imagines ◦benny rodriguez / luis mendoza

mendoza was here (part two) ◦ luis mendoza

The team piled into the cramped locker room, in a blur of congratulations and support from one another.

"Luis! Sweet lift into the top shelf man, too cool." Charlie said, lifting his jersey up and over his head.

She mentally rolled her eyes and sat in her usual spot, taking off her gear piece by piece.

Her content state of mind was soon destroyed when Luis sat down next to her, after removing his jersey.

She didn't dare look up. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of earning her attention.

"Thanks man, gotta impress the girls somehow." he said with a chuckle, followed by the laughter of some of the other teens.

She let out a quick sarcastic laugh, followed by a questioning look from her best friend who sat across from her.

As much as she loved her team mates, she always considered Connie to be her best friend. She had always been someone Camryn could confide in about personal issues, including her routine 'hook ups' with Luis.

'Don't feed.' were the two words she was able to read from her best friends lips. With a pleading look, Camryn sighed and nodded before leaning her back against the lockers behind her.

Not feeding into his shit was something she struggled with for the past few weeks. She knew he was only doing it to get a reaction from her, but God, she never wanted to slap someone more than she wanted to slap him.

After a few more minutes of chatter, her coach came in delivering a few worlds of praise to his team. She appreciated his authority, but she wouldn't let herself get too excited, she knew what was coming.

"Collins,"

There it was.

She looked up at her coach who, ironically, was someone she actually looked up to. She was inspired by his enthusiasm and will to do good for the team.

He walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her. "That was a great play in the last period, your assist on Guy's goal was phenomenal, but I still feel like you weren't fully there during the first two periods,"

She was mad. Not at her coach, but at herself. Her playing had been sloppy for the past few weeks and she hated it. She wanted her focus back.

Luis had finished removing his gear by then, and sat beside her still in sweatpants and a t-shirt. He had been re-taping his stick for what felt like hours, even though it had only been a few seconds.

She mentally groaned, knowing he was hearing everything coach was saying to her. She didn't want him to know about her weaknesses. Not anymore.

"So whatever it is that's got you distracted, forget about it. When you're on the ice, that's all that matters. Don't let negativity interfere with something that makes you happy." he encouraged. If only he knew the half of it.

Wanting the conversation to be over, she smiled and nodded. "Thanks coach."

He smiled before talking to a few more of her teammates and left the locker room.

The discussions among her friends filled the cluttered space, as she removed her last knee pad. She sat on the bench in leggings and a t-shirt, disappointed in herself and the way she had been playing. All she wanted was to do good.

"So," fuck.

She looked to her left to see the boy that angered her the most, focused on the black hockey tape he was still wrapping around his stick.

"Distracted huh?" he asked, not taking his eyes away from what he was doing.

She scoffed, loud enough for him to hear, and pulled one knee up to her chest, letting her other leg dangle from the bench. She leaned her head against the lockers, mentally begging Connie to hurry up.

"Sorry to tell you Cams, but you could OD on all the Aderall in the school, and still be distracted by my dangerously good looks and memories of my incredibly talented mouth." he said, knowing no one else could hear him as they were all focused on their own conversations.

The girls jaw clenched in anger. Why was he being sarcastic with her? He was the one that wanted to stop whatever it was that they had in the first place.

She struggled to ignore him when she felt his warm hand come in contact with her upper thigh, sending a buzz through her veins that she had been deprived of since their last 'one on one' time together.

Her body tensed when he leaned closer to her.

"How about that double assist though?" he said lowly. Her eyes traveled down to his hand on her leg and she swallowed hard. She couldn't muster up the strength to get up and leave. She missed his warmth.

"I'd say we make a pretty good team." he whispered in an almost inaudible tone. And with a slight squeeze on her upper thigh, she regained her will power, removed his hand and quickly turned her body to face him.

"Fuck you." she said, venom dripping from the two words.

He stifled a laugh, and leaned back into the lockers, smirking.

"Not now. We're in public, hot stuff." he said casually.

The girl was fuming. "Fuck you, Luis." she spoke through gritted teeth.

The boy cocked an eyebrow, his infamous smirk still rested on his lips. "You know Cams, you're kinda hot when you get angry, tell me more." he said, sitting up a bit.

"You're such a douchebag. Are you forgetting that you're the one who wanted to put and end to our whole 'no strings attached' thing? You clearly stated that you didn't want this" she motioned between the two of them before continuing. "to be a thing any more. This ones on you Luis." She whispered angrily.

She quickly stood up and gathered her things before leaving the locker room.

Why did he have to be like that? Why was he so complicated? Why didn't this hurt him as much as it hurt her?

The sound of her best friends voice calling after her to catch up made her stop in her tracks.

"Cams, what just happened?" Connie asked, sounding concerned.

Camryn turned around. "I hate him." she said with tears in her eyes.

Connie frowned, and shook her head. "No you don't."