by L A Cotton
And knowing it might have been too late.
Jason
I was on the way out when Hailee’s voice stopped me in my tracks. “Maybe you should call George and see if he can...” The conversation became muffled but I caught the odd word.
Flick.
Ask.
Risk.
“George?” I doubled back and breezed into the kitchen.
“Good morning to you too,” my step-sister grumbled as she poured herself a glass of juice.
“So who’s George?” I leaned against the door jamb casually.
“No one.”
“You make it too easy sometimes, you know that, right?”
“And you make it so easy to hate you.” A smirk spread across her face. “Don’t you have to be at school bright and early for practice?”
“They’ll wait for me.”
“So arrogant.”
“So prickly,” I shot back. “So, George?”
“Is no one.”
I didn’t like the way she was deflecting. Hailee only usually did that if she didn’t want me to know something. And right now, there was only one person she didn’t want me to know about.
Felicity.
“I’ll find out, little sis,” I warned. “One way or another, I’ll find out who George is.” Grabbing an apple from the bowl, I bit into it, sending her a pointed look.
“You don’t care remember? So why would you possibly want to know who George is?” I glared harder and she chuckled. “Not so arrogant now, are you?” Her brow shot up.
Without another word I stalked out of the kitchen, the muscle in my jaw working overtime.
Fucking George.
It shouldn’t have mattered who he was. He could have been the Giles’ new pool boy or a family friend for all I knew. But it didn’t stop my mind zipping off in a hundred different directions, all of them ending at the same point. George wasn’t no one.
He was someone, and I fucking hated it.
By the time I’d arrived at Asher’s house, George had taken on a life of his own. Snowballing into Felicity’s life. Maybe they were dating. Maybe he was an ex looking to rekindle their relationship. Or maybe Felicity was pursuing him. That one especially stung.
“Good mornin’.” Asher took one look at me when he climbed into my car and let out a low whistle. “What happened now?”
“Who’s George?”
“George? Is this some kind of test? Am I supposed to know who George is?”
“Just answer the fucking question.”
“Curious George? George Foreman? George Clooney?” Asher mocked, and I stared at him blankly. “No? Well, in that case I have no idea who George is.” My hands tightened around the wheel as I took the turn for school. “I’m guessing from the way you’re strangling the life out of your steering wheel that wasn’t the answer you wanted?”
“It’s nothing.”
He snorted. “If you say so.”
A beat passed. And another. Until I finally choked out, “I heard Hailee on the phone to Felicity.”
“And what? You’re worried George is swooping in to mend her broken heart? I’d call that a sweet dose of ‘I fucking told you so’.”
My chest rumbled with indignation as I swallowed my reply. It pained me to say it, but Asher was right.
“What, no comeback?” he added.
My eyes slid to his, silently pleading for him to drop it. But I’d picked the wrong friend to confide in for that.
“Didn’t I tell you this would happen?” Ash ground out. “Felicity is a catch, bro. If you weren’t so hung up on her, I wouldn’t have hesitated to try my luck there. But there are a lot of other guys out there, Jase.”
“I know. Fuck, you think I don’t know that?” The words came out strained.
“So what happened?” Out the corner of my eye, I watched as he twisted around, running a hand through his messily styled hair. “Talk to me; let’s try to fix this before it’s too late.”
“Coach is going to be pissed if we’re late,” I said, deflecting.
“Jase, man, come—”
“Just do me a favor and look out for her, yeah?” I lowered my voice, finding an empty parking spot. Cutting the engine, silence descended on us.
Asher wanted to say more, to argue I was making a huge mistake, but I’d already made my bed. This morning was just a blip. Surprise at hearing her and Hailee talk about another guy so soon. But it was bound to happen eventually. Felicity might have been quirky, but she had a caring personality and the kind of smile that lit up an entire room. Any guy would have been lucky to have her. I would have been lucky to have her. In another life, maybe.
I shouldered the door, not even bothering to wait for Ash, and headed for the locker room. I needed to hit something. I needed to hurt.
But most of all, I needed to forget.
Practice didn’t help much. I skulked through two classes, barely listening to the teachers, before joining my teammates at lunch. They chatted around me, excited for a week’s rest before the first play-off game next weekend.
“I come bearing good news.” Asher dropped his tray down and sat beside me. “George is no one.” He leaned in, keeping his voice low. “Well, he’s someone, but he’s no one for us to worry about.”
“Us?” I said coolly, irritation shooting up my spine.
“Who knew you could be so possessive?” He pinned me with a sarcastic look. “Anyway, George is the manager at a pet rescue place Felicity is trying to get some volunteer experience at.”
“What the hell does she want to do that for?”
“I heard Hailee telling Cameron she’s thinking of a switching her degree to animal science or something. But she needs hands-on experience for her application.”
So George wasn’t some new guy she was dating. I should have felt relief coursing through me.
I didn’t.
Because I couldn’t help but wonder if her change of plans had anything to do with my knee-jerk reaction to finding out she had applied to Penn.
“Okay,” I grunted.
“Okay?” Ash drawled. “I bring you the four-one-one and all you can say is, ‘okay’?”
“Like I said before, it doesn’t—”
“Matter, yeah, I got the memo. Guess you won’t be interested to know George gave Flick his card and told her to call him if she needed anything. I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot like code for—” Asher groaned with pain as my elbow jammed into his ribs. I casually went back to my sub, pretending like he hadn’t just blown my world wide open.
So George wasn’t a new guy she was seeing. But by the sounds of it, he wanted to be.
I’d pushed her straight into his open arms.
And I didn’t know what the fuck to do with that.
My mood only got worse as the day went on. So when my cell vibrated as I was walking to my car at the end of the day, and I opened the incoming Snapchat message, I almost saw red. The grainy image was accompanied by only two words.
Time’s up.
Fuck.
Thatcher wasn’t backing down, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could avoid him. Maybe it was better to end it now. Him and me. One on one.
Against my better judgment, I typed back.
Name your time and place.
His reply was instant.
No man’s land... Friday after sundown.
It was a stretch of land down by the river not far from The Alley. We used to hang out there when we were kids, before the rivalry between The Raiders and The Eagles became more than just a few harmless high school pranks.
Done. Just you and me.
Oh you know it. I’m going to enjoy making you bleed.
Big words for a guy who’s waited almost eight months to get revenge.
All good things come to those who wait.
I didn’t reply. There was no point. We could go around in circles all day about the fact he was choosing now to strike, but it wouldn’t change anything. I just ha
d to figure out a way to walk away from this thing in one piece. Because while he had everything to gain, I had everything to lose.
I was sitting in the yard, drinking a beer, when Hailee found me. “Out here drinking all alone, it must be bad.”
“Just needed some air.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No, I really don’t. But thanks for the offer,” I tacked on the end.
“Someone hold the phone, hell must have frozen over,” she chuckled, dragging another chair over to mine. “You must be excited for the play-offs.”
“I’m ready. It’s like my whole life has been leading up to this point, you know?”
“I really don’t.” She gave me a hesitant smile. “But I’ve been around you long enough to know how important this is to you.”
“So what? We’re friends again?”
“I’m not sure we were ever friends, but I’m done holding onto so much hate and bitterness. I want to enjoy the rest of senior year.”
“To non-friends?” I held up my beer and Hailee frowned. “Here,” passing her an empty, I clinked the neck of my bottle against hers.
“Truce?” she added.
“I think I can agree to that.”
“I know I gave you a hard time about Felicity and I’m not going to lie, I spent a couple of days planning on ways to make you pay, but I think I’ve realized it’s for the best.”
Her words coiled around my lungs making it difficult to breathe.
“Yeah?” I barely managed to choke out.
“Yeah. The two of you are from completely different worlds, and football will always be the most important thing to you. And that’s okay. Felicity needs someone solid, someone who can put up with her brand of crazy.”
“Someone like George?” The words were out before I could stop them.
“Oh God, please don’t tell me you’re jealous of George?”
“Should I be?”
Her expression fell. “I really don’t know how to answer that.”
“So she wants to be a veterinary doctor or something?”
“Yeah, it’s all kind of new. She was supposed to be studying business like her parents both did. But she made this list and it pushed her to reassess things, to go after things she wouldn’t have before.”
“Like asshole football players who don’t know what they want?”
“Exactly like that.” Hailee burst into quiet laughter. “Maybe in another time and place you two would have figured things out.”
“Maybe.” I liked that idea; Felicity and me together in a few years’ time. Me the hotshot NFL player and her the big-hearted animal doctor.
“How did you know Chase was the one?” I asked even though I felt fucking stupid the second the words left my mouth.
“It wasn’t really a case of knowing. It was just a realization that life was better with him around than not, and when things went bad with his mom, I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to be his person.”
I took a long pull on my beer mulling over her words. “I always thought I was his person.” My lip curved in a half-smirk despite the knot in my gut.
“One day, you’ll get it. Maybe not now but one day...”
“I almost had it once you know.”
“Aimee?”
“Yeah.” I stared off into the distance remembering a time that felt so long ago but wasn’t that long at all.
“What happened?” Hailee asked. “I mean, I know a little, but I’d rather hear it from you.”
Sliding my eyes to hers, I let out a weary sigh. “Aimee was... different. Special.” At least I’d thought she was. But that was before I knew the truth. Before I ever met Felicity and realized what I felt for Aimee was nothing but puppy love.
“She hurt you?”
“She didn’t just hurt me, she completely fucking destroyed me.”
Felicity
I woke to the sound of my cell vibrating. Leaning over, I fumbled to find it, and lifted it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Felicity, it’s George.”
“George?” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes unsure I’d heard him correctly.
“George from New Tail. I hope I didn’t wake you?”
“Is it that obvious?” A soft chuckle left my lips.
“Sorry, I figured with it being a school day you’d be up and at it.”
“I’m not really a morning person.”
“I remember it well.” I heard his smile. “Anyway, I just wanted to call and let you know that a position came up, so if you’re still interested—”
“Interested?” I bolted upright. “I would love to.”
“Well, that’s great. When can you come down and fill in the paperwork?”
“Today, I can come today,” the words spilled out in a frenzy. “I have classes until three-thirty, but I’m free after that.”
“I’ll need to check what we have going on today, but I can’t see it being a problem. I can email you later to confirm,” he hesitated, “or shoot you a text?”
“Either is fine.” Excitement danced in my tummy. “I’m just relieved and excited, definitely excited. You were so certain nothing was available, I’d kind of given up hope.”
“Well, I’m glad to be calling with good news.” George gave me a list of what to bring in with me later before we said goodbye and hung up.
I leaped out of bed with a spring in my step, and quickly shot a text to Hailee and Mya.
Me: George just called... there’s a position for me.
Hailee: That’s amazing, I’m so happy for you.
Mya: That’s great. All that flirting must have paid off.
My stomach knotted. Is that why George had suddenly found me something? Because he liked me? I didn’t want to owe him anything.
Dammit.
I typed another quick text to Hailee.
Me: You don’t think George found me something because he thinks I’ll owe him now, do you?
My cell rang and I hit answer. “Mya seems to think he’s doing this because he likes me,” I rushed out.
“Good morning to you too,” Hailee laughed softly.
“Sorry, I was just so happy and now I’m panicking.”
“Did he give you that vibe just now?”
“I don’t know. He was friendly, but he seemed like a nice guy.”
“He knows you’re in high school, right?”
“Of course.”
“So he’s probably just doing a nice thing. You said he’s fresh out of college himself, so he probably just appreciates how much this means to you. This is a good thing, Flick.”
“You’re right,” I breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re totally right. It’s Mya’s fault.”
“She likes to mess with your head. But she means well.”
“I know. Thanks. I should get ready for school. Do you want a ride?”
“Cameron’s picking me up, but you can ride with us?”
“Is Jason… actually, don’t answer that. I’ll meet you there. I think I have to get Mya anyway.”
“Okay, and Flick?”
“Yeah?”
“I think Mya’s right. I think this could be a really good thing for you.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you at school.” I hung up and let out a shaky breath, nervous energy radiating through me. Getting this break at A Brand New Tail was a good thing but it meant pulling the plug on my parents’ dream for me.
Something I didn’t relish doing.
“Hey,” Hailee chased me down after class. The day had flown, my head too consumed with George’s early morning call to concentrate. “Are you headed straight there?”
I nodded. “I didn’t want to risk going home and running into Mom. This way I can hopefully calm my nerves before I get there.”
“And what has you all worked up?” Asher peeked over Hailee’s shoulder, grinning at me.
“The pet rescue place called Flick; they have an opening for her.”
“Georgie boy pulled some strings, d
id he?”
“How do you know about George?” My brows bunched together.
“I, uh,” he stuttered, guilt swimming in his eyes. “I overheard Hailee telling Cam all about it.”
“Okay.”
“I’m proud of you, Fee, baby.” He hooked his arm around my neck and pulled me in. “Those furballs are going to love you.”
“I hope so, I could really—” Asher yanked his arm free and jerked away from me.
“Hey, guys,” Mya said, joining us.
“Mya,” he said smoothly, the reason for his sudden change apparent. “Nice shirt.”
“This old thing.” She pulled at the frayed t-shirt and chuckled. “Thanks, I guess.”
Hailee and I watched the two of them. Asher was smitten, his eyes tracking Mya’s every move. But she seemed indifferent to his attention.
“So what are you girls up to later? I know Flick is heading to puppy heaven but what about you, Hailee? Mya?”
“Me and Cam promised Xander we would take him to Ice-T’s.”
“Just don’t feed that little shit any of the candy. We made that mistake once.”
“I think we’ve got it covered.” Hailee smiled.
“Mya?”
“I’m living the dream tonight with Mr. Galveston’s homework.”
“History?” Asher winced. “Ouch.”
“Do you even do homework?” She threw back.
“I do it… occasionally,” he added. “But just because I play football doesn’t mean I’m a dumb jock. You’re looking at a GPA of 3.33 right here.”
“Athletic and book smart. I am impressed.”
“You should be.”
