by E. L. Todd
“How are your classes going?” he asked.
“They’re good,” I said vaguely. “But not very interesting. I’m not sure how Skye is so passionate about it.”
“She wants to make money,” he blurted. “Some people are wired that way.”
“I guess I’m not. I know I would be happy as long as I had a roof over my head, good friends, and health insurance. A little extra money for clothes would be nice too.”
He studied my face. “You’re a really cool chick. Most girls are materialistic and superficial. You aren’t.”
I didn’t know how to respond so I didn’t.
“Wow, what are the odds?”
Scott and I both turned our heads.
Slade stood at our table, looking excited to see us. “I was just getting some food and so are you.”
I had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well.
“I’ll just join you.” Slade slid into my side of the booth and cornered me against the wall. “So, what are you guys getting?” He picked up the menu and looked at it. He acted like this incredibly awkward situation was totally normal. “Hmm…the avocado burger looks good.”
Scott eyed me with a raised eyebrow then turned back to Slade. “Hey, man. What’s going on?”
“Just needed to get some grub. After a while, Top Ramen starts to make me sick.”
I wanted to cover my face and disappear.
“Well, Trinity and I are on a—”
“I heard the rowing team is heading to the play-offs,” Slade interrupted.
Scotty dropped his earlier sentence. “Yeah. If we win this, we’re the champions of the division.”
“Cool,” Slade said. Then he talked to him about every aspect of the sport, cutting Scott off from me and hijacking the entire date. Scott didn’t seem to think it was odd and answered every one of Slade’s questions.
I was relieved the date had been halted, but I was also embarrassed. I couldn’t believe Slade came all the way down here just to make sure Scott didn’t touch me or make a move.
The waitress came over and took our orders. When Slade ordered, Scott seemed to remember he shouldn’t be there. “Trinity and I are actually spending the evening—”
“I’ll take the avocado burger,” Slade said to the waitress. “But no pickles. I hate pickles.”
Scott sighed in annoyance.
“I’ll have the same,” I said.
Then Scott ordered his food, his mood dark.
When the waitress walked away, Slade took the offensive. “What classes are you taking?”
Scott seemed to forget his annoyance again and launched into a story about his academic career.
I rested my chin on my hand and tried not to fall asleep. It seemed like Slade and Scott were on a date and I was just a spectator. When the food arrived, I took small bites then pulled out my phone, trying to entertain myself while Slade asked him every question imaginable.
“Tell me about your childhood,” Slade said while he ate.
“My childhood?” Scott asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah. Where did you grow up? Do you have any siblings? Start from the beginning. Tell me your earliest memory.”
I covered my face as my cheeks reddened. Slade was doing everything he could to distract Scotty from me. And ironically, it was actually working.
“Well, I remember having this toy plane…” Scotty’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
“Awesome. What else?”
“Uh…” Scott recounted every aspect of his childhood until the check arrived.
This was the oddest date I’d ever been on in my life.
Slade put cash for both of us in the tab then realized his mistake and took some of the cash back. Scott paid for both of us.
Slade turned to me. “Can you come by and tutor me in math? I have an exam tomorrow and I’ll pay you.”
He didn’t have a math class. And he knew I sucked at math. “Uh…”
“Well, we were going to go bowling…” Scott’s annoyance returned.
“Come on, Trin. I really need you.” Slade wouldn’t budge.
Scott sighed. “I guess we can go out another time…”
“Sounds like a plan.” Slade stood up then looked at me. “Let’s go.”
Slade was unbelievable. “Be at my house in five minutes.”
Slade eyed Scott and me, clearly not thrilled about leaving us alone together. “You better not make me wait.” Then he left the restaurant.
I turned back to Scotty. “Well, thanks for dinner…”
Scott stared at the last place Slade had been. “I was just wondering…is Slade…you know…gay?”
What?
“It just seemed like he was really into me.”
When I replayed their conversation in my mind, I understood how Scotty came to that conclusion. “Uh…not that I know of. But maybe.” How else would I explain his behavior?
He nodded. “I have a friend who’s gay. Maybe I can set something up.”
I tried not to laugh. “I could ask him…”
Scotty walked me out of the restaurant and to his car. Then he drove me back to my house. When we pulled up to the sidewalk, Slade’s car was in the driveway. He must have hauled ass to get here so fast. He stood on the porch while he stared at us. He had a key to my place but he obviously wanted to make Scott as uncomfortable as possible so he wouldn’t try to kiss me.
We left the car then stopped halfway on the lawn.
“Well, I had a good time…for the most part.” Scott gave me a slight smile. “I’d like to go out again.”
Okay…how would I get out of this?
“Hurry, Trinity,” Slade called from the porch. “I don’t have all day.”
I rolled my eyes.
“He’s bossy, isn’t he?” He said it with a smile, but it was obvious he was irritated.
“He can get that way sometimes…”
“So…how about we go bowling next weekend?” he pressed.
“Uh…I’ll call you.” That was low but I couldn’t think of anything else.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you then.” He moved in like he was going to kiss me.
“I don’t have all day,” Slade barked.
Scott halted then sighed. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye,” I said.
Scott got into his car then drove away.
I walked to the front door and looked at Slade. “What the hell was that?”
“You’re welcome,” he snapped.
“I could have handled him.”
“Well, I did the dirty work for you.”
“You know he thinks you’re gay, right?”
His eyes snapped wide open. “What?”
I nodded. “He thinks you’re into him.”
Slade growled in annoyance. “Whatever. As long as he leaves you alone, I don’t care what he thinks.”
“And he wants to set you up with his friend.” I tried not to laugh at the look of horror on his face.
“How could he possibly think I’m gay? Everyone knows how many girls I’ve tapped.”
“Well…you were definitely interested in him over dinner.”
He used his key to walk inside. “Whatever.”
“You know, if you want to be with him, I won’t hold you back…”
He turned around and gave me a glare. “You’re playing with fire right now.”
“I like the warmth,” I challenged.
“You want me to prove I’m not gay?” he snapped. “Because I’ll prove it.”
“You want me to turn on some gay porn first?”
He grabbed me then pushed me against the wall. At the speed of light, he got his clothes off then stripped me down. He grabbed my ass then lifted me, my back pressed into the wall. Then he was inside me, hard and long.
“Now do you think I’m gay?” He looked into my eyes while he thrust hard.
I couldn’t speak because he felt so good. Instead, I just shook my head.
“
That’s what I thought.”
60
Roland
I hadn’t stopped thinking about my incident with Jasmine, even when months had passed. Hurting Cayson was something I regretted, but I felt worse for my behavior toward her. As much as I told myself I was trying to be the good guy, I knew I wasn’t. I’d used her and made her feel worse, even if she refused to admit it.
Like a stalker, I went to the bar where she worked. Sitting in the corner alone, I waited for her to make her appearance. Girls at a nearby table eyed me, cute girls, but I reminded myself why I was here.
An hour later, she walked in, her hair slightly curled around her shoulders. Shiny lip gloss adorned her lips and heavy eye shadow was on her face. Her tight top outlined her curves, and every guy turned their head to acknowledge her obvious beauty.
She got to work then headed to my table. When she was almost to me, her eyes flashed in recognition. Then they changed to a look of annoyance. She sighed then pulled out her tab. “Drinking alone? I guess you do that a lot, huh?”
Yeah, she hated me.
“When I’m depressed.”
She didn’t ask what was on my mind. “What do you want to drink? I have other tables.”
“Whatever you have on tap.”
“Okay.” She turned around.
“Jasmine, wait.”
She turned around, annoyance etched into every feature of her face. “What?”
“Can we talk when you get off?”
“What do you want to talk about? I haven’t seen you in months. Dude, I’m over it. Let it go.”
“Please,” I pressed. “Just give me a few minutes of your time.”
“Fine, whatever.” She walked away and waited on the other tables. When she brought my beer, she hardly looked at me. I watched the game on the TV in the corner while the hours flew by. When her shift ended, she took off her apron then sat down at my table.
She stared at me, waiting for me to speak. “What?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened…”
She rolled her eyes.
“I told Cayson what happened, and he was really, really pissed.”
That caught her attention. “He was?” Surprise was in her voice.
“Yeah. He was mad I broke a guy code, and he was also mad I took advantage of you. Actually, he said he never wanted to speak to me again. Fortunately, Skye seemed to talk him down because he changed his mind.”
“I’m surprised he cared…and I’m surprised you told him.”
“He’s one of my closest friends. I had to tell him. Besides, he would have found out some other way, and that would have been worse.”
She rested her chin in her hand then pondered my words. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”
“No…” I felt the wrapper of my beer. “I wanted to apologize again.”
She sighed. “We were both consenting adults. You didn’t do anything wrong, Roland. If I didn’t want it, I would have kicked you out.”
“But I knew you only did it because you were depressed over Cayson.”
She shrugged. “Everyone grieves in different ways. But we both know if I were a guy, my actions wouldn’t be questioned at all. But since I’m a woman, it’s a cry for help.” She shook her head. “It’s really annoying. I have a thick skin and I’m a strong person. I’m used to people treating me like crap, so I don’t blink an eye when it happens.”
“But that’s the issue. You don’t deserve to be treated like that, so you shouldn’t accept it. Jasmine, the moment you walked in here, every guy’s eyes were glued to you. You’re smart, funny, and really cool.”
“Be that as it may…”
“I just think you deserve more than what you accept.”
“That’s my prerogative,” she said dismissively. “Now, if this conversation is over, I have other things to do.”
“It’s not.”
She tried to hide her annoyance. “What else did you want to discuss? My bad childhood? That I should just get over Cayson already? That my life is a series of bad decisions? I think I’ll pass…”
“Actually, I wanted to ask you out on a date.”
She stilled at my declaration. “What?”
“I want to make up for what I did. So, let me take you on a date—a real one.”
She looked at me like I was crazy. “Roland, I’m not interested in pursuing a relationship with you. No offense, but you just aren’t my type.”
“I’m not looking for a relationship either. I just wanted to erase that night and replace it with an evening you deserved.”
She studied my face for a while. “I’m fine, really. You don’t need to make up for anything.”
I stared out the window. “I just don’t want to be that guy…who used my friend’s ex. It makes me hate myself.”
“So, this is to absolve your guilt?” she asked. “And it has nothing to do with me?”
“I guess. But I hope I can show you how you deserve to be treated. And I really do care about you. If I didn’t, my guilt wouldn’t have eaten me alive. I consider you to be a friend, even if you don’t feel the same way.”
For the first time, her eyes softened in emotion. “Of course I see you as a friend.”
“Then let’s go out and have a good time.”
She smiled. “Okay, fine. I guess it could be fun.”
“It will be fun.” I winked at her. “I know how to show a gal a good time.”
“I think you already did,” she said with a laugh.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Cayson, wait up.” I spotted him down the hallway.
He stopped and turned around. “What’s up?” He had his bag over one shoulder.
I caught up to him. “You got a minute?”
“I’m walking to Sever Hall, so it’ll take me a while to get there.”
“Okay.” I walked beside him with my hands in my pockets. “I wanted to ask you something and please don’t blow up at me.”
Cayson eyed me, suspicion coming into his eyes. “Don’t give me a reason to and I won’t.”
“I was wondering if I could take Jasmine out on a date.”
Cayson halted in his tracks. “Is this a joke?”
“Let me finish,” I said quickly. “I feel horrible for what I did to her, so I wanted to make up for it by taking her to dinner and a movie. You know, showing her the respect I should have given her to begin with. I’m not looking for a relationship or something from her at the end of the night. I just thought it would be a nice way to make her feel better, to make her feel like someone cares…” I studied his face, hoping he wouldn’t scream at me.
The fury ebbed away. “So, you’re taking her out as a friend?”
“Yeah, exactly. I know she could use a friend. It seems like she’s alone—like, all the time.”
"She moved here a few years ago so she doesn’t have many friends.”
“I picked up on that…”
“What makes you think she would even agree to this?”
I shifted my weight and tried to stay out of range of an upcoming punch. “I asked her.”
“And she said yes?” he asked incredulously.
“Well, she said no at first because she said she doesn’t see me in a romantic way. But when I said we would just be hanging out as friends, she agreed.”
Cayson nodded slowly. “I don’t see the harm in that.”
Well, that went over well. “Okay. Cool.”
Cayson studied me for a while. “I guess I misjudged you. When you apologized to me, I thought you just hated screwing up our relationship. But I guess you do care about her.”
I shrugged. “I sleep around and have one-night stands a lot, and I’ve never cared, but for some reason I felt terrible doing it to her. I guess because she’s depressed over you and I was aware of that but did it anyway.”
He nodded. “There’s one thing you should consider before you do this…”
“What?” I asked.
“I’m not sure how Skye would feel knowing you’re spending time with my ex. It’s a little weird…”
“Oh, well, I don’t care what she thinks.”
“It’s still a betrayal. Skye will never admit it, but I know she dislikes Jasmine. But I guess I can’t blame her. I hate every boyfriend she’s ever had. Every time I saw her touch them, I wanted to rip their faces off.”
“She’ll get over it.” I shifted my weight again. “So, we’re cool?”
“Yeah.” I shook his hand. “Show her a good time.”
“I will. I think I’ll take her go-carting.”
Cayson chuckled. “She’d probably like that, actually.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty cool. Sometimes I don’t understand why you left her for my sister, who’s annoying and ugly.”
He smirked. “Well, Jasmine and I could have been great together. I had a lot of fun with her. But Skye is my soul mate. No one will ever compare to her. That’s just reality.”
“Your soul mate?” I asked incredulously. “What is this? A Nicholas Sparks book?”
He laughed. “When you find the right girl, you’ll know what I mean.”
“That’s never going to happen. If I settle down with a wife, I’m sure I’ll love her, but I’ll never claim she was made just to love me.”
He clapped my shoulder before he walked away. “Let’s revisit this conversation once that happens.”
When Jasmine opened the door, I held out a bouquet of red roses.
She stared at them and a smile spread on her lips. “They’re beautiful.”
“Just like you.”
She took them from my hands then walked inside her apartment. After finding a vase and filling it with water, she set it on her coffee table. “They really lighten up the room.”
“And they smell good.”
She chuckled. “That too.” She wore jeans with boots and a blouse. Her hair was silky and shiny, and her makeup made her eyes glow.
“You look nice.” I was wearing jeans and a dark t-shirt.
“You do too.”
I headed back to the door. “Shall we?”
“Sure. I’m starving.”
“That makes two of us.”
When we got to my car, I opened the passenger door for her. Surprise moved into Jasmine’s eyes, but she didn’t voice it.