Player (What Happens on Campus Book 1)

by M L Sparrow

  Not the answer he’d been expecting.

  “Err, okay?” he frowned, turning his eyes back to the road. Jet leant forward between the seats and put the CD player on – Parker was too distracted to take advantage of his driving privileges and choose the music, so they got stuck with the whiny sound of the blues again.

  They drove for just over an hour before someone tapped his shoulder and he turned his head to find Riley’s face uncomfortably close to his. “We need to stop at the next gas-station; I need to pee.”

  “Me, too,” Chloe put in, shifting in her seat.

  “And me,” Terri added.

  “We’ve only just left,” Parker protested.

  “When you gotta go, you gotta go,” Chloe shrugged.

  “Yeah, I kind have to go to,” Jet said, “I was just waiting for one of the girls to say it first.” That got him a punch on the arm from Terri and a glare from the other two.

  “Fine,” he grumbled.

  Pulling into the gas-station twenty minutes later, he decided he may as well top up the tank while the others made a mad dash to the toilets around back. Making sure the keys were in his pocket, he headed inside to pay. There were a couple of people ahead of him, so he walked through the food isles, grabbing several large pack of chips, beef jerky and a handful of chocolate bars for the journey. He was sure they’d have to make another bathroom break in a few hours, so there would be plenty more opportunities to stock up.

  At the counter, he set everything down and pulled his wallet out of his jeans pocket, wondering if he had enough to pay with cash. The bell over the door rang and he glanced around automatically to find Chloe coming inside.

  She smiled at him as she came over, but there was an edge to it. Scanning the junk food on the counter, she said, “I’ll just grab some water.”

  “Sugar, if you stopped toppin’ off the tank maybe you girls wouldn’t need to piss every five minutes.”

  “We can’t not drink all the way back to campus,” she snapped, “it’s bad for you.”

  He watched her walk over to the fridges at the back of the store, her flip-flops slapping against the floor. Now she really was pissed; why couldn’t he just keep his big mouth shut?

  When she came back, juggling five bottle of water, he helped her unload them onto the counter so that the guy could scan them and she grabbed her purse out of the handbag she wore slung over one shoulder.

  “I got this,” he said.

  “We’ll go halves,” she argued, “the others can pay at the next stop.”

  “Chlo, it’s fine…”

  Without another word, she handed the money directly to the man behind the counter. The guy glanced at him, then shrugged and held out his hand for the rest, which Parker slapped into his palm with a scowl.

  She always did this. Whenever they went for dinner, or the cinema, she insisted on paying halves. He was the guy; he was supposed to pay.

  Gritting his teeth, he gathered the bags of food and went to dump them in the car, Chloe following behind him. Leaning against the hood, she waited for him to join her, arms crossed under her breasts, which did nothing but push them up so that he got a nice eyeful.

  Grabbing his cap off the dash, he jammed it onto his head and went to stand beside her, crossing his own arms as he asked, “What’s up?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Oh, yeah? What was the brush of earlier for?”

  Sighing, she leant her head back, closing her eyes as the sun lit up her face. For a minute or two, she was quiet, just standing there, and he thought she wouldn’t answer, but then she turned her head and squinted up at him. Pulling off his cap, he fitted it onto her head.

  “I don’t want you to feel like you have to take me home for Christmas. I’ll be fine staying on campus, it’ll give me some time to study.”

  He scowled, “I don’t want you to be lonely.”

  Smiling softly, she shook her head. “I know, but you don’t want me to come with you either, I can tell.”

  “It’s not that.” Stepping back, he lifted a hand to drag through his hair, pulling at it in frustration. “My family are a fucking nightmare and I just don’t wanna drag you into it.”

  “What, you don’t think I could hold my own?”

  Surprised, he glanced down at her, realized she was joking and grinned. “I’m sure you could kick their asses, sugar,” he assured her, “but you shouldn’t have to.”

  “I know we haven’t really been dating that long, but if you think we have a future together, then I’m going to meet your family eventually.”

  Panic shot through him and he grabbed her arm, giving her a little shake. “We have a future, Chloe. I’m not giving you up.”

  “Good, ‘cos I’m not giving you up either.” Pressing in close, she kissed his lips, quick and sweet, and his pounding heart began to calm. “Anyway, you’ve met my parents.”

  “Your parents aren’t fuckin’ nuts,” he muttered, grabbing the back of her neck and pulling her back when she tried to move away.

  He’d spoken to her parents a couple of times over Skype and they seemed cool. They were both quiet, without a lot to say, and sad wrinkles lining their faces. It must be hard having their only remaining child living halfway across the world, too far away for them to protect her. He wondered if they were happy that she had him, or if it made them worry more. If it were his daughter, he’d probably have been on a plane the moment he found out they were dating.

  “Guess I better tell my mom there’ll be one extra for Christmas dinner.”

  “Yep,” she squeezed his arm, “you better.”

  They got back to campus late afternoon the next day, amid a rush of other students all returning after the long weekend.

  Once back in his room, having left Chloe alone to unpack, Parker collapsed onto his bed with his arms beneath his head. It felt good to be home. He’d been living on campus for three years now and this place felt more like home than the trailer he’d grown up in.

  Damn, but he was not looking forward to going back, especially now that Chloe was coming too, but it was done and he couldn’t take it back.

  Despite his reluctance, Christmas came around all too soon and before he knew it they were packing up Jet’s car once more. Since he was flying to New York, Jet was letting them borrow his car to drive through Louisiana and Mississippi to Alabama. In exchange, Parker was driving him to the airport now, whilst Chloe finished packing.

  When he returned, he headed towards the library where he’d squeezed in an extra tutoring session with Payton before they headed off. When Chloe had told him the girl had agreed to tutor and he’d met her, he hadn’t really known what to make of her, but he’d needed all the help he could get and she charged next to nothing, so he’d gone with it. Now, he found he quite liked the small, quiet blonde; she was smart and patient, but crippled by shyness. He bet she’d been bullied at school; she was an easy target. Apparently, she’d skipped several grades and was actually only sixteen. Weirdly, that made him feel kind of protective of her, in a way he didn’t even feel with Chloe, almost like a big brother.

  She was just going over the questions he hadn’t been able to answer in last weeks’ test, patient as always, even when he asked her to go over it for the third time, when someone stopped in front of their desk. Looking up, he found Dawson standing there, staring down at the top of Payton’s head, which was bent over the textbook they were working from.

  “Hi, Dawson,” he gestured towards Payton with a tilt of his head, “this is my tutor, Payton.”

  “We’ve met,” Dawson said, not even bothering to glance his way. It would have been funny, except Parker knew that look and Payton was definitely not his speed. “Payton, I didn’t realize you tutored?” She glanced up at him briefly, cheeks red, and nodded. “I could use a tutor too, if you’ve got some free time.” He flashed her that smile that usually had girls dropping their panties at his feet, but her eyes were once more fixed on their work and Parker glared at his friend.<
br />
  Standing up, he said, “Just give me a sec,” before grabbing Dawson’s arm and pulling him away. When they were far enough not to be overheard, he bit out, “What the hell are you doin’?”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Dawson answered indignantly, yanking his arm back. “I was just talking to her.”

  “You don’t need math tutorin’,” Parker stated firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Rolling his eyes, his friend leant one shoulder casually against the bookshelf. “I know, but want to figure out why she hates me so much.”

  “What makes you think she hates you?”

  “Apparently we went to High school together and I was a dick in High school,” he answered bluntly, not seeming all to bothered about it. When he caught Parker’s look, he defended, “Everyone’s a dick in High school, but you grow up. Don’t deny it.”

  Shrugging, Parker let his arms drop to his sides, “Depends how much of a dick you were.”

  “Considering the fact she’ll barely look at me, I think it was bad.”

  Parker thought he was exaggerating; Payton was like that with everyone. When they’d first started their lessons together, he’d had to lean in close to hear her because she’d talked so quietly, and she’d hardly looked at him either. Now that she’d gotten used to him it was better.

  “Any way, what’s it got to do with you?” Dawson demanded, “You’ve got Chloe.”

  Temper flaring at the accusation in his voice, Parker scowled at him. “It’s nothin’ like that, asshole. She’s just… young. She’s not your type at all.”

  Peering around him once more, Dawson nodded slowly. “I get that, but Chloe wasn’t your type either.”

  That was fair enough. “Just don’t fuck with her.”

  “I won’t. I wouldn’t do that. Not to her.”

  Relaxing, Parker nodded. “Good.” After a second he asked, “You going home for Christmas?”

  “Yeah,” Dawson answered reluctantly, drawing his eyes away, “you?”

  “Yeah. Don’t let them talk you into anythin’.”

  “Same to you.” His friend clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll have to go for a drink after Christmas.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Great. I gotta go, I need a shower before I head off.”

  Before he left, Dawson made a point of stopping by their desk to wish Payton a merry Christmas and say goodbye, which she quietly repeated. As he left, her head lifted to watching him for a minute.

  Once they were finished, Parker headed towards Willow building, walking up the stairs instead of taking the lift because it was habit now. He didn’t bother knocking, just opened the door and walked in to find Chloe lying on the floor, half under the bed.

  “Sugar, if you really don’t wanna go, just tell me. You don’t need to hide.”

  Crawling out just enough so that she could shoot him a glare, she then ducked her head back under the bed and he sat down, watching her ass wiggling around. It was a damn good view.

  “Ah-ha!” she exclaimed a second later. “Found them.” Scrambling out, red faced and disheveled, she held up a pair of black heels for him to see.

  “You’re not going to need them,” he said.

  “You never know. I don’t want to be unprepared.”

  “Trust me, we won’t be going anywhere you’ll need to dress up. I don’t even think there’s anywhere classy in town.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “Sorry, sugar. I’ll take you out when we get back. Believe me, I’ll appreciate you dressing up more than my family would.”

  Not quite true. His brothers would fucking love it, his dad probably would too. Bloody perverts. No way was Chloe dressing up around them. He might even sneak her makeup out of her bag and leave it here, along with those body-hugging jeans he loved.

  God, he hoped his family behaved themselves this week.

  “You almost ready?” he asked.

  He wished she’d back out, but he knew she wouldn’t. She had bigger balls than he did; he couldn’t cut the ties with his family, however much he wanted to sometimes, yet she loved both her parents to bits and still had the strength to move halfway across the world.

  Scanning the room, she nodded after a moment, zipping up the duffel bag he’d lent her and picking her handbag up off the floor. “I’m good to go.”

  “Inhaler,” he said, pointing at it on the bedside table.

  “I wasn’t going to forget it,” she insisted and he smirked.

  “Whatever you say.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  She must have fallen asleep. Curled up in the front seat, with her head resting against the window, she could feel the engine running and music played softly from the speakers. Cracking open her eyes, she realized it was dark outside.

  Blinking, Chloe stretched her arms out and shifted in her seat to face Parker, but it wasn’t him in the driver’s seat. Her breath caught in her throat as Jack turned towards her. The right side of his face was caked in blood, dripping down onto his shirt, and his arm hung at a strange angle.

  His mouth opened, revealing blood stained teeth. “You killed me.”

  “No,” she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes, “it was an accident.”

  “You killed me.”

  This was a dream, she knew that, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

  “I’m sorry. The truck… it just… I didn’t see… I’m sorry.”

  His dead eyes just stared at her, unforgiving.

  Unforgiving… That wasn’t right…

  Jack had been the most forgiving person she knew.

  “If you were really Jack, you’d forgive me. But more importantly, you’d want me to forgive myself.” Sighing, suddenly very tired, she leant her head back against the window and closed her eyes. “I’m not sure if I can do it, forgive myself I mean, but I’m going to try. I know you’d want me to move on with my life. You’d be so disappointed in me for letting the past control me.”

  A gentle touch on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she stared at the man in front of her and almost sobbed. Instead of the bloody nightmare that had confronted her before, her brother now sat in the driver’s seat, fresh and clean, with a tender smile on his face.

  “I love you,” he said, calm and clear.

  She wanted to say it back, but already he was disappearing, dissolving into her memories and she was desperately trying to hang onto an image of him in her head. Within seconds he was gone and it felt like her heart was breaking all over again, but there was a strange lightness inside of her. Relief. Freedom.

  “Chloe? Wake up, sugar.” Someone was shaking her shoulder. Making a little noise of acknowledgement, she blearily opened her eyes and blinked up at Parker. “You okay?” he asked, wiping something from her cheek with his thumb. Tasting salt on her lips, she realized she’d been crying.

  “I’m okay,” she answered, her voice scratchy with sleep, as she sat up and scrubbed at her face with her palms. “It was just a dream.”

  Briefly, she considered telling him about it, but it was still too raw. She wanted to keep it to herself for a while, maybe forever.

  Parker still looked concerned, but after a second he shrugged and turned back to face the wheel. It was only then that she realized they were pulled over at the side of the road, the headlights lighting up the darkness.

  “There was a sign a while back for a motel,” he said, pulling out onto the road, “we can stop there for the night. I can’t keep my eyes open much longer.”

  “Or…” she hesitated, rubbing her hands nervously against her jeans, “I could drive.”

  Instantly, his head whipped around, fast enough to give himself whiplash. “You don’t have to.”

  “I know, but I want to.”

  Pulling back into the layby, just a few meters from where they’d just pulled out, he stared at her and she saw the battle in his eyes; on the one hand, he didn’t want to let her do anything that might hurt her and on the other, he didn’t wa
nt to say no. She prayed he’d just let her do it without asking too many questions, before she chickened out. If he talked her out of it now, who knew when she’d try again, or if she ever would.

  After a minute, he nodded, getting out of the car and crossing around to her side without another word. Scooting over into his seat, still warm from his body, she took a moment to feel the texture of the steering wheel against her palms and the pedals beneath her feet. Taking a deep breath, aware that Parker was watching her like a hawk, she eased her foot down and the car lunged forward.

  It was a jerky ride to begin with but it smoothed out as she got used to the feel of being back behind the wheel. Driving was like riding a bike, she realized, you never really forgot how to do it. Some people didn’t like driving in the dark, but Chloe found it better this way; there were less cars around for her to consider, just long stretches of open road.

  Eventually she began to relax and glanced quickly over at Parker to find that he was still watching her closely. It was actually very unnerving. Did he feel this uncomfortable when she watched him drive?

  “You can go to sleep, if you want.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “Parker, honestly, I’ve got this. I promise. Get some rest.”

  Warily, he studied her before nodding slightly and letting his body relax back into the seat. He didn’t sleep at first, but he did close his eyes and eventually his breathing evened out and his head lolled over onto his shoulder.

  Smiling, Chloe flexed her fingers on the wheel. She was actually doing this. It felt good.

  A few hours later, once he’d woken up, Parker took over driving again, which she was glad about – her nerves were shot for one day and more and more cars were now filtering onto the roads as the morning wore on.

  Finally, later that day, they passed a sign welcoming them to Rose Springs, Alabama, and Parker announced, “Here we are.”

  Despite the pretty name, Rose Springs was a rather scabby looking town. Though the main street looked all right, beyond that the houses were rundown, surrounded by wire fencing. Many of them had menacing looking dogs straining at the end of chains, barking and snarling, and people sat on the front porches, watching them drive past with unfriendly expressions.