Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush or anything recognizable in this. Thank you and please don't sue. :)

Guest#1: Thank you so much, I'm so happy to hear that :) You think so, huh? Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Guest#2: I'm updating, I'm updating ;) And thank you for taking the time to read and review!

Guest#3: This story is getting update, so...you're welcome ;P Thank you for reading and reviewing :)

Thank you for the reviews and alerts! You guys rock! :) And if you guys are still reading this story...thank you for that :)

A/N: Okay, so. I didn't even realize until today that this story hadn't been updated in going on three months, and I'm so sorry for the wait! Believe me, it was not intentional, but I've had a bunch of crap going on and I just haven't been focusing on my stories lately. In fact, it's only been in the last week and a half or so that I've been able to get back into writing. Please forgive me?

On another note, this is an extra long chapter, almost twice as long as a normal one. The game does happen, and you guys will get to see the aftermath as well. And on a random note, while I was editing this chapter, I was reminded of how much I love James and Katie's relationship in this. I get so invested in their relationships it's not even funny :P

I also have to make a couple of shout outs. First of all, Jatieluv recently posted a couple of multi chapter stories, so please go check them out! Also, buffyangelinfinitdesire updated "Something Else Entirely", which is a rated M Jatie fic that I have a personal interest in. If you guys could check it out as well, I'd be super grateful!

Anyway, I'll let you guys read the next chapter.

Enjoy :)

Chapter Ten – The First Game

Katie's POV

I awoke Saturday morning before my alarm went off, to the kind of stiffness that made me both glad and furious that I was an athlete. My arms hurt. My legs ached. My stomach felt like I had tried to do about two million bicycle crunches. Even my ass was in pain, though that might have had to do with the fact that James had smacked it the day before. But I couldn't prove it, so I couldn't challenge him on it. Plus, I kind of didn't want half the world knowing that James had touched my ass. Or worse – that I'd sort of liked it.

I shut my alarm off and, with a groan, hauled the heavy covers off of me, and dragged myself into the bathroom to grab a hot shower before throwing on sweats, pulling my hair into a messy bun, and slinking down to the kitchen for some food.

My parents were already in the kitchen, my mom making pancakes, bacon, and fried eggs, while my dad was at the blender, measuring out strawberry protein mix, strawberries, bananas, and almond milk. He flashed a grin at me. "Ready for a champion's breakfast?"

Considering the way my stomach was twisting and turning, I wasn't ready for chicken broth, but I nodded. I knew I needed to eat if I wanted to keep my strength up. Today was going to be long and painful, and the last thing I needed was to faint on the ice because I hadn't eaten breakfast.

Dad gleefully flipped the switch on the blender and the kitchen was filled with the whirring sounds as the fruit, protein mix, and milk was blended together. After a few seconds he shut the blender off and poured the smoothie into a glass. He passed it to me. "So, today you and the girls are playing against the boys, huh?"

I nodded, unsurprised that he knew. My parents were constantly talking about Kendall and me, exchanging gossip about what was going on in our lives. I figured that my dad also knew that my mom was under the impression that James and I should try to be friends again, and that Kendall was a huge dipshit when it came to girls.

Speaking of Kendall…He walked into the room, looking perfectly cheerful, like he hadn't taken a major beating at hockey practice the day before.

Stupid brother.

Stupid boys.

"Good morning, Mother, Father, Baby Sister," he greeted us, taking extra care to ruffle my hair, purposefully messing up my already messy bun.

"We're twins," I snapped. "I'm only younger than you by a few minutes."

"Same difference." He dished himself up, and Dad set a glass of smoothie in front of him. "So, ready to have your ass kicked by James and me?"

"Ready to eat ice next to James?" I retorted, crossing my arms and ignoring the plate of food that Mom set in front of me.

"Sounds like fighting words, Baby Sister."

"You started it, Big Brother."

He smirked as he stabbed at his egg yolks, letting yellow goo ooze out over the plate. "So, where did you and James disappear to last night during the movie?"

Dad's eyebrows shot up. "You and James left during the movie?"

"We went out to the lobby," I shrugged. "We couldn't stand listening to you try to ask Jo out any longer. It was pathetic." I popped a piece of bacon in my mouth. "What was all that talk about milkshakes? You do realize this isn't an episode of Happy Days, right?"

Kendall glared at me, and went back to eating his breakfast quietly. I smirked to myself and poured maple syrup over my pancakes, cutting into them with the side of my fork. Kendall should have known by now that he couldn't beat me. And he would have that lesson force fed to him in about two hours on the ice rink.

Once Kendall gulped down the last of his breakfast, he headed out, going through the mudroom out to the garage. I heard his car start up and the garage door open.

"So, you and Kendall are really going to be playing against each other?" Mom asked, eyebrows knitted together worriedly.

I nodded, swallowing my last bite of pancake. "That's the plan."

"Couldn't you two just settle this matter somewhere where you're both less likely to get hurt? Like while playing video games?"

"This isn't about Kendall's and my sibling rivalry, Mom. I told you, the boys were being stupid and sexist. We had to do something. This town is sexist and old-fashioned. The girls' hockey team doesn't get half the credit it deserves, while the boys' team practically has its own temple. Explain to me how that's fair."

"It's not," Mom agreed, sitting down next to me. "And I understand why you'd want to do something about this, but I can't help but wonder if the real point of this is to get back at James for whatever he did. Or whatever you did."

"I didn't do anything to him!" I protested.

"So, whatever he did to you."

"Technically, he didn't really do anything to me, either," I admitted.

"And yet you two hate each other with a passion."

"A little too much passion, in my opinion," Dad sniffed as he rinsed out the blender. "I don't like how intense their so-called dislike for each other is. It's the kind of thing that relationships are made out of."

Mom's lips twitched. "Are you afraid that Katie is going to start dating James?"

"Worse. I'm afraid of what Katie might do with James."

I dry gagged. "Gross. The only thing I want to do with James is kick his ass."

"I hope so."

"Anyway, if you're planning on kicking James' ass, you'd better get going," Mom pointed out. "You have to be at the school by eleven."

"Sh – crap," I leaped to my feet, swallowing the last piece of bacon. I threw on my coat, grabbed my hockey bag and purse, and bundled up before rushing out to my car.

I arrived at the school at twenty minutes to eleven, and hurried to the ice rink and to the girls' locker room. I slipped in and found the rest of my team sitting on the bench in full gear, ready to skate out onto the ice.

"I'm not late, am I?" I panted as I began stripping and tugging on my gear.

"No, you're fine," Alexis assured me. "The rest of us got here a little early."

"We're all pretty anxious," Jo added.

"I saw Josh and Logan before I came in here," Kristen put in. "And they looked pretty confident."

"They're overly cocky," I pointed out. "They think it's a given that they're going to win. We can use that against them."

"How?" Allison wanted to know.

"Sneak up on them. We're girls, we can be very devious when we want to be. We have to show them that just because they have speed, height, and strength doesn't mean they're definitely going to win. We have to remind them that you have to have brains in order to be a good hockey player. Because in all honesty, I think they've forgotten that."

At that moment, Coach Carter walked into the locker room. "You girls ready? It's time."

We all exchanged anxious looks, before slipping into a tight circle. I put my hand in the circle and Kristen placed hers on top of mine, followed by Jo, Alexis, Allison, Stephanie, Mandy, Camille, and Natalie. We bowed our heads and I managed to breathe out a short prayer that we would kick the boys' butts before we yelled, "GO TEAM!" and let our hands fly back up. We disbanded, skating out onto the rink in a huge rush. I could see a handful of people, mostly family members and friends of the players, up in the stands, chatting amongst themselves, though their attention quickly focused on us. I could see Kyle waving at me, sitting next to a teenage boy who looked like a slightly younger version of James.

Across the rink, the boys came flying out as well, going so fast they were a blur of white and blue and silver, our school's colors. It was bizarre to think that our opposing team played for the same school as us. Talk about a mind fuck.

You know what else is a mind fuck? The boys' team. Apparently they got their brains back long enough to pull out a few nasty tricks that none of us girls had anticipated. In the end, the score was close. But not close enough.

The boys won our first game.

And they were ecstatic. They skated a victory lap around the rink, before pulling their helmets off and waving cockily up at the stands. I was betting that people could see James' smirk in Texas.

I was hoping fervently that we could get off the rink and into the locker room without drawing too much attention to ourselves, but before I could skate more than a few feet towards the edge of the rink, James circled around me twice and came to a stop right in front of me.

I looked up at him, resisting the urge to slap that fucking smirk off his face.

"So," he said. "I guess this means you have to follow through on our bet."

"Right," I replied, gritting my teeth. "The girls' hockey team has to perform a song of your guys' choice during the school talent show. Don't worry, we'll do it." The last words game out as a painful grunt, and James' smirk widened.

"And don't forget," he added, "we have one more game."

"One more game?" I repeated back to him. "We have two more games, Diamond."

"We're back to going by our last names, Katie-Bear?" He put his hand up to his heart. "That hurts, it really does. And yes, one more game. Since, you know, it's whoever wins two out of three."

"What the hell makes you think that you guys are going to win the next game?" I demanded.

"Think about it, baby girl. We won this game. What makes you think that you're going to win the second game?"

"Faith that there really is a God out there," I snarled, before turning around and skating as fast away from him as I possibly could. I could hear James cackling after me.

"See you tonight at Stephanie's birthday party!" he called after me.

"Fuck off, Diamond!"

I slammed into the girls' locker room. The second the door had fallen shut behind me, I let out a scream. "Fuck! FUCK!"

"Tell me about it," Alexis said wearily, rubbing her right shoulder. She had taken a puck there right before halftime, and she had had trouble moving her arm after that. "The boys were brutal. If we weren't the ones they were beating up on, I would have admired them."

"How's your shoulder?" I asked, ignoring her statement, mostly because I agreed with her and hated myself for it.

"Sore. Bruised pretty badly. I might have to go to the doctor."

"This was such a bad idea," Jo moaned, pacing the room. Her blonde hair was still in as neat and pristine a ponytail as it had been before the game, but her makeup was smudged and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. "We can't play another game against them! Alexis practically broke her arm, Camille had the wind knocked out of her on several occasions, and you – I thought you and James were going to rip each other's throats out, Katie. We can't do this."

"We have to," I snapped. "Because James is a cocky bastard who thinks they're going to win the next game for sure."

She waved her arms at me wildly. "They are! We had our asses handed to us on a silver plate, Katie! We can't beat them!"

"The hell we can't! We have to, we don't have a choice. If we back out now, do you realize how weak and pathetic that's going to make us look? We challenged them to this competition so that we wouldn't look weak and pathetic!"

"No, you challenged James to this bet because you'd rather try to kill him then admit that you want to fuck his brains out!"

Camille slid in-between us. "This isn't helping matters! And Alexis and I are fine – or we will be, anyway." She rubbed at her ribs, where both Logan and Josh had knocked into her twice. "We said we were going to play three games against them, and I'll be damned if we're not going to kick their asses next time. They caught us by surprise, and let's face it, they know how we play. We didn't set up our plays to accommodate theirs – we set up our plays to accommodate an unknown team. We treated them as a team that doesn't know us, that's never played us before or only on a few occasions. We should've treated them as a familiar enemy. We know how they play, even better now. We know Josh likes to elbow people. We know James likes to slam Katie into the boards. We know Logan comes up with these incredibly complicated plays that only seem to work about half of the time. We know Kendall keeps trying to take control of the team and James won't let him. We can use this next time. We just have to plan and strategize, not just practice. Just practicing might work with a team that doesn't know us, but not with the boys. Not this time."

I nodded in agreement, sinking down onto a bench. "You're right. We fucked up. I fucked up. But not next time. Next time, they're going down."

"Good. Because I really want to wipe the self-satisfied smirks off their faces."

"You and me both," I sighed. "James rubbed my face in their victory and our defeat while you guys were heading in here. He's such an ass."

"You knew this about him. You know he gets off on torturing you, just like you get off on torturing him. Your relationship with him is truly one of a kind."

I smiled wanly. "I can't argue with that."

"Good, because you would lose so bad. Now come on, we need to shower and then we have to head home to get ready for Stephanie's party tonight. That's still on, isn't it?" Camille turned to Stephanie, who nodded.

"You think I'd let a little thing like the boys kicking our asses get in the way of my seventeenth birthday party? Puh-leeze."

"Are the boys still invited?" I wanted to know.

"Yeah. But don't worry, I'll make sure they behave themselves, one way or another."

"Good to know."

Getting out of the locker room was not as simple as I would've preferred. For one thing, the boys were standing in front of the door to the hallway. For another, they were huge pains in the ass.

Nevertheless we had to venture out at some point.

Probably better sooner than later. I squared my shoulders, tossed my head back, and marched out of the locker room, into the hall. The boys automatically parted for me, revealing the opposite side of the hall.

James was leaning against the wall, legs and arms crossed as he surveyed me. The smirk had dropped from his face.

"What do you want?" I demanded, crossing my own arms over my chest and stalking up to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." That ducking cocky smirk was back, echoed by the snickers of his teammates.

My jaw set defiantly. "I'm talking about you clearly waiting for me to come out of the locker room."

"Maybe I just missed you," he tossed back.

"The day you miss me is the day hell freezes over." I moved so that I was standing right in front of him. I stood on my tip toes and looked up at him. "You're fucking with me and I really don't like being fucked with. So why don't you go and get a fucking life?"

James' smirk widened. "Temper, temper. Do I see claws coming out, Baby Kitty?"

"Go fuck yourself!" I snarled.

"Seems like that would be painful..."

"Then have one of your buddies do it for you. They seem to like kissing your ass. I don't know why this would be any different."

The guys all edged away, as if I had just called them the filthiest name in the universe.

James cocked his head to the side, surveying me through narrowed eyes. I smiled pleasantly at him and sauntered off, feeling a little better now that I had insulted the boys' team.

I drove home and began to get ready for the party, showering, changing clothes, packing an overnight back with a change of pajamas, a change of clothes, my bikini, a pair of flip flops, a towel, my travel toiletry bag, my iPod, a book to read, my pillow, and my phone. At twenty minutes to six I hugged my parents goodbye, told Kendall I'd see him at the King Hotel, and jumped in my car and drove deep into town, where the luxury, four star hotel was waiting.

I entered the sumptuous lobby, taking in the black, white, and gold furnishings, before making my way over to the check-in desk. The receptionist looked at me.

"I'm here for Stephanie King's party," I told her, shifting my duffel bag over my shoulder and wishing I hadn't. I almost fell over due to the weight.

"Your name?"

"Katie Knight."

"She's in suite 404, on the fourth floor. It'll be the third door on your right."

"Thanks." I took the elevator up to the fourth floor and quickly located the room. I knocked on the door.

The door immediately swung open. Stephanie stood there, wearing a black and gold tight long-sleeved mini dress. I wouldn't have been caught dead in that dress, but it looked amazing on her.

She hugged me – I winced, still sore from the last two days – and she let me into the room.

It was every bit as nice as the lobby, if not even more luxurious. The room was furnished in soft blues and even softer golds. The couch was long and plush, like something out of a palace, and the TV looked like something out of a rich bachelor's mansion. A glass coffee table accentuated the room, and the carpet, such a pale blue that it looked almost white, felt fleece-soft under my Converse sneakers. Through the double doors off to my left I caught a glimpse of a bed.

Jo, Logan, James, and the guy I had seen sitting at the game with Kyle, were all sprawled over various chairs or on the floor.

"Shane, right?" I said to the guy with James.

He grinned at me from where he was lying upside down in one of the armchairs, bangs falling into his eyes. "That would be me. Katie, right? I've heard a lot about you."

"All bad, I bet."

He smirked, still upside down, at me. "Not all bad."

I raised an eyebrow, but before I could grill him, James spoke up: "So, what's the plan for tonight, Steph?"

Stephanie looked at him. "I'll fill you guys in once Cami, Carlos, Kendall, and Kyle get here."

He nodded and leaned back in his own armchair, crossing his arms over his chest. I hated how good he managed to look in dark rinsed blue jeans and a black t-shirt that was just tight enough to give a nice hint about what was hidden beneath the cotton. His eyes seemed to burn even darker against the blackness of the t-shirt, and as they rested on me I felt a shiver pass through me. His gaze was cool, an eyebrow quirked casually as if he was trying to decide whether he was interested in saying something to me or not.

There was a knock on the door at that moment, and Stephanie opened the door. Kyle walked in, flipping his light brown hair out of his eyes.

Shane immediately sat up and waved at him, smiling brightly. Really brightly. "Hey," he said, sounding almost breathless, and my eyebrows shot up. Wait just one second. Shane wasn't…was he? Nah, there was no way…Except…He eyes were shining and his smile was so happy you would have thought he'd just met his celebrity crush. No way. Could James Diamond's little brother be gay?

And Kyle smiled back, cheeks flushing a soft pink, and I clapped my hand over my mouth to hide my smirk. Well, well, well. It looked like Kyle had made a love connection. About fucking time.

"Hey," Kyle replied, making a beeline for the armchair, before realizing that everyone was going to realize something was up if he tried to squeeze into the same chair as another guy.

I decided to help him out a little. I plopped down on the arm of James' chair and slid my foot between him and the back cushion, trying to pry him out.

"Hey!" he cried. "Get your own damn chair!"

"Can't you see that Kyle needs a place to sit?"

"I don't see you sitting down, either."

He had a point. "So you should give me your chair. It's the gentlemanly thing to do."

"Or I could just do this." The next thing I knew, his arms were around my waist and he had yanked me into his lap. I squealed in surprise, but when I opened my mouth to protest nothing came out. "Well, baby girl? Is this gentlemanly enough for you?"

"I suppose," I huffed out, doing my best to sound indignant. "At least I have a place to sit now."

The others laughed, and a diversion came in the form of Camille and then Kendall, who arrived about five seconds after she did. In all the commotion, Shane moved to the loveseat and Kyle plopped down next to him, their legs brushing.

Kendall gaped at James and me when he walked into the room, his jaw dropping. "Is there a reason you're in his lap?" he demanded of me.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"I needed a place to sit."

"So you decided it'd be a good idea to sit in his lap?"

"I figured it was better than sitting on a bed of nails."

"I'll just ignore that," James spoke up.

"Don't get any ideas," Kendall warned him. "No touching my baby sister."

"I'm, like, ten minutes younger than you!" I cried.

James smirked at him. "Touch her? You mean like this?" He placed his hand on my knee and slowly slid it up my thigh, thumb brushing against my inner thigh. I bit my lip, instinctively leaning into him, the trail he was tracing with his fingers burning like a fire.

"Exactly like that," Kendall glared at him. "Don't be an ass."

"But I'm always an ass."

"Don't be an ass to me."

"Shouldn't you tell him not to be an ass to me?" I demanded. "After you just said that I'm your baby sister?"

"Wouldn't the point be moot? He won't listen to that."

"That's true," James said thoughtfully.

"Okay!" Stephanie clapped her hands together. "So, here's the plan for tonight. I booked this suite, and the adjoining one, for the night. We have to be out of here by noon tomorrow. But until then, we have the swimming pool facilities at our disposal, as well as room service, and anything extra that is offered that we can think of."

"What're the pool facilities?" Camille wanted to know from where she was stretched out on the floor.

"The pool, of course. And there's a water slide, a whirl pool, a hot tub, a sauna, a shower room to rinse off, and a snack and juice bar that is free for hotel guests. The suites are for our personal use, so use them all you want, just don't destroy them."

Carlos was already checking out the mini fridges. He pulled out tiny bottles of sparkling cider and fruit water.

"No mini bottles of champagne?" James cracked.

"Do you really think my dad wants to get caught serving minors alcohol in his hotel?" Stephanie retorted.

"I was joking. Kind of."

Carlos passed out the first round of the sparkling cider and we downed the bottles, before splitting up between the two suites to change into our swimsuits and slip into our cover-ups. I grabbed my towel, and shoved my feet into my flip-flops. I glanced at the other girls. I had never noticed, but both their fingernails and toenails were painted. I had never bothered with my fingernails because there was no point – it wasn't like anyone was going to gush over how pretty my nails looked when they were shoved into hockey gloves. And my toenails weren't really something I thought about too much, especially in the winter. But my friends all looked much more…feminine than me. And it wasn't just the painted nails. Their ponytails were much neater than mine, they were wearing lip gloss, and they had even taken the time to brush on a little waterproof mascara.

And that right there was the reason why they all had prospective boyfriends, and I was going to be stuck bantering with James while they were off flirting with the other boys.

James was the only boy who I ever really bothered to pay any attention to, and I didn't put a lot of thought into my hair or makeup, because the second I slammed on a hockey helmet my hair was going to get ruined, and my makeup would be sweated off within a half hour on the ice, but it suddenly made me wonder if I had given up any of my femininity for hockey. Was that the reason I had been the only girl to show up in jeans and sneakers, while the other girls were in skirts and dresses?

No. I shook myself mentally. That was so fucking stupid. Caring about makeup and my hair and clothes just wasn't my style. Sure, I was kind of a tomboy, but that didn't make me any less of a girl. I had to deal with my period. I had to wear a bra. Occasionally some douche bag would yell, "Nice ass!" at me and expect me to get the urge to get on my knees for him. And James had insinuated repeatedly that he wouldn't mind getting me naked. No. I was fine the way I was. Just a moment of self-doubt. It had been a rough day, and I needed to clear my brain.

The ten of us made our way down to the pool, where us girls shed our cover-ups and the boys pulled off their t-shirts.

I avoided looking at James, but I still managed to catch a glimpse of tanned skin before I cannon-balled into the pool.

It wasn't long before a game of hot potato began, followed by a game of chicken. Eventually, the games died down, and my mouth was as dry as the Sahara desert. I dragged myself out of the pool and wrapped a towel around my waist, slipping my feet into my flip-flops. I squeaked my way to the snack bar, where I ordered a strawberry lemonade.

The bartender pushed my lemonade across the counter to me and I took a sip. I felt a tingle shoot down my spine and my heart seemed to pound a little harder as I felt him come up behind me. There was a soft touch on my bare shoulder, and then James sat down next to me.

That was bad. I could sense James' presence. And it wasn't fair that my breathing seemed to catch and then quicken at the smallest of touches. So not fair.

"So," James said once he had ordered his own strawberry lemonade, "fun party so far, huh?"

I nodded. "Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves so far."

"Everyone but you."

My head snapped up at his words. "What're you talking about?"

"You've been really quiet since we left the suites. You didn't even try to throw the ball at my face or kick me in the balls or anything. So, what's up? Did something happen while we were changing into our swimsuits or something?"

I shrugged, sipping on my drink.

James fixed his gaze on me, piercing and dark. "What's wrong, Katie?"

"Nothing! I just – "

"You just what?"

"Never mind. It's stupid. Why'd you pull me into your lap?"

"Why'd you stay?" he retorted.

My eyes flicked up to his and he didn't blink. "I don't know," I finally said. "I really don't know."

"Really." He didn't sound convinced. "Because I definitely got a reaction out of you when I did this." Before I could move, he traced a single finger up the inside of my right knee, to my inner thigh, slowly trailing it out. I clenched my glass tightly, gritting my teeth to keep from letting out a whine. "Yeah," he said softly after a moment, a small smirk playing around his mouth, "no reaction at all."

"Fuck off," I snarled, getting to my feet. My flip-flops slid slightly on the damp floor tiles, and James stood up, grabbing my waist to keep me from crash landing. His hands rested big and hot on either side of my bare waist, my body pressed against his. Our gazes locked once more, and he slowly lifted one hand, dragging it tantalizingly slowly up to my ribs, to the side of my chest, tracing a line up my neck, and finally cupping my cheek. I tilted my head, knowing that any second his lips were going to be on mine, sweet, cool, and a little sour, just like the strawberry lemonade we had both been drinking.

And then there was a loud whoop from the pool area, and then I heard Kyle holler, "Yo, K-Squared! Get your ass out here, we're playing a spy game and we need your tininess!"

There was a long moment where James and I just looked at each other, his face unreadable, and then he dropped his hands. "You better get back out there. Your boyfriend's calling."

"He's not my boyfriend," I said automatically, feeling numb and shaken and maybe just the tiniest bit disappointed from what had almost just happened. "I keep telling you – "

At that moment, Kyle walked through the doorway. "Well?" he demanded. "Are you coming or what?"

"Whatever, Katie." James turned around and downed the rest of his lemonade, before pushing past us and out into the pool area.

Kyle stared at me. "What the hell was that all about?"

"It's nothing. Yeah, I'm coming. Let's kick some ass."

The next couple of hours were spent messing around in the pool, trying to fight the current of the whirlpool, sliding down the waterslide, and soaking in the hot tub. The last was definitely my favorite, and my body felt a little better after spending about half an hour in there, pressed up against one of the jets. Bruises were blossoming all over my stomach, shoulders, and back; some were from the day before, but the majority of them were from the game today. The guys had been playing rough out there, but the sad part was that I knew they had been holding back. They could have demolished us, sent us straight to the emergency room if they had really wanted to, but they hadn't. Sure, a couple of us had been hurt, but not seriously. If bruises were the worst that had happened during the game, then I needed to consider myself lucky.

It was after nine by the time we dragged ourselves out of the pool, but this time we were a smaller group – Logan and Camille opted to check out the sauna, and Kendall and Jo were planning on exploring the hotel. This left James, Shane, Kyle, Stephanie, Carlos, and me to troop up to our suites and shower. Once we were back in our clothes, we circled up in the suite we had been in earlier – now dubbed the Girls' Suite, since that was the one us girls were staying in – Stephanie making us sit in the middle of the living room, a bottle of sparkling cider and a Dixie cup of jellybeans in front of us. Bowls of chips, popcorn, and M&Ms were placed in the middle of the circle for easy access.

"Okay," Stephanie chirped, clapping her hands together in excitement. "We're going to play Never Have I Ever. If no one's played, here's how this is going to work. I'm going to start off by making a statement, beginning with the phrase 'never have I ever'. If anyone has done what I just said I've never done, they have to eat a jellybean. If no one's done what I just said I haven't done, then I have to eat one. We all have twenty jellybeans, and when only one person has some left in their cup, then they're the winner."

"Also the most boring person," James smirked.

Stephanie smirked back. "Or maybe the smartest person."

The smile slid off his face.

Her grin widened and she spoke. "Never have I ever…been to a rock concert."

James, Shane, Kyle, and I all popped a jellybean.

"Sweet," Steph said. "Katie, you next."

"Never have I ever…had morning wood," I smirked, and the boys all glared viciously at me as they popped their jellybeans. Stephanie snickered and high-fived me.

"Never have I ever…" James began, "had a period."

It was Stephanie's and my turn to glare and eat a jellybean.

Shane was up next. "Never have I ever…worn a bra."

Stephanie, James, and I all stuck a jellybean in our mouths, and Stephanie stared at James. "What the hell – "

"It was for the school play in middle school, when my character was pretending to be a girl in order to sneak into an all-girls' camp to save his best friend. Don't judge," he grumbled.

"I'd never dream of it."

Kyle spoke up next. "Never have I ever…played hockey against another team."

The rest of us made sure to cuss him out as another jellybean was popped.

Carlos rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Lemme see…never have I ever…worn makeup."

Again, James, Stephanie, and I popped a jellybean.

"Plays, remember?" James cried when Stephanie raised an eyebrow at him.

"Of course. I should've known. Never have I ever…jacked off in the shower," she said.

The boys tossed back another jellybean.

"Never have I ever…had a wet dream," I grinned.

The boys were really starting to hate me.

"Never have I ever…had trouble finding a bra that fit me right," James tossed at me, and I was the only one who had to swallow a jellybean.

"What's so hard about finding a bra that fits you?" Shane wanted to know. "You don't look like you have weird shaped boobs or anything."

James whacked him around the back of the head. "Rude."

"I don't have weird shaped boobs," I retorted. "I'm just a weird size. I have a small rib cage, but I actually do have a chest, more or less."

"Huh. Anyway…never have I ever…watched Pretty Little Liars."

This time, it was Stephanie, Carlos, Kyle, and me who had to gulp down a jellybean.

"Never have I ever…challenged someone to a battle of the sexes," Kyle said.

James and I popped a bean.

"Never have I ever…made out with someone in this room," Carlos smirked.

My face was burning as, with trembling fingers, I reached into my Dixie cup and pulled out a bean, tossing it back. James avoided my eyes as he did the exact same thing.

Shane's jaw dropped. "No way. No fucking way. You two made out?!"

"It was a long time ago," I assured him as Stephanie high-fived Carlos.

"Wait, when was this?" Kyle demanded.

"Seventh grade," James mumbled. "Ironically enough at another one of Stephanie's parties. We were playing Spin the Bottle and…well, you can imagine."

"Never have I ever…had my first kiss with someone in this room," Stephanie grinned at James and me. We scowled at her, popping another bean.

It wasn't long before our beans were gone. In the end, Kyle won the game.

"Told you," James said to me. "The winner of this game is always the most boring person."

"Just because he hasn't made out with someone in this room doesn't make him boring," Shane retorted. "Come on," he added to Kyle. "I'm hungry. Wanna go grab something?"

"Actually, I was thinking that maybe we should get room service," Stephanie announced. "And then we can play another game."

"I think I'm done with games for the night," I announced. "And I'm not really hungry."

"Yeah, I'm done too," James agreed.

Stephanie shrugged. "Okay. You two can head into the Boys' Suite in that case. But if you change your minds, we'll be in here."

I gave her the double thumbs up, before leading the way through the adjoining door between the two bedrooms. James locked the door behind him.

There was a moment of silence, before James asked, "You ever think about it?"

I looked up at him in surprise. "Think about what?"

"You know. Seventh grade. The kiss."

"Technically it wasn't seventh grade. It was the summer between seventh and eighth."

"You know what I mean."

I shrugged. "I guess I do sometimes. Think about it, I mean. You're the only person I've ever actually made out with, so…"

"Really?" He took a step closer to me. "I thought for sure there had to be another guy."

I shook my head. "Nope. In case you haven't noticed, boys don't really pay attention to me."

He barked out a short laugh. "You really don't know what goes on in a boys' locker room, do you?"

"It's a place I generally try to avoid."

"Trust me, boys pay attention to you. Most of the guys on the team think you're hot. Most of them think you'd be a wildcat in bed."

"Most of them?" I frowned. "Which guys don't think I'm hot?"

He rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you be more concerned with the fact that they're talking about what it'd be like to have sex with you?"

"They? Not you? You're not a part of that?"

"No. Because my personal thoughts about you aren't any of their damn business." He was another step closer.

"And what are your personal thoughts about me?" I asked, raising my head.

"You haven't figured it out?"

"I know you want to fuck me, but we both know that that's just animal instinct. We're competing against each other and our competition is extremely physical. But it's not really worth it." I was babbling now. "I mean, I highly doubt you're looking for another girlfriend after Devon, and I don't have time to date, and I don't want to."

James stopped dead. "You're not interested in dating?"

"No. I'm not – I'm not – " I licked my suddenly dry lips. "I'm not interested in anyone."

"That's bullshit," he said quietly, eyes narrowing dangerously. "That's bullshit, and you know it. You're interested in me. You can lie all you want, but you can't deny that on some level you're attracted to me."

"You're hot," I snapped. "And you keep coming on to me. Everything that you've gotten from me has been a natural physical reaction."

"Really? So you weren't going to let me kiss you down at the snack bar?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

"That's what I thought." He was moving towards me again, more swiftly. "You know what I think? I think you're scared."

"I'm not scared!"

"You are. You're scared of me. You're scared of what I make you feel. You're scared that I can make you lose control."

"I'm not scared of you or what you make me feel," I snarled, stalking towards him now. "And the day you make me lose control is the day hell freezes over."

We were so close now that if I had been standing on something we would have literally been nose to nose.

"Then we're going to wake up to an announcement that hell's gone into an ice age," James growled, hands going to my hips and jerking me against him. I instinctively braced my hands against his chest to balance myself out, and the next thing I knew his lips were on mine, hard and rough and angry and determined to prove something to me. I kissed him back just as hard and rough, and gasped when he bit at my bottom lip. My hands drifted up to his hair, my fingers entwining in his locks and tugging hard.

It was his turn to gasp, and he pushed me towards the bed, sending me onto my back on the mattress, before crawling on top of me. I met his lips hungrily, one of my legs draping over his waist, my arms winding around his neck to pull him closer. He grabbed my other leg, hitching it around his waist as well, and I hissed as our hips met. James forced his tongue into my mouth and I lifted my hips, letting them grind against his. He broke the kiss and our eyes locked in a heated stare. I wondered if my eyes were as dark as his were, but I didn't stop to think about it too much. Instead, I grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and yanked it up. He lifted his arms and I pulled it off, tossing it to the side, before pushing him onto his back and straddling him.

He smirked up at me. "Gonna let me be the only one half naked?"

"So fucking pushy." I pulled my own t-shirt up without a second thought. I probably should have considered about what I was doing, but all rational thought seemed to have abandoned me. All that was important was that James kept touching me, kissing me, and that I shut him up once and for all.

James' eyes widened as he took in my torso. "Did I do that?" He brushed his thumb over one of the bruises on my rib cage.

I shuddered.

"Does that hurt?" he asked, eyes looking up at me in worry.

I shook my head.

"Tell me I didn't do that to you." His voice had lost its taunting tone.

"I don't know who did that. Some of these bruises are from hockey practice. Some of them are from getting checked by you guys. But it's not a big deal."

"I think it is." The next thing I knew, I was on my back again. "I'll make sure the other guys know not to check you girls in the game."

"You don't have to – James – " I let out a gasp of surprise as his lips brushed over a bruise on my shoulder, before sliding down to my right bicep. His mouth drifted down to my stomach, carefully kissing each mark. My eyes fell shut as he kissed his way back up to my stomach, to my chest. He studiously mapped out each freckle on my chest that he could get to with his lips, before moving up my neck. I pulled his head up for another kiss, my fingers sliding down his chest to his abs, and into the waistband of his jeans. I broke the kiss after a long moment. "So…are you going to get these jeans off or not?"

Yeah, that was chapter ten. And James and Katie finally kissed. I know, I know, about time, right? Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read this! And if you could take the time to let me know what you thought of this chapter, I'd be super happy :) I know I've sucked at replying to reviews lately (I'm so sorry!) but I'm working on catching up on them, and hearing from you guys always makes me smile :)