Just a Little Complicated: A Highschool Sports Romance (SANCTUARY COVE Book 1)

by REESE COLLINS

  "Oh, hey everyone!" I greet Issy, Tyler, and Mason with a big grin. "Full car tonight. Unlucky to be designated driver tonight, Tyler?"

  Issy and Mason laugh, but Tyler just shrugs. I've never seen him drink, I wonder what his deal is. Not that I have any judgment against it. In fact, I'm kind of impressed that he hasn't given in to peer pressure to drink, which I assume he's gotten on more than a few occasions.

  Also, when did he and Mason become close? Can't say we ever carpooled with Tyler before? But then again, Tyler also never came to parties before Issy.

  Mads doesn't live far away, so we are pulling up to her house in a matter of minutes. Her parents are away in Europe for a month, so naturally she and her sister have a party the first weekend they are away.

  Maddy is actually a twin, her sister Mia, goes to the Arts school across town. She is training to be a Ballet dancer and is crazy good.

  Mason jumps in front of me as we approach the front yard. This kid is hyped tonight.

  "Old times' sake?" he raises a brow and gives me a cheeky grin before turning his back to me.

  Ahh, now I get it. We used to have this thing where he'd piggyback me into parties. It all started because I was so much shorter and would always get caught in the crowd as we walked through and sometimes got a little knocked around. Just the usual short person challenges. I've long since been able to pull my own weight and bustle through, but the tradition continued. Until we broke up.

  "Really?" I exhale but give him a smile before jumping onto his back.

  "Oomph," he grunts, faking to struggle under my weight.

  "Hey, watch it, buddy!" I give him a light slap across the back of his head.

  He however carries me across the lawn and into the party with ease. Mad's house is a mix of Spanish and Mexican revival inspired with lots of circular archways, terracotta floor tiles, and exposed timber beams. It's gorgeous the way it's been designed and decorated. I've always loved the viewpoint from up here, and I scan the party as we walk through. There are a lot of people I know here, and a lot I don't recognize. We walk through to the back courtyard and I slide down off Mason's back.

  "Oh, let's play beer pong!" I suggest motioning to the table where a group of guys are celebrating a win. "Come on, we haven't played in forever." I whine to Mason, pulling him along. "You can swap yours out for Coke, Tyler." I offer.

  "Okay, Okay." He concedes. Issy and I race over to reserve the table, while Mason and Tyler head back inside to get some fresh cups and drinks for the game. They come back with a bottle of something and a few cans of coke.

  Once we are all set, Mason rolls up the sleeves on his button-down black shirt and I take off my jacket. He stands behind me, rubbing my bare upper arms as I hop from foot to foot.

  "You ready?" he asks seriously, like we are about to play for the World Cup or something.

  "Yep, let's do this." I fake glare down Issy and Tyler. "You're going down losers!" I holler over the table, making Issy and Tyler laugh.

  Another thing Mason and I were so good at. We were hardly ever beaten last year. An audience has circled around us as Tyler takes the first shot and sinks it.

  "Dammit." Mason mutters and downs the drink that the ball landed in. I take a throw and it spins around the rim before landing in the cup.

  "Yes!" Mason and I high five.

  We take turns back and forth until we are down to two cups on each team. Issy takes her turn, and the ball bounces off the rim and scatters off the table.

  "Come on, Mase!" I encourage him and when he makes the shot, we double high five.

  Tyler is next up and effortlessly bounces the ball straight in. I down the drink and shake my head in disgust. Arghh, I think that was a mixture of a few things. I straighten up, and Mason puts his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eyes.

  "You can do this, Hails. For the win, just focus." I shake out my arms and bounce around.

  I'm pretty buzzed right about now, so I don’t fully trust my hand-eye coordination to be very accurate. Stepping up the table, I line the ball up and give it a light throw. It bounces once and lands straight into the single remaining cup.

  "Yessss!" Mason shouts and picks me up, spinning me around.

  Once he puts me down, we dive straight into our victory song, his arms around my shoulders, swaying.

  "We are the champions, we are the champions, no time for losers, ‘cause we are the champions, of the world!”

  We both collapse into each other in a fit of laughter after we drag out 'world' and our voices crack, trying to make it a high note. Definitely not the finest singers in Sanctuary Cove, but who really cares?

  "Hey, it's the beer pong champion!" Nick chants walking towards me while I'm leaned up against an empty hallway waiting for the bathroom.

  "Hey, it's everyone's favorite QB." I slur trying to sound cool, but it's more drunk sorority girl than anything.

  "Here, you sound like you need this.” He offers me a bottle of water and I happily accept.

  Whoever is in there is taking their sweet time.

  "A bit tipsy, are we? How about I take you home?" He attempts to grab my hand, but I pull it away.

  “What! No! I can’t go home with you! Also, I’m waiting for the bathroom.” I motion to the closed door beside me like it’s super important information.

  “Lee, that's not the bathroom." He laughs hysterically before opening the door. "It's the laundry.”

  Smart Ass and shit. How did I get so turned around? I've been in this house a million times. The memory of why I came inside in the first place comes back to me. Natalie. Natalie and Nick.

  "Why do you even care? Shouldn't you be with Natalie?" I hiss venomously

  "I saw your lovers' tiff outside. She's a bitch. You know she's the one that started the rumors about me being in the mental ward?” I put my hands on my hips matter of factly but it causes me to stumble back against the wall.

  "You're not jealous, are you?" He steps directly in front of me, cornering me against the wall.

  Yes. Very. So, what if I am?

  I hear the sharp intake of my breath and can feel the obvious look over he's giving me.

  “Uh…what...n-no." I stutter without an ounce of conviction.

  "Because I thought I had made my feelings pretty clear," he whispers just inches from my face, but I don’t flinch or move away. Even as he tucks a loose stand of hair behind my ear and trails his fingers down my neck, tracing my collarbone.

  "And if anyone should be jealous, it's me with the way you and Harris were tonight."

  Fuck, I am in so deep right now, it's almost tragic.

  "No. Mason. Friends" I breathe, unable to conjure up a full sentence with his eyes boring into mine like that.

  Is he saying what I think he's saying? The next words come tumbling out, and I regret them instantly.

  "Are you going to kiss me again?" I whisper through ragged breaths. I can hear my heart pounding through my ears and my whole body tensing with anticipation.

  "No, Hailee." he replies sternly and takes a few steps back.

  The bubble has not only burst but shattered into thin air.

  "But I am taking you home," he elaborates and throws me over his shoulder like a damn caveman.

  I don't protest.

  All fight has disappeared along with my mortifying rejection.

  Chapter 20

  I wake up in my cold bed alone and still in last night's clothes. Groaning, I roll over. Shit, what a hot mess. I stumble to my bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. My hair resembles more of a bird's nest than hair, and my eyes are smudged with mascara and eyeliner. So attractive.

  After a long hot shower, I trudge downstairs. My head isn't too bad considering how much I drank and unfortunately, I remember everything. Absolutely everything. Denial is the name of the game today. If he asks about last night, I will deny it all. I doubt he will, though. It's all in my head. I've built up all this tension and feelings, and it's just one sided. Last night prov
ed that.

  Grabbing an iced coffee from the fridge, I wander into the media room and nearly have another heart attack at the sight of Nick, lounging across the sofa watching Netflix.

  “Nick! Seriously!” I compose myself and plonk down on the opposite end of the leather L-shaped sofa.

  “I didn't do anything!" he scoffs with a laugh.

  “Just making yourself at home again?” I throw a cushion at him motioning to his laid out relaxed position on the sofa.

  “You love it, Lee,” he winks. “Anyway, your Dad said it was fine for me to hang here.”

  “Oh, did he now?” I tease. I, of course, already know this. Dad’s been helping him with his Dad stuff and offered up our house as a sort of safe haven.

  "How's the head?" he asks, propping himself up on his elbows.

  “Meh okay, considering.” I shrug, taking a sip of my iced coffee.

  "What are you doing today?" he quizzes looking back at the TV.

  "No plans…why?" I narrow my eyes at him. "We are having an adventure today," he claims matter-of-factly.

  "Uh, we are?"

  "Yep, just one more episode." He scoots down the couch, so his legs are resting over mine and I try not to think about it too much.

  I turn back to the flat screen mounted on the wall and snuggle into my own pillow, making myself comfortable.

  One episode and an hour later, I am sitting in the passenger seat of Nick's twin cab Chevy. It's not new, but it's not old either. I love that he looks after it. The red paint is always looking polished and slick.

  "So, where are we going?" I look over at him pulling my legs up on the seat crossing them.

  Nick turns to face me with a cheeky smile, "The lake house?"

  "The lake house?" I repeat, shocked "That's two hours away!"

  "Yeah, I know, but Mom wanted me to check on it since Dad's out of town. Apparently, there was a big storm last night and the normal caretaker is on vacation. They forecasted for more storms tonight, so she wanted to make sure there was no damage. Plus, I thought you could probably use the distraction and distance from Sanctuary Cove. We'll be back by dark though, so don't worry about that.”

  I pretend to think about it before declaring with an attempted serious expression.

  “Hmm okay, but if you're going to kidnap me and make me go to your family's horribly gorgeous lake house, then I must request you buy me a burger and fries for the drive.” My mouth cracking into a smile before I even finish.

  "That's fair. I'll even buy you a shake." He counters and quickly turns off before missing the drive-thru entry.

  "Mmm, so good," I moan, closing my eyes savoring my first bite of the sweet chili chicken burger with extra hot sauce. After devouring the burger, I reach for my shake and catch Nick looking at me with an amused grin.

  "What?" I grin back, taking a sip of my drink.

  "So… you like it spicy, huh?" He tries but fails to suppress a smug grin.

  I choke and cause myself to spill chocolate shake all down the front of my top, making him laugh even harder.

  Holy shit, who is this guy! I've never heard him try and flirt like that before. It's strangely hot to see him so confident and a little cocky. Even if the joke was super lame. I eventually recover from my coughing fit.

  "How long have you been holding onto that one for?" I laugh.

  "Since the drive-thru," He confesses with another cheeky grin.

  "Riiight." I drawl sarcastically. “You do realize it was bad? Like I’m embarrassed for you bad?” I laugh.

  “Shut up!” He mumbles.

  "I can't wear this now." I motion to my now chocolate smeared white sweatshirt.

  “Just take it off.” He shrugs with another huge grin but keeps his eyes on the road.

  "Nick!" I squeal, slapping him on the chest, causing his loud laugh to bounce around the inside of the truck.

  Well, Nicholas James Marshall two can play at that game! I throw the useless napkins on the floor of the truck and wiggle around in my seat, adjusting the seat belt, so it's no longer across my chest.

  With exaggeration, I grab hold of the bottom of my sweatshirt and slowly lift it over my head to reveal my black lace bra. Nick's expression is unmistakable through his wide eyes, dropped jaw and the awkward shuffle he just did in his seat. The guy has no poker face sometimes. Ha! That will teach you, buddy.

  "Eyes on the road QB." I giggle, causing him to snap back to reality and mumble something like, 'Can you blame me?'.

  I reach into the backseat to grab his training jersey that I had spied earlier and pull it on. You honestly didn't think I'd just sit here with no top on, did you? It's clean thankfully, but I can still smell that faint familiar scent of vanilla that I associate with Nick.

  I snuggle into the oversized jersey, loving the feel of it. Leaning my head back against the seat with a content smile on my face, I enjoy the outside change in scenery, from urban residential to gorgeous dense forest.

  Chapter 21

  We have been driving for a while in comfortable silence just listening to his music, not feeling the need to make conversation. It's relaxing and for a change my mind isn't whirling with thoughts of what ifs and whys.

  My phone vibrates alerting me of a new message. When I check it, I realize I have a missed call and a message from Dad, a message from Issy and multiple page tags, which I'm assuming are from last night.

  They can wait.

  I open Dad's message first.

  Dad: Hey Kiddo, flight has been grounded in Zurich because of a snowstorm. I won't be home until tomorrow night.

  Me: Ok, stay safe.

  Dad: Always. Love you, Kiddo.

  Me: Love you Dad x

  "Just my dad," I say to Nick waving my phone. "He's stuck in Switzerland."

  "That's unlucky, but there are worse places to be stranded. Do you ever get to travel with him?" He says as he adjusts the air conditioning.

  "I did once over the Summer break. We went to London. He has only just started back on the long-haul international flights in January, so I haven't had too many opportunities with school."

  I open the message from Issy next.

  Issy: How are you feeling champ?

  Ahhh, the beer pong game.

  Me: Better than expected. You?

  Issy: Not better than expected.

  Me: Fried food and sleep fixes everything x

  Issy: hmm Tyler said a few people are going to the movies tonight to see a movie If you're keen?

  Me: Yeah maybe I'll let you know .

  "Oh, I like this song," I discard my phone to the floor and I turn up the volume. It's the new one from one of my favorite bands, and I can't help but sing along.

  "You like these guys?" Nick teases.

  "Hey, no judging I don't discriminate, if I like it then it's good in my mind.” I retaliate before joining in on the chorus.

  "Plus, you're just jealous you're not as hot as their Nick.”

  "But you still think I'm hot?" He grins triumphantly.

  With no reply, I just poke my tongue out at him before turning back to look out the window, drowning the awkward out with more singing.

  Thank the Universe, a few minutes later, we pull into the driveway of the lake house. It's as beautiful as I remember. Traditional style with a touch of modern like the large glass panels that cover the back part of the house and open onto a massive deck. The lawn leads down to the lake and has a huge fire pit, normally with comfy chairs around it, but they would be packed away now.

  Nick unlocks the cabin, and I step in behind him, looking around. The downstairs open kitchen and living area are the same, absolutely nothing has changed, not even the brown leather sofas and timber furniture.

  "I'm going to check the shutters and then do a lap around; you can just wait here if you want." He waves to the couch before walking upstairs.

  I walk over to the glass doors that look out to the lake and sigh. I could never tire of this view, it's truly breathtaking. I look over my s
houlder. Nick hasn't reappeared from upstairs yet, so I open the doors and stroll across the green lawn, feeling an almost gravitational pull to the small timber pier that juts out onto the lake.

  "So many memories." I muse to myself as I sit down on the edge of the pier dangling my legs over the dark water.

  "The best memories." Nick declares from behind me.

  I cry out clutching my chest as he sits down beside me letting out a small laugh. I'm starting to think either he's a ninja with super stealth sneaking skills or I'm just very unobservant to my surroundings. Or maybe both?

  We are referring to the Summer we spent here before Junior year. It was without a doubt the best summer of my life. Dad had surprised me on the last day of school and told me he had rented a cabin up at Lake Mead for the whole month of July. He wanted us to do something special and get some quality time in before he started back with his new schedule.

  I remember it like it was yesterday. I was so excited. A whole month by the lake. I was going to read, relax and work on my tan. It would be glorious. That is where I had first met Nick. His family owned the cabin next to ours, and both cabins shared the same pier. The very pier we were sitting on now.

  "Remember when I drenched you with the jet ski?" He laughs as he lies back on the pier. "That was hilarious.”

  "No, it wasn't!" I punch his arm before lying down next to him.

  The clear sky above is slowly losing out to the dark gray storm clouds that are closing in. The first time we met, I was sunbathing on the pier because it had the best sun, everywhere else around the cabin was shaded by the huge trees.

  I was relaxing and had just put my book down when he comes roaring past on a jet ski and splashes me. I was soaked. My clothes and towel beside me were drenched and my book – that I was very much getting into – was ruined.

  I started screaming at him and telling him how much of a douchebag he was, and he just laughed, which made me even madder. I know I probably overreacted a little. I mean, I was only a couple hundred feet from the cabin and could easily go inside to dry off, but it was the principle and my book. Now what was I going to read.