Oh crap. That is the last thing I want to hear. Was I actually a source of tension in their relationship? “We’re just friends. And he did ask me to run with him, and I said yes.” I make a little face. “I hope that’s all right.”
Lindsey and Dakota glance at each other quickly before they return their attention to me. “It’s more than all right,” Lindsey says with a tight smile. “I’ve always thought you two would make a cute couple.”
“Oh, I’m not interested in him like that,” I start, but they both cut me off when they launch into a conversation about dresses and how long they should be and what colors they like.
You know. Shit I don’t particularly care about at the moment.
Once I get away from them and their nonstop conversation, I go into the cheer room and change into my practice clothes, then munch on some goldfish, sitting up straighter when our coach enters the building.
“I hear half the team is up for homecoming noms,” she says.
That’s no lie. A lot of us are.
“Going to make things a little difficult for the halftime routine, but once we find out who actually won or who goes on to Friday’s ceremony, we’ll have to make adjustments. But you know what this means,” Brandy says.
We all brace ourselves for what she has to say next.
“If you’re one of the winners, you’ll have to wear your uniform during Friday night’s ceremony,” she finishes.
Lots of whining and protests from everyone. I keep my mouth shut. I probably won’t win, so I’m not too worried about it.
“You won’t have time to change out of your uniform into a dress and then back into your uniform,” Brandy says, her voice extra loud to cut the whining. “So I don’t want to hear it. We’ll cross that bridge, if and when, we get to it. I’m guessing we’ll get to it with at least a few of you.”
She mutters that last bit under her breath.
My phone dings, and I check it. Eli’s calling again. His contact info doesn’t include his name. Instead, it’s a long list of emojis like his Snapchat user name, so no one will know. I stare at the screen, tempted to answer. Tempted to hear what more he has to say.
Though I must be a sucker for verbal abuse, because he’ll probably yell at me some more. And that totally sucks.
“Put your phone down.” Brandy is standing right next to me, looking down her nose like a hawk. She’s a stickler about no phone use during practice. “Time to stretch.’
I toss my phone in my backpack, hoping that Eli doesn’t get too pissed when he doesn’t hear from me for the next two to three hours.
He’s just going to have to deal.
Thirty-Two
Eli
Ever been mad for no good reason? You’re just pissed at the world and you take it out on the one person you care about the most?
Yeah, that’s me right now. I’m good and angry, and I took it out on Ava over the phone, even though none of this shit is actually her fault. Meaning the way I feel isn’t her fault, though some irrational part of me wants to blame her.
For going to a different school.
For getting nominated for junior class homecoming princess.
For being sweet.
For being beautiful.
For feeling like she’s mine, even though she really isn’t.
It’s like she belongs somewhere else. As if she belongs to someone else. While I’m here, picking up the scraps and silently begging for more. More smiles, more words, more kisses. I want all of her. Yet it feels like she only gives me a tiny piece.
Maybe that’s me being greedy. Maybe that’s me being an asshole.
I took my frustration out on her and then she doesn’t answer my call when I try to apologize. The rational side of me says she’s at cheer practice and can’t talk. Her coach is a phone tyrant. She’s told me that before.
So I left her a message where I probably sounded like a dick, and there’s nothing I can do about it. What’s done is done. And once I’m on that destructive path, I tend to put my whole self into it.
Like an idiot.
Practice was brutal—thanks to me. I ratted out my own players on the field to our coaches for making shitty plays, and they made us run extra drills. Then my coaches made me run an extra mile for being a complete rat.
“You’re a part of a team,” our offensive coach said when I finished running, all sweaty and out of breath, his fat finger in my face. “Act like it.”
Once practice was done, I apologized to my homies and asked if any of them wanted to help me with my daily ‘Jake-you-suck’ story. Most of them forgave me. A few of them said they’d help. A few others just glared at me before they left the locker room.
I suppose I deserve their contempt. I snitched. Snitches get stitches, am I right? I suppose I should be prepared for them to beat my ass.
They won’t do it, though. Most of them are scared of me.
Once I’ve got a crew of guys to help me with my newest story, I decide to change it up. I tag Caleb instead of Jake.
Right now, Caleb is feeling vulnerable. His little buddy Diego is acting like an extra giant prick to everyone, especially that pitiful girlfriend of his. Jake and Diego aren’t on the best of terms either. The friend group is in turmoil. Caleb, I’m sure, feels stuck in the middle. Classic bullshit that fucks with a team.
I’m hoping it messes with them extra hard.
Brenden got a few girls from our cheer team to come over, and they brought their poms with them.
“Can you shake them all together at once in front of the camera?” I ask, my vision coming alive inside my brain. I should be a director someday, damn it.
Josie’s on the cheer team and she’s the one who’s always asking if she can wear my jersey for game day. Girl doesn’t give up, so I have to give her props for that.
Even though I’m definitely not interested.
She approaches me wearing a tiny pair of black shorts that’s giving her severe camel toe and an equally tiny purple sports bra that has all these straps everywhere. Her nipples are hard. I almost wonder if she pinched them to look like that. I keep my gaze glued to her face, not wanting her to get the wrong idea.
Look at me, being all noble and shit, when my girl barely wants to acknowledge I exist in her world. Fucking sucks.
“We can shake lots of things, Eli,” Josie says, blinking slowly. So slowly, her eyelash extensions get tangled up in each other.
Yikes. I always think those things look like spiders.
“Your pom poms are all I want to see,” I say firmly.
She jiggles her chest like her tits are poms and then jogs over to where the other girls wait for her. I can’t help but notice how those shorts ride up her ass, showing off her butt cheeks. Girl has a body that won’t quit, but again.
No spark. None at all. She’s barking up the wrong tree.
Brenden and I spend a few minutes setting up the scene, and finally, the JV quarterback is holding my phone while Brenden cues the cheer girls to shake their poms repeatedly before they lift them away from the camera.
Revealing me, standing in my home field with my favorite sunglasses on, the mountains looming behind me, the sun shining down on me. Wearing my team colors and smiling like a smug son of a bitch.
Deep down, I don’t feel smug. I’m restless. Like I want to punch someone in the face. Anyone will do.
“Congrats on the homecoming nom, Caleb,” I say in my best game show host voice, resting my hands on my hips. I also chose Caleb to pick on because the last time I saw him, he was flirting with Ava. And that still pisses me off. “Gonna suck real bad when you lose out to your bestest homies Callahan and Garcia during that coronation ceremony next Wednesday night.”
I have no idea if that’s going to happen, but if I was a betting man, that’s what I’d put my money on.
Jackson starts laughing, but Brenden quickly shushes him.
“If you weren’t such a fuckboy who’s already smashed every single girl in the junior and senior class,
then maybe you’d get a few more votes.” I grin. We all know it’s true. He fucks around so much, no one wants to fuck around with him anymore.
The cheer team girls giggle at what I say, and I quickly lift my glasses up to wink at them.
“Damn, how can I forget about Sorrento?” I shake my head. “There’s the one who might win with his new charity case of a girlfriend. They’d look cute out on the field when they get crowned, am I right?”
I heard rumors about Tony dating some girl no one knows much about, and I had Brenden do a little investigating. Turns out she’s Jake’s new girlfriend’s best friend, and isn’t that cozy for the four of them? I hope they go on lots of double dates together.
Gag.
“Callahan will be crying to his daddy that he didn’t win, and Diego will be relieved, considering he’s still fucking around with Cami, but whatever! You’re all gonna be so damn distracted, you won’t be able to focus. And that’s when we’ll steal the win right from under your noses.”
That’s a giant bomb I just exposed. I’m sure pretty much everyone knows what those two are doing. Cami and Diego don’t bother trying to hide it, unless they’re actually at school. There, they pretend they barely know each other. Rumor has it they’re making out in the back of the local movie theater every Saturday night. Makes me feel sorry for his girlfriend, but homegirl is blind as hell for not seeing what’s happening.
“So have fun with your kiddie games during homecoming. We’ll be over here practicing football, getting ready to kick your asses.” I lean in closer to the camera, lifting my sunglasses and winking. “Congrats, assholes!”
I rise to my full height and run my finger across my neck in the universal “cut” sign, and the JV QB turns off the camera before he hands me my phone. “Thanks for letting me film it,” he says eagerly, like I bestowed the honor upon him.
“Yeah sure,” I say distractedly as I start to play the video. Everyone swarms around me, jockeying for the best position so they can watch it. Josie is crammed in right next to me, her tits resting against my arm, and when I send her a look, she nestles those babies even closer. I can literally feel her nipples.
I could give two shits.
We all watch the video, and yeah, it turned out good. Short and definitely not sweet. Everything I said was to rile them up, and this time around, I chose not to mention a damn word about Ava.
Even if I’m pissed at her for no good reason, I’m determined to somewhat keep the peace.
“Love it,” Josie says when the video ends. “You’re so funny, Eli.”
“Gee thanks.” I wonder if she can hear the sarcasm in my voice. “I need to get out of here.”
“Where you going?” she asks as she falls into step beside me.
Brenden is on the other side of her and I shoot him a look, one that says get rid of this bitch.
“Hey Josie, I think your friends are calling you,” Brenden says.
She makes an irritated sound and stomps off in the other direction.
“Thanks, man,” I tell Brenden when she’s gone. “That chick would permanently dig her fingernails into my dick if she could.”
“Yeah, about that. Tara’s been asking about you,” Brenden says.
“Don’t care,” I tell him. Don’t want to go back down that road.
“So harsh, man. Why you gotta act like that?”
“Don’t know.” I shrug. “Don’t care.”
“Why not? You were cool with her a month ago. Fuck, you even kissed her,” Brenden oh so kindly reminds me.
“She kissed me,” I tell him. “Big difference.”
“How? I thought you were into her. Tara did too. She said since Jackson’s party at the lake, you haven’t said shit to her. Yet you’re always sneaking off and hanging out with someone,” Brenden says, his eyes narrowing. “Who is it?”
I want to scream Ava Callahan at him. I also want to tell him to mind his own damn business.
Instead, I say nothing.
“What’s going on with you, huh?” Brenden comes to a stop on the edge of the field.
I stop in front of him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You. You’re keeping secrets from me. From all of us.” Brenden pokes his finger into my chest and that makes me mad. “You usually tell me everything, bro. And now, your mouth is tighter than a nun’s pussy. It’s bullshit. What the hell are you up to, huh? Be real with me for once.”
Be real with him? I’m about as real as I can get when I’m with Brenden. I’m not close to any of these other jokers. He knows what’s going on in my life. How my parents destroyed my family. And he’s asking me to be real with him for once?
He’s got a lot of damn nerve.
“Give me a break,” I mutter as I start to walk away.
“I will, as soon as you get that giant dildo out of your ass,” Brenden says to my retreating back.
Whirling around, I make my way back to him. Seething. Fuming. I’m blind with fury. I don’t even know I’m doing it until my fist connects with my best friend’s jaw. He drops to the ground with one swing, stunned. I stand over him, breathing hard, my hands clutched into fists, my arms hanging at my sides. Thank God the coaches are gone, or my ass would be benched for this week’s game.
The possibility is still there. One of them could rat me out, and I’d deserve it.
“What the fuck?” Brenden cradles his jaw with his hand, jumping onto his feet. “You hit me.”
I say nothing. I don’t bother apologizing either.
I’ve never been good with saying I’m sorry.
The guys who stuck around to help film my story come running over, all of them talking at once. The girls jog over too, including Josie, who’s calling my name.
I ignore all of them, stalking off and heading for the parking lot, not looking back once. I feel like a shit. I hit my friend for no reason. I’m pissed, and I needed to take my aggression out on someone.
Too bad it turned out to be Brenden’s face.
Thirty-Three
Ava
I’m sitting in my bedroom at home, listening to Eli’s voicemail message yet again.
You didn’t answer. That sucks. I know I shouldn’t be mad about you getting that nomination, but Ava, it feels like instead of us getting closer, we’re growing further apart. And I hate that. I hate more that I had to hear about the nominations from someone else. I wish I could’ve heard it from you first. Maybe you were too busy talking about it with your friends. The cheer team. Your fuckin’ brother. I don’t know. Just—I’ll call you later. I guess.
I guess. That’s how he ended the message.
Jerk.
I refuse to call him back. Or text him. Snap him. Whatever. He doesn’t deserve me approaching him first. He’s the one who said all those shitty things. He’s the one who decided to crap all over my supposedly amazing, exciting day.
It’s been a stressful day from hell. My nomination not only made Eli mad, but it also upset Lindsey too. I’m not here to steal her ex-boyfriend from her. Wyatt is sweet, but he’s not the boy for me.
And the only boy for me is currently being a complete ass, so I can’t talk to him.
Life can really be unfair sometimes.
It’s already nine o’clock, and usually by now, Eli and I have been texting via Snap for well over an hour. I miss him. So much, my heart aches. I watched the story he posted on Instagram, and it frustrated me. He said such inciteful stuff, including all those rumors about Diego and Cami. I wonder if it’s true.
Huh. I know exactly who to talk to and find out.
Storming out of my bedroom, I go to Jake’s room and knock on the door, barging right in before he can say a word. Jake’s standing in front of the mirror that hangs above his dresser, running his fingers through his dark, damp hair. He smells fresh and clean and he’s wearing different clothes than what I saw him in earlier.
Huh.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“What do you want?
” he returns, sending me some major side-eye.
I close his bedroom door and lean against it, watching him. “What’s up with the Diego/Cami rumor?”
Sighing, Jake shakes his head as he turns to face me. “It’s true.”
My mouth drops open. “Really?”
He nods. “I guess they’ve been messing around for a while.”
“What about Jocelyn?”
“I don’t know. I hear she knows about them and chooses to ignore it. I’ve also heard she’s completely in the dark and doesn’t have a clue,” Jake explains.
“How awful,” I say sadly. I would die if I found out Eli was cheating on me.
He could be. Easily. I can’t keep tabs on him all the time, especially since we go to different schools. It’s hard to know who he’s hanging out with throughout the day, and I’m sure girls chase after him all the time. I mean…
Look at him.
“Where’d you hear about it?” Jake asks.
“Um, Eli Bennett.” I trip over his name like an idiot. Clearing my throat, I continue, “His story he posted earlier.”
“Yeah. That asshole. He’s trying so hard to fuck with our heads,” Jake mutters, his expression grim.
“Don’t let him,” I say, my irritation for Eli coming out. “He’s just trying to provoke you.”
“It’s working,” Jake says.
I desperately need to change the subject.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
He stands up straighter, putting his innocent face on. “Nowhere.”
“Come on.” I cross my arms.
Jake sags a little. “I’m going to Hannah’s.”
“Oooh Hannah,” I tease.
“Shut up,” he says as he approaches the door, not so gently shoving me aside so he can open it. “Congrats on the nomination.”
“Right back at you,” I singsong.
“Yeah. Can’t wait.” He rolls his eyes.
I follow Jake down the hall, toward for my room while he heads for the staircase. “I don’t think you’ll win,” I tease him.
“Yeah well, I don’t think you’ll win either,” he says, socking me in the arm as he passes me by. “See ya.”
Addicted To Him Page 27