Rebound (Soulmates Book 3)

by Dykes, Nicole

  He was in his late forties or early fifties with slightly graying hair and looked tough. "I will not put up with any bullshit. Scholarships are limited and I will cut any one of you if you aren't pulling your own weight. The eleven o’clock curfew is going to be strictly enforced. Absolutely no exceptions. Someone will check on you every night of the week during the season." I had read in the news a year ago Auburn University put this curfew on their football players because a guy on the team was arrested for public intoxication at two in the morning.

  No one made a sound, everyone was hanging on our coach's every word. He went on. "The next three weeks are going to be the longest of the year. Football will be your entire life. Six A.M. we will meet here. Then we'll practice. Then eat lunch. Then position meetings. After that you will watch film from your practice that morning. Then weight lifting and then we'll feed you dinner. By this time your bodies will probably be begging for rest, but no such luck. After dinner is another practice. Which will last until around ten at night."

  I went over what he just said in my mind. Six in the morning until ten at night for the next three weeks. At least I wouldn’t have a second to think about Maddy. He finished his speech, "This will be the next three weeks of your life. I have no tolerance for complaining so do not do it. After three weeks is up you will have three days off to do whatever you want. Of course you still represent this team so don't do anything stupid. After those three days your asses are mine again."

  After that we did exactly what the coach had lined up for us. At ten fifteen, after a grueling day in the hot Alabama sun, Pete and I trudged back to our dorm.

  Every muscle I had was screaming at me and I needed a shower badly to wash off the sweat and the dirt, but I only made it to the couch. I plopped my body down and Pete laid down on the floor in between the kitchen and the living room.

  I lifted my head and looked down at him, "Still cheery?"

  He raised his hand and flipped me off. I nodded and laid my head back down, covering my face with my arm.

  I heard Pete groan, "Fuck. We are doing that again tomorrow? "

  I didn't move, "And the next day and the next day..."

  He groaned again and after a little bit of laying completely still we both finally got up and went to bed.

  A week later I was finally getting accustomed to my entire day being devoted to football and was even started to enjoy it. Pete and I walked to and from practice together every day and had learned a lot about each other.

  He had three older brothers, one that played football and two in the military. His mom was a teacher and his dad worked in sales. They sounded like the perfect all American family.

  I told him about my mom and grandma and my high school friends. But didn't talk about Maddy until he brought it up walking home that night. "So the girl you chose football over..."

  I sighed. I figured it was going to come up sooner or later, "What about her?"

  "You don't talk about her."

  I picked up the pace a little and he matched it, "No. It's still fresh. I didn't choose football over her. I chose college being paid for, and I would've stayed with her, but it wouldn't have been fair to her."

  We reached our building and went to the elevator up to our room. "Hmm...Well there will be plenty of southern belles here to help you get over her."

  I unlocked the door and we walked in, "Yeah I don't see that happening any time soon."

  He went to the small fridge and got a bottle of water. "What, you’re just gonna be celibate? How is that going to help ya?"

  I plopped down on the couch, the day’s practice catching up to me. "How is having sex with a random girl going to help me?"

  He chugged the water. "How is it not? You're going about this the wrong way. You need to fuck as many girls as you can."

  Before I could open my mouth to say anything he added, "Don't worry, I'll help you. By the time I'm finished you won't remember this girl’s name."

  I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but to laugh. "No thanks. And no matter what I do I won't be able to forget Maddy. Not that I would want to."

  He sat next to me on the couch. "You're eighteen. You're a college football player. I refuse to let you waste the best years of your life pining after some girl you dated in high school."

  "You know we just met a week ago right?"

  "Yep. It's still my duty as a roommate and teammate to call you out when you are being a pansy."

  I laughed again. It was hard not to be around Pete. He reminded me a little bit of Shane and I was glad he was my roommate, but I didn't want him to harp on this. "Well thanks, but let's drop it okay."

  "Okay. For now anyway." He grinned and I just shook my head.

  Chapter 5

  Finally, the three week Fall Camp was over. My body had been pushed far beyond every limit it ever had and I was thoroughly exhausted. I had three days off, and because I was completely insane I used those three days off to fly home for my mom's birthday.

  I had also told Maddy I would see her before school started and I knew I would be way too busy to go home during school. I wasn’t sure when I would be able to go back home after this.

  Pete said I was crazy. He stayed to hang out with some other guys from the team and had tried to get me to do the same. Although three days of lounging around was tempting, I had made my mind up and I flew home.

  My mom picked me up at the airport and as soon as she saw me she grabbed me. She hugged me tightly and wouldn't let go, "I'm so glad you are home!"

  I smiled and hugged her back, "Mom, it's only been three weeks."

  She didn't loosen her hold, "I know. I missed you though. You haven't ever been away from home that long before. You'll see someday. It's not easy when your child leaves you."

  I gently pulled out of her grip, "I know. I missed you too. Sorry I didn't call much, they kept us pretty busy."

  She reached up and held my face in her hands, "Yeah, you look tired. Didn't you sleep?"

  She released my face. "Yeah I slept, just not as much as I'm used to."

  "Well sleep is very important.”

  I nodded in agreement, “I know, mom. Happy birthday by the way."

  She thanked me and hugged me again. Then she drove us home.

  When we got there my grandma was making spaghetti, my mom's favorite dinner. She gave me a hug, and then we sat down for dinner.

  As we ate I was bombarded with every question they could think of about my last three weeks. After we had covered everything and we were finished, grandma brought out mom's chocolate birthday cake. We sang to her, ate, and then I gave them both a kiss and went to my room.

  I laid down on my firm mattress and pulled out my cell phone. I scrolled through the numbers until I reached Maddy's number. I decided it was too late to call so I sent her a quick text to see if she wanted to go to dinner with me the following night.

  About ten minutes later she sent a reply telling me she would love to. Just seeing a text from Maddy made my heart race a little. I couldn't wait to see her, but I knew it was going to be painful to tell her goodbye.

  The next evening I picked her up at her house. She looked the same, she had her hair up in a ponytail and was dressed casually. She was waiting for me on her porch because it was a nice evening and she hopped in my car. She gave me a quick, slightly awkward hug, "Hi."

  "Hi."

  I started driving toward the pizza place we used to eat at a lot. "So how have you been?"

  She played with the hem of her t-shirt, "Pretty good. You?"

  "Good."

  We didn't say very much the rest of the way. We pulled up to the restaurant and went in.

  After we ordered it was clear we were both uncomfortable and Maddy laughed, "Well this is awkward. Why is this so weird?"

  I laughed also. We had been so comfortable with each other since the day we met, but now that we had ended our relationship, even though it was amicable, it was strange being around her. "I don't know. I'm just not really sure w
hat to say or do."

  She thought about it, "Well I'm not either, but I know I want to be friends with you, so we are going to have to talk."

  I nodded, "I agree. Let's see...How was your summer?"

  "It was okay. Really boring. How was yours?"

  "Mine was boring too." I didn't mention football camp because I didn't want to bring the conversation to me leaving. She didn't say it, but it sounded like she had a rough summer also.

  We kept the conversation light and it was a little less tense, but it was still strange. After dinner I drove her home and we sat in my car and talked a little more.

  "When do you leave?"

  "Tomorrow.”

  She was looking straight ahead, "Well I hope that you have fun. I really do."

  I looked over at her, "I hope you have a great senior year."

  She finally looked over at me and weakly smiled at me "I will, don't worry about me. Enjoy it. I'll watch ya on TV."

  I forced a smile, "You don't have to worry about me either. Senior year is a good one. Stay in touch when you can though."

  She said she would and when she went to open the door I leaned over to kiss her out of habit. Instead of kissing her lips like I wanted to, I lightly kissed her cheek.

  We said goodbye and then I drove home. I had to fight the urge to turn around the entire way. I went home and spent time with my mom and grandma before going to bed.

  Then the next morning my mom drove me back to the airport. After her tearful goodbye I boarded the plane back to Auburn.

  That evening I walked into my dorm room and Pete was there with another guy from the team, Trevor. They were watching TV and Pete looked over, "Hey man. How was your trip?"

  I sat down in the comfortable chair next to the couch, "It was good. Saw Maddy."

  He looked annoyed, "You flew all the way home to see your ex? If I would have known that I would have tied you up and not let you go."

  Trevor smirked, "That's why you missed out on the killer parties?"

  I slumped back in the chair, "No. I went for my mom's birthday. But I told Maddy I would see her before I left."

  They both rolled their eyes at me and then Trevor stood up and stretched, "Well I hope you at least got some. That's the only thing that would make me want to see my ex."

  Pete laughed and then looked at me inquisitively, "Well?"

  "That's not why I went to see her."

  They both looked disappointed. Pete shook his head, "Well you should have stayed here. We went to a house party thrown but hot local girls. You've gotta remove that chastity belt and have some fucking fun."

  Trevor grinned like he was reliving the party, "Man that was a fun party. Well I gotta go get some sleep. See you guys later."

  After he left, Pete asked if I wanted to order a pizza. I was starving and agreed. After, we ate I called it a night and I went to my room and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

  I woke up the next morning at five and actually felt pretty refreshed. I was ready to start the school year, and after I took a shower, I walked out to the kitchen, where Pete was eating breakfast.

  "Morning."

  He looked me over, "You're in a decent mood. It's still dark out remember."

  I walked over and got some cereal for myself, "Yeah yeah. I'm ready to start classes."

  He put his bowl in the dishwasher, he was surprisingly clean for an eighteen year male. I was freakishly clean since I lived with two no nonsense women so I was happy my roommate wasn't a slob. "Yeah we better get going. Practice first. Boring school later."

  I finished my cereal and put the bowl in the kitchen. Then we headed to our team meeting.

  It's a common misconception that being a college athlete is easy: it's no picnic. I was grateful for the scholarship paying for my college experience, but it was definitely a full time job.

  I went to a team meeting that started at six A.M. and after that we had a two hour practice. After practice I went to my first class that day, which was Algebra in a small classroom. Immediately after Algebra I had PSYCH 101 in a large lecture hall across campus.

  I had to run to make it in time, but I was in my seat just as the bell rang. The professor was an older woman who wore a long dress and her hair up in a tight bun. She reminded me of a stern librarian.

  She cleared her throat loudly and everyone stopped talking, "welcome to PSYCH 101. As you can see this is a large class. I'm not going to take roll call. You all are adults now, it's up to you to come to class. It doesn't hurt me one bit if you don't come to class. You're all paying to be here though so I would think you would want to attend."

  Almost everyone in the class looked pleased by this. Knowing that if they drink too much the night before or just don't feel like coming to class they don't have to. Me? Not so lucky. I had to check in with someone whose job was to make sure I go to every class. I had to check in before and after class with them.

  For this class it was a scrawny guy named Jacob. He met me outside of the classroom and even had a picture of me so he knew who I was.

  This was for every class. Not only that, I was required to keep a 2.0 GPA and had monthly meetings with an academic advisor to make sure I was keeping up with school.

  After letting Jacob know I stayed for the entire class I went to my last class of the day, which was English, which I had with Pete and two other guys from the team. We sat together in the back and when class was finally finished we went to the large dining hall for lunch.

  I sat down next to Pete and started eating. He took a huge bite of his sandwich, "Still have energy left?"

  He said it with his mouth still full which made me laugh. I was drained, but I didn’t tell him that. “I have plenty of energy. What about you?”

  He swallowed the huge bite. “I’m doing great.”

  Trevor came over with his tray covered with food and plopped down next to me. I looked at the overflowing tray, “Hungry?”

  “Gotta make weight. I have to put on five pounds this week.”

  We had strict weight requirements and we had to stay on them or we had fun punishments like cleaning the smelly ass locker room or running several laps. Trevor was already a wall of muscle and an enormous dude. The fact that he still needed to gain more weight (preferably muscle) was an insane notion to me. “Damn.”

  They rest of lunch was filled with conversation about two a day practices and the upcoming season opener on Saturday. After lunch I had thirty minutes of free time before heading to yet another practice. I used it to read the required pages out of my Psychology text book outside sitting under the shade of a large tree I found.

  At two in the afternoon I reported for four hours of practice. Afterward, I showered in the locker room and headed with Pete and Trevor to the dining hall for dinner.

  Pete and I sat down with full trays, both obviously beat. I looked over at him, “Don’t ask.”

  He didn’t say a word and Trevor sat down with even more food on his tray than at lunch, “Holy shit. I think they are trying to fucking kill us.”

  Our large table was filled with football players that all groaned in agreement.

  I took a bite of my dinner roll. “I can’t believe this is how every day of the week will be until the season is over.”

  Pete groaned again. “And Saturdays are games days. At least we only have one practice on Sunday.”

  Trevor had started shoveling food into his mouth. “Yeah, but we have a longer meeting on Sundays because we get to watch the whole game on tape.”

  Pete cheered up a little, “Well at least we have one thing to look forward to this weekend?”

  I raised an eyebrow at him, “What? Sleep?”

  He shook his head and grinned over at Trevor who grinned back knowingly, “No. There’s a party at a sorority that we have been invited to.”

  “What? We can’t go to a party. We are supposed to behave.”

  Trevor took a break from eating for a second. “We’ll be fine. We were invited in our
first class today. It would be rude not to go. They want us to bring all of our friends.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well you guys have fun. Don’t miss curfew.”

  They looked at each other, annoyed. Then Pete glanced back over at me. “Oh you’re going. It’s the perfect place to get your dick played with. And trust me you need a little release. You’re all wound up over what’s her name.”

  “Maddy. And no I’m not. And I’m not going to a fucking party. I need my scholarship.”

  Trevor spoke next. “It’ll be fun. We will be back by eleven. I need my scholarship too. My grades aren’t going to do shit for me. But this is college. We have to have some fun too.”

  Pete nodded in agreement, “You’re going.”

  I was irritated, but in the short month I had known these guys we had become fairly close and I knew they weren’t going to give up. Playing on the same team and sharing in each other’s misery can really bond people fast. “So we are playing a game at three in the afternoon, probably won’t be done until at least eight and then going to a party where we have to leave no later than fifteen minutes before eleven? It really doesn’t seem worth it.”

  Pete smiled, knowing he had won. “It’ll be worth it.”

  After dinner we hit the gym to lift weights, another requirement every day of the week.

  Finally at ten o’clock we went home and crashed.

  Chapter 6

  The next week was long with every day being the exact same as the first. Coach had zero sympathy and told us all to suck it up.

  Our first game of the season was a tough match up, but we managed to just barely beat them. Afterward we went into the locker room and got kudos from the coaching staff.

  And then we were told what we did wrong by the head coach. He didn't look like a coach of a team that just won, "Alright, well we will watch the game tomorrow and I will show you where we need improvement."

  He cleared his throat and with a gruff tone went on, "I know you all want to go out and celebrate your first win, but if you don't make curfew you will be punished. Trust me, my punishments aren't worth any amount of fun you can have in a night. See you all tomorrow. Good game"