by T. E. White
“Nah, man, I’m tired. I’ll see her tomorrow.”
An expression I didn’t understand crossed his face. But things started blowing up on the screen which captured my attention.
It was late when I finally went to bed. The next day, heading to breakfast, Gavin and I ran into the blonde and Red. When the blonde saw him, she did an about face so fast, I sought out my best friend’s expression. His was oddly blank. I smiled at Red only for her to frown at me and quickly follow after her friend.
With my arms crossed, I turned to face my best friend. “Whatever is going on between you and Penelope is messing up my thing with Reagan.”
My temper was building. I was about to say something when Gavin said, “I bet it’s not me. She’s probably pissed because you blew her off on Valentine’s Day.”
I did the fish speak thing before I finally closed my mouth, unsure of what to do next. Fuck. We’d only been hanging out a couple of weeks, but she’d probably got the wrong idea when I called off our night together.
“Yeah, Dude, you’re going to have to go big now if you want to make it up to her.”
I wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t like she was my girlfriend. Then again, I’d been the one to bring up hanging out last night which probably seemed like I’d made plans with her for that rotten holiday. Thus it was still my fault. I should have paid attention to the calendar. I could have avoided asking her out on that particular day. The question was, what did I want from her other than the obvious?
With the help of the Internet and my car, I found what I needed before lunch. Later, outside of the media center, I waited for Red to leave the café. Once she exited, she and her sidekick spotted me immediately.
“Reagan, can I talk to you for a second?” I used her name because I didn’t want to give her another reason to be pissed at me. I hadn’t yelled out my request but I had said it loud enough for people in the area to take notice.
She whispered something to the blonde before she walked over to me. She stood with her hands crossed over her chest. “Look, I get it. It’s cool. You don’t have to explain anything.”
Her eyes darted about like she could barely stand to look at me.
“I know we only been out a couple of times and we haven’t named whatever this thing is between us. But I shouldn’t have broken off our date last night.”
“Was it another girl?”
Of course she would think that.
“No,” I said quickly, but she was quicker with another question.
“What did you do last night then?” Was she getting attached? I ignored the thought.
“Honestly?” She nodded even though I hadn’t meant it as a question. “It’d been a hard week with rowing practice and studying. I meant to crash.”
“Meant to?” A lump formed in her cheek as she pushed her tongue against it while nodding her head. “So what it is you did do?”
“I was lying in bed, wondering what the hell your K response...” I used my hands for air quotes, “…meant, until Gavin came in and wanted to play video games. I couldn’t sleep anymore and ended up doing that until I finally turned in.” I should have really wondered why I was explaining myself. It had to be more of a clue that I wanted more than I thought from Red.
Pulling the items I had from behind my back, first I held out a solitary white water lily. “I didn’t blow you off because it was Valentine’s Day. I had no clue. I haven’t dated anyone….” I broke off that line of conversation when I remembered her observations of me. Instead, I held out my other hand. In it was a cupcake that cost me more than a meal at a fast food restaurant. “It’s red velvet.” The white icing was dusted with red sugar crystals. “I should have at least said Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope you can forgive me.”
Her half smile gave me hope. With the cupcake and flower in her hand, she said, “I’ll think about it.”
It had to be a lust demon that possessed me when I added, “Meet me at the dock tomorrow. Same time if you forgive me.” I left her with a wink and a salute. Her grin gave me the confidence that she would show up.
It wasn’t like I was overconfident, so when the clock struck seven and I stood waiting at the docks like a foolish guy, I almost gave up. She didn’t flag me down this time. Gracefully, she walked towards my boat and stepped on board with the flower I gave her in her hair. When she planted herself behind the wheel, silently, I stood behind her after letting up the sails. When we found a quiet spot far in the bay, I showed her how to drop anchor by reading the depth screen.
Then, I pulled out two fishing rods and we settled in two chairs I placed in the aft. After helping her cast, she began firing off questions.
“Favorite color?”
“Green.” I turned a winning smile on her and added, “Although red and yellow are coming in a close second and third. You?”
She gave me a flirty smile. “Yellow.”
“I can’t say I blame you,” I offered as I remembered the bikini she wore on our first boating trip.
“Favorite food?”
“I don’t really have one.” I shrugged. I changed the direction of the questions. “Where is the one place you want to visit?”
“Kenya.” She eyed me coyly. She must have caught my quizzical expression because she asked, “What?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t say a thing.” Although I’d expected a canned answer like Paris, Rome, or some place in the Caribbean.
“It a beautiful country. I would love to go on safari,” she continued, defending her choice.
We learned more about each other in the hours that ensued. Turned out she was more of a salty person than sweet, preferring chips to candy when she had the urge to snack. Her favorite movie was Juno. I’d never heard of it. I didn’t really have one but said the Dark Knight series was good. It was weird how much fun it was just to talk. Of course the thought of what was under her long-sleeve Bob Marley tee and jeans was making my pants tight but I didn’t touch her. I promised that she would be the one to beg me to go there, and I meant it.
Just when I was about to suggest calling it a day after no bites, her line became taut. She struggled with it. Not wanting to presume she needed help, I asked, “Do you have it?”
She fought with the line, doing her best not to be pulled in after the fish, and didn’t answer. I had to admire that she wasn’t a quitter. I scrambled to my feet after dropping my line, and secured a hand around her waist until she was steady. Then I took both my hands to help her reel it in. She wasn’t faking. Whatever was at the end of the hook was putting up a fight. The two of us in tandem hadn’t yet pulled it in. How had she handled it before my help?
After a concerted effort, we finally heaved in a Bluefish that had to be close to thirty inches long. Putting up at fight even at the end, I said, “Quick, grab your phone so you can take a selfie with it.” After she snagged her phone from her back pocket, I held out her prize. “This is your fish.”
She put up her hands and shook her head. “No way. I’m not touching that thing,” she squealed as the fish’s tail kicked back and forth.
“Okay, take the picture fast,” I said, nodding to her.
She snapped a few photos while I struggled to hold the thing still. After she was done, I swiftly tugged out the hook and tossed the fish back in.
Her frown was heavy, with her brows knitted in confusion. “Why’d you do that?”
“One, because we aren’t going to eat it. Two, because it’s not exactly fishing season.” I shrugged.
She held up her phone shaking it slightly side-to-side and gave me a wicked grin. “I guess that means I have blackmail material.”
I lunged for her and took her down. With her securely underneath me, I said, “And what is your demand?”
With her hands pinned over her head and in no position to overpower me, she commanded, “Kiss me.”
So I did, until she was senseless. We stayed like that until our stomachs protested and my phone rang.
11
“What? Where are you?”
Gavin’s voice sounded like it had tumbled over rocks. “Look man, just come get me from the emergency room. I’ll explain it all then.”
The phone clicked off and I stared it for a few long seconds before turning and saying, “I have to get back,” at the same time she said, “I need to get back.”
We traded smiles before she said, “Gavin.”
I nodded. “Penelope?”
She confirmed by bobbing her head.
“What is up with those two?”
She laughed. “She’s like a vault. She shuts down every time I mention his name.”
After I docked the boat, I asked if she needed a ride. I wasn’t sure if the blonde was at the hospital too. She declined and we parted ways. I got to my car and asked my phone for directions. When I pulled up at the emergency room, Gavin was just inside the hospital door holding the fort alone in a wheel chair.
“What the fuck, man?” I asked when I got out helping him in the car. I could have been more sympathetic but his arm was in a sling, with a cast peeking out. Once we were both inside, I demanded answers. “What the hell happened?”
“Nothing.” His denial wasn’t going to work this time.
I shook my head and refused to move the car. “Screw that. You’re the eighth man on the team. The season’s about to start, and we don’t have a backup.” St. Mary’s wasn’t a large school. Until I came, they didn’t even have an eight-man rowing team. As captain, I’d recruited my ass off and gotten seven other decent guys to form one. “You owe me an explanation.”
A heavy sigh preceded a wince of pain and I had a moment to feel sorry for him before it was replaced by my annoyance. “I was in a bar fight.”
“A bar fight? It’s barely eleven in the morning. What bar is open now?”
A car honked behind me and Gavin was finally talking so I started up the engine and began the trek home.
“It was last night. Then there were the cops to deal with before they finally let me go to the hospital.”
“What does this have to do with the blonde?” I was so pissed off I couldn’t bring myself to say her name. He was hiding something from me and it had to be big. In the last three—almost four—years he’d never had a problem telling me things about his conquests before.
He shrugged and grimaced again. I had a moment to be happy for his pain. If not for that, I might have punched him.
“Dude, you may have lost us the championship. Just tell me what’s going on between you two.”
“I went to the bar to hang out with Dave and Tom, since you’re pussy whipped.”
“I am not,” I denied, but felt guilty that I hadn’t been hanging out with him very much except seeing him at practice. With what little free time I did have, I tried to see Red.
“Whatever man, anyway… she was there wearing one those tight numbers she likes to squeeze into. Her tits spilled out of her dress like she wanted every guy there to touch her. If she was trying to make me jealous, it worked. After several drinks, I went ballistic. Next thing I knew, I was cuffed behind a cruiser while the cops sorted out the situation.”
I whistled. “At least you didn’t end up in jail.”
“There’s that.”
I rubbed at my temple, trying to find calm and understanding. “If this girl makes you crazy why are you still with her?”
“I’m not with her. She’s just under my skin like a bad ache.”
“Umm, that doesn’t sound good.”
He chuffed. “It isn’t.”
“Move on, then.”
“Like I haven’t. What’s up with you and Reagan? You have your head so far up her ass I want to call you a Nancy.”
“I’m not gay and where do you Americans come up with this slang?”
“Like you’re not American. Anyway, her shit must be tight to have you all caught up.”
“I wouldn’t know what her shit was like.” I didn’t like being called pussy whipped but I wouldn’t have him question her honor. She didn’t deserve that. Gavin might shoot off at the mouth during practice and the next thing you know, guys would think it was open season when it came to her.
“Damn bro, you haven’t hit it yet and you’re acting like that. She’s got you working hard for it.”
“Enough already. Just leave it.” I wanted Red out of the conversation.
“What, is she your girl or something?”
“No, you know I don’t do girlfriends.” It was true. I hadn’t had a girlfriend for as long as I could remember.
“I didn’t think so, but you’re acting so cray cray, I wasn’t sure what was up.”
“Cray Cray? Pot, kettle, and all that.” I had picked him up from the hospital. Had the pain meds made him forget?
“Dude, I earned my cray cray.”
I left that alone. Somehow I didn’t want to know. I’d heard enough to know they were like a train wreck waiting to happen.
Later, when I thought I might call up Red to hang out, Gavin knocked on my door.
“Busy?”
I shook my head.
“Good, I’ve got double the trouble and I need my wingman.”
I had a feeling he meant he had twins downstairs. Something didn’t feel right about it. Even as I got up, I knew that I shouldn’t be doing it.
“You good?” Gavin asked. I nodded and stopped hesitating, and headed out the door.
“If you want to admit you’ve got something going with Reagan, I’ll hit up Big Tigger instead.”
“No, I’m good.” She wasn’t my girlfriend and she hadn’t acted as if she wanted any more from me. Why couldn’t I hang out with someone else? I was rationalizing as I took the stairs one at a time, leaving Gavin at the bottom looking at me with narrowed eyes.
Later, there was a knock at the door. Gavin was closer so he got up to answer, leaving me with the twins— I’d been right about what he’d meant. They were third-year students with no set major yet. One talked about fashion, and the other just backed up her sister.
It wasn’t until the voices in the hall rose above the giggles in the room did I realize what a mess I was in. Snatches of words like, “you asshole, how could you?” came seconds before “Is Tade here?”
I didn’t have time to move. I was caught feeling like a total wanker, the bloody heat rising like a tidal face into my face. I was stuck on the love seat with one twin because Gavin had beaten me to the only empty chair. I appeared cozier than I felt, and it wasn’t just Red’s presence that made me feel that way.
“Oh,” Reagan began, with a hand to her heart like she’d been startled. “I…didn’t…know… you had company.” She struggled with her words as her glance moved to each one of us in turn, to land on me, then back to twin sitting next to me. Gavin’s choice in company had blonde hair was as fake as her boobs and was a poor substitute for Penelope. He and I would be having words later.
“I’ll catch you later,” she said before I could say anything.
I knew I should get up and follow after but Twin Number Two asked, “Is that your girlfriend?”
Gavin stood with his arms crossed, waiting expectantly for my answer. I should have been stronger. I shouldn’t have cared. But Reagan hadn’t looked pissed, so much as she appeared perplexed. Maybe she wasn’t as into me as I was into her. I had the uncomfortable feeling that had our roles been reversed, I would have lost it as much as Gavin had last night.
“No, she’s not my girlfriend.”
Gavin’s face went smug and he sat back down. I stayed where I was and tried to push Red to the back of my mind.
12
Something was off-kilter in my life. Coffee seemed bitter even swimming in sugar. The day felt cooler, chilling me through the hoodie I’d pulled on. The weights in the weight room seemed heavier than they had before. Noth
ing was right.
It wasn’t until I spied her I knew the cause. It had been a couple of days since I saw her last and I found myself in desperate need of her. When had I gotten addicted over these past several weeks?
“Reagan.” I didn’t need to see her from the front to know it was her. I would know her ass in those jeans anywhere. And her hair was distinctive, but I kept my eyes lower until she faced me.
She turned around and stopped so I could catch up. I wasn’t sure what to expect. She’d responded to my text but her replies had always been busy the few times I’d been free.
I’d been overwhelmed by the search for a replacement for Gavin. He wouldn’t be out of the cast for the first couple of meets and I needed a body that at least had coordination to fill a spot until his return. It hadn’t left much time and I’d had to skip Astronomy the whole week.
“Hey, I was hoping to talk to you about the other night,” I began when she strolled over with a peaceful smile on her face. I wasn’t sure if that was calm before the storm or what.
Her brows knit, and she wore a confounded expression convincingly. “Oh, the other night. No worries. It’s not like we’re a couple.”
“So we’re good?” It seemed too good to be true.
“Yeah, totally.” Her lips were stained cherry just like I liked them. I leaned in to kiss her needing a taste and she stepped back.
So much for us being good.
“Oh, about that. Since we’re seeing other people, it wouldn’t be cool for me to go around kissing every guy. That could give me a reputation.” She stretched the word out, making a point. “And I’m not that kind of girl.”
Her tone was causal but I was getting my ass handed to me.
“Can we talk about this?”
“I would but honestly I’m late. I’ll…” She paused as if in thought. “I’ll check you later.”
She took off and I followed her with my eyes up the path to a familiar blonde head. The blonde was talking with two guys when Red strolled up to meet them. The assholes smiled too wide for my liking at Red’s approach. They all turned, and I had to fight myself from following. Isn’t this what I wanted? I didn’t want a girlfriend, which meant she was free to see whoever she wanted.
