On Par: a YA Sports Romance (Girls of Summer Book 3)

by Lynn Stevens

  “Where’s Theo?” I demanded.

  “I don’t think you should be here,” Mrs. Tudor said. She stared over my shoulder toward my mother. “Take her home, Lucy.”

  Theo peeked around the corner. “What’s going on?” Then he saw me and smiled like a jackal. “Hey, Andrea.”

  “Don’t you talk to her, Theodore. She’s already sullied you.” Mrs. Tudor moved to close the door in my face.

  I stuck my foot in the way. “You son of a bitch,” I yelled at Theo.

  “Don’t you dare talk to my son that way,” Mrs. Tudor snapped.

  “Let her have her say, Jill,” Mom said behind me. “This is between them.”

  “There’s already been enough between them, Lucy,” Mrs. Tudor said, wrinkling her mouth.

  “Shut up, both of you,” I said before turning toward Theo. “How could you? I trusted you. I thought you actually cared about me. You lied to me on the plane. You told me you broke up with Vicky. You told me in Paris that you thought you were falling in love with me. And I was stupid enough to believe you. Then we get back here and you’re all over Vicky again. You didn’t even tell me we were over. You just switched it off. I know I meant nothing to you, Theo, but I mean a hell of a lot to myself. You’re just a prick who wanted to get laid.”

  “Whatever, Andrea,” he said, a smile quirking his lips. “You knew what you were doing.”

  His mom’s mouth dropped open. “Theodore Winston Tudor.”

  Theo smirked, and I wanted to wipe it off his face with my fist.

  “Delete the photos,” I demanded, barely keeping myself under control. “No, give me your phone so I can delete them.”

  Theo snorted. “They’re already gone.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Neither do I,” Mom said. “Jill, get his phone. If there’s anything else on there that’s explicit, then I can have him arrested for child pornography. Any future he has will be up in smoke.”

  Mrs. Tudor stepped back and motioned for us to come inside. “Theo, get your phone, your tablet, and your laptop. Now.”

  “Whatever,” he said, strolling away. “There’s nothing on there anyway.”

  “Better yet,” his mom said. “I’ll get them.”

  Ten minutes later, Mom and I sat at the dining room table with Mrs. Tudor and all of Theo’s devices. Theo was nowhere to be seen. We went through each one, and through his cloud. There wasn’t anything worse than the photo of us in bed together. It had been taken on the train. We’d slept together every night after Paris. I wasn’t sure when he took it, but it showed enough to prove we were intimate.

  Mom and Mrs. Tudor talked quietly while I deleted the photo off a cloud server I was sure his mom didn’t know he used. They were less rigid and much friendlier than before. I highly doubted Mom’s claim about child pornography would’ve stuck, but it had been enough to scare Theo’s mom.

  “I’m sorry, Mom,” I said after we left. I’d given her the keys to drive us home.

  She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “Please tell me you were safe.”

  My heart leapt into my throat, but I nodded. We had been. I made sure of that.

  “Have you... with the other boy?” she asked softly.

  I shook my head, knowing she meant Erik. We’d only had one date, but Theo had managed to get me in bed within a few days. She had a right to worry. “I thought Theo really loved me,” I whispered. “I was so very wrong.”

  Mom reached out and put her hand on my arn. “I know, honey. Teenage boys can be dicks.”

  I snorted a laugh. “Erik’s not.”

  “I’m sure he’s not.” She glanced at me again. “Just be careful, please. I know young love can be overpowering and intense. Make sure the next boy is truly worth sharing that with.”

  I nodded, not entirely sure if I could respond. Mom had actually not freaked out.

  She pulled the Jetta into the driveway a few minutes later. Dad wasn’t back yet and I was more grateful than ever that he wasn’t home.

  “Mom,” I said as she started to climb out. She stopped and looked at me. “Could you really have him arrested for child pornography?”

  She snorted. “Probably not, but the threat of a scandal was enough to scare Jill. God forbid her demons ever come out of the closet.”

  “Thank you. For standing up for me.”

  She smiled. That was all I needed to know everything was going to be okay.

  Chapter Seventeen

  It wasn’t okay. I should’ve known better. Deep down, I think I did know. Monday morning, the gossip train was chugging full steam ahead. Xavier Academy thrived on gossip. I figured it was the only way the student body could relax with our tough academic standards. Fortunately, my lack of virginity was only a car on the train. Rachel’s absence was the engine. Nobody knew why she wasn’t there. Not even Vicky.

  And that drove her nuts.

  “Theo’s telling everyone you’re not a virgin,” Eva said as she stopped by my locker.

  “They already knew,” Vicky said with too much snark and not enough sympathy. “Have you heard anything about Rachel?”

  Eva opened her mouth, but I cut her off. “Glad to hear rumors about me matter so much, Vicky. Thanks.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” she said. Her features softened and she grimaced. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried about Rachel. She didn’t even say anything to Adam that she was leaving. Her house is closed up. Not even the maid is there. It’s not like her to take off.”

  “Dad said they left last night,” Eva added.

  And everyone knows Theo’s a dick. Well, everyone that matters.”

  Logan came up behind Eva and wrapped his arms around her. “Hey, Evs.”

  Eva’s eyes widened and she stepped out of his reach.

  It didn’t faze him one bit. He turned his hungry gaze toward me. “Andrea, what’s up? You got plans this Friday?”

  I stared at him, blinking as if that might erase the stupidity of the questions.

  “Or Saturday?” he asked.

  “You’re joking, right?” I asked, leaning against my locker. “In the eight years I’ve known you, there have been exactly two times we’ve had any sort of conversation. One was because your mom hadn’t picked you up from camp. The other was because we had a science project together. Now you want to date me?”

  He held up his hands. “I just thought we might hang out. Go to a movie. Make out by the lake.”

  My entire body froze. “Lake?”

  “Heard you prefer to be outside,” he said with a creepy wink. “Change your mind, let me know.”

  He strolled away, disappearing down the hallway. Vicky and Eva both said something, but I couldn’t hear over the rushing in my head. There was no way Erik would do this to me. He wasn’t like Theo. He cared about me. Didn’t he? I closed my eyes and shook my head. Later, I’d find him at lunch later and ask him. But in the back of my mind, a voice nagged a reminder that this was exactly what happened with Vicky.

  “What?” I said to Vicky, faking a smile.

  “That’s what I just asked you,” she said, her eyebrows tilted into a V. “What’s Logan talking about?”

  I shrugged it off, but my stomach twisted into knots. “Knowing Logan, he’s fishing or he thinks he knows more than he does. He was at the lake with us over the summer. Maybe he got some idea about me there.” Good enough lie for the moment. Even I wanted to believe it. “Isn’t he seeing somebody? That Darla girl?”

  “Last I heard he was,” Vicky said. “Rachel’s knows more about her than I do.”

  We spun toward our first class, Eva and Vicky walking beside me. The topic returned to Rachel, and I couldn’t have been happier. We passed Erik and he met my gaze with a secretive smile. I frowned back. His lips pressed together, cocking his head to the left. I shook my head and kept walking. A moment later, I felt my phone vibrate in my bag. I didn’t even look at it.

  My morning classes flew by with the messages left
unread on my phone. I was tempted to turn it off completely, but then I’d see the message and open it. I just wasn’t ready for that. The closer it got to lunch, the more butterflies slammed against the walls in my stomach. I wasn’t hungry. None of my friends were in my last class before lunch, so it was easy to sneak away. I wanted to go to the library. He would be there. We could talk. It would be fine.

  But what if I was wrong?

  What if he had told Logan about our date? And that we’d done more than just make out? Logan seemed indicated he knew. Then again, he could’ve been making it up or basing it off something Theo said. Didn’t I owe it to Erik to actually talk to him? Vicky had never given him the chance. Why should I?

  I passed the library and snuck into the empty chem lab. It was quiet and I needed more time to think. Plus I needed to read my texts. Maybe an answer would pop up on my screen. Like an explanation.

  There were four messages. One from Brendan, the rest from Erik. I opened my brother’s first. It was a picture of him with a group of friends at the Navy Pier. They looked happy. I took a selfie sticking out my tongue and sent it to him.

  Then I read Erik’s texts.

  Erik: Are you okay?

  Erik: Did I do something?

  Erik: Talk to me, please.

  I stared at them, not sure what to say. Three dots showed up and I waited, then his message appeared.

  Erik: Where are you? I think we need to talk. I don’t know what I did.

  I didn’t hesitate then and messaged back where to find me. A moment later the door opened. Erik glanced around the room before his gaze settled on mine. He smiled, and I relaxed for a moment. Then I remembered Logan’s words from this morning.

  Erik sat on the stool beside me, and I turned to face him.

  “Did you tell Logan about Saturday night?” I asked, a little bit harsher than I intended but after all the crap with Theo I just couldn’t deal.

  Erik stared at me and took one of my hands. “Why would you think that?”

  “Because he said he heard I liked having sex outside. By a lake.” I pulled my hand back. “Did you tell him we did it?” Please say no.

  “Andrea, I didn’t tell Logan a damn thing,” he said. He clenched his jaw and sat back. “I can’t believe you’d think I did.”

  “Where would he get that idea from?” I asked, frantically running my mind through the two people I’d slept with. Theo was over the summer on the train. Three nights. Three times. Before that, I’d had sex with Matt Luster in his car after his senior prom. As a sophomore, I was thrilled to go to prom. Stupid Andrea. It was not my best experience and certainly not memorable except it hurt and I just wanted to get it over with. The only time I’d been near a lake with a guy was Saturday night. “How did he know about the lake?”

  Erik pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”

  “You’re going to ask him?” That seemed more like an admission of us doing more than making out.

  “No,” he said as he took one of my hands. “I’m going to listen to what he says and what everyone else says. I’ll figure it out.”

  I nodded and glanced at our hands. He flipped mine over, tracing the lines with a finger.

  “Does it bother you? That he might think we... are together?” Erik asked, not looking up from our hands.

  I hesitated. That was a great question. Did I want people to know we were seeing each other? Or did I want people not to think we’d had sex? Would it be so bad? Does it matter if people believed Erik and I hooked up?

  He let go and stood, grabbing his books. “Call me if you figure it out.”

  I let him leave because I really didn’t know the answer.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Vicky bumped my shoulder as we left the building. “What’s wrong? You’ve been quiet all day.”

  “Besides the obvious,” Eva said, scowling at Vicky. “You know the shit Theo’s been slinging.”

  “Right.” Vicky drew the word out until it gained a syllable.

  I snorted and frowned at her. “It’s no secret that Theo and I hooked up over the summer. That much is true. You and I both know it. But the fact that he felt the need to tell everyone I was easy, there’s the problem. Can’t you see that?”

  Vicky stared back at me, totally blank.

  “Compare it when Erik told everyone about you two last year,” Eva said pointedly.

  Vicky’s face burned as her anger took over. “He’s a bigger asshole than Theo.”

  “I doubt that.” My bag slipped off my shoulder. Over the cars in the lot, I saw Erik standing with Logan and Theo. He wasn’t smiling, but the other two were laughing. Logan rotated his hips and pointed at Erik. Then Erik decked him. “Oh my God.”

  “What?” Vicky and Eva said at the same time.

  I took off without answering them, but I was too far. Theo yelled at Erik. I couldn’t hear what he said. Two teachers rushed the boys and got in between them, then pulled Erik away Logan. Erik didn’t struggle. His expression was oddly serene. After he’d punched Logan, he hadn’t moved to hit him again. I stopped a car away.

  “Jesus, Erik, have you lost your mind?” Theo yelled.

  Logan’s hand covered his nose, blood seeped through his fingers. “I was just kidding.”

  Erik met my gaze and smirked. I almost fell backward into Eva and Vicky who muttered excitedly behind me. “More like I gained my senses. Lying, spreading shit, doesn’t benefit anybody,” Erik said, not taking his eyes off me. “You should’ve kept your mouth shut, Logan. You too, Theo.”

  “About what?” One of the teachers asked. I didn’t even bother to look who it was. It didn’t matter. He had Erik’s arms pinned, not that Erik struggled. “What’s going on here?”

  Erik just shook his head. Logan and Theo both shut up.

  “Then take it up with the principal,” the teacher said, pulling Erik back toward the building.

  I stood there until he was out of sight. The group slowly broke up. Theo and Logan headed toward the school along with the nurse who helped Logan walk as he tilted his head back. I didn’t move. Why didn’t I go after them? Defend Erik?

  “Why was Erik staring at you like that?” Eva asked. I spun around to face her, but she was looking at Vicky.

  “I don’t know,” Vicky said quietly. Her gaze focused on the door Erik had been hauled through.

  “He must still like you,” Eva said, her eyes wide. “Even after everything, he must still have a thing, you know?”

  “Doubtful,” Vicky said. She glanced toward Eva and wiggled her eyebrows. “Maybe he has a thing for you?”

  Eva laughed. They turned and headed toward our usual parking spots. Neither one of them even suggested Erik’s gaze had been focused on me.

  I got home from my lesson with Rex to find my father livid in the kitchen. His face was bordering on purple. When I stepped into the room, his anger turned on me.

  “Where the hell have you been?” he asked.

  I glanced at Mom. She raised her eyebrows.

  “Don’t look at her, look at me. I asked you a question.” His voice echoed off the walls.

  “With her golf instructor,” Mom said, calmer than a lake. She stared at my father. “This is between us.”

  “What golf instructor?” he yelled, still looking at me.

  “Rex Vargas,” I said softly. I had no idea what I walked in on, but it wasn’t good.

  “What?” he roared. “Who do you expect to pay for that?”

  “She’s paying for it herself,” Mom said, still calmer than ever. She smiled at me. “I’m quite impressed with the situation.”

  “You knew about this?” Dad said, finally turning his rage back toward Mom.

  She motioned with her hand for me to get out, and I didn’t hesitate. Whatever was going on was not something she wanted me involved in. Dad continued to yell about my lessons. I stood at the bottom of the steps, waiting for him to change the subject but he continued.

  Then
Mom said, “Stop, Brent. This has nothing to do with Andrea.”

  Dad inhaled sharply.

  “Andrea, I know you’re still here. Go upstairs, please,” Mom said politely and quite loud.

  I sighed and stomped up each stair to my room, slamming the door when I got to it. But I didn’t go into my room. I sat on the stop of the steps, trying to overhear what it was they were fighting about.

  “Six months, Brent?” Mom said, anger filling her voice. “When were you going to tell me?”

  “I have it under control,” he snapped.

  “Clearly you don’t.” A leg scrapped against the floor. “And you need perspective. I packed a bag. Go somewhere. But you’re not staying here tonight.”

  My mouth dropped to my chest. Mom just kicked Dad out? Was that for real?

  “This is my house,” Dad said.

  “No, this is my house. You forget that my family owned it, gifted it to me, not you on our wedding day. The deed is in my name.” Mom’s voice lifted a notch. “And you signed a pre-nup, Brent. You can’t touch it or my trust or my inheritance.”

  “Lucy—”

  “Not this time. I have sat back long enough and let you charm me,” Mom said, the cool calm back in her voice. “I think it’s time we stepped away from each other to figure out what we do next.”

  “You want a divorce? Is that it?” Dad snapped.

  “I didn’t say that, Brent. I said I wanted to take a step back. And the first step is for you to leave for awhile.”

  “What’s awhile?” Dad’s voice took on an incredulous tone. “A week? Month? Year?”

  “We’ll start with a week,” Mom said, still calm. How could she be so calm?

  “Where do you expect me to go?” he asked.

  “Your brother’s would be the best bet, but frankly I don’t care as long as you aren’t here.” Mom started losing her cool. “You’ve lied to me for six months, Brent. You’ve almost bankrupted this family. These are your actions, not mine. You need to get out and figure out why you did this to us. And I need to figure out if I even want you here. There’s a bag by the front door. Grab it and go.”