by Rose Croft
“Yeah, that was fucked up.” Dmitri sat to my right and tipped back his what he would call “shitty domestic beer.” Sorry, when I ordered kegs for everyone and their damn mother, you got what you got. I wasn’t running a yuppy-ass craft beer distillery here. Now, if he wanted tequila, maybe we could talk.
“What are you? His fucking parrot?” I shrugged off his comment. I didn’t know where Nick was because I’m fairly certain we’d have a sequel of what happened earlier, and it wouldn’t be pretty. Yes it was fucked up what I did. I knew it. I acknowledged it in my head. But Nick wasn’t completely absolved either. “It was fucked up what he did too,” I retorted like a sullen teen who felt justified. Nick was deliberately provoking me, and I called him out on his shit.
“Yeah, but still,” Axel began, and why wasn’t this fucker knee deep in some fan girl or two like he normally was after a win? Or wagering bets on video games while his groupies crowded around him as his own personal cheer section? Instead, he was busting my balls over what happened earlier. “You’ve been acting like a fucking dog, pissing a circle around Theo when you already have a girl.” Axel had his head down in his phone, scrolling as though this was a daily conversation about practice. “You and Nick are too good of friends to let stupid shit like this come between you.”
Stupid shit. It wasn’t stupid to me. I wanted Theodora, always had. They wouldn’t understand because I hadn’t told them the whole story of what went down. My love for her was deep, then. Like a million leagues under the sea deep. But what happened then…because of our ages…it would only sound seedy and tainted. And I hated that thought. It took me years to not hate myself because it wasn’t like that between us. Or so I thought. “You don’t know the story. You think you know, but you don’t.”
“Fill me in, man.” Dmitri leaned in and put his arm around me. Seriously, why were both of them sitting here trying to psychoanalyze me? Dmitri was a player too, but hid his shit like the CIA, or maybe I should say the KGB? Shrugs. Whatever. Homeboy was as secretive as fuck about his hookups. Now he wanted to know details like an exposé reporter. No thanks.
“It’s a long story.” I took a sip from my cup. “Not everything is as it seems, right, D? You can relate.” I slapped Dmitri on the back. He kept his unemotional face…unemotional.
“Look at this.” Axel held out his phone. “I told you, bro. I told you this was messed up.” He showed me an Instagram post, and there were several pictures of Theodora and I kissing where I was tagged. People were already commenting about it:
I see you playa. #MVP
Winner gets the spoils.
#Sidepiece
Roman’s slut
#whatawhore
Nick and Roman are tag teaming that ass.
Get you some, boy.
The comments went on and on about how Theodora was a slut, and my blood boiled as I read through more texts. It was brutal. It reminded me of high school when people accused her of being my whore then. There were several pictures at different angles from different accounts. I didn’t even think when it happened. I just acted, which was one of my problems whenever I was around her. I lost my sanity and never thought about consequences. Somehow she was tagged in the pictures, too. Double fuck. I knew her IG handle because I’d checked out her account on one occasion or several. Theodora didn’t post much. Just artistic pictures, usually with some positivity quote.
I tossed the phone back to Axel. “I’ll handle this. Besides, it will go away soon, when someone posts some other bullshit drama of the day.”
“Roman.” I heard the tranquil, feminine voice glancing up to see Taylor approaching me. With her chocolate brown hair pulled high in a stylish ponytail, and a black dress modestly cut but fashionable; it didn’t reveal too much. Everything about her was polished and perfect. Even down to the strappy shoes she wore. Designer, of course, but conservative. Her dad was running for Lieutenant Governor of the state, and she’d gone to a political fundraiser tonight. Not by choice. Her family’s political views were so off the mark from what she believed. But she toed the line with her family. Like I did with mine. In that sense, we’d always had that in common.
“Hey. We won.” I slipped my legs over the side, sitting up so she had space beside me.
“I heard.” She smiled tightly.
“How was the dinner?” It was held at an exclusive steakhouse in Austin where one had to make reservations at least two months out. Her father had rented out the whole restaurant tonight. I’d been to one of his rallies, and it was a little too much for me. Everything was about how you could bend over and take it from major contributors, promise them anything under the sun because at the end of the day funding for campaigns was the number one goal. Regardless, if you sold your soul to the devil. Her father and my father were already familiar with that process anyway or they wouldn’t have been as successful in the business world as they were. Who the fuck cared whose greased palm touched your dick as long as you got your way and were paid in full.
“Same old shit different day,” she answered, and I almost chuckled because curse words coming out of her mouth still sounded so foreign. She sat with legs crossed and spine straight. Years of cotillion and learning how to be a proper lady were ingrained in her. Her brown eyes rose to mine. “I heard you had a great game. I kept checking the highlights on my phone.”
“He did.” Axel drained the rest of his drink and stood up. “You want anything, Taylor?” he asked out of politeness and maybe guilt of what he thought he knew. Taylor had always been around us from jump.
“Gin and club soda with a twist of lemon.”
“I’ll make it.” I rose.
“I’ll come with you.”
Taylor followed me into the house where loud music buzzed off every wall. Luckily, we were somewhat secluded and our neighbors didn’t file complaints. In the kitchen, as I made her drink, I heard. “Hey, Tay. Tay.” Nick stumbled in, almost taking a few people down with him. He was piss drunk, and his nose was swollen and skin battered. However, he made a quick recovery and somehow managed not to spill the drink in his hand. “Too bad you missed the show tonight.” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. It never bothered me, the affection between Taylor and Nick. He’d always treated her like a sister in front of me. However he was trying to start shit right now. I knew the punch line was only a few seconds away. “Roman was the star as usual.”
Taylor watched him with the look of trying to appease the drunk uncle—you know the one—who only showed up on Thanksgiving and embarrassed the fuck out the rest of the family. “I heard he played great.”
“He did. He’s a great player. Isn’t he?” Nick nodded and wavered, and I was about to punch his ass again and knock him out. That fucker still had a gleam in his eye, like he wanted to go again. I would if he weren’t so drunk.
“Nick,” I warned. “That’s enough.”
He drunkenly tried to smirk at me, but it looked creepy. He wanted to say more, but he held back because at the end of the day, we could go at it, but we weren’t spilling secrets. He raised his cup. “Here’s to being one of the top ten teams in the nation.” I held out my cup and Taylor did too, making a dull sound, not a clink, but we didn’t care. We all took a swig.
Taylor set her drink down and her eyes moved back and forth between the both of us. She studied my bloody lip and bruised cheek. “Did you two fight tonight?”
“Just an idiot’s disagreement. I’ll tell you about it, but it’s going to make you laugh,” I said, trying to lead her somewhere quiet to explain.
“Didn’t seem so dumb at the time. Huh, bro?” Nick threw back his drink and hugged Taylor. He glared at me and didn’t seem so drunk anymore. Like he’d gotten his second wind, but he shrugged. “I’m gonna let Roman tell you all about it and get another drink.”
Taylor watched me with a knowing look, as though she already had an idea of what happened but was waiting for me to tell her. Hell, maybe she’d already seen the pictures on social media for a
ll I knew. She was constantly on her phone.
I led her out of the kitchen, away from the crowd down the hallway to my bedroom. I had the master since I’d found the house and paid a percentage more than the other three.
Taylor passed through the door and kicked off her shoes, sitting down on the black leather lounger by the floor-to-ceiling window that took up half the wall. It was on the far end of the house with a view of trees and twinkle of lights from homes that sat off in the distance below us on the bottom of a rocky hill.
“I saw the posts, Roman. I saw the pictures of the fight with Nick, and the photos of you and Theodora,” she said and stared down at her drink.
“It’s nothing, and who cares what people post?”
“I don’t care in the sense most people think. However, as my father is trying to win over the state of Texas, he doesn’t need his opponents to dig up dirt on him, on me, our relationship included. And you just loosened the soil for someone to scoop it up easily.”
My teeth ground together at the thought. If it were just me worried about my lifestyle, I wouldn’t give a shit. Actually, I’d only thought about myself earlier because I didn’t give a thought about consequences where Theodora was concerned. I just wanted to take, to conquer, to feel good. To crush her will. To make her admit there was still something between us, like it’d always been.
I could’ve been a dick and reminded Taylor about her life choices that wouldn’t bode too well for her father’s campaign if they slipped out. Not that it should’ve mattered, but everything could be twisted and misconstrued when you were in the public eye. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. She and I had an understanding that went way back. I always supported her.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful in the future.” I didn’t need the wrath of Richard Shields coming down on me, nor my father breathing down my neck more than he already was. “Besides, what happened tonight will soon pass.”
She downed the rest of her drink setting it down on the stand beside the lounger, rose to her feet, and picked up her sandals. Walking up to me, she patted me on the cheek affectionately. “I know you will.” Her brows furrowed as she lightly touched the bruise on the side of my jaw. “You and Nick went at it hard tonight.”
“It wasn’t that bad. We were both so pumped after the game, and I guess we still had steam to blow off.”
“Be careful, Roman. This girl tried to have you thrown in jail.”
I pressed a finger to her lips to silence her. “I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”
Taylor eyed me with a hint of skepticism, but smiled and adjusted the collar on the button down I’d changed into when I got home. Something she always did because she couldn’t stand wrinkled clothing or a collar that wasn’t completely perfect. Another lovely trait of hers (Insert sarcasm).
She bent over and slipped on her heels. “I’m off.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have plans. I only came by to tell you how my night went and to make sure we didn’t have to do damage control.”
She came to keep up appearances. “Have fun and don’t do anything to shame your father,” I teased, knowing her dad would have her secluded in a tower somewhere for the rest of her life if she got caught.
As she reached the door, she held up a middle finger behind her. I grinned.
With the door closed, I exhaled staring around my room lost in thought. Replaying the events after the game in my head. It was dangerous for me to be alone in my head right now. I was still feeling reckless and, not to mention, so goddamn horny I needed to be tranquilized so I wouldn’t do something reckless. Like get in my Jeep and drive to the dorms where Theodora lived and climb in bed with her. She stirred chaos in me, and I didn’t relish the feeling. I knew there were several girls downstairs who would be willing to take care of me. But that’s not what I wanted. I didn’t do casual hook-ups. Never did. I wanted Theodora, and I hated myself for it.
Theodora
“What happened last night, Theo?” Kenzie walked into the dorm around noon this morning after staying over at Justin’s. I knew she’d grill me after the production Roman made of me. Luckily, she didn’t last night because we were with Justin and weren’t going to have girl talk in front of him. He didn’t question it either, since he was friends with both Nick and Roman and didn’t want to get involved.
“Roman kissed me,” I stated the obvious and my cheeks flushed.
“I know that. Everyone knows. Have you not checked your phone?”
“No.”
“Oh, honey.” Kenzie clicked on hers and swiped up a few times and then held her cell out to me. “You caused quite a stir last night.” There it was, as plain as day—a picture of us locked in a fierce kiss. Scratch that. Roman had me in a death grip and was consuming me. My heart pumped harder. There were two thousand, eight hundred and seventy-six likes along with two hundred comments. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Something told me the comments wouldn’t be nice, but morbid curiosity consumed me. I looked. Most of the messages were nasty toward me, calling me every derogatory name in the book, while Roman was considered some kind of stud. There were some unfavorable comments directed at him too, probably friends of Taylor’s. Regardless, my heart dropped and nausea crept up and settled at the bottom of my stomach.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” I blinked, trying to hold back the tears. It was bad enough, the embarrassment I felt last night. To the point, I told Kenzie to take me home because I didn’t want to be around anyone, which probably thrilled Roman. He seemed to thrive on embarrassing me.
“You hate me, don’t you?” I stared down at my hands, expecting Kenzie to give me a dress down. She’d warned me to watch out, and I didn’t heed her advice. Actually, I never expected him to take it that far. I should’ve known. Roman never did anything in half measures. Obviously, Hillside University, although much bigger than our old high school, was still Roman’s kingdom, while I was still the poor girl living on the Martinez estate. I thought I could make a fresh start here; I was wrong.
Kenzie dropped down beside me on the bed. “I don’t hate you. In fact, I don’t think it was even your fault. The way Roman watched you after Justin and Axel released him was just…” She shook her head. “He looked like a tiger going in for the kill.”
“I shouldn’t have kissed him back.” I had a part to play, too.
“I don’t think you had a choice. Whatever’s going on between you two was like some kind of crazy obsessive behavior.” She wrapped an arm around me. “Are you going to tell me what happened last night after he carried you off like a caveman?”
“Nothing. We just talked and kissed again.” Guilt rose up again. “I told him we couldn’t do this because of Taylor, but he said his relationship with her is not what it seemed.”
“And you believe him?”
“I don’t know what to believe.” I groaned, wanting to sink my head under a pillow and hide.
“Okay,” Kenzie said slowly. “What was your relationship like in the past?”
Was Kenzie my relationship counselor now? I guess so. I sucked in a breath before it seeped out slowly. “We grew up together. His family is very wealthy and my mom was an in-home caretaker for his mother who was paralyzed from waist down after surviving a terrible car wreck. I was seven when we moved into his house. He was three years older than me. I still remember the first time I laid eyes on him, I thought he was the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen.”
“You had a little crush. How cute.” Kenzie nudged me.
“I did. I followed him around everywhere, always wanting to tag along and do whatever he did. I’m certain there were times I got on his nerves, but he always let me.” I subconsciously touched the raised skin of the curved scar on my arm that was the shape of a half moon. “He was always there to protect me.”
“Like a big brother,” she mused.
“Yeah, he was.”
“So when did his feelings for you turn incestuous?”
&nb
sp; I scrunched up my face. “Eww, gross.”
She laughed out. “I’m kidding. So?”
“It was when I started high school. I was a freshman, and he was a senior. I had kind of a rough beginning of the year being the newcomer at his high school. People weren’t very nice to me.” I’d never shared this with anyone except Roman. “Once again, he was there for me.” I didn’t want to go into detail about what people said or did to me in high school. Reading the comments from the Instagram post hit way too close to home and took me back to a place I’d sworn never to go again. “Anyway, we grew closer and fell in love. Or I thought we had.”
“What happened?”
“Taylor happened.” I sighed, staring out the window at the large oak tree rustling in the wind.
“So she’s actually the other woman.”
I shook my head, sweeping my palm out. “It’s in the past.”
“Seems like Roman’s trying to revisit the past, sweetie.”
“What am I going to do about that post?” I grabbed my pillow and clenched it to my chest as though it could protect me from this. “There are probably other pictures, too.” I moaned, remembering how many people were gathered around to hang out with the team.
“There are,” she said solemnly. “But guess what? You’re going to hold your head high, and I’ll be by your side.” She stood up and faced me. “It will go away. You’ll see.”
Monday morning swooped in like a buzzard finding road kill. I wasn’t ready to face the music, hoping like hell I didn’t run into anyone who’d make snide comments. I wasn’t ready to face Roman because the more I thought about it, my shame turned to anger. Everything happening between Roman and I was beginning to feel like it was all premeditated. Who knew if Roman was actually in my Sociology class. It could’ve been a fake schedule he had forged. Considering his recent behavior, I wouldn’t put it past him.
