Catching Mallory: Wildcat Graduates

by Xana Jordan

  “You shouldn’t have gotten me anything,” she starts to protest, but I cut her off.

  “That’s not your place to decide. Go on, look in it.” Nodding once again to the small, yellow bag, I encourage her to accept it.

  After brief consideration on her part, she begins to pull the tissue paper away and reach in the bag. The look on her face is priceless as she feels what I placed in the bag. “I’m not sure I want to know what’s in here. It feels weird,” she giggles and pulls out a large bag of plain M&Ms. “Really?” She places the bag on the bed and reaches back into the sack to pull out the last item in it, a yellow M&M man keychain, her favorite color.

  “It’s just a little something I found in San Antonio that reminded me of you. It’s nothing major. We were walking around with my parents and I knew you needed them.” I smile at her and pretend to remove the M&Ms from her side and she nearly topples me over to prevent me from taking them.

  “Back off, mister. These are mine!” She begins giggling when I attempt to remove them from her hands. I love it when she laughs. “You’re not gonna let off with the nickname for me, are you?”

  “Fine, I give up,” I say, laughing as I withdraw my hands from the bag of candy. “And, no, I’m not giving up the name. You’ll always be M&M to me, Mallory Marie Martin. Oh, unless you prefer to be called 3M, like the post-its, or maybe M-cubed, or M to the third power?” I wink and give her a grin. “Maybe I’ll just call you MMM, as in mmm, good.” Her mouth falls open at that sound, and I smile ever wider at her before changing the subject completely. Her mouth never closes as I ask the next question, “Wanna watch some television or play a game?” I’m not sure she’s ready to go back to her dorm yet, and truthfully, I don’t want her to leave now, either.

  “Sure. That sounds great,” she replies through shaky breath. She moves from the bed to look over my movie selection, and I grab us both a bottle of water from the fridge. She loads the movie into the DVD player and refuses to tell me what it is. It doesn’t really matter because I’ll watch almost anything she wants me to, regardless if it’s a movie I own or not.

  Relaxing back on my bed, we settle down and enjoy the movie, although she keeps talking through it. Halfway through the movie, she turns to me and says, “Thank you for my presents. They’re perfect.”

  “Not as perfect as you are. I’m glad you liked them. Wasn’t sure if you’d accept them or not after we fought, but I wanted you to have them.”

  She leans up and places a brief kiss on my cheek, then turns back to watch the movie. We’re both content to sit back together and relax like this. It’s always so easy with her, no matter where we are. Little does she know I’m not giving up until I have her all to myself for good.

  After seeing the video, this week has been pretty intense for Mallory. Keaton has done nothing but call and text her, even though he hasn’t gotten any kind of response out of her whatsoever. He has to know by now that she knows about the video. She called her best friend, Katie, and confirmed everything, even the pictures that started our fight before break were cleared up. He was cheating on her then, as well. Apparently, he thinks that if Mallory isn’t there, it means he is single. How stupid can that jerk be?

  We’ve been working on a few computer projects that we have in different classes and the two of us have gotten much closer in the process. In fact, we’ve spent so much time with one another that we are seldom by ourselves, unless she has to work. Tonight is one of those rare nights she has off.

  It’s Friday evening and we are all trickling into the cafeteria for dinner after a very long, nerve-wracking week of classes when the rest of our group joins us at the table.

  “Ugh, I’m so glad this week is over,” Xana says exasperatedly, setting her tray down on the table a little too forcefully.

  Everyone is a little startled by her outburst, but Noel only laughs and eases her into her chair.

  “Damn, Xana. What’s got your panties all in a wad?” Mallory looks at her with amusement and Xana begins to giggle.

  She releases a heavy sigh and looks at Noel before speaking. “The same old class crap. I swear the professors are trying to kill my grades.”

  Noel rubs the back of her neck then says to her, “Only a month and a half more. Then you’re done with it all.” If I’m not mistaken, the look they share tells me there is more to this than her classes.

  “Thank coconuts,” Stacy chimes in. “This semester is wearing me out, too.” No one can argue with that, and we settle into our meals, talking and laughing as usual.

  “We all need another break like Galveston. It was really nice of Keaton to invite us all there for break. Did he get back to the house to lock everything up? I hope we cleaned everything enough before we left. I know Nathan and Natalie were going to finish tidying up before leaving, but I’d hate it if there was still a mess. Did he say anything to you, Mal,” Stacy asks.

  I can feel her body grow still as she sits next to me. Placing my hand on her knee, I give it a squeeze and she relaxes slightly. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him since he left Friday.” Xana and Stacy give her a look, wanting to know more. I can’t stand to see her on the spot like that, so I change the direction of the conversation.

  “I’m sure the house was just fine.” Nodding across the table at Noel I ask, “When do you get that cast off, man?”

  “Hopefully early to mid-April if everything has healed like the doc wants it to. He seems optimistic that there won’t be any delays with getting it off.”

  Noel broke his arm during a ballgame in Monticello almost a month ago. He was sliding into home plate, hands first, when the catcher took a step back to catch the ball and inadvertently stepped on his arm instead. Thankfully it looked a lot worse than actually was. It made all of the players hurt in sympathy just to look at it.

  “That’s good to hear,” I reply. “We really need you on the field with us. Especially since Matthews over there has been slacking in the hitting department.” Cade launches a piece of bread at my face, missing by several inches. Laughing I add, “And as you can see, his arm isn’t so great, either.”

  “Whatever. You guys are just jealous of all my mad skills,” Cade retorts, throwing another piece of bread that misses his mark.

  Laughter takes over and we carry on with our meals, the topic entirely changed. Moving in closer to my side, Mallory looks at me and mouths ‘thank you’ while squeezing the hand I have grasping her knee, and I return it.

  After dinner, Mal and I head over to her room for a while since her roommate’s sorority is having some sort of party this weekend and she’s busy getting things ready for it. That sorority has kept her pretty busy over the last few weeks and we’ve been able to spend more time over there.

  We are finished going over the last bit of Mallory’s work when her phone rings. She walks over to her bed to answer it while I put her books away.

  “Shit! Why does he keep calling me?” She bows her head and closes her eyes, a long, frustrated breath escaping her mouth.

  “You need to talk to him. Or I will.” Her head snaps in my direction, her eyes wide.

  “You?”

  “Yes. If you won’t, I will. He isn’t going to stop calling until you talk to him.” She continues looking at me as I hold her arms. “You need to hash this out with him, one way or another. You know that.”

  “I know, I do, but I’m still so mad that he kept stringing me along like someone he just met, not the girl he’s dated for the past five years. Like all of it was nothing to him.” Her eyes start to get a little teary, pissing me off even more. It’s fortunate the phone has stopped ringing by this time.

  “Do you still want to be with him? If you do, you can work it out, but don’t let him sweet talk his way out of his mistakes. It’s not fair to you.”

  “I know. We’ve drifted so far apart this past year, more than in the two after we graduated. Honestly, I don’t think I want to work it out. Being with him last week was good and sad all at th
e same time. It just didn’t feel like it used to.” I wipe away a fallen tear from her cheek with my thumb, and slide my hand through her thick chestnut hair to cup the back of her neck.

  “How?”

  “I just got to see how different we both are now than when we were in high school. He’s not the same person I remember, and I’m not the same either. He wants to take over his father’s law business and I want out on my own. We just want different things for ourselves.” She raises her eyes to look directly into mine, and it feels like she is looking straight through at my every thought.

  Needing to break her gaze before I do something I may regret, I ask, “What is it you want, Mallory?”

  Placing her hands flat on my chest, she leans up until our noses almost touch. I could take her lips with mine with minimal movement. Instead of saying anything, she closes the gap between us to capture my mouth with hers.

  Once I’ve recovered from the initial shock of her contact, I give in to the urges I’ve had since I met her and take control of the kiss. My hands wrap around to her back, pulling her closer to my chest while hers slide up to the back of my neck. Our tongues begin a needy dance that has our mouths crushing together. Gah, she tastes so damn good. Better than I imagined.

  One hand slides up her back and under her hair, while the other hand slowly inches down to where my fingertips rest just below the waistband of her jeans. Pressing her into my hardness pulls a low moan from her and I can feel it move through my body and stop in my dick. Before we do something we both regret, I find the strength to break our kiss and rest my forehead against hers. Mallory is just as out of breath as I am, and together we try to slow our breathing.

  Running my nose along hers I say, “I’ve wanted to do that for a long damn time.” I can feel her smile as I close my eyes and take in the floral scent of her hair.

  “I’ve wondered what kissing you would be like. I never realized how much I wanted it until tonight.” Her hands move to cup my face in her palms. Our eyes meet again, but before I can respond, her phone rings.

  Keaton.

  She looks from the phone to me, unsure of what to do, and begins twisting her fingers together. Crossing my arms, I raise my brows and stare back at her. “Answer it,” I demand as it continues to ring.

  Reluctantly, she gives in and takes the call. “Hello,” she says in a clipped voice. Her face goes through many expressions as she listens to him speak before stopping on one of shock. “You’re here?”

  Her head turns to face me and her mouth hangs open. Moving to stand beside her, I take her hand as I try to hear what he is saying.

  “”Yeah, I’m in my room.” I can hear him asking her to come check him in, to which she replies, “I’ll be there in a minute. Bye.” She disconnects the phone and nearly starts to freak out, her breathing speeding up.

  Holding her face between my hands, I try and calm her before she has a full-blown panic attack. “Stop and breathe.” She takes a deep breath and nods. “Do you want me to leave? I can see if Stacy or Xana are in their room and wait there.”

  She doesn’t hesitate before she responds. “No. You can stay. If he wants to go somewhere else, we can leave then. There isn’t much to say.” I study her face for a moment to determine if she is sure about her choice.

  “If you’re sure…”

  “Yeah, I’ll be right back,” she says, then grabs her ID and walks out of the door, leaving me to stare at the door after she closes it.

  I have no idea what she expects Keaton to do, but I text Noel to see if he and Xana are in the girls’ room, just in case I need to leave.

  It takes her about ten minutes to get him checked in and come back to the room. I’ve been looking over her project that we had just finished up, and close the book when she begins introductions.

  “Keaton, this is Gavin. He’s been helping me look over my computer class stuff.” He’s not quite as tall as I am, just a little more muscular, but not by much. I expected more from a football player. Must play offense. As I stand from my seat to shake his hand, I realize something must have snapped inside him when his face becomes filled with anger. Before I can process what is going on, he starts attacking both of us.

  “What’s he doing here? Is he why you haven’t been answering my calls or texts? Are you cheating on me?” He has stepped closer to her, body tense and looking for a fight as he glares over at me.

  Not sure what he’s going to do, I decide to reason with him. “Hey, man. Listen, there’s nothing going on here. We were just working on a class project.”

  “But the hell out, asshole! This doesn’t concern you, so why don’t you see your sorry ass out? Mallory, what the hell is going on,” he turns back to face her, grabbing her by the arms and ignoring my stare. Taking a few steps back to my seat to calm him down, I sit and pretend to look over her textbook, ready and waiting to intervene if necessary. Keeping my mouth shut is going to be a true test of my self-control, so I send Noel a text for some intervention.

  “I’ve been trying to talk to you all week. Why haven’t you answered my calls and texts?” Keaton waits for a response and I pretend to be making notes on what I’m reading. Mallory removes her arms from his grasp and crosses them in front of her.

  “We need to talk,” she tells him, her words short and obviously full of displeasure.

  “About what? Is something wrong?” His voice sounds concerned, and I actually believe he is somewhat worried she might not be feeling well. He really is blind.

  Wasting no time with pleasantries, she jumps right into the discussion. “I know we’ve been together since we were in high school, but do you want to continue being a couple now? I saw the video of you from last weekend at that party, so you can just tell me the truth.” She laid it all out for him and didn’t hesitate. I can’t help the smile that has forced its way out of me. I’m so damned proud of her. That’s my girl.

  “Is that why you’ve been avoiding my calls? Some video made out to accuse me of something that isn’t true? You can’t be serious.” His voice gets louder and harsher the longer he speaks, making me pay closer attention to his movements.

  “I have video and pictures. It’s very clear what they contain. I didn’t want to believe them, but I’m not an idiot.” She stood up to his accusations and denial. That’s my woman.

  He seems to be at a slight loss for words, a little flabbergasted at her audacity to accuse him. “Are you trying to break up with me? Is that what this is all about,” he questions rather loudly then points to me. “You’re seeing this guy behind my back and trying to get out of this relationship by making me out to be the one cheating, aren’t you?” He is getting angrier by the minute, and I find myself on alert, body tense and ready to intervene at the first sign of physical reactions from him.

  Before I know what has happened, Mallory slaps him across the face, and stands there staring at him while she balls her hands into tightly clenched fists. She. Is. Pissed.

  Holding the slapped cheek with his hand, he returns her gaze. Neither one of them wanting to back down, they continue to stare, each daring the other to speak first. Shit, this could end badly. Fortunately, she breaks their silence before I am forced to intervene.

  “I’m not even going to acknowledge that asinine question with an explanation. The question is simple, do you want out,” she asks through gritted teeth and slow, labored breaths. Is it bad that seeing her all worked up has me all worked up?

  “Do I? Do you want out? Isn’t that the real question,” he responds, calmer than before, but still on edge.

  “I think we’ve just grown too far apart, Keaton. Don’t you feel it, too,” she asks, her voice growing softer, and waits for a few moments before continuing, “You obviously do if you want to spend time with other girls. I get it. We’ve both grown up since high school, and not together like we thought we would.”

  I have turned in my seat, just enough to see them more clearly from the corner of my eye. My previous occupation with the textbook
abandoned as I focus more on their conversation. It’s right about that time when Keaton finally takes notice of my interest in their conversation and he doesn’t look pleased about it.

  “You are seeing him. He’s the one you are leaving me for? He is, isn’t he?” His harsh words make her gasp and me stand quickly from my seat, ready to take control.

  His glaring doesn’t scare me in the slightest. He may play football, but it is more than obvious he doesn’t play defense.

  “This whole conversation does not involve me. It has to do with you, so I suggest you listen to her, and deal with this like a man and not a lying coward,” I growl and take a step closer to them. Before he has a chance to say anything, there is a knock on the door. Grabbing my cell, I move to answer the door, only to find Noel and Xana standing in the hallway. Thank God he understood my message.

  “Hey, man. Can you help us move some furniture? Xana’s not supposed to lift anything too heavy and this damn cast limits my lifting, too,” Noel says while she smiles up at me. She’s really enjoying this.

  Mallory and Keaton need to sort this out on their own, and if I have to stay any longer, I will be forced to knock his ass out, but I’ll be damned if I can go too far away from her. Looking over my shoulder at her, I silently ask if it’s alright for me to leave and she nods her permission. “I’ll just be down the hall if you need me,” I pause, looking towards Keaton before going on, “and this door stays open.” Checking to see that Mal is still in agreement about me leaving, I let Noel and Xana lead me away from her room.

  “What the hell was that all about,” Noel questions me as I walk right past him in the hall and head for their floor’s common room. It’s only about six rooms down from Mal’s, yet close enough if she needs my help. When I reach it, I begin pacing back and forth to gather my feelings. Noel and Xana sit quietly on the couch, waiting patiently for me to explain what is going on.

  Exhaling a deep breath, I begin telling them everything that has happened between Keaton and Mallory, including the photos, the lack of communication from him, and the video. I even let them know about my past relationship that ended in cheating.