by C L Wesley
“What the hell are you doing? We are in the library for Christ’s sake!” I snapped at her.
“Geez mom! I’ll put it away.” She snarked at me. “It’s just to calm my nerves.”
“Izzy, are you okay?” I asked as she stood up and grabbed her bag from the table.
“Great, just peachy. I’ll see you when I get back.” She stormed off. Isabelle was supposed to head home to Chicago tomorrow. Something is not right and on a normal day I would not get involved but that flask has me concerned so I went in search of the one other person on campus who could help me, help her. Jensen.
I found him hanging out in the Commons with some of the team. “What’s up Morrison? You ready to leave Striker for a real man?” Josh remarked with his ignorant cattiness.
“Um, is that what you are?” I lift my eyebrow at Josh. “Jensen can we talk?” I ask. He stood and grabbed his bag, walking with me.
“Oh, so you are going for the centers now? Damn I need to get a new position.” I hear Josh as we walk away.
“I’m sorry Taryn, that guy will never learn.” Jensen opened the door as we walked outside. “So, what’s up?”
“I don’t want to get involved in your business but what’s going on with you and Isabelle?” We stopped and sat on the bench by the fountain. “She tipped back a flask in the library and there are rumors all over campus about you and Brittany.”
“Taryn, you were my first friend in Ohio. I’m not going to lie, the rumors are somewhat true, but it’s not Brittany I have been hanging with.” I sat there with my jaw dropped. “I’m not sleeping with her or even messing around, but I have been hanging out and it is so refreshing not be with someone who is constantly getting loaded. I love Isabelle, I do, but no matter how many times I ask her to get help, she ignores me.” He leans forward putting his elbows on his knees. “I’m about done, T. I have been miserable for a while now and so has she. I think we are just holding on because we do love each other.”
“It’s what you do when you love someone.” I don’t want to see them break it off. “Maybe if we talk to her together?” I offer rubbing my hand on his back.
“She texted me right before you walked in and said she was leaving for Chicago early and if I felt like saying bye.” He hung his head. “Who the fuck does that?” He sat up resting his arm on the back of the bench behind me.
I put my hand on his knee, “I’m sorry Jay. When are you headed home?”
“I was waiting until Iz left to leave.” He put his hand over mine. “What about you? When are you done on campus?”
“Noah is.” I was interrupted by Big himself.
“Noah is what?” He leaned down and kissed me quickly before fist bumping Jensen. “What’s all this?” He waved his hands between us before sitting right behind me.
“Isabelle is having some issues and I want to help her but she won’t listen to me so I thought if Jensen and I talked to her together she would get help.” I explain as I link my hand with his.
“Dude, she is still drinking? I thought y’all got past that?” Noah addresses Jensen over my shoulder.
“You knew about this?” I ask Noah.
“Jay and I talk a little, yes.” I feel his hand find the one spot of skin not covered by my jacket when he rubs his thumb back and forth giving me goosebumps.
“Okay guys, well hey man, Happy Thanksgiving.” Jensen stands and shakes Noah’s hand. “Taryn, we will figure it out after the holiday. Have a good holiday with Striker here.” Jay leans down and kisses my cheek. “Later guys.” We sit back on the bench and watch him walk away.
“I feel so bad for him. I know he loves her but he’s sick of the bullshit.” I snuggle into Noah’s side.
“I can’t blame him for being tired of it. One of my friends back home had a girlfriend who went to A&M and got involved with heroine. They were high school sweethearts and one day he said loving her just was not enough because of all the bullshit. She was stealing money from him and everything.” Noah shared.
“I guess we are a couple of the lucky ones.” I say as he kissed my head.
“Are you ready to leave this place for four whole days?” He asked as he stood and reached for my hand. “Take me home darlin’.” He winked.
“Let’s go home, Noah.” I smiled.
We got to my parent’s house and upon entering it smelled like a Yankee candle with all the pies my mother was baking. As soon as my mom saw Noah she came running into the living room full of flour in her cute little baker’s apron I bought for her a few years ago. “Noah, so good to see you.” Noah being the gentlemen he is leaned down and placed a kiss on my mother’s cheek, my mother instantly blushing.
“Good to see you too.” He said. “Where should I put my things?”
“You are too cute.” My mother heard the ding from her timer. “In Taryn’s room cutie, you already knew that though.” She winked and headed to the kitchen. “Taryn, can you please help me in the kitchen?”
“Yup. Let me put my hair up.” I followed Noah into my room. As soon as he put his bag down I jumped up into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist. “I love you.” I pressed my lips to his.
“I love you too, Darlin’.” He said when I pulled back.
I slid down his body and my eyes grew wide as my core passed his hard-on. “I’m sure I have to help with dinner.” I smile. “We will deal with this later.” I wink as I run my hand across him before heading downstairs.
“I thought you were putting your hair up?” My mother asked as I blushed. “Don’t worry, I’d sneak away with that fine piece too. Now go pile that mop on top of your head.”
“Aren’t you funny Momma!” I snark as I find a hair tie in the half-bath downstairs. I stare at myself in the mirror. I am so in love with him. It is all I think about. I helped my Mom in the kitchen the rest of the evening prepping for the holiday tomorrow while Noah and my Dad were in the backyard tinkering with a broken swing on the grandkids swing set. After we finished peeling, baking, cleaning, and setting up the table with all my mother’s fancy dishes and stemware she sent my Dad and Noah to pick up the pizza and chicken wings she pre-ordered this morning for dinner from Didonatos. “Is this the equivalent to grocery shopping and ordering out?” I ask her as we sip on her home-made Kahlua and cream.
“I was not about to let him see what we eat the night before a holiday.” She relaxed and put her feet up.
“We are college kids Mom. Cereal is a good dinner.” I smile. The guys came back with our dinner and we spent the night watching a movie, my parents in their chairs, and me curled into Noah’s side. My parents went to bed after giving us a quick talk about how thin the walls are in the house. We watched television a little longer before I fell asleep on him.
10
“Well at least they were not having sex.” I hear my dad as I wipe at my eyes. I looked down to see myself laying across Noah’s body. Pushing myself up, I cover Noah up with the blanket that my Mom keeps on the back of the couch.
Walking into the kitchen I stop by the stool my Dad was perched on and kissed him on the cheek. “No Dad, we were not having sex.” I smile as I took a seat.
“We are going to have a talk about some things soon but we will wait until after the holiday.” My Dad said before biting into his toast.
“What are you going to hit me with now? I help with things. I buy groceries when we need them. I have a 4.0 GPA and I work two jobs. What else could we possibly have to talk about.” I snapped. My father is always on my ass about something. I grabbed my orange juice and stormed up to my room leaving Noah sleeping and unaware of what he was about to wake up to. I threw myself onto my bed and screamed into my pillow. I know what my dad wants to say. He wants to tell me how important school is and how he watched my sisters all get knocked up, married, divorced, how my brother is on a downward spiral and how all his hopes for me are still attainable. I’m smart when it comes to Noah. I know what his goals are and they align with mine, so it is not hard to keep
ourselves motivated. Why is that something my dad cannot seem to wrap his head around? We had this talk after Halloween and it is not like my dad doesn’t like him. Hell, my dad loves Noah.
I felt a dip in my bed, a large warm hand on my back, and a warm breath on my cheek. “Good morning.” I hear that deep sultry voice that speaks to my soul.
“Hey babe.” I roll to my side and face him, running my finger down his cheek.
“What’s wrong? I heard you get sassy with your dad.” He catches my finger and presses a kiss to it.
“He doesn’t want me to end up like my sisters or my brother.” I roll onto my back and watch the ceiling fan go around.
“What’s wrong with your siblings?” He asked.
“All three of my sisters dropped out of college when they got knocked up. One is still married with two kids to two different dads. One is divorced for the second time and has three kids. One is in a very bad marriage. He married her only because she got pregnant. He’s a real dickhead. You’ll meet him today.” I roll my eyes. “And my brother, well he won’t be here because he’s in rehab again. And each and every one of my siblings are college dropouts. He expects me to fall into their pattern.”
“I’m sorry Darlin’. Well, you have me here this year.” He leans forward kissing my nose. “Let’s go take a shower.” I look at those deep blue eyes and know the shower is exactly where I want to be. Sitting up, I pull my shirt over my head and take a few steps towards the jack and jill bathroom before dropping my shorts to the ground. It was seconds later that Noah was right behind me, naked, and groping his overly stressed girlfriend. As I am getting dressed a half-hour or so later, I couldn’t help but smile. “What’s got you so giddy?” Noah asked while looping his belt through his jeans.
I walked over to him in just my jeans and bra, wrapping my arms around his bare abdomen. “I think showering may be my new favorite past time.” I kiss his chest, then the bottom of his chin. Noah folds me into his arms. “I feel so safe with you.”
“I love you too, Darlin’.” Noah kissed the top of my head and I let go so we could finish getting dressed. I had told Noah that we don’t dress up but he still opted for jeans and a button-down shirt.
“Taryn, your sister is here.” I hear my mother from the bottom of the stairs.
“Fuck! Are you ready for this?” I give Noah a half-ass smile.
“Taryn, come here before we go downstairs.” I fall into his waiting arms. “We got this. If things get crazy, we need ‘cool whip’ from Walmart. Okay?”
I smile and jump onto my tip toes for a kiss. “God, I love you. Okay. Cool whip it is.” I grab his hand and we head downstairs to meet the firing squad. As soon as we got to the bottom of the steps, I saw it was Maddie and her crew. I instantly relaxed. “The good one.” I whisper to Noah as he squeezes my hand in reassurance.
“There she is.” Maddie walks over and pulls me into her arms. “You look so good Taryn! Your hair is so long now.”
“Thanks Mads. You look good too.” I watch as she checks out Noah. “Maddie, this is my boyfriend Noah. Noah this is my oldest sister Maddie, her husband Jake, and their kids, Jenna and Ethan.”
Shaking Jake’s hand, Noah replies, “Nice to meet ya’ll.”
“Listen to that accent. Wooooh. Dang girl, a Southern boy.” Maddie leans in as Noah kisses her cheek.
“Ethan, Noah is a striker for the Storm. He even taught me this cool twisty jump karate move thing used to score.” Ethan smiles like he is about to meet a pro player. “Maybe you boys can kick a ball around later? Ethan always has a soccer ball in Papa’s garage, don’t ya E?” I smile when I see both my nephew and my boyfriend smiling.
“Can we go now Aunt Taryn?” Ethan jumps up excited at the opportunity. “Please?”
Noah came to the rescue, “If it’s okay with your momma, I’d love to.” Maddie shakes her head in agreement. “Sweet. Why don’t you show me where that ball is?” He kisses the side of my head and Ethan leads him out the back door.
“Anything from Ellie or Grace?” Maddie asked taking a seat on the couch, patting the seat next to her.
“Nope. Not yet.” I sit on the end of the couch next to her. “Dad was in full form this morning.”
“Yeah, he thinks you are going to get preggers and drop out too. He fails to realize that, A. you are on a five-year protection plan and that B. I went back to school online and have that coveted degree now. I just don’t have to work.” She rolls her eyes. “Mom make Kahlua this year?” Shaking my head that she did, she stood up. “Well, what are we waiting for?” I loop my arm with hers. “So, can I do laundry on his abs?” She giggles as we head towards the kitchen.
“Yes, Mads. Yes, you can.” I throw my head back laughing.
Grace showed up an hour later with her rug rats in tow. I swear she purposely puts them in crappy looking clothing just to get my parents to buy them extra clothes at Christmas. She relentlessly hit on Noah and Jake, constantly pushing her tits up in her sweater anytime either of them were around. The only guy she didn’t hit on was James, Ellie’s husband. James was busy thinking that Noah and Jake was hitting on Ellie and her big ass pregger belly.
Dinner went pretty well, Noah and I never needing ‘cool whip’. James was in a pissy mood but that was his norm as he never likes family time at my parent’s house because my dad was convinced he got my sister pregnant on purpose thinking she was going to leave him. We were doing dishes when James asked Noah if he would like a beer on the porch. When Noah declined, James started yelling at Ellie that her family is stuck up, causing my parents to remove him from the house, my sister crying. Noah and I took the kids into the back yard for a large game of soccer with Maddie and Jake when it started to snow.
I watched Noah catch snowflakes in his hand. “This is cool.” He examines a single snowflake in the few seconds before it melted.
“Have you never been in snow before?” I ask, watching him as he catches snowflake after snowflake.
“Nope. It was fixing to snow once in Texas but it ended up sleet.” I see my sister put her hand on her heart and mouth ‘oh my god’.
“You’ll be sick of it soon enough once you see how wet your shoes and jeans get.” I inform him but he was fascinated with the snow.
Later that night, I watch Noah sleep while I lay awake thinking about my family and how messed up they can be. I knew it would be an off kind of day but James sure did add to the festivities. I know I don’t want to end up like them, hence the reason that Noah is only my third partner in life. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if he were my last and that was a scary fucking thought as I drifted off to sleep.
I woke up to Noah on the phone. In efforts to not eavesdrop, I rolled to my side and curled into my pillow as I ended up listening to a one-sided conversation. “My grades are fine.” I hear him as he paces the floor in my bedroom. “I’m not distracted Mom. I’ve never been more focused. I’m in the gym every day, study every day, and Taryn even found me an interactive indoor arena to practice in when it snows.” I roll onto my back and sit up in my bed. “Yes.” Noah turns around and sees that I am awake, a cute little smile spreading cheek to cheek. “I’ll ask her and see if it is feasible.” I needed to use the bathroom, so I walked around him, stopping for a quick kiss. “I’ll let you know Mom. I have to go. Love you.”
“Everything okay babe?” I walk out of the bathroom and curl up next to Noah on my bed.
“Yeah.” He started running his hand up and down my arm. “Hey, what are the chances that you could come home with me for Christmas? You can meet my family and see where I come from.” He smiles and even if it is out of my budget, I am going to make sure I can go.
“As long as I can afford the plane ticket, I’d love to.” I watch him smile and it swells my chest so much to know I make him happy.
11
Back on campus, it was hectic. Everyone was cramming an entire semester’s worth of work into the final two weeks, making it hard to find a place to study or find the re
search books you needed. I walked into the library and found our usual table empty. I took out a large bag of Hershey Kisses I bought for Izzy and opened my book, starting the last few chapters of definitions with doubles for Izzy, whom I have not heard from since last Wednesday. A few hours later, my reading was interrupted when Jensen sat down at the table. “Hey Taryn.”
“Hi.” I put a post it in my book to keep my place. “Hey, have you heard from Izzy?” I cut to the chase.
“No, I was going to ask you the same.” He slumped back in his chair. “Did you know that I asked her home for Christmas and she turned me down?”
“No, I didn’t. Should I call her parents? Should you? We need to do something, right?” I ask, popping a kiss in my mouth.
“Taryn, I love you, I love her, but at what point do I let go? She is a full-blown alcoholic.” I watch him hang his head in defeat. “I’m just sitting here waiting and on what I don’t know.”
“It’s what you do when you love someone.” I tell him.
“You always say that.” He says, stealing a kiss and popping it into his mouth.
I reach out, putting my hand on top of his, “Let’s make sure she is okay. You and I will always be friends and you let go when you are ready to. Not when someone else tells you that you have to.” I tell him referring to the new girl he’s been hanging out with who must have high hopes of him breaking it off with Izzy. I take out my phone and try Izzy, just to get a voicemail. I then dial her parents. “Hello Mrs. Crest, this is Taryn. Is Izzy around?” I listen as her mother tells me that Izzy checked into a rehabilitation center in Chicago on Saturday and that she is going to try to see if Izzy can take her finals via Skype or online since her grades are not bad. Izzy should be in the center for thirty days and has no access to her cell phone. After saying my goodbyes and relaying the information to Jensen, we both sat there stunned.
