Rebound (Soulmates Book 3)

by Dykes, Nicole

  "I wish I loved being home even a little. Your mom and grandma are amazing."

  I grinned. "Yeah. They are. I'm lucky."

  "Yes, you are. No wonder you are such a good guy."

  We were speaking in hushed tones so we didn't wake anyone, "There was a time when you hated me."

  "True. I guess I was wrong. It happens, it's just rare."

  I laughed quietly, "Well I'm glad you gave me a chance. And thank you for coming here for the wedding."

  "Thanks for inviting me. I usually detest weddings, but I think this one will be fun."

  I just nodded as we swung back and forth. We finally went inside an hour later and I fell asleep, thinking about Lindsay and the night we met. It was a short memory, but it didn't take long to fall asleep.

  The next morning my mom was running around, frantically trying to get everyone up and around. My grandma and I had tried to calm her down. It didn't work. Then Lindsay told her it was all going to be perfect and there was no need to worry. Somehow that calmed her down.

  She sat down and ate breakfast and went over the plan for the day with Lindsay. My grandma and I stood in awe watching them. She elbowed me gently in the side, "Well she's a keeper. I've been trying to calm your mom down for years."

  I smiled at her, "Yeah she's great."

  "Uh huh, so why aren't you with her?"

  I shook my head, "I'm gonna go get ready." I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and headed down the hall to my room.

  Before the wedding I stood out in the hall with my mom, who was wearing a beautiful silver gown. She adjusted my bow tie, "Thank you so much for walking me down the aisle honey."

  "Of course mom. I'm really happy for you."

  She looked troubled, "I know you didn't grow up with two parents that were married and that you had your heart broken, but please don't give up. I kind of did that for a while." She started to tear up, "I closed myself off for years, but when the right person comes along, Ryan, please don't ignore it."

  "Mom. I didn't need a mom and dad. I had you and grandma. You guys were more than enough."

  "Thank you for saying that. I always wondered if you resented me for you not having a father around. But mostly I'm worried about closing yourself off to love."

  The music started and the wedding party started their march toward the alter, "Mom. Don't worry about that today."

  "You're my son. I'll always worry about you. I'm proof that love will get ya when you least expect it. Just have to be open to it."

  She moved to my side and took my arm in hers and I walked her down the aisle to the man she had waited for all of those years.

  I took my seat up front next to Lindsay and the rest of my friends. I watched as they exchanged vows and promised the rest of their lives to one another.

  The pastor announced them as man and wife and then they kissed and left the large church.

  We all headed over to the reception hall after that. Lindsay looked gorgeous in a long dark red dress, with her hair pulled up. Pete and Trevor were both in nice suits and Julie was in a knee high blue dress. We were all sitting at the table when Pete whistled, "Well we all sure clean up nice."

  Julie looked around, "Well we sure do."

  The band announced my mom and Troy when they came into the reception hall.

  They served a really nice dinner and we all talked about how beautiful the wedding was as we ate.

  Troy and my mom danced, their first dance as a married couple after the meal and then I danced with my mom. After that they opened the dance floor to everyone else. Pete took advantage of that and asked several of the single younger women at the wedding to dance. Trevor and Julie also spent a lot of time on the dance floor. Lindsay asked me to dance and I took her hand and led her out to the dancefloor.

  After the song ended, Trevor tapped on Lindsay’s shoulder. “You want to trade up for one dance?”

  She looked at me and then back at him, “Well sure.”

  She went off with Trevor and I looked at Julie. “You want to dance?”

  “Well, I would love to.” She put her hands on my shoulders and I put mine on her hips.

  She smiled at me, “That really was a beautiful wedding. Your mom looked so pretty.”

  I agreed. “I’m glad you all could make it.”

  After a little bit she looked up at me, “Ryan, you know that she is in love with you right?”

  I looked down at her and over at Lindsay, who was busy dancing with Trevor. “Lindsay?”

  “Yes. Lindsay.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  She rolled her eyes at me, “Are you kidding? That girl has had it bad for you for a long time even before you two started sleeping together.”

  I looked at her, stunned. “You know about that.”

  “Duh. She told me after about a month. Why did you think she stopped it?”

  “I thought maybe she was just bored with it or something. She didn’t act any differently.”

  She sighed, “Yeah. Lindsay is good at hiding her pain. She’s in love with you though and if you are too you need to tell her. For the record I think you guys would make the perfect couple.”

  We continued to dance and I thought about it. I thought about all of the time I spent with Lindsay. I could tell her anything and I didn’t think there was anything that she didn’t tell me. When her sister left rehab, she ran to me first.

  After the song ended Trevor and Lindsay walked back over to us and we all went back to our table. I looked over at Lindsay. She had somehow become my best friend and was the person I trusted more than anyone else.

  I was a fucking idiot. We had been dating; I just didn’t know it. And she ended it because I wasn’t available the way she needed me to be.

  My mom and Troy walked over to our table to tell us goodbye. They were going on a weeklong honeymoon, but were staying in a nice hotel suite that night. We all stood up, and my mom hugged everyone. I was last and she held on to me, “I love you. Have a safe trip back.”

  “We will. Congratulations. Love you too.”

  She let go and I shook Troy’s hand, “Take care of my mom.”

  “I will. Hopefully we will see you soon.”

  I nodded and they left. Pete disappeared with one of my distant female cousin that I hadn’t seen in years and told us not to wait up.

  Trevor and Julie went back to the dancefloor and I was left sitting with Lindsay at the table. She yawned, “I am so tired. I can’t believe you kept me up so late last night.”

  She grinned over at me and I smiled back at her, “You want to dance.”

  “Of course.”

  We walked back to the dance floor and I held her close to me. She was everything I could have ever wanted: smart, sarcastic, sexy, and honest. I couldn’t let her get away because I had one bad relationship.

  She had her head down on my shoulder and I said quietly, “Were you in love with me?”

  She looked up, startled by my question, “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. Were you? Is that why you put an end to our arrangement?”

  She swallowed. We were still dancing together, but she had pulled back a little, “No questions remember?”

  “I’m breaking the rules.”

  “No. I mean I don’t know. My mind was playing tricks on me so I ended it to stop the confusion. I mean sex makes our minds think that we are in love with someone.”

  “Okay. So when we stopped having sex, your feelings changed?”

  She looked down at the tile floor. “Ryan. Don’t. I know that you don’t want a relationship.”

  “Lindsay we were in a relationship. I just didn’t see it. I didn’t want to, but we shared everything with each other. It was sex and friendship. That’s what a relationship is.”

  She smiled up at me. “Fine. It was a failed experiment. I was a total girl and went and fell in love with you. Or I already was when we started sleeping together. I don’t know. It’s all blurry. And no my feelings for you did not
change after we stopped.”

  I pulled her closer to me and kissed her deeply. Every doubt I had washed away. We slowly parted and I looked at her, “I love you too. I don’t want to play games or have any rules. I just want to be with you.”

  Epilogue

  One Year Later…

  Lindsay was looking in the full length mirror in our bedroom. After we graduated from college a month before, Lindsay and I moved into a house together in Auburn. I was finally finished with football and got several government grants and a small scholarship to go to grad school. Lindsay landed an awesome job as an addiction counselor and was already in love with her job.

  I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her small waist. "We are going to be late. You look gorgeous."

  She turned around. She was wearing her dark pink bridesmaid gown. "You make a very handsome best man."

  She was the maid of honor. "Well thank you. Can you believe they are getting married?"

  She smiled, "Yes. Julie has been head over hills for him since the first night they talked on the phone."

  "We better get going if we are going to pick up Laura before the wedding."

  Her sister was released from prison six months ago and had been going to counseling ever since. She was over a year sober, had moved to Auburn, and had joined our little group. Julie even made Laura a bridesmaid in the wedding.

  We left our house and drove to Laura’s apartment to pick her up.

  We all went to the wedding and witnessed our good friends marry each other. As I listened to them vow to always be together no matter what I looked over at Lindsay.

  I caught her eye and she mouthed, "I love you." I mouthed it back.

  The last year had been the most incredible year of my life. Things with Lindsay were pretty much the same as when we were friends having sex. We still told each other everything, but we didn’t have any rules, and I was no longer blind to the fact that I was in love with. I made sure to tell her how much I loved her often.

  Letter from the Author

  Thank you so much for reading this book! I truly hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review on Amazon and if you have the time on my goodreads page:

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13701591.Nicole_Dykes

  Please see below for a special preview of the next book in the series!

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  Evolve

  By Nicole Dykes

  Prologue

  Jackie

  Freshmen Year

  Movement from the body next to me woke me and I slowly opened my eyes. The events of the night before playing in my head.

  It was homecoming and Jake's date had ditched him at the party after the dance. Jake was one of my good friends that I had a serious crush on since we started hanging out a few years ago.

  I had way too much to drink, but when I saw him standing alone in the kitchen, I knew it was my chance to finally make a move. We were both really drunk and things admittedly went too far, but I had told him I loved him and he said it back.

  I looked up at his gorgeous face and couldn't help the huge grin that was plastered on my face. Jake Keller. We were together, he loved me. "Good morning."

  He smiled back at me, obviously hungover from the night before, "Good morning."

  He stood up suddenly and started to get dressed. I sat up, still naked from the night before, "Are you leaving?"

  He looked over at me as he was getting dressed, “Yeah sorry, I have to get home. But last night was great. I'll see ya at school." He walked over and planted a quick kiss on my lips.

  I smiled at him, still sitting up on the bed. I didn't want him to leave, but I knew we would have plenty of time together. "Okay, I'll see you at school then. I can't wait."

  He said he couldn't either and then left the room. I laid back down for a minute, still unable to stop smiling. I couldn't believe I had finally went for it with Jake. Part of me thought he liked my best friend Maddy. They had been best friends since they were six years old and we're always together, but when I asked him the night before he had said that they were just friends.

  I slowly dragged my body out of bed and found my clothes on the floor. After I was fully dressed I went downstairs to find my two best friends, Maddy and Michelle.

  I saw Maddy and Michelle sitting on the sleeping bags on the living room floor of Jake's mom's large lake house. I walked over to them.

  Michelle, who was our group's tough girl, looked me up and down. I hadn't even said a word to them and she knowingly smiled at me, "Did the cheerleader finally fucking lose it?"

  I had no clue how she knew. She said it so loud and I sat down in between her and Maddy, sheepishly, hoping no one overheard, "Michelle, be quiet! Do you have to tell everyone?"

  Maddy, who looked like she hadn't had any sleep looked over at me wide eyed, "You really did? With who?"

  Maddy was pretty much the exact opposite of Michelle: Michelle was tall, Maddy was really short, Michelle was outspoken and usually a little bitchy, Maddy was sweet and usually really supportive.

  I felt my cheeks get a little pink and surveyed the room to make sure no one else was listening before I answered, "Jake."

  In unison they both looked shocked and asked, "Jake?"

  Then Michelle laughed and Maddy just stared at me, "Our Jake? Are you out of your mind? Wasn't he with Katie last night?"

  I shushed them again and told them that Katie had ended up back with her boyfriend and then asked them, "What's wrong with Jake? He's hot and funny and nice..."

  Michelle laughed at that. Jake and her hated each other.

  Maddy spoke up, "It's just kind of weird. I mean you guys are friends and you wouldn't sleep with Shane and you guys dated for a while. Then you hook up with Jake."

  Maddy was great, but we all called her goody two shoes for a reason. She could be a little judgmental and I wasn't even sure if she had kissed anyone yet. And I couldn't believe she brought up my ex Shane, who dumped me because I wouldn't sleep with him. Truth be told, I wasn't that sad when he ended things, I didn't love him, "It wasn't right with Shane, but it was perfect with Jake. It wasn't just a hook up. He loves me and I love him."

  They both just looked at me stunned and then Michelle laughed at me for the third time, "You love him? Wow you really are nuts. And he loves you? Jake is not capable of love. You just fell for the same dumb shit he tells even ditzy blonde to get into their pants."

  I loved my group of friends, but they all treated me like a total idiot most of the time. Yes I was a blonde and a cheerleader, who really didn't really care about school. And I was guilty of a lot of blonde moments, but I wasn't as dumb as they all thought.

  I stood up, pissed off and shouted louder than I had intended to, "Shut up Michelle! You think you know everything. He really loves me and we are dating so deal with it!"

  She just sat there looking confident that she was still right and Maddy, always the peacekeeper, stood up and softly said, "Did he say that? That you are dating?"

  I looked down at the floor, we didn't have a chance to really talk that morning because he had to leave, but he had said he loved me and that he couldn't wait to see me again. "No, but he didn't have to. Trust me, he felt it too and we are dating."

  She nodded and gave me a smile, "Well that's awesome, Jackie. Just be careful."

  I just laughed at her, I always thought Maddy was a little too careful. We all laid back down and fell asleep for a little bit before Michelle dropped us off at our houses. I couldn’t wait for Monday so I could see Jake again.

  When Monday had finally arrived I had planned to get to school early, but my mom was being really difficult that morning. When I got to school I rushed inside and over to Jake’s locker. I was shocked when I saw him with Tiffany Hunter. She was in the grade above us and they were practically making out in front of his locker.

  I forced my legs to move before he saw me and headed toward the school’s exit, fighting back the tears. I bumped into Michelle on my way ou
t as she was walking in. Great. That’s just who I wanted to talk to.

  She looked at my face and actually looked concerned, “What’s wrong?”

  I burst into tears and choked out, “He was kissing Tiffany!”

  She put one hand on my shoulder and looked slightly irritated. I wasn’t sure if her irritation was for him or me or both, “Okay. Come on, let’s go back in and talk.”

  “No. I don’t want to see him.”

  “I’ll handle him. Let’s go.”

  I reluctantly followed her to her locker which was close to Maddy’s and across from Jake’s, who was luckily already gone. She stood there and looked over at me, “So he was kissing Tiffany? Did he see you?”

  I shook my head, “I don’t think so.”

  I couldn’t stop crying. I felt like a complete moron. Michelle was trying to calm me down and I felt another hand on my shoulder and heard Maddy’s voice, “Jackie, what’s going on?”

  I tried to tell her, but the words wouldn’t come out so Michelle filled her in. She told me that it was going to be okay. They were both looking at me like I was insane and I yelled at Maddy, “Okay? I gave him my fucking virginity! That’s something you never get back!”

  I felt sick. I was no longer a virgin. I had thought that he loved me and that I was in love with him. What was wrong with me? Maybe I was as dumb as everyone thought. I was never going to make that same mistake again.

  Andy

  Sophomore Year

  I just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, all of my friends were staring at me, demanding an explanation. Bridget, a girl I had slept with a few times had just punched my girlfriend, Maddy. She punched her because she thought that I was screwing around on her with Maddy, when in reality I had cheated on Maddy with her.

  Maddy took off in the woods surrounding the lake and I followed her, trying to figure out how the hell I was going to explain myself. Was there any explanation for my reckless behavior?