“Jakey…” He interrupted me with a wave of his hand. “Just forget it Paige, from now on I promise to be on my best behavior, I won’t even touch you. Let’s just have fun the next couple of days and completely forget this just happened, alright?”
“Ok, fine if that’s what will make you happy then. How ‘bout we meet up tomorrow morning and I’ll show you around campus?”
“Sure, that sounds awesome baby girl, see you tomorrow.”
I finally made my way home, but still wasn’t able to shake the hurt expression on Jake’s face. He looked so broken when I had rejected him but there really wasn’t anything I could do. Hopefully we could move on from this and still remain friends.
Dylan was home when I got there, but all of the lights were turned off and his back was to me. I stripped out of my clothes and tossed on an old t-shirt before climbing into bed beside him. He never stirred once, which was unusual, he almost always waited up for me no matter what. Today’s game must have really worn him out.
Chapter 29
Dylan
What the fuck? I felt a white- hot anger blaze through my chest and it took everything in me not to beat the shit out of the guy that I recognized as Paige’s best friend. Best friend my ass.
Our game finished up early and I figured I could catch up with Paige before her shift ended, so she wouldn’t have to take the bus home. And then I walk up behind her to see Jake devouring her mouth with his and she just fucking stood there, doing nothing to stop it.
I had to get out of there before I did something I regretted. I wasn’t going to jeopardize my baseball career by putting that asshole into a coma where he belonged. When I got home, I kicked the shit out of the wall in our room, picturing the image of some other guy’s lips on my girl, over and over. What was she thinking? I had given my whole heart to her and she had basically ripped it out and stomped all over it without a thought.
And then she came home and climbed into our bed. Our bed. Like nothing had happened. I didn’t know what to do, so I just pretended I was sleeping. My head was being pulled in all sorts of different directions, but none of them led me to an answer. I must have finally drifted off a couple of hours before my alarm went off and I felt like complete shit when it was time to wake up.
“Hey, sleepy head. You must have been pretty tired last night, I think you passed out the minute your head hit the pillow.” Her small hands wrapped around my waist and trailed up my bare chest. Her body felt so right behind me, but I couldn’t push out the fact that she had cheated on me.
“Yeah, guess I was.” I ran a hand through my hair, trying to think of a way to avoid her and what exactly I was going to do about this whole situation.
“I hope you don’t mind but I sort of made plans with Jake today. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to skip a few classes, do you want to join us? I think I’m just going to show him around campus, maybe take him to Mr. Friendly’s for lunch.”
“Oh, yeah? Jake? When did he show up? Did you know he was coming?” I was just waiting, just waiting, for her to confess everything to me. Maybe if she did that, I could forgive her and we could get past it.
“Well, he showed up last night to surprise me, and I guess it worked, he surprised the hell out of me.” Yeah, really surprised me too. Maybe Paige wasn’t as innocent as I thought she was, her clear blue eyes showed no guilt, like nothing had happened.
“That’s cool, think I’ll pass on the whole hanging out thing though, gotta keep my grades up.”
“Okay,” she pouted out her lip and looked at me expectantly, probably waiting for me to nip it like I usually did whenever that puffy lip stuck out and it was almost too damn tempting. “Oh by the way, I told Jared that we would meet up with him at some bar downtown on Friday. He planned out a birthday party for Maddie and everyone’s getting together. Of course, he’s clueless about the whole situation, but he invited Kylie. Can you believe that? I’m glad you know me so well babe.”
“Yeah,” I grunted out before pushing myself out of bed and heading towards the bathroom to take a quick shower so I could get the hell out of there. Thought I knew her so well was more like it, now I just didn’t know what to think.
**********************
“Hey dude, what’s up?” Chris slid his tray down across from mine where I was sitting in the food court. We normally met up for lunch, but today I really wasn’t in the mood so I was just sitting with a cup of coffee, wondering how my life got messed up so fucking quickly. I thought I had the picture perfect girl, now not so much.
“Not much,” I muttered back and Chris’s eyebrows instantly shot up, this guy knew me way too well. “’Kay well, you and I both know something’s up so you might as well spill. Come on girl talk time,” his voice went high- pitched at that last part and sounded so similar to Kitty, it was eerie.
“Chris, I don’t think…..”
“Just stop,” he held up a hand to me and leaned closer. “I’m like your brother dude and brothers tell each other everything. And I can tell you’re upset, so just come out with it.” After some more prodding, I finally told Chris what was bothering me, it felt good to get it all off my chest, I think if I didn’t I would have likely exploded from the weight.
“Hmm…,” he leaned back on his chair and ran a finger over the blonde scruff that was covering his chin. “Well I don’t know bud, I really haven’t ever been in a situation like this. I think you need to confront her though, it really doesn’t seem like something Paige would do and maybe you need to hear her side of the story.
“On the other hand, she might just be a lying bitch and can really play the whole innocent act well. I don’t know, I’m guessing the first one is right. She’s totally in love with you dude and I know you feel the same way. Don’t just keep it bottled up. I know you, if that happens you’re going to do something that you’ll regret, I can almost guarantee it.”
“Is that the end of our girl talk then?” I scooted my chair out and tossed my bag over my shoulder. Chris had brought up some really good points, but I really just needed some time alone to get my head on straight. Until then, I really wasn’t going to be able to make any decisions.
“Yup, officially over.” He held out his fist and I tapped it with mine. “Do what’s right Dylan and I’ll stick behind whatever you decide.”
“Thanks Chris.” I left him sitting in the cafeteria, replaying his words in my head. I knew how much Paige loved me, anyone who wasn’t blind could see that and my feelings were the same in return. Maybe she had made a mistake, but the thing that got me was that she didn’t tell me. I didn’t know if I could live with that.
Chapter 30
Paige
“Do you think this looks alright?” I pulled on the hem of the strapless black dress that was practically molded to my body. Kitty eyed me from her bed where she was sitting with one of her housemates. “Of course, you look damn sexy girly. Dylan won’t be able to resist you.”
Yeah, hopefully he won’t be able to. I looked in the mirror hung on the back of Kitty’s door and fluffed out the loose curls that Kitty had helped me to tame. My makeup was light but still a little smoky, making my blue eyes pop out even more than usual. I hadn’t dressed up like this in awhile, maybe it would get Dylan excited.
The past few days he had been strangely distant towards me and had barely touched me. I was starting to get worried that my worst fear in our relationship was coming true, he was getting bored with me. “Paigey, stop worrying. Dylan probably just has something going on right now that he hasn’t told you about.”
Kitty jumped off the bed and gripped my shoulders, pulling me to stand right in front of her, green eyes narrowed in determination. “You are sexy, you are smart, hell you love sports almost as much as he does, and I know you have just about much stamina as him. He.Is.Not.Bored. Trust me. Why don’t you just try talking to him? Maybe he’s just uncomfortable with Jake being around, lord knows I would if I was in his shoes. Did you tell him what happened between the tw
o of you?”
“No,” I shook my head and went for my crutch but Kitty pulled my hand down. “Nu uh, you are not ruining the perfect French mani Shanna just gave you. I’m not gonna let it happen. And why haven’t you told him about Jake?
“You have nothing to feel guilty about, Jake put the moves on you and you stopped him. If anything he’ll just be pissed at Jake, wait let me take that back. He’ll be majorly pissed at Jake, if I were that boy I would have went home to Florida by now. Do you think it’s a good idea for him to come out with us tonight?”
“Yes,” I grumbled. “It should be fine.” Jake had really been on his best behavior over the last couple of days that we had spent together, and kept true to his word. His hands hadn’t even so much as skimmed my shoulder, he was being that careful, and I truly appreciated it. Maybe I did just need to tell Dylan what happened with Jake. Just like Kitty said, I had nothing to feel guilty about, but I still felt an enormous weight on my chest by keeping it inside.
“Let’s just have fun tonight and if you feel up to it, you can talk to Dylan about the whole situation tomorrow after Jake leaves town. That’s probably the main reason why he’s acting so weird. He might tell you it’s alright to have such a stud for a best friend, but truly he sees Jake as competition.”
“Well he’s anything but. Your right, I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Now let’s get out of here, we both look sexy as hell and our men are waiting for us.” I tugged on a piece of her straight as a pin blonde hair and she sashayed out of the room in front of me in her red halter dress that showed off her tan perfectly, tossing a classic pageant wave over her shoulder to Shanna.
We were the last two to show up to the party, the birthday girl already halfway drunk and wrapped around Jared giggling loudly. At least someone looked happy. I wrapped an arm around Dylan who was sipping on a beer and glaring at Jake who was sitting on the other side of the table with his friend, Charlie, that he had rode up with and his girlfriend, Tara.
“Hey, how’s it going?” I kissed Dylan on his stubbled cheek and he turned towards me for just a second, quickly flicking over me with his eyes. “Okay,” he replied, taking another sip of his beer to drain the glass. “You look nice.” Nice? Really?
Kitty’s mouth dropped open next to me where Grant was truly appreciating the dress she had picked out for the night. His hands had been all over her the second she walked in. I mean I wasn’t full of myself, I knew I wasn’t the sexiest girl here, but usually Dylan thought I was.
Jake’s eyebrows shot straight up and his forehead crinkled in confusion. “Well, I think you look damn sexy, baby girl.” I felt my cheeks turn red at the compliment and Dylan’s hand turned white, his fist clenched so hard around his glass, I was sure it would burst into a million shards.
“You would,” he muttered. “I’m gonna go get another drink, I can tell I’m gonna fuckin’ need it, if I have to deal with this shit all night,” he announced to the table, never looking back at me. I could feel my lower lip trembling at the harsh treatment, but there was no way I was going to break down in front of anyone.
“C’mon Paige.” Kitty came up beside me and hooked her arm through mine, and Maddie took the other side, both tugging me along. “Let’s go powder our noses.” Even with how upset I felt, I still had to roll my eyes. Kitty was probably the only person under sixty that used that saying, she always knew how to lighten the mood, even just a little.
“Okay, what’s going on? Dylan is acting like a complete ass and I’m seriously about to beat the shit out of him.” Maddie stood in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest as I leaned a hip against the bathroom counter thinking the exact same thing.
“I really don’t know guys, he’s been so cold the past few days but tonight is probably the worst. He barely looked at me when we got here. I just don’t know what to do.”
“You’re gonna do what we talked about, remember?” Kitty ran a paper towel under the cool water and dabbed it under my eyes where a few tears had escaped.
“It’s our Maddie’s birthday, we’re going to go out there and have fun, just because Dylan has something shoved up his ass doesn’t mean our night is ruined. Then tomorrow, when no alcohol is involved, you two can sit down and have a conversation like the grown adults that you are. So go out there, put a brave face on, and let’s have some fun.”
Maddie, always the softest of the group, gave me a gentle pat on the back. “If you want to leave though, I would totally understand.”
“No, Maddie I think I can stick it out. Let’s go celebrate your birthday.”
We ended up drinking and dancing for the next couple of hours and I was able to push Dylan Turner out of my head, a little bit at least. Jake and I caught up on all that we had missed out on each other’s lives over the past couple of months and I even dragged him onto the dance floor, and he managed to keep his hands to himself.
Every time I moved across the room, I swear I could feel Dylan’s eyes boring into my back but as soon as I turned his way, he had lost interest. The one thing he hadn’t lost interest in was Kylie. She seemed to keep inching her way closer and closer to Dylan, I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up in his lap by the end of the night.
My heart hurt at the way he was acting and how he was basically stomping all over the love that we shared without a word of what I did wrong. I had to talk to him before the end of the night and find out what was going on. I really didn’t want to go home if I wasn’t wanted there.
“Hey, I’m gonna go use the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” I whisper-yelled into Kitty’s ear over the music and her glossy green eyes turned to me where she was wrapped around Grant’s waist.
I was pretty sure he was holding her up, if not she would have been flat on her ass the way she had been slamming down shots. Me, on the other hand had only had a couple sips, here and there. I wanted to have a clear head and not do something I would later regret. “Want me to come with?” she slurred out.
“No, I’m okay. I’ll be back in a minute.” Really I didn’t want her to come with me because I wanted to confront Dylan alone. I turned back to the table and scanned it quickly with my eyes. No Dylan there. He wasn’t on the dance floor, so I decided to head towards the bathroom anyway.
I walked down the narrow, dark hallway and my mouth turned slightly up into a small smile when I brushed past a couple who were so intertwined, you couldn’t tell whose limbs were whose. And I’m pretty sure the girls hand was shoved somewhere I really didn’t want to see.
It reminded me of Dylan and me sometimes when we got naughty in the library or the night out on the deck, so in love, we just couldn’t get enough of each other. I pushed open the door to the women’s bathroom and quickly checked my makeup.
Maybe Dylan had just fallen out of love with me and didn’t want me around anymore. I didn’t know if I could handle that. Sure, I was young and he was my first love but I really felt like we had such a connection that was so rare. Whatever was wrong, I needed to talk to him about it. He couldn’t keep avoiding me.
I pushed back out of the bathroom with a new determination and quickly ran right into the couple in the hallway again. “Oops, excuse me.” I backed up a step, but then froze into place when the familiar blonde ringlets belonging to Kylie came into view and she plastered a sickingly sweet smile on her face. “Oh, hey Paige.” I looked from her back to the guy, quickly realizing that it was Dylan, my Dylan, who had a lazy smile on his face, his brown eyes turned almost black, like they were dead, staring back at me.
“Wh-aa-t, what are you doing, Dylan? Why would you do this to me? I thought you loved me. And with her?” This time I couldn’t keep the tears back and started all out sobbing at the overwhelming feelings running throughout my body. The betrayal, the hurt, the broken heart.
My whole body started to shake and I felt a chill creep down my spine, making me feel sick to my stomach. I had never seen his face look at me this way before and they both just stood there and watched me fall apart
. “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it, Sparky?” He bit out, before slamming his lips back into Kylie’s once again as she squealed in delight. The sound making me even sicker to my stomach.
It was like a bad car wreck and I couldn’t look away, her hands roamed all over his body, her hips arched into him, and he grinded against her leg, all right in front of me. What I was doing was pure torture to myself, but it had to be done. This would truly close the door on me and Dylan Turner forever.
Finally, my feet unfroze and I stumbled back to the table through a blur of tears, finding the one person I could always depend on. He shot straight up, wrapping an arm around my waist when he saw how much of a mess I was. “Baby girl, what’s wrong?” His fingers went to work brushing the tears away, his blue eyes staring intently at me, but it wouldn’t work. Who knew when they would actually stop? “Jakey, take me home please.”
“Yeah, sure just let me borrow the keys from Charlie, I’ll run you home real quick and I’ll come back to pick them up when their finished.”
“No Jake,” I sobbed out, grabbing onto his arm even tighter like the anchor it was. “Take me HOME.”
Chapter 31
Dylan
“What in the hell did you do, Dylan Turner?” Kitty’s voice screeched out, breaking me from my blissful sleep, as she threw back my bedroom door, most likely cracking the wall behind it.
“Calm down, Kitts.” I managed to open at least one eye and see that it was almost noon and my head was pounding from one hell of a hangover. Her blonde hair was piled on top of her head and her face was free of all makeup, something I had never seen. Her eyes were bloodshot like she had been crying all night and that got me sitting up immediately. “Hold up, what’s wrong? Is everyone in the family alright?”
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