by Natalie Lux
Practice had been pretty grueling, but that was nothing to the energy that I’d spent on Eva, thinking about her nonstop and finally getting the chance to kiss her. I knew I could never have her, and I’d finally talked myself into coming to peace with that.
She was only in town for a few more days until her dad’s wedding and then she’d be back in Hollywood, back to fucking pop stars and actors and models. She had her own life, and there wasn’t room for some old high school sweetheart she’d had a fling with for a few years.
I just needed to control myself and not see her again. Should be easy, right?
After a shower, I hop into bed and check my phone, finally keeping my mind firmly away from anything Eva-related. I smirked as I checked Dom’s Instagram, out at the club with Mike, our running back. They were tipping shots back with girls surrounding them, all looking at the two of them like they were gods.
I watched as his arm curled around one of Eva’s friends, Morgan I think it was, as she gyrated against him, her ass bouncing up and down against his body. I could see in the background the other one, Tracy, busy making out with Mike, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.
Well, at least Eva’s friends are having fun with the football players.
I turned my phone off and closed my eyes, my mind working against itself as I relived the memory of our kiss for the umpteenth time that evening…
I woke up to my phone’s alarm, annoyed that I’d even set it the night before. I swiped up to silence it and tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. Once I’m up, I’m up. Yawning, I stretched and checked my phone for any messages from coach: absolutely zero. Perfect.
Coach Tanner had gotten into the habit of giving us surprise practices on random days of the week and because it was one of the few Saturdays we had free, I was expecting to have to go in today. But the whole weekend was free for me to do whatever I wanted, something I hadn’t been able to do in a long time.
Naturally, the first place I went was to my local gym to lift some weights.
I thought of calling Dom, but I needed to let off some frustration badly, and that was best done by myself. Besides, this was the perfect time of day to do it; 6 AM before the sun’s even up. The gym would just now be opening and I knew there’d be absolutely no one there. Perfect opportunity to give myself away to the workout and flush the pain of losing Eva out of my mind.
By the time I moved onto the cardio portion of my workout, I felt myself in the zone for the first time in I don’t know how long. The cardio is the worst part but it’s a really good distraction for everything else. It was so distracting; I didn’t even notice the pretty girl that had hopped onto the treadmill machine next to mine and had started to jog with me.
I stopped the treadmill as soon as I realized who it was that had decided to pick the treadmill right next to mine. Pretty face, jet black, curly hair, pouty lips, big, fake tits bouncing underneath an extremely revealing sports bra.
“Sydney,” I said calmly, eyeing her quizzically. I’d been telling Eva the truth: I hadn’t really spoken to her since we’d gotten to college. We’d kissed the one time and that was it. Sure, she called me about twenty times for the rest of that last month of high school to see me again, but I knew exactly what type of girl she was.
Eva had always been right about her: she was the type that wanted rich, powerful people in her life and she saw me as a meal ticket in a moment of weakness. I didn’t know if she’d decided to follow me to the same college or if she just felt like staying local, but I hadn’t contacted her in the two years separating senior year and my first year at Evendale University. She was just another groupie to me and always had been.
“Hey, Reid!” she said brightly, stopping the machine, her mouth curving into a wide smile. Had she followed me to the gym? I’d only ever seen her the few times her cheerleading squad stayed back to mob the football players and always tried to avoid her if I could help it.
“What’s up?” I asked warily. Based on the hungry look in her eye, I knew exactly what was up.
“Oh nothing, it’s a great day to go to the gym and I wanted to get some exercise!” she said in her bubblegum voice. “I’m just getting ready to finish up and saw you over here, so I had to come say hi!”
“Well, hey, good to see you,” I said, trying to be polite. Her sports bra couldn’t have been more of a dead giveaway: her gigantic fake tits were practically spilling out of her damned outfit. I wasn’t a big fan of the whole fake look, but regardless it should have been a huge turn-on for me. For some reason, I wasn’t feeling it.
“Yeah good to see you too! Hey, listen, I was wondering if you wanted to head back to my apartment or something after your workout. I need a new Netflix buddy and I heard you guys don’t have practice today! You are almost done, right? Come on, it’ll be fun!”
I looked at her and felt a twinge of sympathy. Don’t get me wrong, I loved girls that told me what they wanted and weren’t afraid to ask me out. I could respect that. But years of having girls falling all over me to fuck them just because I was a football player had become a turn-off. It had been months since I’d even had sex. I was getting pretty sick and tired of the “player” lifestyle, no pun intended.
“Sydney, look, I think you’re a great girl and all, but I’m not looking to date or sleep with anyone right now. Nothing against you or anything, you’re really hot. But I’m just not interested, okay?”
It was almost alarming how quickly her face changed from bubbly and happy, to pouty and frowny in the most stereotypical way possible. Had I really fucked up my chance with Eva all those years ago because of an accidental make out from this girl?
“Why not?” she whined. “Am I not pretty enough for you?”
It was a good thing the windows were far away from us or her voice would have shattered them.
“No, you’re gorgeous,” I said quietly. She was definitely pretty, so it wasn’t really a lie, but she was nowhere near my type. I wouldn’t exactly call her gorgeous, but what else was I supposed to say?
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I—I’m just busy with football and school, that’s all,” I said, thinking quickly. “I’m looking at Evendale’s engineering program if the football thing doesn’t work out, so I’ve been super busy with homework.”
In truth, I’d already completed all the requirements to finish my degree. Coach and I had set it up so that the last couple semesters I could take only electives to finish out my degree since I’d passed everything else by now. The last semesters would be a breeze leaving me to focus that much more on football.
“What do you mean ‘if it doesn’t work out?’ Are you telling me you’re not good enough? And what kind of football player majors in engineering? Isn’t that, like, the nerd major?”
I bit back the jolt of anger. Who the hell did she think she was? I knew what she was doing, trying to provoke me into getting mad so she could take advantage of my emotions yet again. But that wasn’t going to happen. Not anymore.
“Nope. Just need to have a backup plan is all.”
“Well how about you let me be your backup plan?” her voice had reverted back to the fake-sultry, bubbly, horrendously obnoxious quality it had been when she first started the conversation.
“I’ll be your practice girl until you get into the NFL. Then I’ll be your side piece while you fuck your way through the league. You can introduce me to all the stars and we can really have some fun!”
I gaped at her, not sure if she was serious. Of all the awkward, up-front girls I’d had come onto me over the years this one topped them all. She had no idea how to take ‘no’ for an answer. Fortunately, my phone had decided to buzz at just the right time.
“Sydney, you need some self-respect,” I said, nonplussed. I almost couldn’t believe someone would be crazy enough to say that shit, and I’ve known a lot of crazy girls. “I need to take this. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” and with that, I hopped off the treadmill and left here th
ere to sulk.
I picked up my phone without even looking at the number, eager to thank the person calling for giving me an excuse to get away from Sydney.
“Hey, Reid? This is Eva. We need to talk.”
I nearly dropped my phone as my heart pounded with excitement.
8 Years Earlier
Eva had been quiet ever since her mom passed away. I knew they’d been close and I tried to give her as much space as she needed. Sure, I had problems of my own with the old man, and I’d already seen my own mother pass away. But I knew Eva needed support right now.
I took a deep breath and knocked on her door, a little surprised I’d never been here before. When we hung out it was usually at the park near school or sneaking around my farm trying to hide from my father. It suddenly occurred to me that even though I’d met her mother several times before, I’d never even seen her dad.
I was nervous about going up to her house like this without telling her beforehand. She’d grown more and more distant with everybody, including me. All I wanted was to be there for her, but she hadn’t even been in school since the afternoon she got the call. The door swung open.
“Hi, Reid,” she said, her face puffy and red. I could tell she’d been crying and all I wanted to do was hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay.
“I-I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing. And let you know I’m here for you, Eva.”
She gave me a small smile and opened the door.
“Thanks, Reid. My dad’s working right now, so I’ve been pretty lonely here,” she said, leading me to her couch. “Look, I’m sorry I’ve been so distant. I just don’t think I’m up to going to school for a little while. Mom was the…” she broke off, her lip trembling.
I grabbed her instinctively, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close while she sobbed into my shoulder. I didn’t know what to do or say, so I just held her there, letting her cry as long as she wanted.
It seemed like we were sitting there for hours, but I didn’t care. She was my best friend in the world and I knew I had to be there for her no matter what, especially now.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I said, stroking her hair. “I’m here for you, Eva. Don’t worry.”
She looked up at me, her eyes red and blue and still stunningly pretty.
“You promise you’ll always be here for me Reid? No matter what?”
I gently brushed a tear off her cheek.
“Always.”
And in that moment, her smile of relief was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
11
Eva
“I found your wallet,” I said into the phone, keeping my voice as even as possible. “I guess you dropped it when we… when we said goodbye the last time. Can I leave it at your school or something?”
Instantly I felt like an idiot. Leave it at the school? I knew I wanted to see him again. As soon as I spotted the wallet after Reid had sped away, I knew I’d have to see him again anyway. There’d be no getting out of it this time. It was as though fate had made him drop his wallet.
“How’d you get my number? You don’t still have it in your phone, do you?” he asked, amused.
“No!” I said a little too quickly. “I mean, I had to go back a long time to look for it, but it was saved on my account for some reason and I—”
“It’s okay,” he said, chuckling into his phone. “I still had your number saved too. In fact, I’ve been staring at my phone all day wondering whether or not to call you. Thank god you decided to call first, or I’d be looking a little desperate.”
“You’re such a prick,” I said, thankful he wasn’t here in person to see the smirk on my face. “So can I drop it off at your school or give it to your coach or what?”
“Uh no. I want to see you, Hollywood. I don’t know if you realized this, but we have cars and can drive places. How about you meet me at the Watering Hole tonight?”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I asked cautiously. “I don’t want anyone seeing me out—”
“With some asshole jock like me?” his voice was lighthearted but I could hear a tense note in there.
“No, I just don’t want to go out. I don’t know if you realized, but unfortunately, I’m pretty recognizable to most people around here.”
“Just don’t wear your makeup. Who’s gonna recognize you besides the bartender? I’ll tell him not to bother you if you really want me to.”
“I can’t go without makeup!”
“Sure, you can. You look even better without it, anyway,” he said, his voice casual. Instantly, my heart thumped at the compliment. No one had ever said anything like that before.
Ever since I’d gotten out to California and started acting, I always went through hours of makeup before every day on set. No one ever said I was ugly without it or anything, but even when I wasn’t on set and done for the day I’d always have people saying “you should wear that makeup every day, you’d look perfect.”
Usually, I’d hear it from guys trying to hit on me, but it stung more hearing it from other actresses. I’d never really been self-conscious about my looks until I became an actress and I was surrounded by way prettier girls than me. Ever since then, I’d used makeup to make myself look as attractive as possible.
Now I was being told that I didn’t need it? If I thought there was any chance of us getting together, he’d certainly be earning brownie points from that little compliment.
“I—I guess I could swing by,” I said, flustered. “But no drinks and no dancing. I give you your wallet out in the parking lot and we say goodbye. Deal?”
“Not even one drink?”
“No,” I said firmly, ignoring my nerves. “I’ll see you there around 7, okay?”
I hung up without saying goodbye, afraid my voice would lose its steadiness.
I paced around my room, pulling a pair of pink shorts and a plain, white t-shirt that was almost too small for me. It wasn’t like I was going for a night on the town or anything, I was dropping Reid’s wallet off and going back home. Maybe I’d watch some show on TV.
“Eva?” I heard muffled knocks on my door and Sheila poked her head in, her eyes instantly suspicious.
“What are you up to today? You haven’t even left the house. You do still have friends, right?” her tone was intended to be motherly, but it sounded more mocking to me.
Sheila looked like a stereotypical plastic barbie doll in her fifties. She had bleached blonde hair, fake tits, and what I was sure were some very well-done lip injections. No doubt paid for by my dad without his knowledge. She was a good-looking woman, but you could tell she had quite a bit of work done.
My dad couldn’t have been more different. He was classically handsome, tall with salt-and-pepper hair, and a face that looked like Pierce Brosnan’s. He was a total sweetheart, so pretty much the opposite of my stereotypical bitch of a stepmother.
I’d only asked him what he saw in Sheila once when they’d first started dating. They couldn’t have been more opposite, and I always noticed when we were out to eat, women would flirt with him all the time. He could have any woman he wanted, why this one?
“She treats me nice,” had been his answer, but I was never satisfied. What the hell did that even mean? I’d been angry with him at first since he started dating only a few years after mom passed, but I knew I had to respect that he wanted to put himself out there again.
“Yes, I do,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’m just trying to relax before the rehearsal on Monday. It’ll be a long day.”
Who the hell had their wedding in the middle of the workweek? Of course, that wouldn’t stop people from coming to schmooze my wealthy father. I guess they could afford to have it whenever they wanted.
“Anyone you want to invite? You can take one person, so make it count.”
My mind instantly went to Reid, even though I knew it was impossible.
“We’ll see,” I said.
“No date or anyth
ing? I saw that you broke up with that handsome singer, but I thought you’d have another boy on the side or something,” she pressed, a knowing smirk on her face.
That was the thing about Sheila—she never yelled or hit me or showed any direct signs of aggression. It was always passive-aggressive comments like that, which were somehow even more annoying. She reminded me of every bitchy girl I’d had the misfortune of knowing at school.
“Nope,” I said shortly.
“Okay, well just tell me or your father. I’m off to the salon. Busy day with some of my clients. Toodles!”
I nodded absentmindedly. She’d been working at the salon ever since I’d known her. I hadn’t set foot in there but she always liked to tell me and dad stories of women cheating on their husbands and talking to her about it as though we were dying to hear about shit like that.
I shook my head and pushed Sheila from my mind. I had more important things to worry about just about now.
I stared at the plain, black wallet sitting on my desk and wondered what on Earth I was going to say to Reid. In all likelihood, it was probably the last time I’d ever see him considering he was probably going off to the NFL next year and leaving this little town behind forever.
I picked up his wallet and flipped it through my fingers almost absentmindedly. It even smelled like him. God, I knew I was the most pathetic girl in the world, but I couldn’t help it. As I went to put it back, a little piece of paper fell to the floor.
Curious, I picked it up. I was looking at the back of a photograph with the word “LOVE” on the back, in big, sloppy capital letters. Heart pounding, I turned it over and gasped.
It was a picture he must have printed out from when we were in our freshman year of high school. I knew that because I’d only had that haircut until sophomore year when we’d started dating.
His mom had taken the picture of us sitting side by side my head on his shoulder as we looked at the sun in the distance. It glinted off a gorgeous lake and really made the picture special. I’d completely forgotten there was even a lake in town, much less the photo itself. I chuckled to myself as I looked at the younger versions of us, so happy and full of hope for us for the future.
