Rebound (Soulmates Book 3)

by Dykes, Nicole

  I looked over at Pete, "We better not miss curfew."

  He threw his jersey on the bench. "Don’t worry about it."

  I stripped my grungy uniform off and took a hot shower. Watching the water pool on the ground of the shower and go down the drain, I wondered if Maddy had watched the game on TV.

  I reluctantly shut the water off and changed into jeans, a t-shirt and an Auburn baseball cap I had since I was fifteen.

  Pete and Trevor were dressed similarly except Pete had on a straw cowboy hat. I examined the hat, "Really?"

  "It’s a Texas thing. You wouldn't understand. It's lucky."

  Trevor and I laughed and we headed to the party. We parked in front of the large white sorority house. It was only eight and there weren't a lot of cars there. "There's a party here?"

  Trevor opened the door, "Most parties don't start ‘til nine or nine thirty. Don't worry. They know we will be early."

  Other guys from the team had followed us from the stadium, and there were at least twenty of us waiting outside the door when Pete rang the doorbell.

  A petite, pretty brunette, who was wearing way too much makeup answered, "You guys made it! Come on in!"

  We all filtered in and I looked around the large foyer. Several girls were standing in the living room with drinks already in their hands. Pete leaned over, "Every guys wet dream right? Look at these girls! And they out number us."

  Trevor handed Pete and me a beer, and I opened mine and took a small sip. I had no intention of getting drunk. A couple of hours of nursing one beer and watching Trevor making an ass of himself, hitting on a snobby girl, I ended up standing alone.

  There were a lot more people there by that point and a tall blond girl sauntered over to me. "Hi! I'm Kristi, with an "I".

  I smiled politely at her, "Hi. Ryan."

  She smiled and I swear she was actually twirling her hair. "That was a great game today."

  "Thanks. You like football huh?"

  She gave me a flirtatious smile, "I like football players."

  I had to force my eyes not to roll. "Well that's cool."

  "So I'm gonna make this super easy. You want to go upstairs to my room?"

  I was shocked by how bold she was, "We just met. I could be a psycho or something."

  She giggled and touched my arm, "I know you. You play football and you're a fellow college student. I'm not worried."

  She didn't even seem that drunk so I really could believe she was willing to take me up to her room. She would have been attractive, if she weren't so desperate. "Sorry, I'm going to have to go soon. Team curfew and all."

  "Isn't it at eleven? There's a lot we could do in an hour."

  "Well, I have to get the guys together, which is no easy feat, and drive back to the dorm. But thanks for the offer."

  She pouted, "Are you gay or something? You can tell me, I won't tell your teammates."

  "No I'm not gay."

  She just couldn’t believe I was turning her down. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

  "No. Look I gotta go. See ya around."

  I didn't give her a chance to ask another question and walked over to Pete and Trevor who were watching from a few feet away.

  They were both shaking their heads at me and Pete looked frustrated, "Dude, what the fuck?"

  "Drop it."

  "Are you fucking insane? That girl was offering it up on a silver platter and you turned her down. You have to get rid of the hold that girl back home has on you. You are in college. This is the time of your life."

  Part of me knew he was right, but I couldn't stand the thought of being with anyone else. And then Trevor said something that really shook me, "You know she's probably moved on already. It's been what, over three months. She's definitely screwing someone by now."

  I glared at him, "She's not with anyone else."

  Pete chimed in, "How can you be so sure? You guys are broken up. She's free to do whatever she wants. And so are you."

  "Let's go. I don't want to be late."

  I headed to the door, and they followed behind me to my car. I was pissed off and it must have shown because neither one of them said a word on the way back.

  I hadn't allowed myself to think about Maddy being with anyone else, but as I thought about it, it was entirely possible. Maddy was gorgeous and had a great personality. As soon as guys found out she was single they would be all over her.

  Trevor went to his room and Pete and I walked into ours. I tossed my keys on the counter and Pete looked like he was trying to decide if he should say something. "Don't.

  He held his hands up in surrender, "I'm sorry, man, but maybe you needed to hear it. I mean you guys aren't together."

  I didn't say anything. I knew we weren't together, but it felt unfinished somehow. I was startled by a loud knock on the door.

  I knew it was the security guard hired by the university to make sure we were in our rooms by eleven and that we stayed here until the morning. He did his usual check and left.

  I didn't say anything else and just went into my room to try to get some sleep.

  After a restless night’s sleep, I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. I had dreams all night about Maddy with other guys and it left me in a really shitty mood.

  We went to the team meeting to watch the film of the game the night before and went over strategies to improve. Then we had a three hour practice and were finally released for the day around noon.

  I went to the school’s library to do research for my first psychology paper that was due the next week and got back to my dorm around five. Pete was sitting at the kitchen table doing his Algebra homework when I walked in the door. He greeted me with a big smile, "Hey! Have fun at the library?"

  I nodded. "Yeah."

  He closed his book. "Are you still pissed about last night?"

  I wasn't angry with him. I just hated the thought of Maddy with anyone else, and I didn't want to talk about it. "No. I'm fine. You hungry?"

  He left it alone and we went to the dining hall to eat.

  The next few weeks were really monotonous. I had a really strict schedule and football took up most of my life. The rest was spent trying to keep up in my classes.

  I had exchanged a few texts with Maddy and wanted to ask if she was dating anyone, but had decided not to. It really wasn't any of my business.

  The texts with her had become less frequent and her messages were shorter and shorter. I knew she was probably just busy with school, but part of me wondered if she had started seeing someone.

  After our sixth football game I let Pete and Trevor talk me into going to another party. This one was just supposed to be a small house party that a couple of seniors on the team were throwing.

  We were undefeated, so we were all in fairly good moods. We drove to the party at a small house just off campus. A lot of guys from the team and a few girls were already there. It was nothing like the party at the sorority.

  Trevor handed me a drink and held his up to me, "Cheers."

  I took a drink of mine. It was strong and made me cough. I made a bitter face. "What is this?"

  He scoffed and patted my back once. "It's called whiskey. Man up! I put some Coke in there too."

  It was definitely more whiskey than Coke, but I took another sip anyway. As long as we were home by curfew and didn't do anything to make the ten o'clock news, it didn’t matter if we drank. I decided to loosen up a little. He looked pleased and we went over and joined a couple of guys playing cards in the dining room.

  After an hour and a half and three of Trevor’s concoctions later I was completely out of it. I had only been drunk a handful of times and this was definitely top two. I had no idea what was going on in the card game anymore so I stood up shakily. My legs were not working with me and I sat right back down. I heard laughter around me and I stood back up and willed myself back up.

  I stumbled into the living room with my drink in my hand and bumped hard into someone.

  I apologized and
focused on the girl I had run into. She was about average height, with shoulder length dark hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a faded Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt and jean shorts. She smiled at me, "Whoopsie! Sorry 'bout that!"

  I laughed. She had a really cute Southern accent. She had definitely had too much to drink also. "I'm sorry. I'm the one that bumped into you."

  She looked me up and down, "Are you a football player?"

  I grinned, thinking that would be seen as a plus in her eyes. "Yeah."

  Her smile turned into a frown. "Too bad. You're cute, but I'm not into jocks."

  Surprised, I turned on my charm the best I could in the state I was in. "Well, I'm not just a jock. There's more to me. Don't you want to get to know me better?"

  She giggled. She had a really pretty laugh. It didn't make her sound ditzy like the sorority girl. "I don't know. Maybe."

  She bit her lip and it was sexy as hell. Unfortunately, that was my last memory of the night.

  I woke up the next morning to Pete pouring ice cold water over my head. I sat straight up in my bed, "What the fuck?"

  He laughed, "Morning! Get the hell up! We're going to be late for practice."

  I groaned and laid back down with my arm covering my face. The whole room was spinning and my head was pounding. "What happened last night?"

  He threw a shirt and pants at me, "You had a great fucking time. That’s what happened. Get up. Get dressed."

  He left and I sat up again moving incredibly slow. I removed the covers, I was completely naked. I felt like I was going to throw up from the movement, so I leaned over the trash can by my bed. I dry heaved, but nothing came up and I saw two condom wrappers in the trash.

  I had no idea what happened the night before, but I didn't have time to worry about it. I got dressed and walked out to where Pete was waiting for me. He laughed at me again. "You look like shit. This is going to be fucking rough."

  I rubbed my temples, "You think?"

  "You want to grab something to eat real quick?"

  My stomach lurched at the thought of food, "No. Let's just go."

  We started our walk to go to practice and I finally threw up in the grass outside of the building. I could tell Pete was trying not to laugh, "Well, it's better now than at practice."

  I wiped my mouth and started walking. "What happened last night? Did we make curfew and did I have a girl over?"

  He nodded, "Yeah we dragged your drunk ass home just in time for curfew. And you invited a few girls over. And a couple of guys. You're pretty social when you’re drinking."

  We could have people over as long as we were safely inside our dorms and not disturbing anyone, but I didn't remember inviting anyone back. "So we threw our own party then?"

  He nodded again. "Yep. A small one. Like ten people. But you disappeared pretty soon after we got home and judging from the sounds coming from your room I would say you finally got laid."

  I racked my brain. The last girl I remembered was the cute girl I bumped into, but I thought I recalled her saying something about not liking jocks. Who knew? It could have been anyone. I felt like a total asshole. I had sex with a girl a couple of times judging from the trash in my room and I had no idea who she was. She wasn’t there when I woke up so I wondered if I had asked her to leave or if she decided to leave on her own. "I don't remember."

  He shook his head, "Well, I'm not surprised. You were really fucked up. I didn't know you had it in ya."

  He sounded oddly proud and we finally made it to the meeting. I tried not to fall asleep while we were watching footage from the game the day before.

  Every time my eyes fell closed I felt like I was going to puke again so I would snap them back open. After hours of watching the game we had a two hour practice, which I actually made it through without throwing up again.

  Afterward, I skipped lunch and went back to bed. I laid there trying to force a memory of the night before, but came up blank. I eventually gave up and fell asleep.

  I slept most of the day and woke up late that evening. I could finally stand without feeling dizzy and walked into the living room and was greeted by Pete and a pretty blond who were sitting on the couch. "Gina this is my roommate, Ryan. Ryan this is Gina. We have algebra together."

  "Hi. Nice to meet you."

  She smiled, "Nice to meet you too."

  I went into the kitchen and Pete followed, "Hey. Feeling better?"

  "Yeah a little. I can't believe you aren't hungover."

  "I didn't drink that much and my body is used to it."

  I took a pain reliever. "I'm heading back to bed. Have fun."

  "Oh, I will." He made an obscene gesture with his hand. I just shook my head and went back into my bedroom.

  I laid back on the bed and couldn't shake the feeling that I had betrayed Maddy somehow. I knew it wasn't logical, but logic didn't seem to matter when it came to Maddy.

  I stayed far away from parties for the rest of the semester. I didn't make it home for Thanksgiving because we had mandatory practice the day before and after and it wasn't worth it to fly home. My mom was upset, but said she understood as long as I made it back for Christmas.

  In mid-December we had finals week at school. Everywhere you looked on campus everyone was frantically studying. I managed to get a 3.1 GPA for the semester and was pretty proud of myself. Pete ended with a 2.3 and Trevor scraped by with a solid 2.0.

  We had a really successful football season and played a bowl game in Florida right before Christmas. Which was good and bad. When everyone else left right after their last final to go back home we were required to stay.

  We had three a day practices leading up to our game. It was a lot of fun though. We rode on the team bus to Florida and stayed in a really nice hotel.

  After we won, we all went back to campus but weren't free just yet. We had two days of practice and meetings and were allowed to go home two days before Christmas.

  Before we left for break, our coach gave a short speech in the locker room. "That was a hell of a season. For those of you that are planning on playing for me next year, don't think your job is over for the year. Go home. Rest. But then you all expected back here January second. The practices won't be as long or as intense and you will have weekends off, but you will still have practice every day Monday through Friday. The curfew will still be enforced, and you all will be expected to keep your grades up. Now get outta here."

  You could feel the relief when he was done talking. January second didn't give me that much time, but I was going to enjoy every second I was home.

  I went back to my dorm and packed. Pete walked into my room with his luggage. "Well, I'll see you next year."

  "Yep. Have fun."

  "You too." He looked mildly concerned, "You aren't going to see your ex are you?"

  I shoved a couple pairs of jeans in my bag, "I don't know. I haven't talked to her very much lately."

  He nodded, "Well, don't get hooked because you gotta come back."

  I grinned, "Aw would you miss me if I didn't come back?"

  He rolled his eyes, "Just don't do anything stupid."

  I laughed, "Don't worry. I'll see ya in January."

  With that he picked up his bags and left. I finished packing and flew home later that afternoon.

  Chapter 7

  This time it was Cory that picked me up from the airport. I had talked to him a few times throughout the year, but it was really good to see him in person. He looked happy as he greeted me in the crowded airport. “Hey Ryan!”

  “Hey! Thanks for picking me up.”

  “No problem. I was getting bored at my parents’ any way.”

  We walked out to his car and got in. We went to grab a burger and catch up. As we were eating I noticed he was checking his phone a lot. “Expecting a call?”

  He put his phone in his pocket. “Maybe.”

  “Oh yeah. You got a girlfriend in New York you haven’t told me about yet?”

  A big grin spread across his face
. “Well there is a girl I’ve been spending a lot of time with lately. Ashley. She was in my philosophy class and we spent a lot of time studying. She’s amazing. So different from any of the girls we went to high school with.”

  I knew he would meet someone in college. “That’s awesome man. So you haven’t asked her out?”

  He looked away, shyly. “No. What if she says no?”

  “She’s not going to say no. You gotta take a chance. And if she does then she just isn’t the right girl.”

  He took a bite out of a french fry. “That’s easy for you to say. It comes easy to you.”

  I shook my head. “No it doesn’t. Everyone is afraid of rejection. Trust me. Just do it.”

  He told me he would think about it and then we talked about college. He told me how much he loved every class he was in and about late nights studying with Ashley. I told him about football and my teammates. When we were finished he dropped me off at my house and I told him I would see him again before I had to go back to school.

  I went inside and was instantly grabbed by my mom. She hugged me even tighter than the last time I was home. “Welcome home!”

  My grandma pried her off of me and gave me a hug, “Hi, honey.”

  I smiled at them both. “Hi. It’s good to be home.”

  Mom looked me over, "Well you don't look too different. A little more grown up and maybe a little bulkier."

  Working out every day, practices, and games had added about ten pounds of muscle on my body. Leave it to my mother to notice and comment. "Thanks mom. I think. What were you expecting? It hasn't really been that long."

  She smiled and hugged me again. "Well college changes people."

  My mom could be a little overbearing at times, but I was her whole life and I found it semi comforting. "What's for dinner?"

  She shook her head, "Nope you haven't changed."

  We all went into the kitchen for dinner. It was great to have a home cooked meal after months of eating at the dining hall.

  The next day I met Eric and Shawn at the track to go running. I couldn't let myself get out of shape and I wanted to catch up with them also.