“I have a feeling things are about to become exclusive though,” Jessie added. I nodded my head in understanding. A few people called out greetings to Jessie and Layla once we finally stepped into the large frat house. They smiled and waved back as we headed toward the back of the house where apparently a surplus amount of alcohol was waiting.
A jocky looking guy smiled as he passed out cup after cup to the people standing around him. He noticed the three of us step forward and his smile widened. His eyes landed on me and stayed there causing a warm blush to rise to my cheeks.
“What’s it gonna be beautiful?” He asked in a deep southern accent that brought an immediate smile to my face.
“We’ll take three beers,” Layla said, leading things. I was happy she took over. I had no idea what to say and with the way the guy kept staring at me, I wasn’t sure I would even be able to speak at all. He filled up each glass and handed them over, and I wasn’t sure if the way his fingers lingered against mine was intentional or just coincidence.
“What’s your name?” He asked. I looked toward Jessie and Layla-what for, I’m not sure exactly- but they were both smiling wide and giving me nods of approval. I turned back to the handsome guy.
“Lennon,” I said.
“As in John?” He asked with a little quirk of his brow. It was a question I was familiar with. One that someone inevitably always asked when they first learned my name. I was slightly disappointed this handsome stranger didn’t have some bit of originality to him.
“Yeah, my parents were big fans.” He nodded his head.
“I guess I don’t have any room to talk, My parents named me after a cowboy hat.” I raised my brows in confusion and he smiled again. He did have a very nice smile. No dimple though. “I’m Stetson.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Stetson and I spent the rest of the night getting to know each other. I found out he was a year ahead of me. He was majoring in Criminal Justice and was hopeful to get into the law enforcement field once he graduated. We found out that we were both small town kids trying to make it in the big city. He was from a small town nearby and lived on a ranch, which is where his parents’ affinity for his namesake first originated.
It was easy with him. I didn’t have to pretend to have a good time because he made it so easy to do just that. He was funny and actually seemed to be genuinely interested in what I had to say.
So, when he asked for my number at the end of the night, I didn’t hesitate. After all, I couldn’t pine after West forever, and he had made it clear that what had happened with us was over.
Twenty-Two
A couple of days after I met Stetson at the party, he called me for the first time. I can still remember how nervous he sounded when he asked if I would be interested in going out on a date with him. I hesitated because there was still that part of me that was hung up on West, but in the spirit of trying to move forward with my life, I finally accepted.
Our first date was the following Friday. He showed up right at seven with a lovely bouquet of flowers. Then he took my hand in his and led me out to his little two door Honda. He was a gentleman, and made sure to open the doors for me. I couldn’t help but think of West each time he did.
We ended up going to this nice restaurant in the middle of downtown that I’d heard nothing but incredible things about. The prices were enough to make me wince, but Stetson assured me I could order anything on the menu that caught my eye, and it would be taken care of.
We spent most of the meal just getting to know each other a little more than we had the previous weekend. I found out he came from a large family. He was the middle in a family of seven, and his two older brothers had both been firefighters. So, clearly dangerous jobs ran in the family. He had an older sister that was working through law school, and I’ll admit I was a little intimidated that they all seemed to know exactly where they were going in life. Even Stetson knew exactly what he wanted.
He told me it hadn’t always been that way for him though. He admitted to struggling some in high school. He had apparently made friends with part of the wrong crowd and had actually gotten caught smoking. He said the officer that found him, pulled him to the side and gave him a bit of a wakeup call. From that moment on, Stetson knew he wanted to have the chance to help someone else struggling one day so he decided to go into law enforcement as well.
After dinner, we went for a long walk around town just looking at various shops and things. At one point, he finally seemed to work up the courage to hold my hand. I smiled as he did and he grinned sheepishly back at me. It was adorable how nervous he was around me.
All in all, I had a wonderful time with him, and I was happy that West had only popped into my head a few times throughout the evening. Maybe, I really was on the right track to getting on with things.
At the end of the evening, Stetson walked me up to my front door. As we stood there under the light, I could tell that he wanted to kiss me. He began to lean in, and I froze.
His lips met mine quickly and West was no longer the only guy I’d ever kissed. It wasn’t a bad kiss. It was obvious that Stetson had kissed a few other girls before me since he seemed to know just what to do to make it enjoyable. He cupped my cheek in his hand as he moved his head toward the side. It was nice. There were no fireworks or anything even remotely close.
My first kiss with West had been magical, and every one after had been much of the same. They had felt like everything in life was clicking into place just as it should be. I hadn’t wanted our kisses to ever end. With Stetson, I counted the seconds before he started to pull away. I attributed it to just being something I wasn’t used to. I was sure that after just a little more time, I would come to love his kisses too.
When he pulled back completely, he was smiling at me. “I’d really like to see you again,” he said. “Can I?” I smiled as I nodded my head.
“Sure, I would like that.”
“Great, I have plans this weekend, but can I call you after?”
“Yeah, that would be okay.”
“I had a great time with you tonight, Lennon. Thanks for coming out with me.”
“Thank you for taking me.” He smiled one last time before his lips pressed against mine again. It was just a peck, and he was still grinning as he turned and headed back to his car. I watched as he pulled away from the curb and drove down the street. Then I stepped inside where three girls were all obviously waiting on me.
“Well, how was it?” Layla asked excitedly.
“It was nice. I had fun.” She frowned.
“Nice? That’s it?” I sat my purse down before walking over to them.
“What should it have been?” Jessie shrugged her shoulders.
“Maybe a little more. This was your first date, and Stetson is kind of a hottie.”
“We had a nice time. He’s really nice.” They all winced at my choice of words and my brows rose in question. “What?”
“You’re not into him,” Layla said matter-of-factly. “You can see it all over your face, and you keep saying nice.”
“He was nice.”
“That might be, but that doesn’t change the fact that you don’t want to see him again.”
“Yes, I do. In fact, I already agreed to a second date.” They didn’t look convinced. “Okay, so I might not be completely infatuated with him yet, but that can change. It’s only been one date.”
“Sure,” Bri said, but I could tell by her tone she was lying.
“What?” I asked. They all moved into the living room, and I followed after them.
“So, what is it? Is he like super boring then?” Jessie asked me as we all plopped down onto the couch. I looked over and shook my head.
“No, not at all. He’s actually pretty funny, and we really get along.” I wasn’t sure what they thought they saw on my face, but they were wrong. I did like Stetson. Maybe not as much as West, but that had been something brewing for a while and this was all still new. I was sure that I could eve
ntually like Stetson just as much. Or at least I hoped I could.
“Len, it’s okay. You don’t have to be into a guy just because you go on a date with him. Sometimes, the magic just isn’t there.” Her comment immediately made me think of our less than magical kiss we shared on the porch.
“Does it have to be there?” They all looked at me, and I knew I was about to have to fess up about West. Maybe it would be good to get it off my chest. Besides Mom, no one else knew about us, and it wasn’t good to keep all those emotions in. I let out a sigh before I began.
I told them everything. I told them about our first meeting, I told them about my friendship with Katie and why that was a roadblock. I told them about prom and listened while they cooed about how wonderful he was.
By the time I was done, they seemed just as baffled about our breakup as I had been. So, it was nice to know that I hadn’t apparently missed something. West really had just seemingly changed his mind about us. They weren’t buying his excuse about letting me live the college experience. In fact, Bri was downright convinced he had broken things off for the sole purpose of dating someone new. That thought hurt me more than I cared to admit.
I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of him seeing other girls, but considering I had just gone on a date with a new guy, it made sense that he would.
“Do you really think he wanted to see other people?” I asked sadly. Jessie pulled me into a hug.
“I’m sorry Len.” My throat ached and I felt like I was seconds away from crying. So, I excused myself and disappeared into my bedroom. Then I got on social media and did something I had avoided since leaving Leering. I looked West up. His name pulled up in several articles about his various football games, and not surprisingly he was doing phenomenal. There were a few people that tagged him in photos here and there, but he hadn’t actually posted anything in a while. The last thing from him was dated just before the beginning of the school year. It was just a post about football practice taking a lot out of him. I saw some girl commented that she could help him out if he needed it, and I immediately closed out of his page.
I didn’t feel like torturing myself further. So, I shut down my computer, changed into some pj’s and climbed into bed. I lay there for at least an hour rethinking our breakup. The longer I thought about it, the more Bri’s logic made sense. Maybe he had wanted to start seeing other people, and he just didn’t want to hurt me further by admitting it.
I cried myself to sleep that night.
Twenty-Three
Despite what the girls had said about my feelings in regards to Stetson, I really was starting to care about him. We had hung out just about every weekend since our first date, and each one was a blast. He was quickly becoming someone that I wanted around all the time. Unfortunately, that was as far as it seemed to be going. I still didn’t feel the butterflies when we kissed, but I convinced myself it was just going to take time.
A couple of weeks after our first date, he asked me to officially be his girlfriend and I agreed quickly. After that, we became inseparable. He was at the house so often; the girls had started making jokes about him splitting rent.
They hadn’t said anything else about me not liking him, and since that first night, we also hadn’t brought up West. I wished that were enough to keep thoughts of him at bay, but it wasn’t. I found myself still occasionally checking up on him. He had posted a few more times, but still nothing all that informative. Mostly just little comments about class or football.
The only thing that let me know he was even enjoying life was the pictures his teammates would post. It was clear in every one of them that he still lived for playing football, and based on the articles that popped up, he was still excelling at it. I couldn’t deny that I was proud of him. Our breakup didn’t change the fact that I still wanted good things for him.
Towards the beginning of December, West was gearing up for the end of the season and I was watching every single game. I was in the middle of watching his last game before the playoffs when Stetson showed up. He took a seat on the couch next to me and stared at the screen.
“Why are you always watching Houston?” He asked. I didn’t really give him an answer though because I was too focused on watching West run across the field for a touchdown. When he scored, I happily jumped up and down cheering like crazy. He did it. They made it to the playoffs.
I was still on a high when I noticed West come up on the screen. One of the reporters was talking to him. My smile slipped away as I slowly lowered myself back down onto the couch and stared at the guy that I was still just as infatuated with as I had been four and a half months ago. I turned the TV up and listened to him describe that it was a team effort that got them into the playoffs even though anyone that had been watching knew it was due in large part to West.
“I’m sure there’s a big celebration in store tonight,” the reporter said and West flashed that wonderful dimpled grin. My breath caught at the sight.
“Uh, I’m sure some of the guys will be out tonight.”
“Not you?” West ran a hand through his wet hair causing it to stick up slightly.
“Not really my thing.”
“Oh,” the reporter said cheekily. “Spending time with a special someone instead?” I scooted to the edge of the couch while I waited to hear what he might say.
“Unfortunately, no.” The reporter made a sound that made it a little obvious she was eager to solve that problem. It made me cringe because she had to be at least ten years older than him and she was on TV.
“Careful what you say or you might just have a line of girls waiting for you outside.” West laughed at her suggestion. Then he looked directly into the camera and I swore it was like he knew I was watching. He gave me that dimpled grin that I’d seen firsthand so many times. He didn’t respond to her comment, and she changed the subject back to his amazing last run. After a few more seconds, he thanked her and trotted off.
I relaxed back into the couch and that’s when I remembered Stetson sitting next to me. I turned to face him and he was watching me with interest. “What was that?” He asked.
“What?”
“You were hanging onto every word that guy said.” I wasn’t sure how to respond, but then he smiled. “It’s making me a little jealous.” I gave a nervous laugh before he pulled me into his side. Then he grabbed the remote and flicked through the channels before landing on a movie. I settled into him, but my mind was elsewhere. All I could think about was West.
He had looked so good even all sweaty and dirty, and my dumb heart had reacted to him like no time had passed at all. I felt guilty for my thoughts immediately since Stetson had his arm wrapped around me. He kissed my temple, and I did my best to push all thoughts of West away and focus on my boyfriend instead.
That night, I was lying in bed staring up at my ceiling when my curiosity got the better of me once more. I slid out from under my covers and I made my way to my computer. I started to type West’s name into the search bar and it auto filled in the rest for me. I looked through all the latest photos of him that showcased a ton of smiling guys all holding up their pointer fingers. West looked happy in all of them, and it brought an involuntary smile to my face.
Before I could stop myself, I reached for my phone and pulled up his number. I unblocked him and typed out a message. Then I erased it, only to write a second directly after. I did this a few times before finally setting my phone back down on the desk. Chances were, he wouldn’t want to hear from me anyway. Just as I was about to sign out, the message box lit up indicating I had one new message. I clicked on it figuring it was Katie asking me again when I was planning on driving up. We were supposed to drive home together for Christmas break in another couple of weeks.
It wasn’t from Katie though.
West: Len?
I stared at that one little message for what felt like ten minutes before I made the brash decision to send something back.
Me: Hi.
West: Is it r
eally you?
Me: Who else would it be?
West: You never really know with the internet these days. I’ve actually had a couple of girls pretend to be Katie on here in the hopes I would talk to them.
Me: Price of being the great Weston Blake, I guess.
West: Yeah, I guess.
Me: Congrats on your win. That last run was amazing!
West: You were watching!?!
Me: Why so surprised?
West: Well, I just figured since you hadn’t spoke to me at all since that night that you didn’t want anything to do with me anymore.
I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. He had a point. I shouldn’t have been talking to him. I wasn’t sure how Stetson would feel about that. I was about to tell him I had to go when another message popped up.
West: I miss you.
That made me mad. I typed back the first thing that came to mind.
Me: You wouldn’t have to if you hadn’t broken up with me.
West: So, you’re still mad at me?
Me: Did you think I wouldn’t be?
West: I hoped maybe you wouldn’t. I hoped that you understood.
Me: Well, I don’t. None of it makes sense to me. We were happy West. Or was I just imagining that?
West: No, we were happy. I told you it had nothing to do with that.
Me: Then why break up with me?
Then Bri’s words come to mind.
Me: Did you want to date other people?
West: What? No. Why would you think that?
Me: Because it made sense. You breaking my heart just so I could have the college experience didn’t.
West: Len, I promise you there were no other girls. There still aren’t.
Me: I wish I could believe that.
West: Len, come on. Can I call you? Please.
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