by L A Cotton
“Summer?” JB’s voice hit me like a warm breeze and my eyes found him. “You’re here?”
“Surprise,” I said flatly, my lips pressing into a thin line.
He bounded over to me looking every bit the star quarterback. The football jersey clung to his broad shoulders and thick biceps and his shorts hinted at his muscular thighs. And he had this glow I couldn’t put into words.
“San Diego looks good on you.”
“No.” He stalked toward me. “You look good on me.” Hooking his arms around me, JB pulled me flush against his chest. “Fuck, I missed you.”
His tongue nudged my lips, slipping into my mouth. He tasted of beer and mint, but I was soon too lost in the kiss to notice. My back hit something solid, and I realized JB had caged me against the wall, one hand in my hair, one hand on the brick beside my head. “You came,” he whispered against my lips. “You’re here.”
My hands twisted in his jersey, pulling him closer. “I’m here.”
“Give me twenty minutes and I’ll clear the house.”
“You can’t throw everyone out.” I giggled. “Besides, I thought you wanted me to meet everyone?” Something passed over his face. “JB, what is it?”
“Nothing.” He smiled, grabbing my hand. “You’re right, let’s go meet the guys, and then I’m taking you straight to bed.”
But as he led me through the sprawling yard and the sea of bodies, the knot in my stomach tightened. JB seemed happy to see me. I’d felt just how excited as he pressed me against the wall. But there was something in his expression, the way he held my hand a little too tightly as we approached his friends. Silence fell over the small group as we stopped just short of them. One, a dark blond-haired guy rose his brow to JB.
“Guys, this is Summer, my girlfriend.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Summer,” Brow guy said. “Holloway hasn’t shut up about you all week, so it’s nice to finally put a face to the name. I’m Jensen.”
“Hi.” I gave him a little wave, aware I was probably a bright shade of pink.
“That’s Zac and Michael,” JB said pointing to two other guys. “My housemates.”
“What’s up?” one said, the other merely tipped his chin in greeting.
“Here.” Jensen shuffled along the sectional to make room for us, but JB had other ideas, pulling me into his lap, his arm looping around my waist.
The guys went back to their conversation, paying us little attention.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” JB’s warm breath danced over my neck sending shivers skittering up my spine.
Neither could I, but I didn’t want to be the girl who waited around for her boyfriend to call or visit. I wanted to be like Laurie and Lo, the kind of girl who went after what she wanted.
And now I was here, it wasn’t so bad. Nobody really paid me any attention. They didn’t put me on the spot or try to embarrass me. And I almost forgot all about what the guy outside the house said until Jensen nudged JB, his eyes wide with warning. “Sasha alert.”
JB shifted beneath me, tension I didn’t understand falling over us.
“Who’s Sasha?” I asked quietly, turning into him slightly.
“No one you need to worry about.” He kissed my neck.
“Boys.” The girl who I assumed was Sasha sauntered over to us. She was pretty in an eats-guys-for-breakfast kind of way. “And who’s this?” Her eyes fell on me, and she smiled. But I’d been around enough mean girls to know she was the worst kind.
“This is Summer,” JB said tightly. “This is Sasha, one of the team’s cheerleaders.”
“The girlfriend, right?” Her smile turned wicked as the air cooled around us.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I offered, refusing to be drawn into her games.
Sasha flicked her long dark hair off her shoulders and looked past me to JB. And I knew. In that one look, I knew he was someone to her.
The question remained though, was she someone to him?
And if she was, why hadn’t he told me about her?
Sasha left to go find a drink and her friends, but not before making some backhanded comment about seeing JB and the guys at practice Monday.
“So that’s Sasha,” I said, looking up at him. “She’s... nice.”
“Don’t worry about her, she’s no one.”
“Is she?” My brow went up and he let out a heavy sigh.
“Yes, I promise.” JB leaned in capturing my lips. “You don’t need to worry about her. She just likes to think she’s close to the team.”
Or close to you? I wanted to ask, but I swallowed the words. I’d known this would happen. All along I’d known that when our time in Wicked Bay collided with his life here, I might not like what I found.
“Hey, you okay?” He brushed my lips again, lingering at the corner of my mouth. “We can get out of here, if you want?”
“And go to your room while everyone’s out here partying?”
JB ran a hand down his face. “I wished you’d have told me you were coming; I would have made sure it was just you and me.”
But that was it though, it couldn’t always be just the two of us. It wouldn’t work like that. Him keeping his life here and his relationship with me separate.
“I need take a leak. You good here, or do you want to come?”
“I’m good. Grab me a drink on your way back?”
“Yeah? Does that mean you’re not driving back tonight?” Hope lit up his expression, and I fought a smile.
“Well, I hadn’t planned on it.”
“Good,” he said. “That’s good.”
We shared the same goofy expression. “I’ll be back with your drink.”
“Just one.” I might have needed some liquid courage to survive the party, but I didn’t want to get drunk.
“Jen,” he said to his friend who was cuddled up to a cute blonde. “Look after my girl for me. I’ll be right back.”
“Sure thing.” Jensen smiled and I found nothing but warmth in his gaze. I liked him. Maybe the fact he seemed genuinely happy to see me and JB together had something to do with it.
JB lifted me to slide out and I nestled back on the sectional. “I’ll be right back.” He pressed a kiss on my head. With a little nod, I watched him melt into the crowd.
“Summer, this is Bea, my... friend.” Jensen attacked the girl’s neck and she giggled, trying to fend him off and failing.
As the minutes passed, I grew restless, so when my purse vibrated, I was relieved to see JB’s name.
JB: Meet me upstairs, last door on the left.
Me: Now?
I bit my lip, heat flooding my stomach.
JB: I need you, Summer, please...
Me: Okay.
Standing, I brushed down my skirt, and cleared my throat. Mouth still attached to his friend’s neck, Jenson glanced up at me. “Going somewhere?” he chuckled.
“JB texted me.”
“Of course he did.” His lips curved in a knowing smirk. “Last door on the left. You’ll know because the guy has a poster of himself stuck to the door.”
He did?
I smothered a laugh.
“Look after my boy, yeah? He’s... different since the injury.”
“I will. It was nice to meet you both.”
They waved me off, diving back into each other as I wound my way through the sea of bodies and into the house. Music thrummed around me, drowning out the conversations and laughter. My cell vibrated again, and I eagerly read the text.
JB: Hurry.
My smile grew, settling some of the nervous energy bouncing around my stomach. I slipped into the hall, where it was quieter, and found the staircase. My hand trembled with every step. But deep down, I knew I had nothing to be worried about. JB wanted me.
Me.
I passed three doors before reaching his. Jensen was right, it was hard to mistake JB’s room given the poster of him mid-throw plastered to the door. Knocking gently, I twisted the handle and slipped insid
e. The room was bathed in dark, only a slither of moonlight lighting the space.
“Harder,” a voice moaned as my eyes fell on the bed. “Oh God, JB, yes.”
My stomach dropped, bile rushing up my throat as tears burned the backs of my eyes.
The two bodies writhing together, limbs tangled and skin touching, didn’t even notice me, standing there, watching as my world around me crashed into oblivion.
I ducked back into the hall, squeezing my eyes tight, willing myself not to break here, at the party. Fumbling in my purse, I grabbed my keys, and ran out of there. Thankfully, the front of the house was quiet, no one around to witness me struggling to get into my car, silent tears streaming down my eyes. Silent tears that, once safely inside, became fat ugly sobs as my heart broke all over again.
JB betrayed me.
He made promises he had no intention of keeping.
And I fell for his bullshit; hook, line, and sinker.
But as I jammed the key in the ignition and backed the car out of the parking spot, I made a promise to myself.
To never let another guy hurt me.
Chapter 24
JB
I finally made it back outside after Ollie, our running back, had collared me to talk plays. In the end, I’d told him to cut loose and enjoy the party. I didn’t want to leave Summer alone any longer than I already had.
I didn’t want to leave her period. But I could see she was already feeling overwhelmed without dragging her to the bathroom with me like a possessive asshat.
“Hey, where’s Summer?” I frowned when my eyes landed on the spot where I’d left her.
Jensen extracted himself from Bea’s mouth and looked up at me, his brows pinched. “She didn’t find you?”
“Find me? I left her here with you.”
“Yeah.” His eyes widened. “But then she got your text and went inside the house.”
“My text.” I patted down my pockets. “I didn’t text her. I don’t even have my phone on me.” I must have left it in my room earlier.
“Oh shit, so who—”
But I was already storming back toward the house, pushing and shoving through the crowd.
“Yo, QB,” someone yelled, “Take a shot with me?”
I didn’t even bother replying to Maverick, my focus only on one thing: finding Summer. Taking two steps at a time, I almost jogged to my room, bursting inside. “What the fuck?”
“Shit, man.” Lincoln, one of the new guys on the team, frantically yanked up his jeans, swaying on his feet a little.
“Want to tell me what the fuck is going on here?” I snapped my eyes to Sasha who was slinking the little black dress over her body. She fluffed her hair, shooting me a smug smile. “Just finishing up.”
“I can see that,” I ground out. “But what the fuck are you doing in my room?”
“Y- your room?” The rookie’s face blanched. “But Sasha said—”
“Oh, I’d love to hear all about what Sasha said.” My eyes narrowed dangerously, but Sasha didn’t falter. If anything, her chin lifted in defiance. “All the other rooms were taken,” she purred softly. “I didn’t think you’d mind, since, you know, I’ve been up here plenty of times before.” She licked her lips, making no effort to hide her desire.
Fuck. The dots slowly began to connect.
“Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did?” Anger laced my words as my eyes narrowed to slits.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Get out,” I roared, and the rookie scrambled to find his sneakers and bailed. Sasha went to move around me, but I grabbed her arm, harder than I probably should have given she was a girl and I was a guy twice her size.
“You lured her here, didn’t you? You used my cell phone to text Summer and have her come here. I bet you even called my name when he fucked you, didn’t you?”
Her composure slipped for a second, but then her mask of indifference slid back into place. Sasha yanked her arm free and ran her hands up my chest. “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. But does it bother you, the idea of me fucking someone else in your bed?”
“You disgust me. Stay the fuck away from me and stay the fuck away from Summer. You’re not welcome here anymore.”
“Y- you can’t do that. I’m the cheer captain. I can go wherever I want.”
My brow rose. “You’re the cheer captain now. But if you don’t stay the fuck away, I’ll take that from you too,” I seethed.
She glared at me before skulking from the room. Fury licked my insides as I searched the room for my cell phone. It sat on my nightstand, right where I must have left it.
“Hey.” Jenson came into the room. “Please tell me that wasn’t Sasha I just saw coming out of your room?” When I met his eyes with my own, he mumbled, “Fucking crazy bitch.”
He wasn’t wrong. But Sasha had covered her tracks, deleting the messages I had no doubt she’d sent to Summer. I was about to call her when a text came through.
“Is it her?”
“No,” I said scanning the message, my chest tightening. “It’s her brother.”
“Shit. Is he gunning for blood?”
“What do you think?” I didn’t bother replying. I needed to find her. “I need to go.” If I stepped on it, I could cut her off before she got too far out of town and beg her to let me explain.
“Whoa, I know you want to go after her, but you’ve been drinking. It’s not a good idea.”
“She’s upset and she’s got a ninety-minute drive home. I’m going.”
Jensen pulled to his full height, blocking the door from me. “Not gonna happen, bro. Give her some time to cool off.”
My fist collided with the wall, pain radiating up my arm and into my shoulder, as I cussed into the silence.
“Please tell me that wasn’t your throwing arm,” Jensen groaned as I nursed my bloodied knuckles.
“No.” But it easily could have been. I wasn’t thinking about my shoulder or the team or the season. All I could think about was Summer coming up here and finding Sasha and that fucking rookie going at it all while thinking it was me. She’d blown my mind turning up here, coming here for me. And now she’d fled all because she thought I was a lying piece of shit.
You know me better than that.
But I knew she had too many insecurities after Nick. Too many people whispering in her ear that I was just a typical jock stringing her along.
I clenched my fist again, wincing when the broken skin stretched over tender bone.
“Come on, Rocky,” Jensen said. “I’ll shut down the party and we can get some ice on that.”
“I can’t lose her, Jen.” My voice cracked. I’d only just found her.
He gave me a sympathetic smile. “She’s really gotten under your skin, hasn’t she?” I nodded. “Can’t say that I blame you. She’s—”
I gave him a pointed look and he snickered. “Not my type but I can see the appeal. She’s different.”
Yeah, she was.
“Things will look better in the morning,” he said before slipping out of the room. I wanted to believe him. But I knew Summer’s wounds were still too raw.
She had to at least hear me out though. I deserved that much.
Didn’t I?
ME: I KNOW WHAT IT looked like, but it wasn’t me. Sasha set the whole thing up. I should have been upfront with you about her, but I honestly didn’t want to send you running. And I never thought she’d go that far. You have to believe me. Please.
Me: I hate that you’ve had to drive back to Wicked Bay thinking I’d ever hurt you like that. You know me, Summer. The real me.
Me: At least let me know you got back okay.
Me: Summer, please...
Summer: I’m home. Please don’t text me again.
I read the string of messages over and over, silently praying another reply appeared. One that said she’d let me explain, or one that said she’d been too hasty leaving.
When it final
ly vibrated, I thought I might crack the screen I was clenching it so tightly. But it wasn’t the name I hoped to see. In fact, it wasn’t a name at all. It was the same number that had texted me last night.
Unknown: You’d better have a good fucking explanation as to why my sister turned up on my doorstep last night, her fucking heart breaking...
She’d driven to Maverick’s place in Steinbeck? That was at least a forty-minute drive in the other direction. Without thinking I called the number.
“Tell me I’m not about to get sent down for murder?” He gritted.
“I can explain...”
“You’d better because I have had to sit up all night listening to my sister, my baby fucking sister, crying over you. Over the fact she found you fucking another girl while she waited downstairs for you.”
“You know it isn’t true.”
“Do I?”
“Jesus, come on Maverick. I fucking love her. You really think I’d do that to her after everything?”
“You love her?” he choked out.
Fuck, had I really said that... to her brother of all people?
“Yeah,” I let out a long sigh. “Yeah, I do. I haven’t told her yet, so I’d appreciate it if you keep it under wraps.”
“So what the hell happened?”
“There’s this girl...”
“Isn’t there always,” he mumbled, and I knew he was probably thinking of my sister and all the shit she’d stirred between him and Lo.
“Anyway, we weren’t together or anything, but she didn’t like it when she heard I was with Summer. The guys told me she could cause trouble, but I never thought she’d do something like that.”
“Sounds like a real catch.”
“Yeah, well she knows the score. Knows if she ever crosses me or Summer again, she’s done.”
A beat passed. And another.
“Still there, Prince?” I asked, hardly able to stand the silence.
“I’m still here. Look, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. On the one hand I want to tell her to forget all about you and move on. That she’s not strong enough to walk in your world. But I know Summer and she needs you. She needs you to fight for her. To prove to her that she didn’t make another mistake.”
