The Hardest Fall

by Ella Maise

  She froze. Her bowl was still suspended in air, so I reached forward and gently took it from her hand. When she didn’t release her hold on the spoon, I pried her fingers off of it with my other hand and put her soggy breakfast on the counter—Honey Nut Cheerios from the looks of it. Not a bad choice.

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but did you say I’m going to beg you?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking.”

  “I stand corrected—you are full of yourself,” she marveled.

  “You don’t believe me? That’s fine—means you’ll win. Let’s make the bet.”

  “Did you forget about the part where I told you I had a boyfriend?”

  I hadn’t, and I didn’t like it, but I was still unsure about her dating situation. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if she was telling the truth or not, if I was being honest. She’d said it was complicated, and complicated never boded well for a relationship. He was probably a douchebag anyway. “You said it was complicated. Things change, and again, the worst that can happen is you’ll win the bet. What do you have to lose?”

  “Not always. Sometimes things don’t change.”

  “I have a feeling about this one.”

  “Oh yeah?” She crossed her arms, making her oversized t-shirt hike up a few more inches on those smooth legs. If I looked long enough, hard enough, could I see that hint of soft blue again? “Care to share that feeling with the rest of us?”

  My gaze snapped back up, and I lifted my shoulder in a half shrug. “Scared to lose? If you’re so sure of yourself, why not just take the bet?”

  “I’m not gonna fall at your feet”—she wildly swung her hand in my direction—“just because I saw you half naked. A lot of guys work out. I’ve watched a lot of guys work out.”

  One side of my mouth quirked up. “If you think that’s what makes me special—the fact that I have muscles—you’re definitely in for a surprise. Come on, what do you have to lose? I’m not gonna try to seduce you, I promise. In fact, I promise I’m not even gonna mention this bet again. Just an innocent game between friends. We’ll still be buddies, like you said.”

  She started tugging on her lower lip with her fingers, thinking over everything I was saying. “Then why make the bet in the first place? I’m not saying I’d want you to seduce me or anything, not that you could anyway since I’m not even affected by half-naked bodies“—her hands moved in the air to indicate said half-naked body before going back to her pink lips—“and clearly, I wouldn’t want you to—”

  “Clearly,” I repeated right after her.

  “So, why?” she shot back, ignoring my amused words.

  “Why not?”

  She huffed. “That’s not an answer.”

  I pushed away from the counter and she took a step back. “It’s okay. I understand if you don’t trust yourself around me.”

  She raised her chin just a bit higher and gave me a flat look. “Cute. What do I get if I win?”

  “Whatever you want?”

  “That’s a lot of rein you’re giving me. What if I ask you to…okay forget about it, I’m not gonna give it away. I have to think about it some more.”

  I nodded. That was fair.

  “What are the rules?” she asked, her fingers finally leaving her lips alone. “The time frame?”

  “No rules. Nothing changes. It’s just a harmless bet between two friends, nothing more, promise. As for the time frame…let’s say before I graduate. I don’t think you’ll take that long, but, just in case.”

  A saccharine smile touched her lips, surprising a genuine grin out of me. I half expected her to flip me the bird while she was at it, but then she pressed her lips together, her expression turning serious. “What do you get out of this?”

  Even though I hadn’t thought that far ahead since kissing her would be a win all on its own, I realized I didn’t even have to think about it. “If I win, I get to have a second kiss…and a third one. After all, three seems to be the magic number with us.”

  Instead of making their way up to her lips, her fingers tugged and twisted the tiny charm hanging at the end of her silver necklace, just a little above her breasts. If the color of her bra straps were anything to go by, she was wearing matching underwear, which was a thing that got me going. A sexy set of matching underwear kicked everything up a notch for me.

  She squared her shoulders, and I forced myself to snap out of imagining what kind of underwear she had underneath that faded t-shirt before my dick could salute her. “I’m really good at bets, just so you know,” she said eventually. “And I’ve never begged to kiss anyone in my life, Dylan.”

  “Are you just as good with them as you are with impromptu staring contests?” I gave her a half shrug and tried to keep my smile at a minimum. “It doesn’t matter. I like the idea of being your first, Zoe.”

  One side of her lip quirked up. “Make fun all you want. Better watch out—that’s all I’m saying.”

  “See, then you have nothing to worry about. You’ll be safe from my lips.”

  Again, as we seemed to do, we stood there staring at each other for a few seconds, both of us sporting a small smile. This time around she was the one to look away first, and I was nice enough not to point it out.

  I gripped the towel hanging on my shoulder. “I better get ready to head out. Don’t wanna be late to practice.”

  “You know this means if you beg me for a kiss, you’ll lose too, right?”

  I did nothing but smile. I could’ve kissed her right then and there, but if she wasn’t lying and really had a boyfriend, that wouldn’t go over well, and I wasn’t that guy. I wouldn’t do what had been done to me. I would have bet money there was no actual boyfriend, but there was football, and it was very much real. I was living the most important year of my life so far, and I already had a brutal schedule ahead of me.

  Zoe nodded, like it was decided. Then, suddenly, she had her fist extended between our bodies. I looked down at it.

  “What’s that?”

  “Hit it.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Hit it?”

  “Yes. Come on, don’t leave me hanging. Buddies occasionally do fist bumps.”

  When I wasn’t fast enough because I was busy trying to figure out how she had come into my life out of nowhere and how I was going to survive her, she gave her little fist a shake and tilted her head, pointing at it with her eyes, urging me to…hit it.

  So, I fist-bumped my new friend and laughed all the way through it.

  What else could I have done?

  After I left the apartment and met up with the guys, we pushed through a three-hour practice. Not everyone on the team was happy about getting their asses kicked every day, but I wasn’t one of them. At least fall camp was over; it had been…ruthless, to say the least.

  More than a handful of times, I had come face to face with both Kyle and Maxwell and had managed to ignore them just fine. On the field, I had to be their teammate, but as soon as we stepped off that green turf, I didn’t know them. I was getting better at compartmentalizing.

  The second practice was over and we were walking to the showers, sweat literally dripping off of our bodies, JP started in on me. It went on for ten minutes, even during the showers, and by the time we made it into the locker room, he still hadn’t stopped.

  “Don’t lie to me, man. Where are you staying?”

  “For the hundredth time, I found a new roommate. I’m fine, chill out.”

  “Where did you find him?”

  I looked up at the ceiling and let out a breath. “Online.” No sense in telling him she was a, well…a she and not a he.

  “You just went online and moved in with some random dude? Why? Are you too good for my air mattress?”

  “I really can’t tell if you’re being serious or not, but just to let you know…you snore, man. It’s okay when we’re staying in a hotel for away games—I can handle it for a night or two, but for a year…”

  His arms crossed over his chest and gave
me one of the perfected fuck you looks he usually reserved for referees. He continued to stare down at me, trying his best to catch something from my expression. His damn mouth opened yet again, but I shook my head. “If you ask me one more time, I’m gonna make you regret it.”

  “What’s going on?” Chris asked as he walked straight out of the showers and into our little huddle.

  I yanked my sweatpants up and sat my ass back down on the bench.

  JP turned all his attention to our starting quarterback. “Do you know? Because if you do and you’re not telling me, I swear to God, Chris—”

  Apparently getting his ass kicked out on the field hadn’t been enough for him. He was asking for seconds.

  Frowning, Chris looked at me and then at JP. “What the hell are you talking about? I just came in.”

  “Fighter boy over here has a mysterious new roommate and he’s being all weird about it,” JP announced.

  Not even bothering to lift my head up, I reached for my shirt. “If anyone is being weird around here, trust me, it’s you.”

  “He’s not staying with you?” Chris broke in, ignoring my words. “I thought he was staying with you. Where are you staying, man?”

  Groaning, I stood up and pulled my shirt down my stomach. “Are you two fucking kidding me right now? I swear to God, if either one of you asks me where I’m staying or if I’m doing okay again, I’m gonna beat your asses.”

  “Do you see how defensive he’s getting?” JP asked Chris. “He’s still…”

  Tuning them out, I reached for my phone when it started vibrating in my pocket. Chris went to his own locker, two down to my right, and started to put on his clothes, all the while going back and forth with JP about my ‘situation’.

  I opened my text and saw it was from Victoria. I ignored it, just as I’d been doing with all her I want to talk to you texts, and pushed the phone back into my pocket. Tossing my bag over my shoulder, I walked away from the guys.

  “I’m out of here. If you two ever end up finding your balls, you can find me at the food court. I skimped on breakfast so I’m starving.” I turned around and kept walking backward, leveling a death stare at JP. “Don’t even come near me if you’re planning on asking more questions.”

  “Do you wanna go for In-N-Out?” Chris yelled before I could make it out.

  It was always hard to be careful with my diet and especially to say no to cheeseburgers, but I didn’t want to miss my class, so this time it was an easy choice. There was also the fact that I always had to be careful with money if I wanted to keep sending some back home. Not having to pay rent would help with that. “Can’t today. I have a class at two then a study session around five. You two go on without me.”

  “We’ll see you at Jack’s place tonight?” JP yelled as I pushed open the door. Jack was our kicker.

  “I’ll text you if I can make it.”

  When I slammed the door shut and rounded the corner, I could still hear JP shouting after me.

  I had taken only a few steps when I heard a loud thump echo in the quiet building.

  A brunette caught my eye as she exited one of the meeting rooms at the other end of the hall. I only realized who it was when she whipped her hair back while holding the door open for someone. Coach walked out next, right on Zoe’s heels. Both of their shoulders were stiff, and neither of them looked particularly happy as they moved as far away from each other as they could get. Coach’s face turned toward her and I saw his lips move. Even though I was walking toward them, there was no way I could catch up before they made it to the lobby and exited the complex. I didn’t notice Zoe replying to Coach, but I noticed her posture stiffen even more. He turned around and disappeared into the team viewing room. Zoe picked up her pace, passed the trophy displays without lifting her gaze from the ground, and walked out…unaware that I had stopped moving and was standing completely still, full of questions.

  Chapter Eight

  Zoe

  The weekend after Dylan and I made the bet passed in the blink of an eye. His team won their second game, which I heard about from Jared, and the whole campus was buzzing with the sweet taste of victory. Me? Not so much.

  I had watched the first half of the game before heading out to meet up with Jared, and even though I didn’t know much about football—I had a hard time following where ball the was, who had the damn ball, who tackled who, who lost the ball, who caught the ball, etc.—even I could see that Dylan became a whole other person out on field. At least, with my limited football knowledge, I thought so. His movements were sharper. He seemed super focused, super attractive, super aggressive—in a hot way, not in a Hulk way. Did I mention super attractive? He was super strong, super fast—the guy could run—and again, just in case you weren’t following, super attractive. I was very appreciative of it as a viewer. It was probably the uniform and those damn shoulder pads that made him look like a sexy beast. Even the black face paint under his eyes that was supposed make him look ridiculous did the exact opposite. He looked like a warrior out on that field.

  Obviously…obviously it would be a lie if I said it wasn’t hot as fuck to watch him play. When he made his first touchdown—a forty-five-yard run, according to the announcers—I was all caught up in the excitement and did a little jump in my seat with the biggest grin on my face. I laughed when all his teammates rushed over to him as he did a little dance with his hips and they bumped chests and fists—see! Friends do fist bumps all the time. Then I saw number five run toward him—Chris. He hooked an arm around his neck as they pushed each other around, and my heart warmed at the sight. When the camera panned to the face of their coach as he paced the sideline, I turned the TV off.

  I could definitely understand how the rush of the game…oh, and the uniforms…and, ah, okay, specifically those shoulder pads…and maybe those tight, tight pants affected every girl on campus. I assumed it would be a hundred times worse if you were actually right there in the stadium. I wasn’t about to give in completely and become one of his shrieking fans, but I didn’t see a problem with just watching his games every now and then either…you know, because he and I were on track to become best friends, and best friends kept up with each other’s interests. In fact, as he was rushing out one day, he’d even asked for my phone number, and then later I’d gotten a Hello, roomie. In my book, that meant we really were becoming friends.

  Which was exactly what I wanted.

  Exactly.

  Speaking of friends, as the clock neared eight PM, I picked up my phone and called Kayla.

  She answered on the fifth ring. “Hey, Zoe.”

  “Hey you. I’m starving. When are we meeting? Are you done with your study session?”

  I was planning on begging her to go for pizza, but I wasn’t sure if she was in one of her dieting phases thanks to Keith making random comments about her weight. If that was the case, I knew it would be a no-go, but as I listened to her sigh on the other end of the line, all thoughts of food disappeared from my mind pretty quickly.

  “What’s going on?” I asked carefully, even though I could already take a wild guess.

  “I can’t make it tonight. I’m so sorry, Zoe. I’ve been looking forward to it, and I haven’t seen you or Jared in days, but I think Keith is coming down with something so I’m gonna have to head home and check on him.”

  It was right on the tip of my tongue, but she beat me to it.

  “And before you say anything, he actually wanted me to meet with you, but his voice sounded so bad when he called so even if we went out, my mind would be on him the entire time.”

  I sat my ass down on the couch and slipped off my shoes. Just minutes before, I’d been ready and excited to meet up with her.

  “I wasn’t gonna say anything,” I grumbled. “And I understand, of course. You should take care of him—I’d do the same. Don’t worry about us. I can meet you tomorrow—would that work? I think Jared is free of babysitting duties so maybe he could make it too. Might even work better. Lunch, maybe
? My class isn’t until four.”

  I could hear her quick footsteps as I waited for her answer.

  “I have two classes tomorrow, one in the morning, the other around two. If Keith gets better by then, we’ll go for coffee. That okay?”

  “Anything will work. You say when and where, and we’ll be there. I just wanna see your pretty face, KayKay.”

  I could almost feel her warm smile through the phone. At least her tone was warmer when she answered. “God, I miss you guys, too. I’m not even asking about Dylan because I need to hear the details of every single day and we can’t do that over the phone—and don’t tell Jared everything without me. I’m feeling pretty left out as it is, and he’ll lord it over me forever.”

  “Okay. My lips are sealed until I see you in the flesh but don’t worry, you haven’t missed all that much, although on Saturday after he came—”

  “Nope. Nope. You’re gonna tell me everything tomorrow, remember? This is not a conversation you have on the phone. We need coffee and carbs in the form of baked goods.”

  “It wasn’t actually that—”

  “Oh, Zoe, I’m sorry, Keith is calling. Gotta go. I’ll text you tomorrow, okay? Love you.”

  “Okay! I love you—”

  The line went dead. I groaned and threw myself flat on the couch. Of course Keith would be calling. If she had ignored him and gone out with me instead, he’d have kept calling her until he made her feel uncomfortable and guilty enough that she headed back. I hoped he was actually sick and in actual pain.

  I sighed and quickly texted Jared.

  Me: Kayla can’t make it. Apparently Keith is coming down with something.

  Jared: Asshole!

  Jared: Keith, not KayKay.

  Jared: You can come here and let Becky give you a makeover if you want?

  Me: Your mom has the night shift again?

  Jared: Yeah. Are you in? I promise I won’t post the results of the makeover on social media this time.

  Me: No thank you. Getting a makeover from a five-year-old was a one-time thing. It’s off my bucket list. I’ll never make the mistake of falling asleep when she is in the same room as me again.