Bad Choices and Heartaches: A New Adult Sports Romance (Alpen Springs Book 2)

by Casey Diam

  I tossed back my shot.

  Liquor was the only chick that would be fucking me tonight.

  “So, what made you choose OKU?” Ashley asked.

  I dug into my pocket for a twenty and placed it on the counter. “Assuming one of those shots is for me, I’m paying for the drinks, but I’m not in the mood for small talk, Ashley.”

  “What are you in the mood for?”

  “Rough, hot, mind-blowing sex with a girl who isn’t here,” I deadpanned.

  Her lips pursed before she said with a hint of regret, “You have a girlfriend.”

  The bartender placed two glasses down and poured the shots, saving me from any further interrogation regarding the girl I wanted who didn’t trust me.

  Four shots later, I checked my phone while exiting the men’s room, hoping I wouldn’t find a missed from Will and wanting to find one at the same time. There was none, but my heart leaped at something even better. A missed text message.

  Gabby: I’m sorry I said you shouldn’t contact me. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I would like it if you did.

  If I did what? Text her? Call her? My mouth twitched into a smile.

  I clicked on the call button.

  A few rings sounded before she picked up. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” I responded, my sore muscles relaxing as some sort of happiness stole the shitty, drink-myself-stupid mood I’d been in all night.

  “How’s college?”

  “Not so good,” I responded in complete honesty.

  “What? Sorry, I can barely hear you. The music in the background is kind of drowning out your words.”

  “Hold on.” I headed through the noise and crowd to the back patio of the bar.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Ashley grabbed my arm. “We have more rounds to go! And I’m buying this time.”

  “Give me a sec.” I held up my phone. “I’m on a call.”

  “Okay, I’ll be at the same spot.”

  I walked out to the patio, which also appeared to be the smoking section.

  “Sorry about that. I’m at this bar.”

  “Then why are you calling me?” she asked.

  “Because I wanted to talk to you.”

  “We can talk tomorrow. It sounds like you’re already making friends, and—”

  “I am, but I don’t think friends is a good idea right now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m here, drinking and self-destructing. You know, the usual.”

  “If you know what you’re doing, then why are you doing it?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t ever know, Gabby.”

  “Well, then, why do you think you’re self-destructing? Maybe you aren’t, maybe you just think you are.”

  “I’m out when I have practice at six a.m. tomorrow.”

  She didn’t say anything for a second, but when she did, her voice was low and soothing. “Ryker, it’s almost eleven p.m. your time. What are you doing?”

  “I know. I just—” I sighed. “Ash should be here, you know? He kept me on track. Now, I have the one thing he wanted, and I want this too, but without him, I’m already losing sight of why I’m here.”

  Fuck.

  I forgot how easily I could spill my guts to her without thought.

  “Ryker. Go get some sleep, and don’t miss or be late to practice tomorrow. The next few weeks will be your first impression on the rest of your team, don’t let them think that you’re just a lousy teammate who they can’t depend on or that you’re just some asshole who got lucky. Everyone here knows you aren’t, but if you don’t show Oklahoma that, you’re going to be on the sidelines for a really long time, and we both know you will not be able to handle that. Show them that you earned this, that you want to help them win state, hell, nationals. Yeah, Ashton isn’t there and there’s going to be a lot of distractions, but your goal has always been to be a football player. You’ve always loved the game as much as your brother does, so unless that has changed, Ry, you need to head home, chug some water, and take some ibuprofen so that you’re ready for practice, because tomorrow will decide if you become the NFL player that I know you can be one day.”

  I doubted she had the slightest idea of how drastically she’d just changed my path. Had she not said that, I would have shown up at practice tomorrow morning late and still drunk. I let out a breath and shook my head. “You said just about everything I needed to hear.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve had a lot of practice. It’s part of the speech I’m going to give when I win my first gold medal. Soooo, what was I missing?”

  I laughed. “What?”

  “You said I said, ‘just about everything’ you needed to hear. What was missing?”

  You being here, I thought. “The reason you changed your mind about contacting me.”

  “Because I like your stupid face.”

  “Really? I’m going to need you to elaborate.”

  “Not tonight. It’s your bedtime, remember? We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  Chapter 25

  Gabby

  “How are you feeling?” Averie asked.

  “Better.” She placed a tray of muffins on her nightstand and climbed onto her bed next to me. Averie and I had been in contact about as much as I’d been with Ryker on the phone every day.

  She was fast becoming my closest friend, and it made sense since this wasn’t something I could talk to one of my guy friends about. And, basically, she’d taken a bullet for me when she’d gone to the pharmacy and got the morning after pill for me.

  “How’s the dizziness?” she asked.

  I’d taken the pill a few days ago and got hit with a huge dose of nausea, dizziness, and all-around tiredness.

  “I didn’t really notice it today. I got a few good rides in at Breck and had a huge burger before I came back. I think the effects are gone for good.”

  She combed her fingers through my hair, taking some of it in her hands and braiding it. “That’s good.”

  “You don’t still think you did anything wrong, right?”

  I shook my head. I wasn’t already pregnant, even though guilt still ate at me about this for some reason.

  “Did you ask him if he’s been tested?”

  “No.” I sighed. Apparently, I sucked at talking to Ryker about the things I really should talk to him about. We’d spent hours on the phone since he’d been gone, talking about the future and our dreams and reminiscing about the past.

  Averie patted my head and hugged me. She was so tiny, but she gave the best hugs. “It’s okay. He can be a total germaphobe, so I’m sure you guys are fine.” She leaned back and grabbed a cupcake the same time my phone rang.

  I grinned when I saw the name on the screen for FaceTime. “Ryker.”

  “Take it, Nicky is probably almost here anyway, and I need to grab the juice. Besides, I need to call Ash so I can tell him what a total sucker for Gabby his brother is.”

  I blushed. “Hardly a sucker for me.”

  “I beg to differ, Gabby Taylor. What did you say he calls you? Bunny?” she teased.

  “Shut up!” I grabbed the teddy bear on her bed to toss at her, but she escaped out the door, so I hugged it instead.

  “Hey,” I answered, smiling into the phone.

  Averie peeked her head around the door. “Alexa, play ‘Falling’ by Trevor Daniel.”

  Tan-tan-tan. At the sound of music, I looked at the Echo Dot on her nightstand. Oh my God.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” Ryker asked. “You’re all flushed.” A smirk played across his lips as his eyebrows jerked. “Did I call you at a bad time?”

  As in, was I doing something naughty?

  “No,” I said, my voice rising to an embarrassed pitch before I told Alexa to shut it.

  “Hey, I like that song.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah. So, what are you up to?”

  “Nothing really. How’d your day go?” I asked.

  “The same. Homework. Some illustration
stuff, but I finally got around to laundry. And I’m still trying to ignore my roommate, who is always having the time of his life.”

  “He isn’t there now?”

  “Nope. He just left with his friends for some party.”

  “So, no party for you? It’s the weekend.”

  “No. Not tonight. I need to work on making more money, and I need something else to keep me busy while I’m here.”

  He told me about creating and selling logos and illustrations online, which was impressive for someone his age, but his stuff was really that good.

  I wrote short stories from time to time, but I never thought about putting it out to the world. My stories were personal, my own little world that I could escape into from time to time.

  “Something more, like dating?” I pressed my chin on the soft head of the small bear.

  “Gabby.” His voice came out as a low chastisement before his head cocked. “Wait a minute, whose teddy bear is that?”

  “Some guy gave it to me,” I teased, just for his reaction.

  “What guy?” His eyes narrowed. “You might want to get it out of my sight. Unless you want me to put a string around its head and hang it from your ceiling when I come back there.”

  That escalated quickly.

  I tried my best not to laugh as I said, “Oh my God, you wouldn’t. It’s so cute.” I extended my arm so that the camera would be farther out and lifted the cream-colored bear so he could see it. I chuckled at the line forming between his eyes. “It’s actually Averie’s, and she will kill you if you hang Ashbear.”

  “Averie’s?” He smiled, and my insides warmed at the flash of a dimple in his jaw.

  “Yup. We’re having a girls’ night in. She just went downstairs.”

  “Does she still hate me for breaking our business deal?”

  “I don’t think so. She’s been having fun working on a few upcoming projects with Eddie and Ash.”

  “That’s good,” he said, though not sounding too happy about it. Maybe he didn’t like the thought of being replaced?

  “So, I’m thinking about driving back for a weekend sometime soon.”

  “Really? When?” I asked.

  “When is your event at the Winter X Games?”

  “January twenty-nine, thirty, and thirty-first. I have Big Air on Thursday and Friday.” I frowned. He wouldn’t be able to make it, and the Big Air was the best one to watch since that one was just me flying down a short, steep incline and off the biggest jump on the mountain. The other event I took part in was the Slope Style with jibs and other features. That one was between a one and two-minute run, better viewed from the cameras following me down. “Slope Style is on Saturday morning though.”

  “Damn, I wanted to come see you do your thing. The Winter X Games last year were crazy. I always knew you were good, but you always have something new up your sleeve. Some of your competitors were doing the same tricks they’ve been doing for years, and you’re just on another level.”

  “You came last year?”

  “Hell yeah. The guys and I usually go. It’s the best thing in Aspen every year.”

  “Oh,” I said, suddenly feeling shy. I hadn’t realized he still went to them.

  He sighed. “I guess I’ll be watching it on YouTube this year.”

  “I’ll try not to suck then.”

  “I’m still going to head back, even if it’s just to spend that Saturday with you. I want to see you.”

  Sex? Or more?

  My hand brushed through my hair, only to discover the braid Averie had done. I’d forgotten about it. Patting it down, I hoped my finger hadn’t tugged it into a knotted mess.

  This was why we never talk about important things like if we were just friends or if I should be concerned about him not using a condom with me. I always get sidetracked. One would think I would’ve learned my lesson from my friend stealing him away from me before, but apparently, I hadn’t.

  I cleared my throat. “There’s actually something I need to ask you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Uh . . .” Looking away from the screen, I twirled the ends of my hair around my finger.

  “Just tell me. What do you want to know? How big my cock is? It’s very big, Bunny, but you should know that by now.”

  “Oh my God.” Covering my mouth, I looked at the ceiling though my sex clenched at his words. “Don’t say that.” This conversation was heading down the wrong path.

  I drew in a breath. “I want to know about, um, the condom thing. You were my first, but you’ve . . . kind of been around. Annnd . . . that came out badly.”

  “No, you’re right, and I know what you’re getting at. I’ve never been with anyone else without one and was clean the last time I got tested, but I could get that done again if you want me to.” He sighed. “And now I’m thinking about being inside you.”

  Chapter 26

  Gabby

  Music streamed out of my helmet’s headset, pumping me up as anxiousness spurred through me, pre-adrenaline at its finest as I stared down at the steep incline a few inches from where my board laid flat, already strapped to my feet. Between training, classes, and waiting for Ryker to come visit, two weeks had crawled by at a turtle’s pace, which was strange since the beginning of the year was my busiest time and usually went by quickly.

  Tuning into the music, I replayed last night’s run in my head. I’d kicked ass at the first round of the Winter X Games Big Air event and expected it to go just as well tonight, even though more wind than usual kept whipping across the mountain.

  One of the volunteers gave me a signal, and I smiled at one of my competitors before we gave each other a high-five.

  It was go time.

  With a slight inward movement of my knee, my board turned and pointed downhill. I slid forward, picking up speed before mounting the incline. I opened up my body for the initial momentum, and as the nose of my board touched the lip of the jump, I flew through the air in a series of front flips and three-sixties, while one of my hands lowered behind me to grab my board.

  Knowing that I had three more seconds before I touched the slope, I did a last-minute switch that had my board landing onto the incline in a loud smack. My natural instinct was to lean back and absorb the fall that was imminent, but instead, I got low and forced my shoulders forward, bringing my body parallel with the incline. The wobbliness disappeared, and my chest swelled with so much joy I could barely contain it.

  Holy shit!

  I did not just land that.

  Shouts and cheering echoed from the crowd and snow kicked up around my board as I came to a swift stop at the bottom.

  After waving at the crowd and giving a few people I knew high-fives, I turned and stared at the board, waiting to see if that jump moved me to the number-one spot.

  Would they see any fault in my landing?

  Did I do enough?

  The scores were counted per run and not overall, so with my current second place position, my score needed to be high enough on this run to put me in the number one spot or to beat the last competitor, the girl who was still waiting up top to do her run.

  I didn’t mind taking home silver or bronze, but gold was better. I’d lost some momentum over the years I spent waiting for the next Winter Olympics. And over those years, my competitors had gotten better. The women were more badass than they’d ever been.

  As my name jumped to the number one spot on the board, I lost it. “Oh my God!”

  “Gabby! Gabby!” Averie and Nicky screamed from behind the partitions with the crowd.

  Oh my God.

  A few minutes later, while the festivities were still ongoing with a live concert about to kick off, I stepped away and called Ryker. “Did you watch? Did you see it?”

  “Hell yeah I did, that was gnarly as fuck! Holy shit, Gabby.”

  “That was so much fun, I can’t believe I landed it. I’m a mess right now. I’m all jitters—”

  “I can hear it in your voice. Da
mn, I wish I was there.”

  “Yeah, me too, but you’ll see me tomorrow,” I said, nervous tingles spreading across my belly. It’d been almost three weeks since he’d left for college, since I’d seen him.

  “I won’t be able to make it this weekend, Bunny. Our class has this group project, and this weekend is the only time we can all get together, and I don’t want to flake out on them.”

  My excitement nosedived. And it shouldn’t, not when a gold medal was literally hanging around my neck, but it just felt as if—I felt stupid for getting my hopes up. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but damn it, it still sucked. I cleared my throat. “Oh, um, that’s okay.”

  “No, it isn’t. I want to see you.”

  “Yeah, but you’re there, and I’m here.”

  He sighed. “I know.” A few seconds passed before he asked, “Call me when you get home?”

  “Okay,” I responded, but as much as I loved spending time on the phone with him, I wanted more time in person with him. And as the weeks went by, I knew it would be less likely.

  “What are you thinking about?” Ryker asked later that night while we were on the phone.

  “Zurie and Puma?”

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” I replied, not wanting to sound silly. The one thing that I hadn’t talked to him about was my stories, and it kind of just slipped out.

  “No, tell me,” he insisted.

  “It’s nothing, I just write stories sometimes, and recently, I’ve been thinking about this one I’d started a few years ago. Zurie and Puma are the main characters.”

  “Really? That’s cool. What’s the story about?”

  “Uh, I don’t know, just a paranormal romance.”

  “About?”

  “I don’t—do you really want to know?”

  “Yeah, but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell him. It was that I’d never told anyone about my stories before. It was like diary personal, at least to me.