Saving Us: A novel of love and friendship (Northern University Book 1)

by Wendy Million

  “Like glass.” I nodded at the TV. “You don’t seem to be watching the game as intensely as other people.”

  “Not my team.” He angled his head at Annika and Johnny. “Speaking of intense.”

  “Every team is Annika’s team, I think.” I shrugged. “I have heard more times than I can count that there is always something to learn whenever I criticize her for watching yet another game.”

  A hint of a grin peeked out around the rim of his beer bottle. That was starting to be one of my favorite things about him—his concealed amusement. “Annika seems intense.”

  “Two speeds.” I held up two fingers. “Everything always and nothing ever.”

  “I saw that,” Annika called over the back of the couch. She laughed, and the sound floated around the room. “You’re giving your Annika speech again.”

  “You couldn’t have seen that,” I said.

  “Reflection in the TV. Today is an everything always day.” She grinned at me in the reflection as the commercial played.

  I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. It’s true. You’re the tortoise and the hare.”

  Sebastian chuckled at our easy banter, but then his smile faded. “You didn’t drop the hammer hard enough on your ex. He’s still staring us down.”

  “He didn’t believe me when I said nothing was going on between us.” I gave Sebastian a sideways glance.

  The same amused look crossed his face. He shook his head once and took a drink. “Strange.”

  Our eyes connected for a beat too long. “I know, right? I just met you.” I didn’t sound convincing, even to myself.

  The game ended and people milled around us, gathering up empties, putting away food, but we were still standing next to each other. Finally, Sebastian leaned over and said, “If you were still his girlfriend, he’d be right to be worried.” He kissed my cheek and finished his beer as he sauntered into the kitchen.

  My brain shouted yes, yes, yes and oh shit, oh shit, oh shit like dueling personalities, and my fingers skimmed the place on my cheek his lips had just been.

  Everyone started to pile out of the house, but Clay hung around until the bitter end to deliver a parting shot. “Nothing going on, huh? Whatever, Natalie. I thought you’d at least be honest with me.”

  As he walked down the path, Annika put her arm around my waist and pulled me close. “Out with the old and in with the new.”

  Chapter Five

  A few days later, Annika was packing for classes in the living room while I ate my breakfast. I hadn’t run into Sebastian, and my heart rate was finally returning to normal. Clay had gotten the message and was staying away.

  “I’m going to watch the football practice tonight. Did you want to come?” Annika shoved the last book in her bag.

  With a raised eyebrow, I took another bite of my toast. “Is that a trick question?” I sipped my coffee.

  She grinned. “Maybe? Come on. He’s clearly interested.”

  “Can’t be too interested. Unlike Mr. Quarterback, I haven’t been exchanging frantic text messages with Sebastian.”

  Annika sighed and sat on the edge of the couch, her rush out the door forgotten. “I like him, Nat. Like, really like him. He doesn’t talk down to me about football, and he hasn’t said even once that it’s dumb or impossible that I want to coach football someday.”

  “Good. You deserve a guy who believes in you.” I threw the last bite of toast in my mouth. “You guys going to do anything other than text each other back and forth?”

  “Friday night out to a club?” She gave me a hopeful look.

  “You want me to go too?” I swallowed my sigh.

  With my plate in the sink, I grabbed my mug off the table before sitting on the couch beside her. “Aren’t you going to be late?” I glanced at the clock above the TV.

  “Gah!” Annika jumped up. “Friday, please?” She slung her bag over her shoulder.

  “You know I will.” I took a long drink. “I’d never make you go alone. Should I call everyone from our dorm last year?”

  “Yes—yes—do that!” Annika grabbed her keys and threw open the door.

  As soon as Annika was gone, I picked up my phone and started texting people. I’d no sooner hit send on a text to Kristy, one of the girls who was also into football, when I got a reply.

  I heard Annika has been hanging out with Johnny McDade.

  The level of envy Kristy must be experiencing was probably out of control. She and Annika had spent hours talking about football and the shape of Johnny’s ass in his uniform. After I confirmed, I waited for her reply. When it didn’t come immediately, I decided to shower.

  Once I was done with the bare-bones beauty routine I kept, I checked my phone and saw several excited responses about the night out. But it was Kristy’s reply that kicked my heart into gear.

  Tell Annika to be careful. I’ve heard a few rumors. Nothing for sure.

  My fingers flew across my screen. She couldn’t say that and have me leave it alone. When he’d come to the house for the game, he’d been cool with me but the right temperature with her. He’d been charming and interested in what she was talking about. Since the football party here, Annika had been glued to her phone, texting him constantly, and he always responded.

  We’ll talk Friday. Like I said, rumors. Maybe it’s nothing.

  If the rumor was serious, she’d tell me now, right? Maybe he sleeps around. Wouldn’t surprise me with his looks and status on campus. Were he and Annika even a couple at this point? They spent a lot of time texting and talking, and they’d hung out a few more times. But had they labeled it?

  Kristy planted the seed of uncertainty, and I had a hard time not cultivating it.

  When I got back from class later that day, Annika was home texting Johnny while streaming game tape on her laptop.

  “Whatcha doing?” I peered over her shoulder.

  “Johnny sent me his footage and we’re talking about their away game.” Annika paused the video and typed to him in a chat window.

  “So, what’s going on between you two?” I asked. “I know you like him, but has he made a move on you, or does he just enjoy talking about football with hot girls?”

  She stopped typing to him mid-stroke and turned to me. “We kissed the other night under the bleachers after his game.”

  “So, are you two…” I trailed off, not sure what I should say. “Exclusive?”

  Annika rolled her eyes. “He’s the quarterback of the college football team. A Division I school. I’m not even sure the word ‘exclusive’ is in his vocabulary.”

  “Are you okay with that?” Kristy’s earlier text messages were at the forefront of my mind.

  “For now, yeah. It’s fun. He’s fun. When it’s not fun anymore, I guess I’ll decide what to do then. Do I push for exclusive? Do I accept that he might never be a one-woman man?”

  I shuddered. “You’d accept that?” My mind drifted to Sebastian. No matter how hot he was, no matter what kind of attraction I felt, I couldn’t do that. One thing I’d always known about Clay, without ever having to question it or think about it, was that he was faithful.

  Annika closed the chat window and lowered her laptop lid. “One hundred percent he’ll be turning pro when he’s done with college. The only way that doesn’t happen is if he suffers some sort of catastrophic injury. How many professional athletes are faithful? Like one hundred percent faithful? I bet it’s a painfully small number. Think about the girls throwing themselves at them here, then magnify that across a country. If it comes to it, I have to decide if he’s worth it. If being with him is worth knowing I’m probably not the only one.” Annika shrugged her shoulders. “Where do you think the term side-chick comes from? Male-dominated professional sports.”

  “You’ve considered this.” It was sort of stunning.

  “Yep.” She drew out the word. “Far, far too much. My high school fantasy was marrying a pro football player.”

  When I started to interject at her mention of mar
riage when they’d only kissed, she laughed, and the sound bounced around the room, causing me to grin involuntarily.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not thinking about marrying Johnny after one kiss and knowing him for a week. What I’m saying is that this guy, this moment, it’s not the first time these things have crossed my mind. It’s been years of obsessing.” She let out a sigh. “Years.”

  “I don’t want you to get hurt.” A beat stretched between us. Kristy’s ominous text gnawed at my mind.

  “He’s intense,” Annika agreed. “It’s kinda one of the things I appreciate about him. He’s me on an everything always day except he’s that every day.”

  “Balance is good, right?” I flicked on the coffee maker.

  “He’s balanced.”

  I was on the cusp of offending her. “Cup of coffee?” I held up a mug and effectively shut down the conversation. She nodded but said nothing else. For a few minutes, I listened to the coffee percolate. “What time is practice?”

  She checked the clock above the TV. “It’ll be starting now. Are you coming?”

  “Can I drop you off and take your car to the bookstore? I’ll swing back and pick you up after?” I got out a couple of to-go cups.

  “Sure.” She walked down the hall to her room. “Just grabbing a sweater!”

  We drove to the field, mostly in silence. Her rationalization replayed in my head. Being with a football player, professional or not, couldn’t be worth such a massive moral compromise.

  “How good is Sebastian?” I asked Annika before she got out of the car.

  She glanced over her shoulder and slumped down in the seat instead of exiting the vehicle. “Don’t overthink it,” she said. “I’m not overthinking it with Johnny, I’m going with the flow for now. It can be fun. It doesn’t have to be forever.”

  Sebastian’s half smile when he was amused, his hazel eyes, the depth of his laugh, all surfaced in my mind. “It’s so risky.” A pit formed in my stomach.

  She sighed. “Then I guess you deserve to know the risk. He’s good. The reason he came to our college was to have a year playing with Johnny, and the second-string QB is also very good when Johnny leaves. Sebastian could go pro if he stays healthy. College ball is a long program, though, and a lot happens.” Annika hiked her bag up on her shoulder and pushed the door wider. “Be back in an hour and a half?”

  “Sooner, if I can.”

  At the bookstore, my focus was on everything but buying books. Annika’s words kept floating around in my head. I couldn’t get involved with Sebastian if there was a chance he was one of those guys. It didn’t matter how hot he was or how charming he seemed.

  I drove into the parking lot at the field just as practice ended. Getting out of the car, I leaned against the passenger door. I’d have to have to figure out a way to avoid Sebastian on Friday night if we were going out together. This attraction wouldn’t gain traction in me.

  As Annika made her way to the car, Johnny had his arm slung across her shoulders and she clutched his waist. Involuntarily, I scanned the mix of guys and groupies, looking for Sebastian. When I spotted him, my heart sank. There was a dark-skinned, dark-haired girl clinging on to him as he tried to walk. He was laughing, and the sound drifted in my direction. I turned away; it didn’t matter.

  When I focused on Annika again, she was watching Sebastian, annoyance clear in her features, but he didn’t seem to notice either of us.

  At the car, Johnny kissed Annika on the forehead and smoothed her hair behind her ears. The tenderness made me wonder if Annika would be different from the other girls. They did have a lot in common.

  “Nat.” Johnny acknowledged me before squeezing Annika one last time and disappearing into the locker rooms.

  Annika slid into the passenger seat and sighed. I looked over, but I said nothing. She probably needed to sort out her stance on cheating sooner rather than later. It seemed like she was slipping deeper and deeper into something with him.

  I knew where I stood, and it was nowhere near that relationship quicksand.

  Chapter Six

  The doorbell rang, and I ran to get it. Annika was applying one last coat of foundation on her face. She’d had a minor breakout and was stressing about how stress had caused her face to combust. The smallest pimple I’d ever seen in my life, but she was convinced the redness stood out more on her brown skin than it would on my pale skin. I didn’t know how to argue that, so I didn’t bother. Instead, I got the door and regretted it.

  Johnny, Sebastian, Troy, and what felt like a boatload of other football players were standing on the threshold. Many of them were armed with cases of beer.

  “Nattie!” Sebastian exclaimed and enveloped me in a hug. Apparently, he wasn’t carrying the beer today; he drank it before he came. His enthusiasm for me could only be alcohol inspired.

  “Where’s Annika?” Johnny zoned in on the one person who seemed to hold his interest. Should I be offended he couldn’t even manage a hello?

  “She’s getting ready,” I said over Sebastian’s shoulder while he hugged me a little too long. His muscles fit against my body, but that didn’t matter because my emotions were rock solid under control. As soon as my heart rate got the memo, I’d be golden. Why did he have to smell so good?

  “You smell amazing,” he whispered into my hair before drawing back.

  “Soap.” Not true. My scent had layers. Body wash, lotion, some sort of spray Annika had insisted on using, and then my normal perfume spritz into my crown. Something delicious that had just finished baking had nothing on me.

  Not that it mattered if he thought I smelled nice. Nope. I had other fish to fry tonight. I was most definitely not going to be frying his fish.

  Annika emerged out of the hall, and Johnny’s gaze raked over her. My heart rate sped up, but not in a good way. That possessive glint was back. Annika flushed and let him drag her into a kiss in front of everyone.

  Looked pretty official to me. The other guys continued talking as though Johnny devouring someone was normal. Maybe it was.

  The location of our house straddled the best of both worlds. We could walk to campus if we wanted, and we were also close enough to the downtown core to walk there too. We joked we’d be party central. Neither of us could have predicted these party guests when we got this place.

  The other girls showed up not long after the football guys cracked a beer. Pre-drinking commenced, and I did a surprisingly good job of avoiding Sebastian. The fact he was doing a remarkably good job of introducing himself to my girlfriends was also not lost on me.

  So great for him and the girls fawning over him. I did not care who he talked to or what he did. That’s right, not a care in the world about him.

  Annika eyed me as she grabbed two beers out of the fridge in the kitchen. “Why are you hanging out in here? Sebastian’s out there flirting with everyone else.” She flipped off the tops of the bottles with the opener and held them between her fingers.

  “Exactly.” I took another drink of my beer.

  “Oh, come on. You have to be in it to win it.” She gave an exaggerated wink.

  “I don’t want to be in it. Our talk the other night put this crush in perspective. Maybe you can watch Johnny flirt with other girls and maybe you can think about him sleeping around, but that’s not me. There’s a reason I’ve avoided sporty would-be-famous guys.”

  “Any guy can cheat, Nat.” She peeked around the corner of the kitchen. Johnny was chatting with a few other girls. “If it’s fun, just let it be fun.” She leaned against the counter, her focus divided between me and Johnny. The norm lately—only having half her attention.

  “Are you actually happy?” I asked.

  Annika shrugged. “Yeah, I am. We have so much in common, and he treats me with respect. Isn’t that what your dad is always going on about? Find a guy who treats you right and hang on tight?” She laughed. A few people in the living room turned and grinned at the sound.

  Kristy wandered over, a drink poised
between her fingers. “What’s so funny over here?” She sipped her drink.

  Annika patted my shoulder and nodded toward Johnny. “I’m going back. Don’t hang out here permanently, okay?”

  I took a sip of my drink. “What’s up, Kristy?” She slid into position beside me.

  “They’re dating, huh?” She watched Annika with a mix of envy and another emotion I couldn’t place. Her dark hair cascaded off her shoulders.

  “They are, I think,” I said. “Annika seems to be trying to keep it low key. But I’m sure you understand how excited she is that he’s interested.”

  “Mmm hmm.” Kristy took another sip.

  We both stood watching them for a minute before I decided to ask what had been on my mind since we made our night-out plan. “What was with those cryptic text messages?”

  Her blue eyes darkened, and she shook her head. “I’ve just heard something about him. Bit of ’roid rage.”

  “What?” I asked in disbelief. “Like he has a temper because he uses steroids, or he hits girls?” My dad was a police officer in my hometown, and I’d heard heartbreaking stories at the dinner table for much of my childhood.

  Kristy frowned, and her petite features clouded as she focused on me. “I don’t know. I asked around when someone said Annika needed to be careful, but as soon as I started asking questions, people clammed up.” Her crop top lifted and lowered with the tiniest shrug. “He’ll be drafted at the end of this year. First round, probably. No one wants to say anything that’ll get him in trouble if there isn’t any proof.”

  I looked at Johnny with fresh eyes. “How certain are you that this has happened before?”

  Her dark hair swirled around her shoulders when she followed my gaze to Johnny. “Not at all certain. It was one comment by one girl in my class because she realized I was friends with Annika. Maybe she’s jealous? When I pressed her, she wouldn’t tell me anything else. Everyone always just says he’s ‘intense.’”

  Intense. I wasn’t about to disagree with that assessment. His laser focus on Annika was either flattering or disturbing. I hadn’t decided which yet.