Once practice ended for the day, Brooklyn thought she had a solid idea of what she would say to him. Lots of stern warnings. She’d get the police involved if she had to. Restraining order, harassment charges—whatever she had to do.

She changed her clothes, her heart already pumping at the pending confrontation. With her adrenaline fueling her, she said goodnight to her ladies, made sure Claire and Annabelle were okay, then stormed over to the men’s side of the training facilities.

She didn’t stop to ask permission or see who was around. She went straight through the doors, pushing them open like she owned the place, like she belonged there, though she was forbidden from entering.

In the first row of lockers, there was just one man. It wasn’t Dustin. He looked at her with a shocked expression as he stood there with his shirt off. At least he hadn’t been naked.

“Where’s Dustin?” she demanded.

His face changed, like he now understood why she looked pissed. “Down at the end.” He nodded.

She stormed in that direction, pausing to look down each row as she passed. Then she heard him. His loud, obnoxious voice laughing and carrying on. It sounded like he was talking to a few of the other players.

“Oh, man, that is a great shot!” Dustin said. “You can see everything.”

Brooklyn froze. What were they talking about? There was no one in the row beside where Dustin was, so she slid in and stood where she could hear their conversation. She’d never been in the habit of eavesdropping before, but it seemed like today was the day for that sort of thing. First Annabelle, Claire, and Holly, and now Dustin and who knew who else.

“Man, you gotta get one of Holly!” Dustin said.

Brooklyn felt her blood heat up. Were they talking about photos? Then, she recognized Hayden’s voice. “Ah, I don’t know. We’ll see.”

So, Holly was dating Hayden then? Was that it? And Dustin wanted a photo of her. And she was sure he didn’t want some cute pose with clothes on. At least Hayden had played it off. Sounded like he hadn’t done anything too despicable.

“Pic or it didn’t happen.” This time it was Alex talking. She made a mental note of who said what so she could report back to her ladies and to their coach.

Hayden laughed. “I sent you a pic.”

Brooklyn gritted her teeth. So much for liking Hayden.

“But it didn’t show anything. A selfie of the two of you doesn’t count,” Dustin said. “I want boobs, and preferably with some pussy. How do we know you didn’t just take her out and not close the deal?”

“I guess you’ll just have to trust me then,” Hayden said.

Okay, maybe he was back on her good side. For now. Tentatively. He was on probation, she decided.

“You’re never going to win with that attitude,” Alex said.

“Nice to see you’re finally getting a little competitive,” Dustin said. “I thought I was going to cruise through this one all alone.”

Win? This one? What were they talking about?

“Nah, just because I got off to a slow start doesn’t mean I don’t plan to beat you in every way,” Alex said. “It’s Hayden who we have to worry about dropping out.”

“Pfft. Okay,” Hayden said. “Just because you two run off and hit on all the ladies to see which one might bite doesn’t mean that’s my game. I have a plan.”

“So, you’re done with Holly?” Dustin asked. “Who you moving onto next?”

“Oh, I don’t know that I’m done with Holly,” Hayden said.

“How will you ever sleep with all the cheerleaders if you don’t move on fast?” Dustin asked. “I’ve slept with two and Alex with one. We’re going to beat you easy. You better step up your game if you want any chance of winning.”

Brooklyn gritted her teeth and now her blood was full on boiling. Sleep with all the cheerleaders? So, they were having some sort of contest to see who could sleep with the most cheerleaders?

“I’m going to sleep with them all first, and you’ll have to take my sloppy seconds,” Dustin said, laughing.

Or was the contest to sleep with all the cheerleaders first? She balled her hands into fists, and it was all she could do to not punch the locker. Who did he think he was? What gave him the right to pull some sort of shit like this? Like he had some right to just go and sleep with them all, mess with their heads and feelings, all for the sake of some contest. She wished she’d had this recorded so she could play it for her ladies. They might not believe her. They might not think these guys were capable of something so awful. Yet, here they were, discussing who their next victim would be. Well, not if she had anything to say about it.

She was about to step around the side of the lockers, ready to tear into them, when she heard something that made her pause.

“I got so many likes on this one, it’s crazy,” Dustin said.

“You’re barely beating me,” Alex said. “The internet loves Lucy as much as Ricky did.”

“I wish this photo of Annabelle was better. Everything with her just happened so fast, and it was dark when I tried to take it. This one of Claire is perfect, though. Full bush and everything!”

They all laughed. That was it.

Brooklyn stormed around the side, her face so hot, it might explode.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” she shrieked.

Three startled football players turned and gave her a wide-eyed look. They were dumbfounded into silence.

“Who the hell do you think you are, sitting around posting photos of my squad?” She put her hands on her hips and looked at each of them pointedly.

They exchanged looks with each other. Hayden, at least, had the grace to blush and look away.

“Just a little innocent fun,” Dustin said.

“Innocent? Posting naked photos of someone online is innocent?”

“Sure. Just fun. I mean, come on, everyone is loving them. It’s not like people are putting them down. People think they’re hot.” Dustin smirked.

“And you think that somehow makes it okay? You can’t go around posting photos like that! Take them down immediately!”

“Calm down,” Alex said. “It’s not as big of a deal as you think.”

“Oh sure, easy for you to say when it’s not your private areas displayed for the world to see,” she said.

“How do you know there aren’t naked photos of me up there too?” Dustin said.

“Who the fuck cares if there are?” Brooklyn could barely hold herself together. “Take them down now. And you will all stop this contest immediately. Stay away from my ladies. All of them.”

“You can’t tell them what to do,” Hayden said. “If they want to spend time with us, they have that right.”

“If anyone of them are stupid enough to do that, I will be sure to let them know everything that happened here today. And I’m not telling them. I’m telling you. Stay away.”

Dustin laughed. “I’m not going to turn them down if they come after me. And it seems like they all want me. Sorry, princess. You’ll just have to deal. I’m sure it’s hard not being the one to get the hookup, but you can still have me anytime you want me, baby.”

Brooklyn pulled her fist back and let it fly directly into Dustin’s chin. She didn’t take her self-defense class for nothing. She was trained for this sort of thing, and she was going to use all her skills and training when she needed to. This was the best time to put her fighting skills to use—to put an end to the injustice she overheard today. She couldn’t wait to tell the ladies and the Polar coach what was going on.

Alex laughed as Dustin stumbled backward. “Oh, damn, you got clocked.”

Dustin rubbed his jaw and glared at Brooklyn. “I should have you arrested for assault.”

“Go ahead,” she said. “And I’ll be sure to tell the media exactly the type of person you are. All of you. I’m sure even the star quarterback couldn’t come out unscathed from this sort of sexiest, despicable act.”

“Look,” Hayden said. “No one’s been seriously hurt. I’m sure Dustin will take the photos down. It was just a little fun between us guys. Nothing to get upset over. I’m sorry if it sounded like we planned to use your ladies. We would never want to mistreat women.”

“Don’t try to make yourself sound better and save face now, pretty boy,” she said. “The damage is done. I’ll say it one last time. Stay away from my ladies. All of them.”

She spun on her heel and barged her way into the hall where the coach’s office was. The door was locked, and it didn’t look like there was a light on. He must be gone for the day. Well, fine. It would give her a chance to gather her thoughts and make sure she said all she needed to say.

Brooklyn stormed out to her car, rage still boiling hot in her veins. She could barely see straight enough to get the door unlocked and the car started. All of her rage from her ex-boyfriends came flaring up, the fresh indignation of what she overheard in the locker room mixed with her ladies’ outright refusal to do what she’d asked to protect themselves. She screamed at the top of her lungs and pounded her fists on the steering wheel.

She managed to make it home, and when she got there, she typed fervently into her computer an angry letter that she planned to send to the guys’ coach the next day. She also typed up a less angry letter to her own squad’s coach, Sarah, so that she would know what had happened to the Princesses and what she had done about it.

She drank half a bottle of wine, reread her letters before hitting send, and felt confident in what she’d done. She was taking action, standing up for her squad mates, and hopefully preventing anyone else from being hurt. This could not be allowed to continue. And as long as she had a say, it would not.