Snapshot, p.7
Snapshot, page 7
But I won’t. I straighten and drop the photo onto my bed like I don’t care about it.
“Why are you here, Reese?” I spin to face him.
“To give you—”
“No. Why are you here? What do you think is going to happen from these weird gifts I’ve gotten all week?”
Hurt beats across his sharp features. “Do you not like them?”
“That’s not what I said.” I shake my head. “But answer the question. Why. Are. You. Here?”
“School starts Monday. Hockey season starts soon after, and I’m going to be busy with practice a lot. I won’t get the chance to send you stuff or drop by in costumes anymore.” Darn. “But I don’t want you thinking I’ve given up.”
“It would be easier on both of us if you did.” I wrap my arms around my waist, wishing it would make the ache low in my chest disappear.
With a hesitant hand, he tilts my chin up so I’m forced to meet his warm honey eyes. “I can’t give up on us, Win. I have to prove to you that we are it. You and I are the goal, baby.”
Why does he have to sound so sure about it? I force my eyes closed, unable to stand looking at him any longer. Tears trickle down my face.
I gasp when his hot breath dusts over my cheeks. He kisses each side, soaking up any wetness. Then he brushes his lips over mine, and I’m frozen solid in a trance. It’s not quite a kiss, but it’s the closest thing I’ve had since that night.
“I’d wait an eternity for you. But please don’t make me.”
Fall might be my favorite season. Something about the crisp mornings without having to shovel snow and the fallen leaves that brush the ground with each step. My closet full of sweaters also comes in handy. Mom never understood why I would come home with a new hoodie or sweater whenever I went shopping, but I don’t get how she doesn’t understand there isn’t a more comforting piece of clothing than a large sweater that warms your body.
“Winnie?”
My feet falter, and I look behind me to the voice. Not many people, if any at all, know my name, so who is…
Emma and her friend from the party wave excitedly before making their way to me.
“Hey.”
“You know you are, like, one of the few people on campus with red hair. I swear I’ve only seen, like, five.”
I giggle but nod. “Yeah. It’s like that most places I go. We stand out a lot.”
Emma hooks her arm through mine like it’s a totally normal thing to do to someone you met once for five minutes.
Laney trails on the other side of Emma but smiles at me. “Hey, Winnie.”
Before I can respond, Emma scrunches up her face and asks, “What are we doing at the library?”
“Am I missing where people go to the library for things other than studying?”
Laney giggles. “That’s what most people do at the library, Em.”
“I can think of a few things that don’t involve studying.” She grins, big and wide.
Like she manifested them, a group of guys walks in front of us, taking their time to check each of us out and not being shy about it at all. One of them whistles, and Emma wiggles her fingers in their direction. Mortified, I tug on her arm, dragging the girls completely around the group of guys and hurrying toward the library.
“Absolutely not. I’m here to study, and that’s it.” My heart pounds in my chest, and I glance over my shoulder, happy to see the guys have moved on.
“Bor-ing. What are we doing after?”
I lift an eyebrow at Emma. “We?”
She drops her head back as if I’m exhausting her. “Come on, Win! You’re a college freshman and it’s Thursday night!”
Thursday night? Aren’t Friday and Saturday the party nights? “Since when is Thursday a party night?”
Her eyes blow wide. “You’ve never heard of thirsty Thursday?”
“Uh, should I have?”
“Even I have.” Laney nods.
“See?” Not really. “Anyway, I’ll make you a deal. I will study as long as you do, but after, you have to come out with us.”
“I’m not really a going-out type.”
“Me either,” Laney throws out.
“I need new friends,” Emma grumbles. I guess making my first college friend wasn’t that hard after all. Even comes with a bonus friend. Sweet. I’ve failed miserably at making any in class. There are a few people who are friendly, but it’s mostly a hello and how are you. Not much more than that. “But I can ease you—both—into it. Pleeaassee? I promise no shit-faced guys trying to take your pants off.” She pauses and pulls me to a stop too. “Well, no. I can’t promise that, because men are pigs. But it’ll be fun turning them all down.”
I’ve never been one to give in to peer pressure, but going out kind of sounds fun. My first party experience was taken from me. Maybe tonight will be better.
“Why are you so adamant about going out, anyway?”
Laney leans forward and gives me a timid smile. “The guys are busy with hockey practice tonight, so there’s no one around to tell her no.”
Oh, that’s right. Her brother is on Reese’s team. It’s been a week since Reese stopped by the apartment, and he was right after all; I’ve not received anything after the weekend. I’d be lying if I said every day I get home from class, I didn’t hope there is something on the doorstep, but there never is. It’s not fair for me to wish for that when I’m the one who told him to give up. I’m only getting exactly what I asked for, so why does it suck so bad?
Emma nods, agreeing with whatever Laney said. “Sawyer is a bit overprotective. He doesn’t like me going out without him, and I can’t drink and flirt with boys like I want to when he’s around.”
“She still totally does, don’t let her lie to you.”
Emma grins, not bothered at all that her best friend just threw her under the bus. “I do, but he is such a cock block. I had to basically throw my virginity at the first guy I saw when he left for college.”
Oh my. Elijah is protective, but nothing like that. I’ll still probably let him know where I’m going to be, but he most likely won’t even reply. Our relationship still isn’t great, but it’s better. Though I didn’t tell him about Eeyore showing up.
“Are you a virgin?” she asks me.
I speed ahead of them, hurrying toward the library, but they jog after.
“Are you?” she asks again.
“No, I’m not.”
Emma squeals. “No way, who did you lose it to?” She gasps as if just remembering something. “Was it Reese? Is that the night he was talking about?”
Damn him. There’s no point in denying it. My face is probably close to matching my hair with how hot it feels. “Yeah, it was that night.”
She squeals again, and I’m tempted to plug my ears because she’s so loud. “Are you guys—”
Nope, not even entertaining that question. “What about you, Laney? Virgin or no?”
Emma snaps her mouth shut and turns to Laney.
“Uh, yeah.” Her voice is soft like maybe she’s embarrassed, but she shouldn’t be. Me giving my virginity to Reese, only for him to turn around and disappear for two years the next day, is way more embarrassing.
I don’t have a lot of homework or studying to do since it’s only the first week of school, but I take a little longer than I need just to drive Emma a bit crazier. She’s been bouncing in her seat pretty much the entire time. I doubt she got any studying done, so really I could back out of the night, but I’m a little excited.
Emma mentioned dancing, and I love dancing. I’m not really good at it, but I’m banking on everyone else around me being drunk enough that they don’t notice my two left feet.
“You guys can wait here or come up, but I’ll warn you, my brother isn’t friendly like yours.”
“Oh, we know all about your brother,” Emma says, shooting Laney a sideways look I don’t understand.
“What do you mean?”
She shrugs her thin shoulders. “He’s known around campus. That’s all.”
Elijah is known around campus? What the hell does that mean? Known for what? I don’t get a chance to ask because Emma jumps out of my car, and when I look at Laney, she scurries out after her. Well, okay then.
Elijah is sitting on the couch shirtless, his hand shoved down his pants. Thankfully, he’s not watching porn, but it doesn’t make it any less awkward when Emma and Laney trail in after me and he scowls at them. Making no move to remove his hand.
“The fuck, Win? I told you no girlish slumber parties.”
“Don’t be rude, Eli. We’re just stopping by so I can change.” I don’t bother introducing them because he’s already gone back to watching The Walking Dead and ignoring us.
I wait until we are in my room before turning to the girls. “See, I told you he wasn’t friendly.”
“I can fucking hear you, shithead.”
“That was the point, dickface,” I shout back, then slam the door before he can reply. I flick my lock and face them, plastering on an obviously fake smile. “Charming, isn’t he?”
“I like him,” Emma says, her blue eyes wide as if she just met Santa Claus.
“Trust me, you don’t.” I head for my closet, and they fall onto my bed. It’s weird how normal this feels. I’ve never had girls in my room. I’ve had guys—or the same two guys—numerous times, but one of them is my brother. It’s weird I’ve never had a girl friend, though. Someone to gossip and paint my nails with. Not that I paint my nails… but maybe if I had a girl friend, I might. I never really tried to make friends in school. I always had Reese and Eli, and after they were gone, I had lost my dad and wasn’t interested in making friends. Mom needed me, and truthfully, I needed her just as much.
“What do we wear to go out?”
“As close to nothing as legally possible,” Emma states.
“I think a cute dress,” Laney offers, probably reading the mortification I’m feeling. Laney seems more my speed when it comes to this kind of stuff.
“Well, considering half the campus probably saw my ass, something that makes sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“You mean the whole campus?” Emma snorts. She gets up from my bed to look at my photo wall. “Wow, you and Reese really were close.”
I swallow the lump and nod, even though she can’t see it. “What do you mean whole campus? I know there were a lot of people there, but unless there were thirty thousand people in that room…”
Emma and Laney once again swap faces. It’s mildly annoying how they converse without actually speaking.
“Did you not see the post from the EU Student News?” Laney’s eyebrows furrow.
“Student News? What’s that?”
My stomach sinks and my head swims with the possibility of whatever they are talking about. Surely, my ass can’t be posted anywhere, right? That would be illegal. I think. Laney drops her eyes to her phone, and after a second, she holds it up.
Forget my stomach sinking, it nearly drops out my ass now. I scramble across my room and grab the phone from her. I gasp loudly, then remember my brother is next door, and if he saw this, he would go ballistic.
“What the hell is this?” Most of it is shit about Reese and the team, or the party in general. My name isn’t mentioned anywhere. Not even in the comments under the post. A lot of them are guys giving heart eyes or laughing faces. Some compliments, but they do nothing to stop the mortification from suffocating me. My ass is on a website. If my name gets attached to this in any way, there goes any future career I might want.
Emma walks to my side and sighs. “EU Student News. I can’t believe you’ve never heard about it. It’s like the Pinecove version of Gossip Girl. A bunch of anonymous posts of things happening around campus, mostly gossipy things that make people look bad. It’s the worst, but it’s even worse that they now have a printed version.”
Wait… printed? “You’re telling me my ass is printed on the front page of some kind of weird newspaper?”
“Uh, yeah? Haven’t you been around campus at all this week? There aren’t many newsstands, but you should have seen one.” Her brow knits. I walked past a few newsstands that had the school colors on top, but they were all empty when I saw them. Either my ass sold out, or they weren’t in the ones I saw. I guess if they weren’t there, then maybe they weren’t everywhere like Emma said.
“I am not going out tonight.” I toss Laney’s phone back to her, and she catches it.
“Noooo,” Emma cries. “This is a good thing, Win. Think about it, your ass is out there being complimented by basically everyone in a fifteen-mile radius, and no one knows it’s your ass. Your ass is famous!”
Emma’s a little bit delusional, but she’s good at making a drastic situation—like my bare ass being printed on newspapers—seem small.
“A new story always comes out after the weekend, and there will be another ass for people to chat about. So I say enjoy your time in the spotlight.”
Maybe she’s a lot bit delusional. But right now, delusional works for me. “Fine, but I’m not wearing anything that could lead to me flashing anything.”
“Boring, but okay.” She grins. “And we can get drunk enough you won’t even care if you do.”
I’ve never gotten drunk before, but I just might tonight.
I’m sure this night is going to end super well.
9
Reese
“Alright, ladies. Hit the showers.”
Thank fuck. If Coach would’ve said “lines” one more time, I think I would have quit. Preseason is such shit. It’s mostly conditioning and not a lot of playing. It sucks big time.
“I never thought that practice was going to end,” Beckett grumbles from my left. “He’s got a stick up his ass this season.”
Gavin slaps him on the shoulder. “Nah, he just wants to win. I heard Mr. Kinnon is putting a lot of pressure on him this season.”
“I’d like to see Kinnon get his old ass on the ice,” Sawyer growls. He’s the biggest out of us and is also the guy who sweats the most during conditioning practices, so he tends to be the one who gets the most pissy about them.
Hot water burns against my chilled skin, but I welcome the sting. Coach prefers we take cold showers to help with muscle recovery, but none of us listen to that suggestion. Nothing feels better than a hot shower after four hours on the ice. Except maybe a massage.
When Winnie was little, Eli and I used to trick her into massaging our backs after hard practices by telling her we would buy her a roll of film. I wonder if that would still work… I haven’t seen or spoken to her since I showed up at her place. Can’t lie, I was hoping she would cave and call me by now, maybe even confess her love, but that has yet to happen.
I’m still holding my breath, though. I wasn’t lying when I told her my life would get hectic once school started. Who knew lawn care classes were hard? Not me. I kind of thought they would just be, like, what kind of blade do you cut grass with? I had no clue science went into it and shit. But I’ll graduate next year with a degree I can put to use almost right away. My old boss has been looking to pass his business down for a while, and when I saw him last and mentioned my degree, he promised he would save it for me.
Going pro is still the dream, but having a career ready for when my playing days are over was really important to me. Growing up listening to my parents scream about money scared me straight. As soon as I could, I got a job, and I’ve been saving my money ever since. Even got a few investments that have already doubled my savings.
I jump into Sawyer’s passenger seat, and Beckett and Gavin climb into the back. We stop off at McDonald’s and order nearly the entire menu before heading home. I only have two classes tomorrow, and then it’s the weekend, and I can’t fucking wait. Preseason weekends are great because Coach leaves us alone, unlike weekends during the season. I gotta think of something to do for Winnie this weekend, though. I considered standing outside her apartment with a boom box, but I’m not interested in fighting with Eli again. Getting rocked in the face by an infamous underground fighter isn’t exactly fun. But the flower bouquets aren’t cutting it. I need something big, but not too big. Something medium. Something perfect. It’ll come to me, and if not, then I’ll resort to a prank call telling her I’m in the hospital. It was Schmidt’s idea; I think he was kidding, but I’m getting to the point of desperation.
I toss what’s left of the food on Sawyer and Beckett’s table before crashing onto their couch. Bad move, because I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get up now.
Gavin falls next to me and rips a piece of his burger off. “I heard you got rocked at the party.” He just got to school, so he missed the whole ordeal.
“I did.”
“That’s embarrassing for you.”
Not as embarrassing as everything else that happened that night. “Yeah, well, what can you do?”
“Probably not mention fucking someone’s underage sister right to their face.”
I turn and glare at him, but he shrugs and stuffs the rest of the burger in his mouth.
“Just saying.”
“Have you guys seen Emma?” Sawyer emerges from his room, a frown on his face.
“No, where is she?” Gavin asks.
I slap the back of his head, and he complains. “He wouldn’t ask if he knew, dumbass.”
Much to my dismay, he barks at us to get up and help him look. The athletic dorms are big, but not three-guys-looking-for-one-girl big. If he didn’t find her, we’re definitely not going to.
“Maybe she finally moved into her dorm?” It’s late, and the last thing I want to deal with is a worried Sawyer. I’ve never seen anyone worry about their sister the way he does.
“No, maintenance said it would be another few weeks before it was ready.”
I lift the several McDonald’s bags in case she left a note, and ah-ha! Bingo.
“Saw!”
Went to bed early! Don’t bother me!!!
-Em
He snatches it from my hand, and his frown deepens.
