Soaked

by Courtney Elliott

  “Sure thing, now come on. We’re only here for another few days and I haven’t gone shopping once.” She hopped off the bed and began rummaging through her closet for something to wear while I sat there wondering what to do about Stetson.

  Thirty-One

  I could hear my phone ringing loudly from the bathroom. I had just wrapped the towel around myself when it started going off and I nearly tripped trying to make it to it. I saw Katie’s name on the screen and a happy smile took over my face as I answered.

  “Hey,” I said enthusiastically.

  “Hi,” my body froze at the sound of West’s voice on the other end. I checked the screen again and saw that it was in fact Katie’s name that I had seen. I pressed the phone back up to my ear.

  “Um.”

  “Why have you been avoiding me?” He asked and I looked around the room for what I don’t know. I just needed something to get me out of the awkward situation I had just found myself in. Since I first promised Stetson that I wouldn’t see West anymore six months prior, I’d been doing good on my end of the bargain.

  I hadn’t seen him, and I’d barely spoken to him. If you can even consider three one word responses ‘talking’. I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid him forever, but I had hoped to be just a bit more prepared when that moment came.

  “Uh…” I started, but it was useless. I had nothing, and I was a horrible liar.

  “So, you have been?” West asked.

  “Yes,” I finally admitted. I took a seat in my little rolling chair while I waited for the lecture I knew was coming. I deserved it. I had gone from telling him we could be friends to basically shutting him out without any kind of explanation. It hadn’t been fair to him.

  “Why?” He didn’t sound as angry as I was expecting, and it was making this whole thing even harder.

  “It was the right thing to do,” I told him. “I have a boyfriend, and it wasn’t fair to him for me to still be hanging out with you.”

  “Did he say that or you?”

  “He said it first, but he’s not wrong.”

  “We’re just friends though.”

  “I think you and I both know that’s not exactly true.”

  “Sure it is.” I frowned, despite the fact that he couldn’t see me.

  “No, West. You and I aren’t capable of being friends. Not really.”

  “We were. For three months, we were just friends. Nothing happened.” I cocked my head to the side.

  “So you can tell me that every time we were alone together, you didn’t once think about crossing that line?” When he didn’t answer, I knew I had him. “Exactly. Stetson is my boyfriend, West. And he’s a nice guy. I don’t want to hurt him.”

  “Do you care about him?” He asked.

  “Yes.”

  “More than me?”

  “That’s not fair. You can’t ask me that.”

  “Why not? Afraid of what you’ll say.”

  “I have to go. Please respect my decision.”

  “Wait.” Despite my better judgment, I did. “I had something I wanted to ask you.”

  “Okay.”

  “Next month, Houston is playing our rival. It’s a big game, gonna be televised and everything. I was kind of hoping that maybe you would watch?” It seemed like an odd request from him, but one that I was okay with. Besides, I already had the game marked on my calendar. I wouldn’t be telling him that though.

  “Of course. I wouldn’t miss watching one of your games.”

  “I don’t mean watching on TV. I want you here.”

  “West, I don’t see how I…”

  “Please, Len. This is important to me. This game is going to be huge. It could change everything for me. I want to be able to look up and see you cheering for me in the stands. Please.” I hated the idea of telling him no.

  So, I didn’t.

  “Okay. I’ll be there.”

  “You promise?” I smiled.

  “I promise.” I heard him let out a sigh and I could practically see him grinning through the phone.

  “Okay then. Bye Lennon. I’ll see you next month.” I nodded my head as our call disconnected. I had no idea how I was going to bring this up to Stetson, but I hoped he would understand. After all, it was just one day, and it wasn’t like West and I would be alone together. There would be thousands of screaming fans there too, and I couldn’t miss this. Not when it obviously meant so much to him for me to be there.

  That night, Stetson and I went out for dinner and I decided there was no better time to mention my talk with West and his request.

  “I got a phone call from West this afternoon,” I said once I had finished off my salad. Stetson stopped mid chew and looked at me. Then he swallowed.

  “I thought you guys weren’t talking,” he said as though it had been some mutual decision that we had come to on our own.

  “We aren’t really. I actually haven’t spoke to him since March.” Stetson just kept watching me, waiting for what I was about to say next. “He actually called from Katie’s phone. That’s the only reason I even answered.” That made Stetson smirk. I couldn’t explain why that little gesture made me so uncomfortable all of a sudden.

  “Well, what did he want?”

  “He wants me to come to Houston.” Stetson’s brows rose up in surprise.

  “Hm.” That’s the only reaction I get.

  “I told him I would.” His brows furrow.

  “What?”

  “I told him I would go. He said he really needs me. He’s playing in this big game, and he just needs some support.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me, Len.” His tone was much harsher than usual. “I thought we had a deal.”

  “Well, I know you said you didn’t like me being alone with him, but I won’t be. We’ll be in a crowded stadium and I probably won’t even get to talk to him.”

  “Then why even bother going?”

  “For support. It’s a big game, and it means a lot to him that I watch him play.”

  “You can watch him from here. Why do you have to go all the way to Houston?”

  “I just do.” Stetson shook his head.

  “No.” That caused me to reel back.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “I said no. You aren’t going.”

  “That’s not really your decision to make.” I couldn’t believe he was being so unreasonable.

  “We’re not talking about this anymore, Lennon. You aren’t going.” Just like that, the idea of sitting across from him a moment longer became unthinkable. I grabbed my purse and stood up from my chair. Stetson watched my movements with irritation written all over his face.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going home, and until you can talk to me like an adult, don’t bother trying to reach me.” I didn’t give him the chance to respond before I walked, or more like stomped, out of the restaurant.

  By the time I made it home, he had already tried to call three times, but I let each one go to voicemail. I wasn’t sure what gave him the right to talk to me like that, but I wasn’t going to allow it. I was free to make my own choices, and I was going to Houston to watch West play in one of the biggest games of his career.

  Stetson was just going to have to deal with it.

  Thirty-Two

  Houston hadn’t really changed much since the last time I had been there. If anything, there just seemed to be more people filling the space. I was excited to be back though. Especially for West’s big game the following day. I was completely prepared to cheer as loudly as I could for him. I just had to make it through a traffic jam first. I sat there for almost an hour and a half before I finally pulled onto West’s street. My heart rate immediately kicked into gear at just the thought of seeing his smiling face again.

  I pulled my car up to the curb and quickly shut it off. Just as I climbed out, the front door opened and a beaming West stood there with his arms stretched out wide. I grinned broadly before making my way toward him. Very briskly, I
might add.

  West pulled me into a bear hug that lifted me off the ground and stole my breath away all in one go. His citrus scent enveloped me before he sat me back down on my flats.

  “You’re here,” he said happily. I grinned back just as widely.

  “I’m here.” He didn’t seem to notice the fact that I was alone or rather he chose to ignore it. Fine by me, I wasn’t about to let Stetson sour this trip for me more than he already had. Since the night at the restaurant, I had seen him twice and both times turned into shouting matches that led to him storming out of my house.

  He was still being completely unreasonable about me coming here to support West. So, I took it upon myself to come a day early and stay the whole weekend rather than just the one day I was originally planning on. I needed something to take my mind off things, and I knew West would be the perfect distraction. In a purely innocent way, of course. Just because I was mad at Stetson didn’t mean I was going to be unfaithful to him. No matter how tempting West was in his tight white shirt and dark blue jeans.

  “Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you?” He asked and it made my chest ache. I hated that we had spent so much time apart.

  “I’m so sorry, West. I…” he shook his head cutting off the rest of my apology.

  “Don’t worry about it. All that matters is you’re here.” His smile was infectious. “Okay, so do you want another tour or do you remember everything from the last time?” He asked with one brow dipped in question.

  “I’m good, just hungry.”

  “Perfect, I have a new favorite for you to try out.” We went back to my car so I could get my things, and then he helped me carry them to the same back bedroom I’d been in the last time I was here. Apparently, they still hadn’t gotten that other roommate, but I wasn’t complaining. It meant I would have a nice comfortable bed to stay in for the weekend.

  Once I set my bags down, West pulled me outside to his truck and helped me inside. I noticed a CD laying on the bench seat and a smile spread across my face when I saw that it was the greatest hits of Queen. When West climbed into the driver’s seat I held up the case.

  “Converting to the dark side?” I teased him. His lip tipped slightly then he shrugged.

  “Figured I’d see what the fuss was about.”

  “And?”

  “And, they’re good. I never said they weren’t.” I smiled victoriously. “But they’ve got nothing on my man Frey.” My smile faltered. “I’m sorry Len, but the man was a legend. He wrote some of the greatest songs of all time.”

  “So did Freddie,” I replied. He glanced my way.

  “Agreed.” I didn’t feel like getting into this debate with him again since I knew how it would end. We would continue to go back and forth forever, neither one relenting that their guy actually fell short. So, I decided to change the topic to what the weekend would hold for me instead.

  “So what kind of shenanigans do you have planned for me?” His smile widened.

  “Funny you should ask that.” He pulled his truck into the parking lot and I looked up to see where he had decided to take me for dinner. My eyebrows rose as I looked over at him.

  “Seriously?” I asked and he laughed out loud. I looked back to the name. Shenanigans Bar & Grill. He pulled into a space and shut off the engine. We both climbed out and the music could be heard clearly from where we stood. We stepped inside and I felt like I was back at school at a frat party. There were college kids everywhere.

  “You want a drink?” West whispered in my ear. I felt his breath against my skin and it sent a pleasant tingle down my spine. I turned toward him and nodded. He led me over to a table before heading toward the bar. I watched him and saw a guy that looked like The Rock on steroids take his order.

  A few minutes later, West handed me a cherry vodka sour before taking the seat beside me. I glanced around the place at all the various things all over the walls. It seemed to be a collection of whatever people had left behind when they’d come to visit. There were movie stubs, partially torn receipts, and various articles of clothing including what looked like a pair of woman’s panties, and surrounding all that was collage after collage of photos of all the people that had come in over the years.

  “Pretty neat, huh?” West asked. I looked over at him and he was grinning again.

  “It’s definitely unique.”

  “Just wait, it gets even better. They have trivia nights on Fridays. Paul, Jeremy, and I are close to the top of the leader board most nights. We even made it onto the chalkboard.” When my eyebrows rose in question, he motioned behind me. I turned and saw a massive chalkboard behind me bearing several perverse names. I looked back at West.

  “Which one are you guys?” I swore I saw a little blush rise to his cheeks.

  “Uh…we’re ‘Nine Inch Males’.” I couldn’t fight my smile at his dirty, but clever group name. I glanced back to look at the board and saw their name close to the bottom.

  “Why aren’t you guys higher up?”

  “You have to be a consistently high scoring team and while we’re not too bad, there are some groups that show up every Friday night to make it onto that chalkboard. We’re not that committed.”

  “So, does this mean we’re going to be playing tonight?” I asked excitedly. I found myself actually hoping the answer would be yes. It sounded like a great time. West raised his brows as he looked back at me.

  “Do you want to?” He asked surprised.

  “Yeah, I think it could be fun. This weekend is about you showing me a great time. I want to know what you do for fun.” He smiled.

  “Alright, I’ll text the guys and see if they have anything planned.”

  An hour later, Paul and Jeremy were on their second round of shots and the trivia was about to begin. We had adjusted our name slightly to fit me in. For the evening we would be ‘Three Sacks and a Rack’, courtesy of Jeremy. It wasn’t the best name, but I’m sure they also could have done a lot worse.

  “So Lennon, how do you know West?” Paul asked me from across the table. Before I could answer though, West spoke up.

  “I told you, we know each other from back home,” he said. Paul ignored him while he waited for my answer. I wasn’t sure what all West had told them about us if anything, so I went with the safe bet.

  “I’m his sister’s best friend,” I said. Jeremy’s eyes raised and he focused on me.

  “Katie?” He asked. West turned toward him and held up a finger in warning.

  “It’s not gonna happen Jer.” I smiled at the fact that even though there were now several cities between them; he was still looking out for her.

  “Yeah Katie. How do you know her?”

  “He doesn’t,” Paul answered. I raised my eyebrows.

  “We were video chatting one day and this asshole walked in and saw her. He wouldn’t quit hitting on her.” Jeremy shrugged his shoulders.

  “Your sister is seriously hot bro, you can’t get mad at me for noticing.”

  “I can too.”

  “Alright boys and girls, it’s time to get this party started,” a guy called out as he made his way to the stage. The crowd around us cheered loudly and a few of the guys held up their beers in salute to the man. West nudged himself closer to me as we turned to face him.

  “Welcome to Shenanigans B&G weekly trivia night. Looks like we have some new names on the roster for tonight. So let’s all give them a big welcome.” He paused and the crowd including West and the guys shouted a simultaneous, ‘Hey Fuckers’. I smiled wide. West looked over at me and chuckled.

  “Alright, now that, that’s over with let’s get this thing going. We’re gonna start off with some easy shit to help ease you virgins into how we do things here at Shenanigans. Rules are simple. Be as fast as possible.” He looked straight at a group of guys sitting right in front of the stage and smiled. “And that will be the only time you three will ever hear that.” The crowd laughed and the guys all clapped each other on the back at being insulte
d.

  “Okay, rule two; if you know the answer, shout it out. We don’t do any of that pussy hand raise crap here. Be as loud as you can.” He winked at a group of ladies. “And the last rule is to have fun. Don’t be a sore loser because you don’t really win anything anyway.” I looked over at West.

  “You don’t win anything?” I asked. He shook his head. “Then why play?”

  “To get your name on the board. I know it seems silly, but it’s more about the competition. Not to mention it gets pretty damn hilarious the drunker people get.”

  “It’s more about the experience than anything else,” Paul added. I refocused on the guy with the microphone.

  “Alright, first question. “Who said, ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’?”

  I was about to open my mouth when a guy in the back shouted “Neil Armstrong” as loud as he could. The guy with the mic pointed toward him.

  “There is it boys and girls. One point for Tallywackers.” The group of guys high fived each other and a guy in the corner made a mark on a dry erase board next to the name Tallywackers.

  “They’re the ones to beat,” Jeremy said. “They’re in here every week.” I looked at the chalkboard and sure enough ‘Tallywackers were in the number one spot.

  “Next question. “Which character does Morgan Freeman play in Bruce Almighty?”

  “God,” Paul shouted. The guy pointed to our table.

  “Point two, what’s your group name guys?”

  “Three Sacks and a Rack,” Jeremy said without missing a beat. A blush rose to my cheek and the guy with the mic chuckled.

  “Alright, point two, Three Sacks and a Rack.” The guy marked our point on the dry erase board.

  The night progressed smoothly. By the time ten rolled around, we were in the tenth round of questions and tied with Tallywackers. I had actually managed to get us a few points throughout the night while West and Paul seemed to be dominating the game. Jeremy was passed the point of drunk but still continued to try and help us out. He was mostly there for laughs by that point though.