she reasoned. "If you notice, he ribs you about almost anything under the sun, but never about hockey. He has never once said that you can't play hockey because you're a girl or because you're small. He knows you can, he's seen you do it, and if he was thinking he would have kept his mouth shut, but he heard the challenge and reacted."

"The same way you do when you hear a challenge," Jo pointed out.

"Yeah, whatever." I rolled my eyes. "Well, I'm going to head out. Jo, Steph, Cami, I'll see you two tonight. I'll see the rest of you on Monday. Kristen, good luck with the interview with Nate. Try not to kill him, you'll definitely be kicked out of school for that."

She laughed and saluted me. "Will do, Captain!"

I grinned and pushed through the door and into the hall.

As always after hockey practice, the hall was relatively empty and quiet, so I was able to make my way to my locker in peace. Once I was bundled up, I walked outside, stepping into the frigid early evening air. I shivered, pulling my coat around me tighter as I hurried towards my car. I climbed in and drove home, happy to at least have a couple of hours to relax.

I took my time in the shower, letting the hot water wash over me as my muscles relaxed after such a tense practice. At last I shut the water off and wrapped myself in a fluffy towel, drying off before heading back to my room. I rifled through my closet, finally settling on a pair of faded jeans I loved but hadn't worn in ages, a tank top and a cropped long sleeve shirt, and a purple and black bikini. I packed a towel, bra, panties, and flip flops, before blow drying my hair, brushing it out upside down, and spritzing it with volumnizing spray so that it looked thicker and fuller. I slicked on light makeup, added earrings and a couple of bracelets, and I was ready to go.

It was a quarter to eight by the time Kendall and I headed down to his car together. We climbed in, buckled up, and he started the car, before backing it out of the garage. He flipped on the local rock station and got the heat going, while I leaned back against the seat. "You're in big trouble if tonight goes badly," I informed him.

"Why?" he wanted to know as he made a turn.

"Because you're the one who invited me and talked me into going. And James and I have been fighting all day, even worse than usual."

"Yeah, he said something happened during hockey practice when he and some of the guys headed over to your rink."

I shook my head. "He and Benson acted like total jerks."

"Oh." In the dim light of the car's gauges and the street lights, I could see his mouth form an O as if he was emphasizing the single syllable.

"Yeah. I don't know why Benson has to act like he own the place. He insulted me," I added, squeaking indignantly before I could stop myself. "He pretty much said that because of my height I wasn't cut out to be team captain."

Kendall pressed his lips together. "No offense, but a lot of people have their doubts about you. Apparently there has never been a girls' hockey captain under 5'5. You're the shortest in history. So you're making history," he added quickly when he saw me open my mouth furiously. "So you should be proud of yourself. You're striking a blow for short girls everywhere. You should be happy with what you have."

I blinked. "What the hell does that mean? I should be happy with what I have?"

"I just mean…I mean, come on. Obviously it's pretty much unheard of, at least in this area, for a petite girl to be a hockey captain. So of course there's going to be criticisms."

"So I should just roll over onto my back and show them my belly?" I demanded.

"I just think…I just think you're taking everything a little too hard."

My jaw dropped. "Excuse me? You think – you weren't even there, Kendall! You didn't hear the way Benson talked to me, about me! Even James got a little upset. You don't know what happened, you didn't see it."

"But it's the same thing that's been going on since you got appointed team captain," Kendall said in frustration. "Someone will insult you, and then you'll get all high and mighty about it. They don't mean anything personal by it."

"They don't mean anything personal when they tell me I'm too tiny to be a decent hockey player?"

"They don't know you, so I don't know why you let them get to you."

"Kendall, you have never had to face adversity, not really. You've always had everything handed to you on a silver platter."

"I didn't get the team captaincy," he shot back.

"Yeah, because you were stupid and got benched during two different games because you mooned the other team! That's why James got made captain, because he's smart enough not to show his ass off to the competition!"

Kendall glared at me furiously. "Well, ex-cuse me for trying to have a little bit of fun!"

"Yeah, and that fun got you ejected from two different games and it cost you the captaincy." I pushed my hair out of my face, taking a deep breath. "Can we just agree to disagree here?"

"No," he said stubbornly.

"Why does it always have to be your way?"

"Because I'm the one with a clear head. You're the one who screams at hockey coaches."

I chewed on my tongue. "Once again, at least I'm not the one who moons the opposing team."

Kendall's jaw locked. "You're just fighting with everyone lately, aren't you?"

"At least I'm not acting like a fake little princess," I retorted as Kendall turned onto the road leading around to the lake houses.

I had only been to James' lake house once, and that was when his parents had been having an end-of-the-summer barbecue the year before they divorced. It was set on a hill, overlooking the lake, and surrounded by trees. It was the perfect place to get away year round. In the spring, the lake was a crisp blue, the grass an emerald green and the flowers in full bloom. In the summer the lake was only a three minute hike down from their house, and the backyard a huge with a trampoline and a pool. In the fall the leaves switched from green to burnt orange and apple red. And in the winter the landscape was frosted with snow, the lake glazed with ice, smoke rising from chimneys like something out of a Christmas card.

"Please," Kendall said after a moment. "Katie, please try not to get into another fight with James tonight. Tonight's supposed to be about having fun, not about who the better hockey player is."

I sighed. "Fine. But only because you said please."

"Thank goodness for the magic words." He pulled up in front of the Diamonds' lake house and I peered up at it curiously. It was a huge two story house built in the log cabin style. In Kendall's high beams I could see smoke curling out of the chimney like steam out of a hot tub, an open invitation into a warm house.

Kendall parked the car and we clambered out, shivering the second the freezing air hit us. It was only in the low twenties, which wasn't supposed to be bad for us, but it still had a sharp bite to it, and I had no doubt that the temperature was going to drop down below zero over the weekend.

"Come on," Kendall grabbed my arm, hustling me up the porch steps like I actually wanted to stay out here. He raised his fist to knock on the front door, but before he got the chance the door swung open. James stood there, this time looking very much like a Rebel without a Cause in a simple white v-neck t-shirt. He wasn't wearing sneakers, just standing there with his sock feet on the cold wooden floor, and there was something almost intimate, vulnerable about seeing him like that. It was a sudden reminder that I was entering his domain, his home, his territory, but at the same time he was opening himself up, allowing me to set foot in his space.

Amazing how I managed to get so much out of his decision not to wear a pair of Nikes.

"Come on in," he said to us. Kendall stepped forward and I followed, rolling my eyes when James bowed mockingly to me. "After you, princess."

"Damn straight, jackass."

"Katie!" Kendall cried warningly. "What did we say about insulting people?"

"You said I couldn't fight with him. You didn't say anything about insulting him."

Kendall glared at me pointedly and I let out a huffy breath. "Fine. I'll be nice. But only if he is too."

Kendall turned to James.

"What?" James demanded. "I never agreed to this. Sounds like a sucker's bet to me."

"Oh brother," Kendall mumbled, kicking his boots off and forcing his way into the living room.

I shook my head and finished unwrapping the layers that had been encasing me. James watched in amusement as I worked on getting a hoodie off.

"What?" I snapped. "Don't you have a party to host?"

"Yes, but this is so much more interesting. How many more layers do you have to go?"

I glowered at him as my hoodie dropped to the floor. "Just one more."

"And this one's a pullover," James smirked. "Were you expecting to get caught in a blizzard?"

"Hey, you never know with Kendall's navigational skills," I quipped as I worked on getting my sweatshirt up without accidentally flashing James or something. Not that there was anything I was embarrassed about flashing him, but knowing him he would make a smartass comment and then I would have to make a smartass comment and then we would stay here all night breathing down each others' necks.

James groaned and walked over to me, grabbing hold of the hem of my sweatshirt.

I smacked his hands away automatically. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Helping you out of that thing. It'll be too painful to watch otherwise."

"Then don't watch."

"I just watched you get in a fight with a hoodie. I don't want to know how beaten up you'll get while wrestling with a regular sweatshirt."

"Ugh. Fine," I relented.

"Good. Raise your hands."

I obeyed and he once more grasped the bottom of the shirt, pulling up. I felt the sweatshirt slip up and a moment later it was off.

"Wow," I heard Logan say from the doorway. "They just went from trying to kill each other to James trying to undress Katie."

I felt my face heat up as Kendall yelped, "WHAT?!" from the living room.

James rolled his eyes. "I am not trying to undress Katie. I was helping her get a sweatshirt off. Huge difference – now please recognize that."

Logan smirked at us, arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe. "Was it as good for you as it was for James?" he asked me.

I flipped him off. "Oh, look, my middle finger has a boner for you. Screw you, Logie-Bear." I stomped into the living room as Logan cackled with laughter. No doubt he was getting a ton of amusement at James' and my expense.

Jo, Camille, and Stephanie all grinned at me from where they were sitting on the huge leather couch, a fleece blanket draped over their legs.

"So, uh, what's this I hear about James and your sweatshirt?" Stephanie asked me.

I plopped down between her and Camille. "We are never talking about that again. Got it?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed Camille's mug of hot chocolate from her, taking a sip. I passed it back to her and stretched out as James walked back into the room, hands buried deep in his jeans pockets as he informed Logan of all the ways he would maim him if he ever mentioned the whole sweatshirt-incident to anyone.

James and I had that part in common – we didn't play mind games.

"So," he said, moving to stand in front of the roaring fire. "The nachos should be just about ready, and I'm going to go cut up the sub."

"Get to it, servant boy!" I barked and he responded very eloquently by flipping me off with his middle finger. It was nice to know that things had gone back to normal.

Five minutes later we were all crowded around the living room, pigging out on sandwiches, nachos, and popcorn. I decided that that was the life and that I was never moving, ever. James just would have to deal with me when he and his mom came to visit this place.

"So, Katie," Carlos said to me. "You look very pretty tonight."

My jaw may or may not have dropped and I may or may not have had a mouthful of nacho. The question is still up for debate.

Since when did Carlos hit on me? Gross! He was cute, sure, but he was like my brother.

But then I saw him exchange looks with Kendall and I knew at once that he had put Carlos up to complimenting me so that I would feel better after hockey practice.

Nevertheless, Stephanie looked about ready to spit knives. I just wasn't sure if she wanted to aim at me or Carlos.

"Doesn't she?" Carlos added to the room at large, no doubt sensing the forthcoming danger named Stephanie King. "James?"

A trapped expression blossomed on James' face, and he looked around furiously as if hoping to see a reason to dash out of the room and never coming back. I knew exactly how he felt.

"Um…yeah…sure," he finally said after a long moment. "Of course she looks pretty, she always does."

I blinked. Did James – nah – that wasn't possible. He would never lower himself to compliment me. My ears must have been playing tricks on me if I was hearing that.

And apparently everyone else's ears were playing tricks on them because they were all gaping at James, utterly speechless. Even Logan didn't have a smart remark to make about what James had just said.

James leapt to his feet. "I'm going to go get the Jacuzzi ready. Be back in a few!" he hightailed it out of there and I collapsed against the couch. Of course he hadn't actually meant to compliment me. He just felt bad about what had happened at practice and he was trying to make it up to me. Although why he was trying to make it up to me was beyond me. He was only partly responsible for the incident.

I shook my head and stood up as well. I walked into the kitchen, and opened the fridge, locating a bottle of fruit water. I uncapped it and took a sip. James stepped through the sliding glass door a moment later.

"I've got the Jacuzzi going," he told me. "So anytime you're ready…"

I nodded, setting my water bottle on the counter. "Okay, thanks." I headed out of the room and called to the others that the Jacuzzi was ready, before snatching up my tote bag and looking around for a bathroom. I quickly found one and changed into my bikini before pulling my hair up into a high ponytail. I was so used to having my hair up that it was a little bizarre when my hair was down. I had always preferred long hair, but it could be a complete pain with the helmet so I usually just kept it tied up in a ponytail or a bun.

Tonight, however, I would have kept my hair down if I had actually thought I wouldn't lose a chunk of it in the Jacuzzi jets. Since my luck clearly wasn't that good, I wasn't going to risk my hair's life and vitality just so that I could look glamorous for a whole five seconds.

I stuffed my clothes into my bag and slipped my feet into my flip-flops, before stepping out of the bathroom. The girls were gathered outside in the hall, clearly waiting to take their turn.

"Killer bikini," Camille told me, flashing a smile as she walked into bathroom. "Kendall's going to decide you need to wear a chastity belt."

"Too bad," I shrugged. "James told me to wear a bikini so I'm just listening to his suggestion."

"Since when do you listen to James?" Jo quirked an eyebrow as Camille closed the door. "Is there something going on that none of us know about?"

I snorted. "Like what? You think we've given up on the whole fighting thing in the last five minutes? Because I can guarantee that that hasn't happened."

"I mean, are you two…you know…is there something going on there? Are you two finally admitting that you like each other?"

"I do not like James!" I hollered, stamping my foot. "I'm wearing the bikini for me."

"You're wearing it for James."

"For me."

"For James."

"I don't wear bikinis for idiot boys."

"Or you're wearing it to prove a point, to prove that you're brave enough and hot enough for it."

"What are you, the bikini whisperer?" I demanded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go out to the deck and get into the hot tub. Or are you going to accuse me of just wanting to get close to James?"

Jo rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic."

I sent her a perky smile. "Don't make me tell a blonde joke." With that, I strolled back out to the kitchen, before stepping out onto the deck. James was the only one out there so far, and he was busily arranging a cooler with drinks blanketed in ice chips. I watched as he stuffed a couple cans of Coke in-between a lemonade and one of those fizzy fruit drinks.

He was in his swim trunks, but was still wearing a t-shirt.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked as I hurried away from the dry warmth of the house towards the steamy warmth of the Jacuzzi.

James looked up and his eyes widened. "Holy sh – you're wearing a bikini."

I flashed him a smile. "You should be proud of yourself. You love it when girls do what you tell them to do, right?"

"I'm going to pretend that wasn't a comment about me being a sexist pig and just say that you should wear one more often."

"You're staring at my chest, aren't you?"

"Where else am I supposed to look?"

"Sexist pig," I shot at him as I climbed into the hot tub, letting out a relieved sigh as I sank down into the bubbling hot water. "It's a good thing I didn't wear my string bikini. I don't think you'd even blink."

He shrugged and straightened up the rest of the way, before pulling his shirt off and heading back to the door so that he could place it on the counter out of harm's way.

I swallowed hard as he turned around. Yum. Muscles. Biceps. Pecs. Abs. Shoulders. Hips.

"You're staring at my chest, aren't you?" he quipped when he realized I was gawking at him like I had never seen a guy shirtless before.

"Where else am I supposed to look?" I retorted, crossing my arms over my own chest.

He grinned widely as he got into the Jacuzzi, sliding down onto the bench beside me. I bit my lip as his arm brushed mine while he got settled in, and instead focused on adjusting my bikini's ties.

James glanced over at me, eyes focusing in on the ties, and I squirmed under his gaze. If he chose to reach over and pull the strings, the top was going to come off. Not that I cared. He was the one who would be labeled a perverted asshole for that. I mean, it wasn't like we were twelve and I was still growing into my body and accepting it.

That didn't stop my face from turning red at the thought of him tugging at the strings, and a flash of heat shot through my body as a mental image of him pressing his lips to my neck flicked through my head.

Okay, this whole hot tub situation was just getting to me, because now I was fantasizing about making out with James as he undressed me. That was just weird. And gross. Mostly gross.

That didn't stop me from imagining reaching out and stroking my hand over his thigh.

In all honesty, this hadn't been the first time I had briefly thought about making out with James or letting him have his way with me. Those…mental images…had flashed through my brain on and off – but mostly on – since I was twelve and I realized that despite the fact that James and I hated each other with a passion, he was hot. Or, well, back then he was cute. He hadn't hit his growth spurt yet, and he had little baby muscles, not these huge bulging ones that I was now trying to keep from drooling over. Nevertheless, his bangs fell into his eyes much the same way they did now, and he had a mischievous grin that made him seem so badass back then.

James still hadn't looked away from my bikini ties, and I hadn't moved my fingers away from them either.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked in a fake-polite voice.

"Nope, I'm good," he replied, still staring at the ties.

"Really?" I quirked an eyebrow. My stomach clenched and unclenched, my heart pounding violently against my ribcage as a reckless urge sparked through me. I knew I was about to do something stupid, and I couldn't even seem to find a fuck to give. The water was hot, the jets like a massage against my back, steam winding through the air like a hot shower, and James and I were both half naked and he was hot.

These were not the best circumstances to make judgment calls.

That had never stopped me before.

"Really," James said firmly. "Although…" he scooted closer to me. "The string around your neck is tied crookedly. It looks like you did it yourself."

"You just always have to get a jab in there somewhere, don't you?" I asked, even as I swiveled my body so that my back was to him. I lifted my ponytail and froze for a split second when I felt his fingers brush against my bare back, before slowly pulling the strings, undoing the bow.

I swallowed hard as he deliberately retied it, letting it fall back against my skin.

"There," he breathed out, lips mere centimeters from my ear. "All better."

"What about the other one?" I asked. "How's that one?"

His fingers drifted back down my back. "Crooked as well. Want me to fix that for you?"

"Please do."

And then he was tugging the strings loose and I felt them come undone, but he caught my bikini top before it could swing forward. He held it there, fingers pressing into my bare skin for a long moment, before pulling back so that he could tie the string for me.

"Thanks," I squeaked out.

"No problem," he said, his breath hot against my cheek as he slipped a finger between the string and my skin. "I'm always happy to help a girl in need."

"Oh, I'm sure you are," I purred, turning back around so that I was facing him. "You're always happy to help a girl untie her bikini."

He smirked. "You let me untie your bikini. Did you want me to take it off?"

"You know what I think? I think you wanted to take it off."

"Was that an accusation? Because that sounded like you're just trying to keep up the whole bravado act."

"What act?" I snorted. "You're the one who offered to retie my bikini for me."

"You're the one who agreed. You could have asked Jo or Camille or Stephanie when they came out, and yet you told me to go ahead."

I really hated it when he made a valid point. How the hell was I supposed to argue that?

His hand dropped into the water, resting on my thigh, and he didn't pull away. Was he coming onto me? Did I want him to come onto me? Shouldn't I have been jerking away and running all the way home? And why was he rubbing circles into my thigh? And why was I enjoying it? And why – okay, if he went up much further, we were going to have a problem.

I just wasn't sure if it was going to involve me jumping him, or me kicking him in the balls. Quite possibly a little bit of both.

Before I could think too hard on it, the backdoor slid open and Camille stepped outside, wavy brown hair pulling into two low pigtails. "You two look awfully cozy," she purred as she climbed into the Jacuzzi, plopping down across from us.

James moved his hand away from my thigh, and I fought back a whine of protest. I did not want his hand on my thigh. I did not want him touching me. And I certainly hadn't enjoyed him rubbing circles into my leg. Not at all.

Doth I protest too much?

Kendall stepped outside as well, and he blinked. "Since when do you wear a bikini?"

"Since I turned thirteen," I replied.

"Since when do you and James sit right next to each other when you're half naked?"

"Since none of your business."

He rolled his eyes and clambered into the hot tub as well. Logan, Jo, Carlos, and Stephanie joined us before long, and I relaxed, stretching my legs out and pointing my toes before flexing them.

James passed them drinks, before handing me an IZZE fruit drink, popping the cap off for me. I thanked him grudgingly, reminded myself that he was just being a good host, and took a sip.

"So," Stephanie said to James as she brought her can of lemonade up to her lips. "What exactly was up with that stunt you and Coach Benson pulled today?"

"Stunt?" he raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean where we asked to borrow the rink for fifteen minutes and Carter and Katie both shot us down?"

"More like where you informed us that you were commandeering the ice rink."

"I was there," Carlos reminded her. "And it wasn't that bad. I mean, yeah, Coach Benson was insulting towards Katie and the team, but he asked nicely at first."

"Until Carter turned him down," Logan added.

"How do you know?" I demanded. "You weren't there."

"No, but James and Carlos both told me what happened."

"So basically it was the blind leading the blind."

"May I remind you that I can outscore you any day?" James asked me.

My eyebrows shot up. "You can outscore me? According to who?"

"According to our records."

"You looked up my records?!"

He rolled his eyes. "It was for a paper for economics. I was supposed to compare statistics so I chose hockey."

"You had economics last year," I said in triumph. "My score average has gone up."

"I'm sure it has. But so has mine."

I narrowed my eyes. "So…what? You're saying you're a better forward than me because of a piece of paper you saw last year? And by the way, who the hell gave you permission to look up my average?"

"Our averages are published on the school site," he rolled his eyes again. "So that they can brag about how great their athletes are. I mean, it wasn't like I had to blast open a bank vault to get to it. And thanks to that, I was able to compare our different averages. Alexis and Carlos are both considered to be top goalies for high school teams in our area. Yet Carlos has a higher save average than Alexis does."

"Because apparently boys have a higher scoring average!" I snapped. "Alexis simply doesn't have as many goals to save as Carlos do."

"She couldn't block either of our shots today."

"Can you blame her? We were both pretty far back."

"She wasn't even trying to save yours," he recalled. "She tried to catch mine, but she wasn't able to."

Carlos nodded. "No offense, Katie, but James' swing is more powerful than yours. But that's to be expected," he added quickly when I opened my mouth furiously. "Because he's bigger and stronger. I mean, you're a powerful shot too, but you're so tiny. You can't compete against him."

"Excuse me?" I hissed.

"It's true," Logan chimed in. "It's basic physics. James is muscular. He's powerful. Therefore he's going to be a more formidable opponent than you."

"They're right," Kendall nodded. "I mean, come on. There are reasons why hockey isn't coed. The men could seriously injure the women."

"The men can seriously injure other men!" Jo said hotly.

"Hockey is a brutal sport, especially for males. I mean, we're the ones with body checking. That's illegal for women's hockey."

"Exactly," James bobbed his head in agreement. "Men are more powerfully built; that's why our averages are higher."

"Oh, are you men?" I asked innocently. "Because all I see are a bunch of little boys talking big."

"Katie," Kendall sighed, "I agree with you about the exposés and that Coach Benson was out of line when he said you weren't fit to be the captain. But I don't agree with this. James is right, males are naturally more built, it's the way they're born. James wasn't saying that your averages are bad, he was just saying that compared to boys, your averages aren't as impressive."

"Right," James said. "You're all fantastic hockey players. It's just, if you played against us, it wouldn't go so well for you. I mean, look at you," he added, cocking an eyebrow at me. "You're tiny. You look like a little girl. I could break you like a twig."

My eyes flashed. "Is that a challenge?"

"It's a fact."

"Really? Because it sounds like a challenge." By this time he was on his feet, and I had pushed myself so that I was standing up on the bench, nose to nose with him. "Girls are just as good as hockey players as boys, and we can win against you."

"Fine," James growled. "Prove it. Play against us. We'll do a full game, with witnesses."

I snorted. "Only one game? I don't think so. That'd make it too easy for you guys to cheat."

"Fine. Two."

"No way in hell. What if we tie?"

"We won't."

"But if we do? Two out of three. Whichever team wins two games is the better team."

"Deal. You guys in?" he added to our friends, who immediately nodded, chiming in with their support. James and I shook hands, and then he pulled back. "So, why are you girls still here? You think I'm going to let the competing team use my Jacuzzi?"

"You're an ass," I hissed as I climbed out of the hot tub, reaching for a towel.

"Correction. I'm the enemy now."

"Go to hell." I wrapped the towel around my waist, grabbed my tote bag, and headed inside to change. It was a miracle that James didn't follow me inside to proclaim that the use of his bathroom was off limits to "the enemy".

The girls trooped after me, grinding their teeth over the boys.

"I'll give you a ride home," Jo said to me once I was dressed and standing back in the hall.

"Sounds good."

"I can't believe those boys!" Stephanie burst out as Jo took her turn in the bathroom. "Can you believe the nerve of them? They think they're all macho just because they're bigger than us and they have higher averages. Those averages don't prove shit! It all depends on the game and the players and the other team. And because they rely so heavily on the circumstantial evidence, we'll kick their ass."

"Hell yeah!" Camille cheered. "We'll knock them down from their high horse. If you played against us, it wouldn't go so well for you. That's such bullshit. We may be smaller, but that can work to our advantage. You're right, Steph. We'll beat them."

Jo opened the door and slipped out, smoothing down her blonde hair. "Come on, Katie, let's go. I can't wait to show those boys a thing or two…" She continued grumbling as we walked through the living room to the entrance hall.

I paused, before pulling out my phone.

"What're you doing?" Jo asked as she slipped her feet into her snow boots, staring at my cell phone in confusion as if she'd never seen one before.

"Calling the other girls on the team to let them know what just happened, and then I'm going to book our rink for tomorrow. We need to start training if we're going to beat those jerks."

So, that was chapter four...What'd you guys think? Was it okay? Did everything make sense? Any strong reactions to it?

Thank you for reading, and please review! I always appreciate it :)