“Quit your daydreaming and get moving, Aubrey,” my dad growled from behind me as he lugged in some more boxes, knocking me back into reality.
“Sorry, Daddy,” I replied, flashing him a big grin as I started to empty out clothes into the closet.
“Do you think you packed enough stuff?” my mom worried aloud as she walked in behind my dad.
“Enough stuff?” he muttered under his breath.
“I heard that,” my mom replied in a singsong voice.
“I’m sure you did,” he grumbled back as he walked back out the door to grab the rest of my things.
I busted up laughing and couldn’t stop my giggles even when my mom turned to level me with a lethal glare.
“What? I worry about you, my baby girl,” she said defensively.
“And I love you for it,” I reassured her, speaking the absolute truth.
I’d grown up with no doubt about how much I was loved by my mom, dad, and three older brothers. I had been showered with love my whole life, and I was smart enough to know how lucky I was to have been blessed with an amazing family.
“Awww, now you’re gonna make me cry,” my mom wailed as she pulled me in for a hug. “I can’t believe my baby is going to graduate from school soon.”
“Mom,” I sighed. “I have a whole school year to finish before graduation.”
“All my boys have left home, and here you are, growing up so fast. And living alone this year,” she carried on as though she hadn’t heard me. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yes, Mom,” I answered.
She leaned back to peer in my face. “Because you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I know it would be a pain, but you could just stay at home. Or take Lexi up on her offer to move into the apartment with her and Drake. Or I’m sure the school could find you a lovely roommate. Maybe with one of your other friends? I could make some calls and—”
“Mom,” I growled, interrupting her before she could carry on anymore. “There’s no way in hell I’m living at home for my senior year. No. Way. And I’m not going to move in with Lexi and Drake right after they got engaged. They need their space and I don’t want to be a third wheel all the time. And you absolutely will not make any calls to anyone at the school to pull strings or bully your way into getting me the perfect roommate.”
“But, darling,” she argued, “I just want you to be happy.”
I took a deep breath before responding. “I’m actually looking forward to living on my own this year,” I said, lying my ass off.
“Stop pestering Aubrey and help me with this stuff,” my dad huffed at my mom as he walked back into the room carrying the last two boxes and a shopping bag.
Oddly enough, I would have fully expected it to be my dad having a conniption fit over the idea of me living by myself instead of my mom. He’d started to treat me differently ever since I’d started working at the bank this summer. Every once in a while, I’d catch him looking at me with a question in his eyes like he was trying to figure something out about me. As long as it wasn’t what had finally motivated me to take life seriously, then it was fine by me.
The last thing I ever needed in my life was for my dad to know about my pregnancy scare last year. I was his darling girl who could do no wrong, and I was pretty sure that he thought the reason my relationships had short shelf lives was because I wasn’t ready to have sex with anyone and was still a virgin. It wasn’t that I was terribly promiscuous. I hadn’t slept with every guy I’d dated—not even close. Hell, I hadn’t even lost my virginity until my senior year of high school with the boyfriend who’d lasted the longest—a whole nine months. But I definitely played the field. I liked the thrill and excitement at the start of a relationship, but then I always found myself terribly let down when things started to feel mundane and the guy turned out to not be who I thought he was. The bottom line was that I didn’t think I’d ever met the right guy for me. Maybe eventually.
“Are you absolutely, positively sure you’re okay?” my mom asked again, giving me a worried look. “You’re just so quiet when you’ve usually got so much to say.”
“It is a big change, Mom. I know that, but I’m ready.”
My dad pulled my mom into his arms and gave her a big squeeze. “Relax, honey. Our baby girl is growing up. It was bound to happen eventually.”
“Daddy,” I huffed in exasperation.
“Hey, all I’m saying is it’s nice to see you taking things so seriously for once,” my dad explained. “You raise your kids so they can stand on their own two feet, but I’ve got to admit that I may have pampered you just a bit and worried a little in the last couple of years if that might have been a disservice to you.”
My dad’s words stabbed me in the heart. The knowledge that I’d given my parents reason to worry about me so much was saddening. My mom must have recognized the agonized look on my face for what it was since she elbowed him in the side to make him shut up.
“What your dad means is that we’re just so proud of you, sweetie. It’s always been harder for us with you because you’re our baby girl. But your decision to work with your dad at the bank when you graduate means the world to both of us,” my mom said, trying to soften the blow.
I swallowed down the lump that had developed in my throat. “I’m glad,” I whispered into my mom’s ear as I hugged her close.
She sniffled in response before pulling away. “Well, that’s enough of that. We’re getting way too serious for what should be a happy occasion. How about you let your dad and I take you out to dinner as a celebratory send-off for your last year of school?”
“I could eat,” my dad piped in.
“You can always eat, dear. Thank goodness our kids got your metabolism,” she teased him.
And there you go. They’d managed to lighten the mood completely.
“Yeah, Dad. Thanks for giving me good genes so I can eat like a horse and still stay skinny,” I joked as we headed out the door.”
I quickly learned that my course schedule was going to kick my ass. When I had talked to my guidance counselor about switching the focus of my business administration major from sales and marketing to finance, I had been thrilled to learn that it would be pretty easy since there was enough crossover between the degrees. Unfortunately, it meant that I had a lot of math-based classes on my plate this year. I’d managed to make it through calculus my freshmen year with a B, but math was definitely not my favorite subject.
With upper-level accounting, business finance, and economics classes at the same time as statistics on my schedule, I figured I was going to lose my mind at some point. So one week into the school year, I’d had the brilliant idea to get myself a math tutor. Only I’d had no idea how hard it was going to be to find a good one. I had already gone through several of them one short month later. Were all math geeks impossible to understand?
“This is really easy to understand as long as you focus on the variables, Aubrey,” tutor number four droned on, pointing at information on my paper. “These here are discrete because there are a limited number of values. And then the others are continuous because they can take on many different values. All of these are independent, and we use them to observe and measure the dependent variable because it’s not under our control like the independent ones. Simple, right?”
If only it were that easy. The stench wafting from this girl was really bad. Exceptionally bad. Distractingly bad. I was so busy concentrating on breathing through my mouth that I’d barely heard a word she had said in the last half hour. Luckily, I had learned my lesson well and only booked our initial session for that long so I wasn’t stuck here any longer.
“Wow, time flies when you’re having math fun,” I joked as I gathered my books up and stood. “Sorry I have to run, but I have to be somewhere soon. Thanks so much for your time today.”
“Did you want to schedule your next session now?” she asked, pulling out her iPhone to access her calendar.
“I don’t think so
,” I responded and felt bad at her crestfallen expression. My best guess was that she didn’t get many return clients, but there was no way I’d allow guilty feelings to sway my decision to either find another tutor or give up completely. “Sorry, but if I don’t leave now, I’ll be super late for my next appointment.”
“Oh. Okay. Bye then,” she whispered and started to shove her books into the beaten-up backpack she’d brought with.
I waved and made my escape out the door. I hadn’t really been lying. I needed to meet Lexi and Drake for dinner. We hadn’t hung out very much lately, but Lexi had invited me over for dinner and cards. It was quite a bit different from our old Saturday night routine, but I guess we’d all settled down a bit since last year.
Drake was going to have some friends over later, so I figured she was trying to play matchmaker too. She’d made it pretty clear that she thought it was time for me to get back into the dating game. I was finally at the point where I wasn’t totally ruling it out, but I wasn’t ready to hop into bed with anyone right away either. But I was ready to check out some eye candy if they were going to serve it up to me, so I was looking forward to the prospect of hanging out with some hot guys tonight.
As I pulled up to their apartment building, I admired the view. Drake had spared no expense to make sure that Lexi was living in the best place possible. How he’d managed to find an empty unit in the one complex in town that had round-the-clock security present, I had no idea. After all the shit that had down over the summer, he wasn’t going to take any chances with her safety. It was a beautiful thing to see how protective he was of my best friend since I wanted the best for her. And Drake Bennett was definitely her perfect match, even though it meant I had missed my chance to make her my sister-in-law.
Lexi had given me the code for the door the first time I’d stopped by their place, so I was able to buzz myself in, and I waved to the security guard on duty this evening as I walked to the elevator. I pressed the up button and watched the numbers count down as it descended to the lobby. With my mind on my math tutor problem, I wasn’t really paying attention when I heard the ping. I automatically stepped towards the opening doors and walked straight into what felt like a brick wall.
“Oomph,” I grunted into a hard chest as warm hands grasped my arms to steady me. I took a deep breath and a woodsy scent that was somehow both spicy and a little bit sweet hit my nose. I didn’t think I’d ever met a guy who smelled this good before.
“You okay?” a deep voice murmured.
“Yes,” I whispered as I looked up into green eyes, my hands resting against his chest.
“Good. Wouldn’t want to start my night off by mowing down defenseless women, now would I?” he asked as I moved away.
I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up at that since I’m the one who ran into him. “No, we certainly wouldn’t,” I said as I stepped into the elevator.
I watched his ass, lovingly hugged by his jeans, as he walked away with a couple of guys I hadn’t even noticed. And just like that, my libido jumped back to life. Holy fucking shit.
“Hey, bitch. What the hell are you doing standing in the hallway?” Lexi hollered from her open door.
I shook my head to clear it and gather my thoughts. “Nothing. I’m just on my way to see you, silly,” I said, hoping she would let the subject drop.
“What’s up with the goo-goo eyes then?” she asked.
“Goo-goo eyes? Really?” I snorted. “That’s the way you’re going to play this? Who even talks like that?”
“Your super amazing best friend for life does. Clearly,” Lexi answered sarcastically while rolling her eyes at me before grabbing my hand and pulling me into the apartment. “But seriously. What the fuck was up with that?”
“There was this guy I bumped into downstairs. Like literally bumped into,” I tried to explain.
Lexi jumped up and down and let out a shriek that made Drake come running.
“You okay, baby?”
“I’m better than okay. I’m awesome because my girl here is starting to check out guys again!” she crowed.
Drake dropped a kiss onto Lexi’s lips before turning away. “And on that note, I’ll leave you two to it ‘cause I really don’t need to hear about Aubrey’s thoughts on guys’ dicks, and I sure as shit don’t need to hear her talking about it with you,” he muttered as he wandered back into the kitchen.
“Soooooo?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows at me.
“So nothing. He was cute,” I said as I shrugged my shoulders.
“He was cute? So cute that, even after riding the elevator up and stepping out, you were just standing there thinking about his…cuteness?” she quipped back.
“Oh shut it. So I noticed a guy for the first time in months and months. It’s not that big of a deal,” I grumbled at her.
Lexi beamed a smile at me. “No, it’s a very big deal. It gives me hope that you’re getting your head screwed back on straight. I’ve been worried about you. You’ve always been so boy crazy, so it’s been weird to see you ignore guys for this long. It’s like it’s unnatural or something. Boys and Aubrey have always gone together like salt and pepper. Or peanut butter and jelly. Or maybe rum and Coke would be a better analogy.”
“Okay, okay. I get your point, but there really isn’t anything for you to worry about,” I assured her. “At least not anymore. I don’t know how to describe it, except to say it was like I went into a deep freeze or something. And now I’m starting to unthaw again.”
Lexi gave me a quick hug. “I’m sorry I haven’t been a very good friend to you when you needed me.”
“You’ve always been exactly the friend I’ve needed. And I’m doing better now. I might not have been that way for very long, but I feel like I’m coming back to myself, only a better version of me,” I said.
“So can I call you Aubrey 2.0 then?” she teased.
“No, but you can feed me and then let me beat you at cards tonight,” I countered.
And that’s exactly what happened. We shared a great meal of steak and baked potatoes—because what guy doesn’t like his meat and potatoes? And let’s be real for a minute and admit that Lexi definitely had her guy in mind and not me when picking out the menu. Then some of his friends came over for poker. We had a blast, but I couldn’t help but be a little worried when I left and realized that my libido must not have awakened as much as I had thought. I’d just spent the evening hanging out with a bunch of hot guys, but I’d barely flirted and hadn’t found myself truly attracted to a single one of them. What the hell is up with that?
Chapter 2
Luka
“Luka, get your head back into the game,” Coach barked at me as I missed a pass.
The season so far wasn’t going great for me. I’d pushed myself too hard over the summer with all the shit that had gone down with Kat and blew my knee out. Stupidest fucking thing ever. I didn’t know what the hell I’d been thinking except that hockey was saving me from doing something incredibly foolish. Instead, I had done the most idiotic thing ever and put my scholarship at risk by injuring myself.
When I got back on the ice with the team at the start of the school year, I was behind the eight ball. I should have improved over the summer, but I messed things up and regressed. So Coach was all over my ass because I kept screwing up. I needed to push through all this shit before I found myself riding the bench for most of the season. Because it didn’t matter how well I’d played for the team the last three years. Coach was a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ kind of guy. And I hadn’t done jack shit lately.
“Dude, you okay?” Jason asked me. He was a good friend. We had both joined the team as defensive linesmen at the same time and found ourselves paired together most of the time. We’d also been roommates for the last two years when he’d convinced me to move into the apartment his parents had gotten for him.
“Yeah, man. I’m fine. I just need to pull my head out of my ass and get back into the game like Coach said,�
� I shrugged it off.
“You need help with that?” he asked, not letting me minimize the problem.
“Help with pulling my head outta my ass?” I joked.
Jason grabbed my face mask and pulled me forward. “No. Do you need help getting back into the game? Because I can get us some extra ice time if you need it. I already called the rink in town and they have open slots that we can use if you want ‘em.”
That right there was part of why Jason and I got along so well. He’d seen me struggling and gone out of his way to help solve the problem. He had my back all the way, both on and off the ice.
“Shit, man. Yeah. Set it up and I’m there,” I answered before slapping his stick with mine and skating off.
The rest of practice went a little better. I felt a renewed sense of purpose and hoped like hell the extra ice time would get me back up to fighting condition. Because I sure as hell didn’t want the mess with Kat to ruin my last season with the team. Hell, this was the last time I was going to play competitive hockey. I needed to enjoy it as much as possible, because after this year, I’d be relegated to men’s league games at one of the rinks back in Chicago.
Jason jumped on it as fast as possible, and I found myself on the ice with him every day that week. Throw in classes and team practices and I didn’t have much free time. It was probably a good thing because adjusting to my new single life was harder than I’d expected. I wasn’t used to partying with the guys all that much seeing as I’d kept it to a minimum the last three years. I hadn’t wanted to put myself into situations that could damage my relationship with Kat. Which was pretty damn ironic now that I thought about it since she’d apparently been fucking her way through campus the whole time while I hadn’t even danced with other girls. I hadn’t wanted to give anyone the idea that I’d ever even consider cheating on my girlfriend back home.
The Blythe College Complete Series Box Set Page 44
