Pepped Up and Ready (Pepper Jones #3)

by Ali Dean

  “It’s Saturday night though, right? Do they take you to parties or anything?” Tina pipes in.

  “I doubt it. They’d probably get in trouble for exposing us to underage drinking or something. At Oregon we just hung out at a house a bunch of upperclassmen on the team lived in.”

  “That’s dumb,” Tina says. “I would want to know what the night life is like.”

  “The night life isn’t really the reason athletes go to college, though, Tina,” Zoe states the obvious.

  “Well, I’m going to State. I haven’t done my application yet, but my mom and aunt went there so I’ll probably get in. I haven’t gotten to see what the parties are like first hand, but it’s got a reputation for being wild.” Colorado State is a five-hour drive from Brockton, in the southwest corner of the state. About half of Brockton Public students go to UC in Brockton, maybe ten percent go to State, ten percent to Mountain West (where Charlie goes), and the rest either go out of state or don’t go to college. Zoe’s planning to apply to all three Colorado colleges.

  “I’m just going to see who gives me the best financial aid,” Zoe tells us. It’s more complicated than that, but in the end a lot of the decision will come down to tuition costs. For both of us. If UC doesn’t offer me a full scholarship and somewhere else does, that will be tough. College loans are not something I want to take on if I don’t have to.

  Tina decides our conversation is not juicy enough for her and slides back to the other end of the table. Once she’s out of earshot, Zoe tells me, “If the team is cool with it, you should come out to a party at Kayla’s sorority on Saturday night.”

  I never did tell Zoe about the incident with Kayla weeks ago. I’m not even sure I’d be welcome at a party at her place anyway. “She invited you to another party? Are you guys in touch or something?”

  “No, I haven’t talked to her since I saw her at that party at the beginning of the semester. But Wes invited me to go with him.”

  “Oh?” I can’t hide my surprise. I’ve never known Wes to ask a girl to go to a party with him. Almost like a date.

  “Yeah, at first I thought it was just a casual thing,” she says, glancing around to make sure no one’s listening. “But we’ve been texting all week, so, I don’t know.”

  She’s looking to me for some answers. Some guidance. But I am just as clueless as she is.

  “I’m the last person who can help you with this, Zoe. I know I’m friends with Wes but I have no idea how he operates with the girls he hooks up with. And when it comes to casual hook-ups, I can’t say I have any experience.” She knows this already, but a reminder can’t hurt. Just because I’m dating Jace Wilder doesn’t mean his hook-up experience has been imparted to me somehow. People forget these things. They seem to assume I’m not only much cooler than I was before Jace and I got together, but that I’m much more knowledgeable about everything social. Not so much.

  “Yeah, I don’t have much experience here either. I’m trying not to overthink it, you know? But it’s really hard not to imagine that maybe I’ll be different for him. Maybe I’ll be the girl who he wants to be serious with,” she admits quietly.

  Oh dear. This is not good. Not good at all.

  Zoe reads my expression and laughs, but it’s not as lighthearted a sound as usual. “Relax, Pep. I’m just being honest. Saying it aloud helps me realize how dumb it sounds. I mean really, it’s not like it started out as anything special. I’ll just try to keep it low key and fun, right?”

  “Look Zoe, if you want more with him and you have feelings for him, you really need to be careful. As far as I know, this isn’t anything serious for Wes, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  She already looks hurt, just having what she already knows confirmed. I don’t think she really likes him, not seriously. I mean, everyone likes Wes, and he’s hot, but she’s just wrapped up in the idea of him.

  “Sometimes I just want a happily ever after like you and Jace,” she tells me. “Is that so bad?”

  Her words surprise me. I thought she broke up with Charlie because she wasn’t up for so much commitment. “Didn’t you have something good with Charlie? I didn’t know you wanted a relationship.”

  “Yeah, I probably don’t. You are just so in love and so happy with him it’s hard not to want to be like that with someone too when I see you.”

  I can’t deny it. I am definitely happy and in love. “You will be some day. But don’t look for it where it doesn’t exist. Don’t force it.” I’m not sure where that advice came from, but it’s the best I can offer for the moment.

  We both glance around when we sense a change in the atmosphere, the loud voices shifting to hushed murmurs. Zoe is looking at something behind me and I swivel around to see what it is. A guy is pushing a cart with a humongous vase of roses. Two dozen, I guess. And he’s headed straight toward my table.

  Chapter 17

  When the delivery guy asks for a signature, I immediately ask if there’s a card. There isn’t. Knowing all eyes are on me, I pretend to be excited as I sniff and admire the roses. But as soon as the attention shifts away from me, I let my guard down.

  “Zoe, even you have to know this is weird for Jace,” I tell her in a hushed voice.

  “Yeah, he’s not really a showy guy. Did he do something wrong he’s trying to make up for?” she asks and I shake my head. “Is this some sort of anniversary?” I shake my head again.

  “I don’t think Jace sent these,” I say warily. Whoever did send them wanted it to be a spectacle.

  “What do you mean? Of course it was Jace.” Zoe looks at me like I’m crazy. “He’s crazy about you and just wanted to send some love since you’ve been injured and stuff. Not that you’ve been all that depressed about it or anything,” she adds.

  It’s possible Jace is just trying to be sweet, given what happened a few days ago. But my gut tells me otherwise. Jace isn’t really a roses guy. He’s sent me flowers in the past, and they were never roses. Too cliché. And showy. He knows I wouldn’t want the attention from a delivery at the Brockton Public cafeteria. It just doesn’t feel right.

  Besides, what am I supposed to do with them for the rest of the day? It’s not like they’ll fit in my locker or my backpack.

  We’re not supposed to have cell phones in school so I can’t call Jace right now, but I send him a quick text thanking him for the flowers. If it’s not him who sent them, the text will make him flip his shit, but I have to know. The curiosity will kill me if I have to wait the rest of the day to find out.

  My suspicion is confirmed when my phone vibrates during fifth period. I didn’t send you flowers, Pepper. Call me ASAP.

  I sneak into the bathroom and hit Jace on speed dial. He’s fuming. “What kind of sick fuck sends my girlfriend two dozen roses?”

  “We can call the flower shop to find out, right? I got the name of it.”

  I tell him the name of the shop, and he hangs up immediately to call. But they won’t give him any information, explaining that the delivery was meant to be anonymous. I decide to try calling the shop myself after classes, but they are just as adamant about keeping the person’s identity private. Whoever sent them gave very specific instructions.

  The urge to run through the emotions pulsing through me is overwhelming. Although I’m still on crutches, it’s so tempting to find my running shoes in my locker and just go. I’m pissed off, confused, and a little freaked out. The only way I know how to channel these feelings is to run hard and fast until I’m calmer. Pool running just doesn’t have the same effect. It’s too tame and I stare at the same four walls the entire time.

  But my resolve to let my shins heal holds me back. There’s still hope, even if it’s faint, that I can get to Nationals. And if I can make it that far, anything can happen. The possibility of defending my title isn’t completely lost. And for that, I have to let go of my urge to run.

  I make it through the rest of classes, announcements and stretching with the team, pool running, and dinner
with Gran. The only thing keeping me from busting out onto the trail is the anticipation of seeing Jace. After stuffing some homework into my backpack, I jump on my bike and take the familiar sidewalks to Jace’s dorm.

  It’s already dark and even though there isn’t much traffic on these streets this time of night, I stay on the sidewalk. I still haven’t gotten around to getting a helmet. As the darkness settles and I turn onto a street without lamps, I realize I may need to get a bike light as well. The headlights from a car behind me help light the way, but when the car doesn’t pass me after a moment, I start to feel a cold chill up my spine.

  The street is empty except for me and this car, which is either thoughtfully lighting my path or driving super slowly because the driver is trying to find the right address. Or following me. The thought is ridiculous, but the car is still there as I turn onto a road through campus. Students come and go between buildings, but the car doesn’t pass me. When I glance behind me, all I can see are the headlights.

  Fear sets in and my legs pump harder. Adrenaline courses through me when I take the final turn to Jace’s dorm and the car is still behind me. What if it’s some crazy person preying on college girls? I’ve heard stories about people like that on college campuses. My mind swirls with possibilities until I see Jace waiting for me outside the building and relief floods through me. The car speeds past me as I slow to a stop. Squinting, I try to make out anything memorable about the vehicle. It’s a white SUV with Colorado plates, which are already too far away to read. In the darkness, I can’t make out much more than that.

  Jace takes in my frenzied expression and pulls me to him. “Whoa, Pep, you okay?” Jace kisses my forehead and tilts up my chin to look at him.

  The fear disappears and I suddenly feel silly. I’m just on edge from the flowers. The idea of a car following me is ridiculous. If it was, it was probably just because the driver thought I was someone they knew, and when they realized I wasn’t they took off.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, I just rode really fast to get here.” I can tell Jace is already tense from the roses, and telling him I think I was being followed, when I’m probably just being paranoid, is a bad idea.

  He locks up my bike and leads me upstairs. When we’re alone in his room, I mold my body to his, seeking comfort.

  “Tell me you trashed those flowers,” Jace says.

  “I gave them to the principal,” I reply, already tugging at the hem of his shirt.

  Jace laughs. “Good call.”

  He starts to say something about how he told Frankie, and they’re going to figure out who sent the flowers, but I shush him. What I need right now is him. Jace understands my intent, and we spend the rest of the night together, with no words spoken about the flowers.

  Spending the night in Jace Wilder’s dorm room isn’t exactly the same as sprinting up a hill as fast as I can, but it has a similar effect. When I close my eyes to fall asleep, Jace’s arm draped lazily across me, my emotions are under control. The anger and confusion haven’t disappeared entirely, but Jace’s strength and love help wash them away from the surface so I can breathe freely again. His steady breathing beside me tells me that being with me helps to soothe his tension as well. Knowing this, I fall asleep with a smile on my face. We might have people against us, but they don’t know what they’re fighting against.

  When I wake up the next morning, I decide the flower incident could have been anyone. Heck, it could have been a misguided freshman boy with an infatuation. “Let’s just forget about it,” I tell Jace. “If someone’s trying to mess with us, the best thing we can do is shake it off.”

  Jace’s body language tells me he doesn’t want to let it go. He’s tense as he loads my bike into his Jeep to take me home. “We’ll see,” is all he says.

  The truth is, after what happened with Wolfe and Rex last year, I’m hesitant to let this go too. While it could be a harmless gesture, it could also be something more serious. Wolfe took his attack way too far. I’ve pushed it deep down and tried not to think about it, but his attempt to drag me to the pool house at a party one night still gives me nightmares. Though his intentions that night may have been only to scare me, something tells me I’d be naïve to believe that. Jace and Wes have told me that Wolfe won’t bother us anymore, and I want to believe them. Unfortunately, the chill I felt last night as I rode my bike haunts me as Jace drives me back to Shadow Lane to pack a bag for the recruit trip.

  When Jace drops me off in front of the admissions office, where I’ll check in for the overnight visit, he tells me to call him if I have an opportunity to go out tonight. “They don’t always know what to do with recruits on these official visits. They want to party, but unless the recruits give a clear green light that they won’t tattle to the coaches or whatever, they have to stay in,” Jace explains, having been a recruit himself, and now having participated on the other side of the process.

  “I don’t really know the girls on the cross team, but if they seem down, you guys should come over to an off-campus house party I’ve been talked into hitting up.”

  “Don’t count on it,” I warn him. “I’m not going to go rogue on this visit, Jace. It’s important I’m perceived as a serious athlete. Someone they want on their team. Not some party girl.”

  “You won’t, Pep,” Jace says with a knowing smile. “Your running speaks for itself.”

  Except for the fact that I’m injured, and I can’t count on my prior running results as a shoe-in anymore. I have to show I have what it takes to work through an injury and come out stronger. Patience and determination. Those are the qualities I need to convey right now. And it’s not hard, because that’s what I’ve been focusing on these last two weeks.

  After checking in at the admissions office, I’m introduced to Sienna Darling, a petite junior who will be hosting me in the four-bedroom suite she shares with three other girls on the cross team. Three of the other recruits on the visit will be staying at the suite with her roommates.

  I follow the team’s results online, and I know that Sienna is one of their top runners. She’s quiet and serious, but not at all shy. She carries my bag across campus with a confident stride. I’m feeling comfortable, like I could fit right in, until we enter her dorm room.

  It’s the building next to Jace’s dorm, and the layout of the suite is nearly identical. There are six other girls in the room already when Sienna and I join them. Chatter stops and everyone turns to look at me. Silence. It’s deafening.

  Finally, Sienna introduces herself to the three other recruits before introducing me to them, as well as her other three roommates. But the staring doesn’t stop, even as the girls shuffle off to the individual rooms to change for the group run.

  My immediate thought is that the attention has something to do with Jace. Or Wesley. Or my injury. But some, if not all, of the girls have never heard of Jace Wilder or Wesley Jamison. I’m off my crutches and not limping, so unless news has spread nationwide (the other recruits are from Florida, Ohio, and New York), there’s no reason for them to know about my injury. So it’s just me.

  It takes about ten minutes before I admit to myself that I’m famous to these girls. To a top high school recruit, and apparently even some top college runners, meeting me is like meeting a celebrity. It’s difficult to swallow this knowledge. Their reaction to my presence is simultaneously empowering and disturbing. I’m really just a normal girl who runs fast.

  While the other recruits go on a group run with the team, a freshman on the team named Lexi Bell takes me to a gym I’ve never been to before. Lexi is also injured so we’re both relegated to cross training.

  When I tell her I’ve been going to a different gym on campus, she tells me that’s where the athletes who are off-season usually go to work out. “It’s still mostly only people on sports teams who have access to that gym, but we’re only supposed to use this one when we’re in season. There’s a little more variety in the equipment, and the trainers and coaches’ offices are in this buildin
g,” Lexi explains. “It’s not like we all can’t use both gyms, but it’s an unofficial rule everyone tries to follow so that this gym doesn’t get too crowded.”

  Lexi is one of those girls who can only be described as adorable. She has naturally curly hair that looks so fluffy and soft I want to touch it. With long eyelashes and a petite frame, I’m not surprised at the flirtatious smiles several guys in the gym send her way.

  “Soccer teams must not have a game this weekend,” she comments as she looks around the gym. For being the most exclusive weight room on campus, it’s fairly busy.

  “Oh yeah,” Lexi recalls, “this is the big recruiting weekend because most teams don’t have games for some reason.” She nods as this information settles and then turns to me. “That’s good. It means there should be some fun parties tonight that we can all go to.”

  “Really?” I’m surprised. “I would think it would be the opposite with recruits here.”

  “Nah, these parties will be just for teams with recruits so they’ll be toned down. Only athletes will be there. I mean, that’s what I hear at least. It wasn’t like this when I came for my official visit last year. We just sat around talking all night. Not very exciting, but some of the high school seniors who come on these trips would freak if you took them to a frat party.”

  I giggle, thinking of some of the girls on my cross team. “I know what you mean.”

  I’m getting along well with Lexi, imagining that if I do come to UC (I hate that it’s recently become an “if” not a “when”), we would be friends. We’re both going through our own exercise routine on the various machines, chatting in between reps, and I’m looking forward to getting to know the other girls on the team. Hopefully everyone will be as easy to talk to as Sienna and Lexi.