Thud. Thud. Thud.
The pounding beat thuds against my ears, waking me up. Is this another one of Lyss’ pranks? Who on earth plays heavy metal at this hour otherwise? Throwing the covers off, the cold morning chills as I move to get out of the bed. The room spins as the pounding bass gets heavier and more painful in my head. Groaning, I reach for the water next to my bed. That pounding is inside my head and isn’t a prank. After taking a long, slow gulp and fetching some pain killers, I force myself back down onto the bed, shoving a pillow over my head, hoping it will block out some of the light until I feel human again. Thank goodness I don’t have any classes today.
After falling back to sleep and getting up an hour or so later, the pounding is much more like tapping and the light is less intrusive. When I throw the pillow to the other side of the bed, a pink piece of paper catches my attention. It’s soggy after I put the water on top of it but I can just about make out what it says.
Reign,
Sorry had to go.
Hope you feel better this morning
Devin
My brows crease thinking about what happened last night. I can hardly remember it in my red wine haze. I know I watched The Bachelor, that much is for sure because it was a Monday night, but anything beyond that is escaping me.
Trudging to the bathroom, I let the warm water of the shower help wake my bones. It’s only after brushing my teeth that memories from last night start to come flooding back. I remember drinking a lot and then straddling Devin, throwing myself at him like I did the night before. Except for this time, it didn’t end in mind-blowing orgasms, but instead, he left right after he flat out rejected me.
Spitting out the minty toothpaste, I shake my head going back into my room. How does that make sense? The night before he wanted me. I knew he wanted me. What changed in a day? I stalk over to the window and he’s shut his curtains. It’s nearly midday, those curtains should be open by now because he has practice in the mornings. He’s shut them on purpose. To shut me out.
Moving away from the window, I quickly change into some clothes, desperately trying to recall what was said between us. I remember telling him I wanted more and I do. I kind of thought that was the way we were going since the other night. I haven’t opened up to anyone like that since Clay and I just kind of thought we were on the same page. But thinking back to it, he just kept stalling, telling me we would talk about it today. The same day he shut his curtains for the first time. I can feel my cheeks heating at the mere thought of how much I ground against him while trying to convince him to date me. I must have looked so desperate.
My heart starts beating and my breath quickens when I think about everything, I’ve told him and how embarrassed I am about last night. I need to move, sitting here isn’t making me feel any better and it’s not like Devin even wants to talk to me. I need to get out of this room, out of my thoughts. Maybe all that talk about more than a one-time thing was just it. He wanted a fuck buddy, and I gave him that. Until I wanted more.
Throwing my hair in a ponytail, I grabbed my purse and left the room, skipping down the stairs as fast as I could. ‘Reign, there you are,’ Lyss says, holding a bag of something in her hands and a mischievous grin on her face. ‘I figured out the perfect way to get back at the guys.’ She says, holding the bag up and I genuinely wonder when she has time to take her classes with all the crap she pulls.
‘Sorry Lyss, I’ve already planned something.’ Before she can show me what’s in the bag or try and bring me into her scheme, I’m out the door, more determined than ever to get out of the neighborhood for a minute and breathe. I know ignoring Lyss will bite me in the ass, but how am I supposed to stay here and be in that room with Devin across from me? Constantly reminding me how much I embarrassed myself. Anyway, that’s more than I need to think about right now.
‘Reign,’ Adam’s familiar deep voice coos. He’s leaning against his car, holding a bag as his bright blue eyes shine at me. I barely stop as I walk towards him. ‘Where are you off to in such a hurry?’
That question makes me stop in my tracks because I have to think for a second. I hadn’t gotten that far in my planning. ‘Hey,’ I say casually. ‘I’m just going for a walk,’ I say walking past him and aiming for the end of the road.
‘There isn’t that much in ways of a walk in that direction.’ He says curiously. ‘Unless you like walking beside the highway.’ Fiddling with the strings of my purse, my shoulders slump as I look back.
‘Is there anywhere I can go that isn’t campus and is walking distance?’ I ask with my head hung low.
‘Not much,’ He shrugs. ‘Are you alright?’
Looking back up, I’m met with his perfectly straight smile and a cute little dimple on his left cheek. Adam is such a nice and open guy, just being around him instantly makes me smile. ‘I’m fine. I just need to get out of here for a while.’
‘Wanna go for a drive?’ He gestures to his car and when I hesitate, he raises his hand. ‘Hey, I’m just offering you a way out of here for a while.’
Pursing my lips, I think about my options and nod. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so rude. I would love to.’ He smiles at that, opening the door for me. Without another word, I slide in and before I know it, he’s backing out and driving down a nondescript road.
After what feels like hours of driving in silence, Adam pulls up to a rickety old diner. ‘I’m starving.’ He says, turning his car off and opening the door. He paused, looking back. ‘You coming?’
‘Uhh, I guess.’ What else am I going to do? Sit in the car on my own?
Turns out Adam can eat like a horse. I’ve watched him chow down on sweet potato fries, cheese fries, a cheeseburger, a chocolate milkshake, onion rings and, a hot dog. All in the span of twenty minutes. As he takes the last sip of his milkshake, he looks over at my cocked, questioning eyebrow.
‘What?’ He asks. ‘Have you never seen a guy eat before?’
‘Oh, I’ve seen guys eat, but this is another level kind of crap. Where do you put all of it?’ I ask, unintentionally checking out his body. It’s all hard edges and sharp lines. He grins when my gaze meets his.
He shrugs, ‘It’s off-season so our training isn’t as vigorous. Means I can have a cheat meal a couple times a week.’
‘That wasn’t a meal. That was a full day’s worth of calories.’
He chuckles and his eyes drop down, ‘For you. What are you? 130 lbs when wet? I bench more than that on an off day’ I rolled my eyes, balling up a napkin, and throwing it at him. He dodges it easily, watching it go to the booth behind and hit a guy.
The guy makes a disgruntled noise as he gets up and makes a move to leave. ‘I’m sorry sir,’ Adam says, sobering up and he winced when he turned back.
‘That’s your own fault,’ I whisper, stifling a giggle and shoving one of his fries in my mouth.
Shaking his head, ‘You’re the one who threw it!’ He snatched the fry that I was about to put in my mouth and eats it. ‘Now that you seem to be in a better mood, are you going to tell me what had you running out of your house like it was on fire?’
Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I wonder how honest I can be with Adam. Even though he and Devin are close, I don’t think he’s mentioned anything about us. Us? There isn’t an us. He just views me as a good time. ‘Nothing much really.’
‘Didn’t look like much. If Aiden wasn’t at the gym, I would have thought you saw him naked. Now, that is something to run away from. Believe me. I’ve seen it one too many times.’ He shivers.
‘It can’t be that bad. I heard a lot of stories about the great Aiden Lock before I knew who he was. He’s a legend around the Covey campus.’ It’s true. When I first enrolled, I heard some girls talking about him and his wild parties. It didn’t take me long to realize it was the one and only Aiden that lives next door that they were talking about.
Adam’s face straightens and he looks at me dead in the eye. ‘Are you telling me you’re interested in him?’
‘God, no. Besides the fact that Lyss would kill me if I even had that thought, I’m kind of getting over someone.’
His whole body relaxes, ‘Well, that explains why you dodged my date request.’
I’m left speechless for a few seconds. I almost completely forgot about that, too busy thinking about Devin. ‘I didn’t dodge it. I reminded you about it before.’
He tilts his head, scratching the slightly blonde stubble on his chin. ‘You mean when you were trying to create a distraction so you could put glitter in my pants?’ I go quiet. ‘Yeah, thought as much. That was bad enough, but did you have to destroy any chances of getting a girl to date me at all?’
‘Hey, some girls like the whole Edward Cullen vampire vibe.’ I smile.
He shrugged, shoving another fry in his mouth. ‘You probably did us both a favor. Neighbors dating would never have worked.’
My body tenses, thinking that’s exactly what I said to Devin those few weeks ago, and now we’re here. ‘I wouldn’t say that,’ I say quietly, defending myself.
‘Oh yeah?’
‘Yeah,’ I confirm. ‘I think I should probably be heading back home; I’ve got a paper to finish,’ I say reluctantly. I’d happily spend more time with Adam, he’s so easy to be around and it feels like we’ve known each other for years. “No problem.” He says distracted.
As we head back to the house, there’s a comfortable silence between us. That is until we open the car doors and hear the loud screaming of two very familiar voices. Although we can’t hear what they’re saying, Lyss and Aiden are down each other’s throat. Adam rolls his eyes. ‘Here we go again,’ He says.
‘Are they ever going to stop?’
‘Not until one of them is naked.’ He deadpans as he rushes to the backyard. I follow closely behind him and as he opens the back gate, he tries to get their attention. ‘Guys, calm down.’
Lyss and Aiden turn their heads to us sharply, anger brewing in both of their eyes. I don’t focus on it for long because the insane amount of foam frothing from the pool is too distracting. ‘What the hell?’ I whispered.
‘Aiden is going to kill her,’ Adam says, as something comes flying our way. He grabs me, pulling me into his chest letting the object hit the floor beside us. It’s the soap box Lyss used, and I think back to this morning. This was her plan all along.
‘You are paying for my fucked-up pool filters,’ Aiden shouts. Lyss is tall, like a supermodel, but with her shoulder’s slumped and her detached gaze, it’s the first time she’s ever looked small.
‘Your filters will be fine frat boy,’ Lyss shouts back in his face. ‘How about you pay for my grandmama’s plates that you wrecked with that stupid water balloon? Oh, that’s right, they were priceless.’ I swear in that moment, the air thins, and everyone goes quiet. I can see the shine of Lyss’s eyes, willing Aiden to take her on and say something back. I didn’t know those plates were so special to her, only a few got broken, but that was enough to set her off.
It’s the first time Aiden has looked anything other than menacing. She stares him down until she starts to walk slowly away, the foam still frothing and getting bigger behind her. She definitely wrecked the filters, but the way Aiden reacted was odd for him. He just watched her walk out. None of that fiery energy I’m so used to from the two of them.
Lyss walked past me, barely acknowledging us as she does, and slammed the gate behind her as she goes. ‘This has gone way too far,’ Adam muttered loud enough for Aiden to hear.
It’s like he finally registers we’re in the backyard with him and suddenly, his shoulder’s straighten as he looks between us, with a smirk. ‘Have you two finally boned?’ He asked, that human side of him completely gone replaced with his usual roguish self.
‘Shut up,’ I snarl back. I don’t know what’s going on between him and Lyss but seeing her so upset has me angry.
The back door slides open, drawing our attention to the voice, ‘What the hell happened to the pool.’ Devin asks as he comes outside. My heart skips at his voice, and then drops remembering how he left me.
Devin scans the backyard, waiting for someone to answer him and he stops when he sees me. For a minute, I see something in his eyes. Anger? Annoyance? I don’t know. All I know is, it quickly turns to disgust and confusion. He probably thinks I’m stalking him. His eyebrows cross and he turns around, walking back into their house shaking his head.
‘What was that about?’ Adam questions to no one in particular. I break away from him, bowing my head to hide the crimson cheeks that are no doubt appearing. Devin is so embarrassed about what happened last night, he can’t even acknowledge me.
‘I gotta go.’ Is all I say before scurrying off to find Lyss. If I can’t feel good about this situation, at least I can check on her.
