Sydney is gone from our room, so I gingerly sit on my bed in the dark and plug in my phone and wait for it to get enough of a charge to turn on.
When the screen finally illuminates a series of texts pops up.
Nathan: Lying in bed. What are you doing? You know it’s 2:13, right?
Nathan: Everything okay?
And thirty minutes later.
Nathan: Be careful, princess.
I send him a text before I force myself to get up and get my shower stuff together. I need to wash off last night and nap before practice.
Me: I don’t think I’m going to make it to class today. Can you take notes for me? Pretty please with a blow job on top?
Nathan: Morning. Rough night? Sure. No need to bribe me with sex, princess.
Nathan: Ignore that. You can absolutely bribe me with sex.
Me: Hang tonight?
Nathan: Can’t. I promised Datson I’d help him with some footwork drills. Tomorrow?
Me: I don’t think I’ll be done ‘til late on Thursday. We have a tournament this weekend.
Nathan: Tournament where? Valley?
Me: Yes, it’s here.
Nathan: Sweet. Can you get me front row tickets?
I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling.
Me: Smartass, it’s general admission.
The rest of the week is busy. Classes are starting to get more intense, so keeping up with homework and assigned reading on top of the long practices and extra workouts is a bit grueling. I see Nathan in class, but we both have to blow off our project.
The tournament is a small fall exhibition with only a few other schools. Even so, I’m so nervous I can’t eat breakfast.
Coach pairs me with Emily and moves Bri with Sydney. It’s a switch from last year and from how we’ve been practicing. Emily and Bri have been partners most of their collegiate careers. I expect all the progress we’ve made being civilized to one another to come to a screeching halt, but Bri just nods and goes about her warmups.
I think she feels a little victorious when Coach dubs them the number one pairing. During the fall season, it doesn’t mean much. I know that and she knows that, but if it keeps the truce going, she can keep it… for now, anyway.
We warm up as a team first. Coach calls out the exercises from the sideline. Side lunges, shuffles, crossover, lateral bear crawl. Then we do ball drills—serving, passing, and hitting.
Finally, we break off into our pairs, and Emily and I jog to the fieldhouse. Once we’re there, we do some light stretches and then turn around and head back. We’re on court two so we head there for the official warmup. We work on peppering and serving warmups until I’ve blocked everything out.
“Work together. Quick transitions.” Coach Carter gives us a last-minute pep talk. She claps her hands and Emily and I walk to our starting side.
We’re up against Monte State first. I’ve played them before. They’re tough, but I’m confident in Emily and I working together. Her height and my athleticism is a good combo.
Before I take the first serve, I look to the side where a few spectators have crowded under a blue awning. Nathan smiles and lifts his chin in acknowledgment. Shaw is here, too, but I barely afford him a second glance. My stomach flutters at Nathan showing up for me.
My parents, who used to make every game, won’t be able to make as many now that I’m farther away, but it feels decidedly awesome to know I’m going to have Nathan here for me instead.
24
Chloe
“If you tell Sydney that I watched the season two final episode without her, she’ll kill me.”
“I won’t say a word,” Nathan promises from his seat next to me in the theater room. I hate to move from my big leather chair.
The end credits for the New Girl episode roll on the gigantic screen. The lights are dimmed, and my eyes are heavy. A party at the baseball house has Shaw and Datson gone, and Nathan said Joel was spending the night at Katrina’s house. The White House is quiet, which is weird, but it feels nice to be alone with Nathan.
Valley won every match today. Even Bri was in good spirits. I promised them I’d be back to the dorm in two hours to go out and celebrate. Nathan and I spent the first hour in the shower. And the bathroom counter. And the bed. After watching two episodes of New Girl, my time is up.
“Alright, I gotta go meet the girls,” I say but don’t move.
He chuckles, stands, and pulls me to my feet. “Wait. I need to give you something first.”
I let him drag me even as I say, “I don’t have time to make out again.”
He stops in the middle of the staircase and crowds into me until my back hits the wall. He kisses me hard until I forget what we were talking about. All too quickly, he’s pulling back and continuing up the stairs. “Come on.”
“Okay, so maybe a quickie. In fact, it’s fine if I’m fifteen minutes late.”
He laughs as I follow him to his room. He walks over to his desk and grabs his phone. His thumbs tap over the screen and looks up just as my phone pings.
I glance down at the money transfer notification.
“I never should have taken it knowing how I felt about you. And now...” He rubs a hand over his jaw. “I can’t accept it.”
“What about—”
“I’ll take care of it. It’s my problem. Besides, I would have agreed to be your fake boyfriend even without the money.”
I don’t need it, and I know he does, but I can’t think of how to say that without it coming across like pity.
He smiles wryly. “Okay, probably. Either way, it was the best fake out of my life. I got you.”
“Nathan, it’s not a big deal. Plus, you spent a lot of time helping me. It’s the least I can do to repay you.”
I want to ask what he’ll do without it and what it means for his family, but he wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. “I can think of other ways you can repay me.”
When Bri pulls up along the street of a residential area later that night, I scan the homes and the street signs. I don’t recognize either. I’d been buried in my phone texting Camila and updating her on the Nathan situation and hadn’t paid attention to where we were going. “Where are we?”
“One of the local football guys lives here. I think it’s his parents’ house,” Emily says.
Cars are lined up and down the street of the cozy residential area. The houses are big and the yards bigger, giving each one its privacy. Even still, I can hear the music from somewhere inside as we make our way up the street to the house.
When Emily opens the front door, I take a deep breath like it might be the last gulp of free air I get. There are so many people inside. I follow behind them, sticking close. Sydney is already here, but unless we run right into her, I don’t think I’ll be able to spot her.
It’s a little less crowded in the living room where a TV is on a Golden vs UCLA football game. There really is no escaping my past life. A year ago, I might have been there cheering in the student section with Camila. She has a thing for football guys. I glance around with her in mind. She’d be in heaven right now. There are so many big, burly guys I feel tiny by comparison.
UCLA scores and the room erupts in cheers. By some unspoken agreement, we move away from the noise and to the kitchen. We stand in line to get beer from the keg. Bri turns around and leans in, holding her phone up. “Sydney is upstairs in the library. She says to come up there after we get our drinks.”
“The library?” Emily snorts and then looks to me. She must read it on my face. “Your parents totally have a library, don’t they?”
“Where else do they store their first editions?” I mock.
Foamy beer in hand, the three of us make our way up the stairs. No easy feat with the steady traffic going up and down. The first room on the right opens up into a library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves covering the entirety of two walls. On the other main wall, there’s a huge gas-burning fireplace, lit for the night.
Sydney sits on
the couch in between Liz and a guy I don’t recognize sporting a hipster beard. Sydney waves us over with a big smile.
Emily and Bri take an empty love chair and Sydney scooches over closer to Liz to make room for me.
“Hey,” I say awkwardly to the guy I all but sit on top of trying to take my seat.
Sydney leans forward and turns to make more room for me. “Chloe, this is Frank.”
“Nice to meet you.” His brown eyes assess me.
I can’t tell if it’s interest or friendliness in his tone, but I do my best to keep mine polite with a clear signal I’m not looking for a random hookup just in case. “You, too.”
I look to Sydney and Liz, but they’re in a conversation about one of today’s matches and it feels weird to just butt in.
“You play volleyball, too?” Frank’s tone seems light, like he’s just making conversation to be nice.
“I do.” I nod. “Are you on the football team?”
He tilts his head back, and his mouth curls up around his black beard with laughter. “No.”
“Do you play any sport?”
He shakes his head this time. “Not for me. I like setting my own schedule. Sports are a little too time-intensive for me.”
I don’t know what to say to that. He’s not wrong, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I mean, obviously. I came all the way to Valley just so I could keep playing.
My phone lights up with a text from Camila. I clear it from the screen, but Frank’s eyes stare down at my phone. “That the boyfriend?”
I’m not sure about the title boyfriend, but I don’t correct Frank as he looks at the picture of Nathan and me on the beach laying in the sand. Our heads are tilted toward one another, and I’m smiling at the camera while he looks at me. I hold it up so Frank can get a better look. “Yep.”
He takes the phone and smiles wide. “No way, you’re dating Nathan Payne?”
I laugh at his reaction. It sends me back to when my roommates found out. The man has a reputation by name alone and everyone seems to know and like him, judging by Frank’s smile. “Yeah.”
“I know Payne,” Frank says. “I haven’t seen him around in a while. Now I know why.”
I take my phone back and place it screen down on my thigh. “He’s busy with practice, start of the season and all that.”
“Yo, Frank,” a deep voice calls from the doorway and I look up in time to see a large guy—definitely a football player, motion with his head for Frank.
“Well, duty calls.” He stands and glances down at me. He’s taller than I thought while he was seated. Long legs give way to a muscular build he wears confidently. “Tell Payne I said hello and if he’s changed his mind to give me a call.”
Nathan
“I’m so glad I don’t live here anymore, but I sure do miss you guys,” Zeke says as he crosses one ankle over the other.
Gabby’s perched on his lap, staring up at him totally dumbstruck in love.
“Missed you, too,” Joel says.
We’re sitting outside, just the four of us. Wes and Blair already left and Katrina’s home with her son Christian. Joel doesn’t stay at the house very often anymore, he splits his time staying at Katrina’s, ninety-ten in her favor, but with Zeke in town for the night, we all dropped any other plans so we could see him.
I discreetly check my phone.
“Heard from Chloe?” Gabby asks with a smirk that tells me she’s on to me.
“No.” My tone is strained but upbeat. “She’s out with the girls celebrating their win today.”
She chuckles. “I like her.”
“We know,” Zeke and I say at the same time.
“What, like it’s a crime to be excited that Nathan found someone that I really like? Can you imagine if one of us was dating someone the others didn’t like?”
“You mean like when Zeke started dating you?” Joel asks, somehow keeping a straight face.
Gabby’s mouth falls open, but Joel can’t stop himself from busting out laughing. Zeke wraps his arms protectively around his girl. “He’s kidding, baby.”
She stands, glaring and trying to pout but her lips tilt up into a smile. “I’m gonna go get a drink.”
Joel jumps up. “I’ll come with you. Guys?” He lifts his beer to ask if we want another.
I wave him off.
“How’ve things been?” Zeke asks. He’s going for casual, but Zeke never makes small talk. He wants to know if I’m still a mess, drinking to excess and waking up to nightmares that have me tearing apart my room. He had to deal with both on more than one occasion. He saved my ass more times than I’d like to admit.
“They’ve actually been good.” Which isn’t a lie. Things are good. The nightmares haven’t magically gone away, but I’ve stopped using booze to try and escape them.
“Did you get the money situation figured out?”
I blanch for a moment. Being the guy who always needs help gets old, but wait, I never told him about that. Then it hits me. “Gabby told you.”
“She tells me everything, man.”
I shake my head. I should have known. I guess it’s no secret. I’ve been struggling for as long as they’ve known me and looks like that’s going to continue to be the case.
Giving Chloe the money back was the right thing to do, but it puts me in a bind. I had to borrow half of it from Joel and the rest I got from a cash advance on my credit card. Neither of those feel super but owing Chloe and thinking any part of her was still with me because of it was something I just couldn’t live with.
“She worries about you. And I’m sorry about your dad. I wish you would have told me.”
“Talking about it made it real.”
He nods. “Well, if you’re looking for a job, I might have something for you.” I cringe inwardly, but before I can put my hesitation to words, he holds up a hand. “Hear me out. I met this guy.”
25
Nathan
Coach leans back in his chair and swivels to the side so he’s staring at the Michael Jordan poster on the wall. He hasn’t said a single word since I unloaded on him.
I told him about my situation, leaving out the parts about my mom failing to keep a job but ensuring he understood it was imperative that I have income coming in.
And I told him about Lincoln, the guy Zeke introduced me to. I’d been hesitant, but I’m actually excited about the possibility of working for him after talking to him on the phone this morning.
“This isn’t only my decision. I’ll need to follow the chain of command, but I’m inclined to allow it as long as you and Lincoln are both crystal clear on the rules set by the NCAA and follow them to the letter.”
My pulse quickens. Is this what it feels like to get a break? It’s been so long since everything in my life felt so in order.
“To the letter,” I agree and stand in a rush. I actually feel lighter.
“I’ll let you know when I have a decision.”
I nod and shift in my chair. “Also.” I clear my throat. “I never apologized or thanked you. I put you and the team in a bad position. I know that, I see it clearer now. Thank you for believing in me enough not to toss me on my ass.”
He huffs a laugh. “It was close.” He motions with his head to the door. “Get out of here. I like you better when you’re not sucking up.”
I smile and hurry to the door. That makes two of us. Plus, I’m meeting Chloe for lunch, and I can’t wait to tell her about the job.
“And Nathan?” Coach calls after me. I pause and turn back to see him smiling at me. “I hope it works out. It sounds like a great opportunity.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
I text Heath on my way to the dorms to tell him to call me after practice.
Sydney and Emily are leaving as I get to their room. I’m cheesing at them like a lunatic, and I can’t even help it. I’m so damn excited. “Hey.”
“Hey, Nathan,” Emily says, holding the door for me. “Chloe’s in her room.”
I
knock on her open door. “Chlo?”
“In the closet. Be right out.”
I plop down on her made bed to wait for her. The closet door opens, and she steps through looking like a vision. Brown midriff t-shirt and jeans that come up high on her waist so only a sliver of tanned stomach is visible. Her blonde hair is up in a ponytail, and I don’t think she has any makeup on, but she’s still the hottest girl I’ve ever seen.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say something stupid like I love you, but she speaks and saves me the embarrassment. “Where do you want to go to eat? I’m starving.”
“I was hoping I could convince you to stay in. We can order takeout. My treat. I finally found a new job.” Maybe I’m counting my singles before payday, but it feels like this might actually happen.
She crosses to the bed and sits on the edge, one leg dangling off the side. “When did that happen?”
“This morning. It’s perfect. I’ll be working with this guy who runs an online coaching website. It’s huge, every sport you could imagine.” So many more details I want to tell her, but I pull her on my lap and take her mouth.
“I missed you,” I say when she rests her forehead against mine. “We might need to establish some new rules.”
“Rules?”
“Mhmm.” I cup the back of her neck and run a thumb along the delicate spot between her ear and collarbone. “Rule number one, I need to see my girlfriend every day.”
She kisses me then, and we fall back onto the bed.
“Say it again,” she insists.
The Fake: A College Sports Romance (Smart Jocks #4) Page 17
