Avery is a cheating shit.
Jesse mutters this to herself while getting ready to go out on Saturday night after a loss to the Ravens, Evergreen College's women's basketball team. Jesse is the captain of the Golden Eagles.
She tucks a black button-down into her jeans and buckles her belt. She fixes her short, cropped brown hair in the mirror and nods to herself. She's going out tonight with the team anyway -- fuck the Ravens. They worked hard this season and she's damn well going to celebrate with whiskey shots and dancing at the city's gay bar.
The night starts off well. Good music - the kind with a beat that she can roll her body to, relax into, let go of her stress. There's some good bangers that she sings along to with her teammates, smiling and buzzing with whiskey warm in her stomach. But when the night grows late, she notices Avery at the front of the bar, paying for her cover, and the whiskey rolls in her stomach. She clenches her jaw and Avery glances up, making eye contact. God dammit.
Jesse rips her eyes away before she can see how Avery responds, spinning around to the group on the dancefloor.
"What -?" her friend Tasha asks, peering behind her. "Oh. Whatever, Jesse. Fuck her. We came here to have a good night and that's what we're gonna do."
Jesse groans but nods. "You're right. Fuck it. I came here to dance." And she does, pretending like Avery isn't there, buying a drink at the bar, looking hot as hell in a leather jacket, then joining the other side of the dancefloor. She's definitely not thinking about her. She's having a great time, and not resisting a nagging urge to steal glances. Nope. Just dancing.
After a high energy song and at least an hour of dancing, Jesse gulps down a cup of water at the bar.
"Thirsty?" The familiar voice makes her shoulders tense.
She turns around. "Fuck off, Avery."
"Oh come on. I just wanted to say good game, captain."
Jesse scoffs. "That's rich, coming from someone who plays dirty."
Avery playfully frowns, and takes a step closer to her.
"I don't play dirty..." she says, glances down at Jesse's body, flicks her eyes back up to hers. She lowers her voice and smirks. "At least, on the court." Her seductive voice makes Jesse's blood grow hot.
"Whatever," Jesse rolls her eyes, trying to push past her.
"Wait -" Avery says, grabbing her arm. Jesse glares at her hand and Avery lets go. "Let me buy you a drink." At her continued glare, she adds, "Please. Captain to captain. Consider it good sportsmanship."
Jesse grits her teeth. "Fine."
This draws half a smile from Avery. "Great. Let me surprise you. I'll meet you out there."
Jesse rejoins the dancefloor with her heart still pounding as fast as when she left. She resumes dancing halfheartedly, distracted. The song changes to a slower number, with a deep bass that Jesse feels vibrating through her body.
Avery emerges with two shots of brown liquor, handing a glass to Jesse.
With the music so loud, she leans into Jesse's ear and yells, "If you can guess what it is, I owe you a pickup game. If you can't, you owe me a kiss."
Jesse pulls back and raises an eyebrow at her. She leans her body close to Avery to reply, and she pretends not to notice how hot their bodies feel pressed against each other, hoping that her warm skin doesn't look flushed under the bar's lights. Her lips next to Avery's ear, she yells back, "What makes you think I want either of those things from you?"
Avery shrugs and raises her glass to Jesse's. Jesse shakes her head and tips the shot back into her throat. Then she smiles. "It's Jameson," she laughs. "I'm a whiskey girl, you didn't stand a chance."
Avery nods and toasts her empty glass to Jesse. "Pickup game it is."
Jesse shakes her head again, still laughing, as the song changes to a great beat, and her body moves of its own accord. The conversation breaks off as the dancefloor blends into crowded dancing bodies, Avery near her but not quite dancing with her. Instead, she feels her eyes on her, watching her shake her hips and roll her body. Jesse's skin feels hot and a distinct throbbing in between her legs begins to form.
She needs to dance with someone and she pulls Tasha to her, knowing that her friend won't find it weird, and they move their bodies together and grin.
"What the fuck is happening here?" Tasha laughs.
"I don't know!" Jesse yells.
She turns around, grinding her ass against Tasha, and catching eyes with Avery, who openly watches her. This time, she can't look away. She keeps dancing under Avery's heated gaze, feeling her anger and attraction to this girl simmering.
Impulsively, she pulls Avery close and brings her lips to her ear. "I don't want to fucking play basketball with you!" she yells. Avery hasn't stopped dancing, and now it's right against Jesse's body.
"Okay," Avery smiles, unbothered.
"You're an asshole," Jesse says halfheartedly, her anger dulling to the rhythm of the music and the buzz of the whiskey and the feeling of Avery dancing against her and Tasha behind. Her feelings leave her head and settle in her body, thrumming with heat.
Avery's hands come to Jesse's waist. "Am I?" she asks.
"Yes," Jesse answers, their lips inches apart, but neither closes the distance. Avery keeps looking to her lips and back to her eyes, the tension burning between them, and Jesse can't take it anymore. She turns away from Avery, mouthing 'What do I do?' to a smirking Tasha.
"You fuck her, that's what!" Tasha yells in her ear, very unhelpfully, before leaving her stranded on the dancefloor with her searing desire and Avery's hands on her waist. Fuck.
She can't bring herself to turn back around to face Avery, so she presses her back into her chest, grinding to the beat and guiding Avery's hands down to her hips, rolling them back into hers. "Fuck," she hears Avery murmur against her ear. A fire burns down Jesse's body.
The song changes to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", and Jesse pulls away, taking a step back and shaking her head at Avery, who is smiling and singing along. Avery pulls Jesse's hands in and guides her in a silly dance, crooning "Ohh, don't cha wanna dance, say you wanna dance, don't cha wanna dance?"
Jesse smiles and rolls her eyes, singing along and deciding to let go into whatever the fuck is happening here. Together they sing " I wanna feel the heat with somebody / Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody / With somebody who loves me." Avery spins her, but it's a little too fast and she loses balance, falling back into Avery's arms.
"Sorry," Avery laughs, steadying her. Jesse looks at this girl she's competed against all season, watched from across the court, envied for her skill, hated for her ruthless strategy, barely spoken to. Then her eyes flicker down to Avery's chest, where she's still gripping the edges of her leather jacket for balance, and to Avery's lips, and to Avery's eyes... that are watching her with an intensity that shoots jolts of electricity through Jesse's body.