by Nicole Dykes
I laugh, “No. Look, all of that shit, it’s just part of growing up. There is a reason they say love makes you blind. If you thought you were in love with this guy, I get it. You are way too good for him and his bullshit, but it’s not because you are broken. Trust me. I know. Everyone deals with heartbreak.”
That gets her attention. She drops her hands and I hope she doesn’t ask. I’m surprised when she simply says, “Thank you.”
I stand up, “You wanna go get something to eat?”
She looks sick and holds her stomach, “No, I don’t think I’m ever going to eat again.”
I chuckle. She’s so damn cute. “Okay, coffee?”
She smiles and nods, taking my hand I offer to help her up.
We walk down to Aggieville to get a coffee shop and both sit at a table.
She sips her coffee and then looks like she can’t hold back anymore, “So, you’ve had your heart broken too?”
Damn, how did I know it was going there? “Yeah.”
She prods, “Who?”
She’s told me a lot about herself, I guess I owe her one. “My high school girlfriend, Miranda. I started dating her my sophomore year.” I can see by her face she wants more details, “I knew of her, but we never actually talked until then. Ironically, we officially met at a party.”
Cassie smiles at that, “Oh yeah?”
I hate thinking about Miranda. “Yeah, she was drunk and definitely not able to consent, but some asshole was all over her. He was trying to get her into his car until I stopped him. We got into a fight. I won and then took her home.”
Cassie puts her coffee down on the table, “What kind of fight? Like with fists?”
“Maybe.” Mainly just my fist after he gave me a hard shove. “Does that surprise you?”
She nods, “Yeah, you just keep surprising me. Why the hell do they call you choir boy?”
I side step that question, “One story at a time.”
She laughs at that and puts her hands up, “Okay, okay.”
I continue, “That Monday she found me at school and asked me out. We ended up dating all through high school. After graduation, she stayed in Oklahoma and went to OU and I got a scholarship to K-State. We decided to try the long-distance thing.”
Cassie is listening so intently that she is leaning forward slightly so I go on, “I thought it was going okay. I tried to call her as often as I could with the intense schedule I had to keep for football. I even managed to visit her a couple of times. Then I decided to surprise her at her dorm. I knew her roommate pretty well, we all went to high school together. I talked her into letting me into their room so I could surprise Miranda when she got back from class. Only Miranda was there already and she wasn’t alone.”
Cassie covers her mouth, “Oh no, Hunter. They were having sex?”
“A form of it.” The image of my girlfriend going down on a friend of mine from school is forever burned in my brain.
“Wow. That’s terrible.”
I nod trying to shake off the anger it still makes me feel today. I devoted everything to Miranda. I was such a fucking idiot. I looked at K-state and my football career as our future. “See, everyone has something, Cassie.”
“So how did you get over it? Come home and bang every chick in sight?”
I laugh at that. Considering the reality was the total opposite of that. “Cam tried to get me to for sure, but really I just threw myself into football and school.”
She smiles at that, “Sounds like Cam. I’m glad you got through it.”
I’m not sure I have. I basically just found a way to numb myself. I don’t think I should tell Cassie that though. “What are you doing Friday?”
She takes another sip of her coffee, rubbing her temples. “Not going to any parties.”
I laugh, “Good answer. You wanna hang out with me?”
Her eyes brighten, “Really?”
“Yeah, well me and some other people. I think Luke and Hannah will be there.”
“Oh yay, a Friday night with my brother.” She says it sarcastically, but I don’t think she’s against it.
“Yeah, we are having a lowkey night since the next day is our first home game.”
“Lowkey sounds nice.”
“Okay, good. You can bring Dani. Eight o’clock at the Union.”
She nods, “Okay, we will be there.”
I stand up, “You want me to walk you back?”
She stays put, “No thank you. I think I’ll stay here for a little bit. Enjoy the coffee and try to get the room to stop spinning.”
I put my hands in my pockets, a nervous habit. “I’m glad you are okay. I’ll see you Friday.”
She smiles up at me, “Okay, I can’t wait. Thanks for everything, Hunter. Most guys wouldn’t be so nice.”
There’s that word again. If she only fucking knew.
I leave and then go back to my house. As I’m walking inside my phone rings and I know by the caller ID it’s my father. Great.
I answer it, “Hello, sir.”
“Hunter. How have you been.”
“Good.” Not sure he really cares so I don’t go into detail.
“Well, the reason I’m calling son is to tell you that your mother and I won’t be able to make it to the game on Saturday.” Shocker. “It’s just a long trip for a game.”
My father is a military man, he enlisted shortly after he graduated high school and doesn’t understand my fascination with football. He never did. I swear it killed a piece of him when I got a scholarship to K-state and took it. He had hoped I would enlist. “I understand.”
“Alright. Take care of yourself.”
“I will sir.”
We both hang up and I see Cam walking into the living room where I’m now sitting on the couch, “Dear ole’ dad?”
I nod, “He wanted to tell me they won’t be at the game. Like it’s fucking news.”
Cam laughs and sits in one of the chairs, “Yeah, my parents won’t be able to attend either.” He mocks a fancy accent. Cam is from Boston and he comes from a wealthy family. One he drives insane by his brash comments and deciding to skip the ivy leagues to play football here. “Fuck ‘em.”
I laugh, “Yep.”
“So how was Little Monroe this morning? Safe?”
I nod my head, leaning back against the couch and stretching out. The couch is too fucking short and I didn’t sleep well last night. “Yeah, she snuck out this morning and went back to her dorm.”
“Now why would she do that?”
I know what he’s implying. “Nothing happened, shithead.”
He laughs, “Then why did she do a mad dash out of here this morning?”
I shrug my shoulders, “I guess she was embarrassed because she got drunk.”
“Yeah, I swear I didn’t know she was drinking that much or I would have walked her home myself way earlier.”
I nod. I believe him. Cam’s an asshole, but at his core he’s a good guy. “I invited her and her roommate to join us on Friday.”
He groans, “Oh fuck. I forgot about that. A lowkey, no alcohol night. Yay. Can’t wait.” Then he adds, “Ah, wait her roommate, huh? She was pretty fucking hot. Maybe it will be a good time.”
I couldn’t tell you if Cassie’s roommate is hot or not. All I could focus on was making sure Cassie was okay this morning. “Cam, the roommate is off limits too.”
“Ah, what the fuck? You can’t declare that.”
“Just did. She’s a freshman. Why don’t you grow a pair and fix things with Vanessa?”
He grunts and stands up, “I’m going for a run.”
I chuckle. That’s the usual response when he Vanessa is brought up.
We are a lot alike in that way.
Chapter 13
Cassie
The following Friday, Dani and I walk into the student union on campus. My nerves are attacking me as I anticipate being around Hunter again after last weekend. The events of that night at his house run through my mind
constantly.
I actually asked him to kiss me. Begged him to.
Dani nudges me, “Okay, so the union is fucking huge. Where exactly are we meeting your dream lover?”
I roll my eyes, “He just said the basement.”
She looks at me in disbelief. “The basement? Are we going to be murdered?”
I laugh. I’ve only been to the food court in the union so far. So, I have no idea what we are doing here either. “I seriously doubt it. It’s not a house.”
She grins and then we walk down the stairs to the basement. I see an arcade to our left and in front of us there is a full bowling alley. Dani turns to me, “Are we going fucking bowling, like we are twelve years old?”
I shrug and then I see Hunter talking to Luke and Hannah. They are standing with Cam, Vanessa and three other people. I guess we are going bowling. Hunter did say lowkey. I look to Dani, “You owe me for last weekend.”
She nods her head and then with a devilish grin says, “That’s true. Besides there are some really hot guys down there.”
I roll my eyes, “Don’t even think about it. They are all Luke’s friends.”
She shrugs her shoulders casually as we make our way over to the group, “Hell, Luke is looking pretty damn good too.”
“I thought you were over that school girl crush on my brother.”
“Hey, you dated mine.”
Touché. “Yeah, well Luke is totally taken now.”
She smiles, “Oh well. Cam is pretty fucking hot.”
I shake my head at my best friend as we reach the group. Hunter gives me a huge smile, “Hey, Cassie. You made it.”
I nod, “Yeah. So, we’re going bowling?”
Luke laughs and gives me a quick hug, “Hunt came up with this lame idea our freshman year. Thought it would keep us out of trouble before game nights.”
Cam grins big, “It doesn’t always work.”
Hunter laughs and looks at me, “It’s trial and error. Like bowling worked. Going to the movie theater works, if it’s a late enough movie.”
Dani asks the question on my mind, “Why does it have to be late enough?”
Hunter turns to Cam who answers, “If it’s too early some people might still go out after.”
Dani grins over at Cam, “And are you ‘some people’?”
He winks at her which answers the question. Hannah rolls her eyes, “So, basically they are children that need a babysitter until it’s too late for them to go mess up and get into trouble.”
I laugh at that and Luke pulls Hannah to him, whispering something into her ear that makes her shiver. I don’t want to know.
Hunter introduces Dani and I to the three other people with them. Two guys, teammates, Duncan and Tyler. They scream football players. The last person is a girl named Samantha who is Tyler’s girlfriend. I smirk over at Dani. Another one off the market.
Not that, that would deter my friend anyway. After the introductions, Cam claps his hands together. “Alright, so who wants to be on my team and who wants to lose on Luke’s team?”
Luke who is tying his bowling shoes, flips him off without looking at him. “I choose first.”
“Bullshit!” Cam says.
They settle this dispute by playing, Rock, Paper, Scissors. Cam wins.
Cam looks over at Hunter, “Thompson.”
“Fuck.” That comes from Luke and Hannah smacks his chest. He grins at her, “Of course I was going to pick you first anyway.”
Cam laughs and makes a whipping sound and motion toward Luke. Then says, “Alright, we will take Little Monroe. You have to better than your brother.”
“Fuck off, Brown.” Luke is smiling and happy when he says that to Cam. It must be a guy thing to call your friends by their last name. Or maybe it’s a teammate thing?
I walk over to Cam’s team, which is just Cam and Hunter so far. “I haven’t bowled for a long time.”
Hunter gives me a reassuring smile. His close proximity makes it hard for me to breath. “You’ll be fine. I’ll help you if you need it.”
Hannah says something to Luke and he sighs, “We’ll take Vanessa.”
Vanessa walks over to their side, “Gee, thanks Luke. Don’t look too happy about it.”
Cam then picks his friend Tyler, followed by Luke picking Duncan. Cameron looks over at me, “You want Dani on our team or Luke’s?”
I smile, surprised he’s asking. I don’t know which side Dani is safer on. If she hits on Luke, Hannah and Vanessa will tear her apart. Her trying to hook up with Cam is a huge possibility on this team though. I shrug my shoulders, “Up to you.”
Hunter looks over at me, probably surprised by me not instantly begging for my friend to be on our team. Cam looks over at Dani, “We’ll take Dani. We need to get to know you better anyway.”
Dani gives him her best smoldering look as she walks over, “Yes, you do.”
Shit. This is not good. I look over at Luke, Hannah, and Vanessa. All who are watching them closely and none look happy about it. I lean near Dani, “Seriously, don’t.”
She rolls her eyes, “We are just messing around, Cassie. Don’t worry.”
Dani and I go to get our shoes when we realize we’re the only ones without them and a ball. “He’s a player you know.”
We tell the guy behind the counter our shoe sizes. “Yeah, I know. Kind of fucking perfect for me right now, but if you don’t want me to go there I won’t.”
We get our shoes and then go to pick out a ball. “I don’t know. It’s just weird. He’s Luke’s friend and he’s older.”
“Right. Just like Hunter.”
I find the perfect dark pink ball. It kind of matches my Camaro. “Nothing happened with Hunter.”
She picks out a black ball, “But you wanted something to happen. And I wouldn’t fault you.”
She’s not wrong. If Hunter would have kissed me the other night I would have been all over him, drunk or not. I’m extremely attracted to him, an attraction that just continues to grow. Of course, he just sees me as Luke’s little sister and probably a train wreck at that. “I’m sorry. You’re right, I’m being a hypocrite.”
She shakes her head, “No, you’re being a protective friend. I can handle Cameron though. I won’t, but I could.”
I smile as we make our way back to the lane designated for our team. Hunter is up first and I can’t help but to stare at his perfect form as he pulls his arm back and then hurls it forward. His muscles tighten as he lets go of the ball with perfect timing and bowls the first strike of the night.
Cam and him slaps hands as he walks back and Luke looks over with his usual cockiness, “That luck won’t last, Thompson.”
Hunter just smirks over at him as he takes a seat next to me, “Yeah, your girl is up, Monroe.”
Luke groans and gives Hannah some last-minute tips. I turn to Hunter, “Has Hannah never bowled before?”
He chuckles, “No she’s been a lot with us. She just sucks.”
I laugh at that, “That’s not nice.”
He nods his head forward as Hannah walks up to the line, ball in hand. “Just watch.”
Hannah’s ball veers way too much to the left and goes into the gutter. Poor Hannah. On her second turn she manages to knock down one pin. Luke embraces her in a tight hug when she walks over to him. I turn to Hunter, “I don’t think I’ll do much better. It’s been a long time.”
“I’ll help you. At least the first time. It’s not rocket science and the score really doesn’t matter.” I turn to watch Cam taunting Luke after he bowls another strike for our team and then give Hunter a knowing look. He laughs, “Well, for the most part.”
Luke gets up next and knocks down nine pins, but knocks down the other one on his next try. After more trash talking Cam turns to me, “Alright, Little Monroe, don’t let me down.”
Hunter stands up with me, “Just breath. Like I said, no big deal.”
I smile, Hunter is used to pressure in front of massive crowds. Of course, this is
nothing to him. We walk up and I grab my ball. Both of us walk up to the line and Hunter takes the ball reminding me how to hold it. Our hands touch briefly as he passes the ball to me, “Okay, so it’s really easy you walk up to the line, pulling the ball back as you go and when you get there just release it. Aim for the middle of the pins.”
He shows me with a fake ball and I nod, “Okay, I’ll try.”
He moves back, but doesn’t sit down and I look at the pins. Please don’t let me do something horribly embarrassing. I do what he told me, but the ball catches on my thumb when I throw it and it goes straight into the gutter. Yeah, that was embarrassing.
I look back and see Cam with his head in his hands. Luke looks confident and Hannah says, “Don’t worry, Cass. It’s harder than it looks.”
“Don’t help the other team.” Luke says, grinning.
She smacks his chest playfully, “That other team member is your sister, dumbass.”
Hunter grabs my ball and then walks up behind me. He’s standing so close I can feel his breath on my neck. His voice is so calming, “Just tune them all out. They aren’t here. Hell, I’m not here. It’s just you, having fun.”
My shoulders go up when I laugh. I try to focus. Wanting him here with me, but everyone else disappears into the background. “I suck.”
He puts the ball in my hand and then takes my other hand placing it on the ball. His hand stays on mine as he pulls our hands and the ball backward. “Just pull it back and then,” he motions the ball forward and stops, “when you get here, let it go. Put some force behind it.”
I honestly can’t think about any of the words coming out of his mouth. I’m just thinking about how close his hard body is to mine and the skin of just his hand feels on mine. I’m a dirty girl. “Okay.”
My voice isn’t above a whisper. It’s all I can muster. Then I hear Cam, “Can you two stop dry humping and fucking bowl already?”
Hunter’s body pulls away from mine and I suck in a deep breath at the sudden loss. I hear Luke and Hunter say at the exact same time to Cam, “Shut the fuck up.”
I chuckle at that and then somehow manage to recall Hunter’s directions. I roll the ball, aiming at the middle and I actually manage to knock down nine pins this time!
