“We’re going out,” Vanessa informs me. “Girl’s night.”
“I don’t feel like it.”
“You said you wanted the full college experience. Tonight Phi Kappa Theta is having a slip and slide party. It’s as college as it gets.”
I search for any bit of excitement, but I can’t summon it. “I’d rather stay in and watch a movie or something.”
Blair removes a swimsuit and dress from my closet and tosses it on the bed. “You’re coming, so get up and get ready.”
I send a text to Zeke checking in to see how things are and tell him, for the thousandth time, how happy I am for him. He hasn’t responded to any of my texts, which pretty much confirms that I destroyed the possibility of anything happening between us in the future.
Right now isn’t our time. Our lives are going in different directions, but someday, after I’ve finished college and done all the things on my list and he’s proven himself in the NBA, then maybe we could have something real.
I feel a teensy bit better once I’m dressed and out the door, but I don’t get the same rush of excitement that I did the last time I was at a college party. Turns out a slip and slide party at a frat house is the exact same as it was as a kid. Except back then the boys didn’t have six-packs and I saw less boob action from the still mostly flat-chested girls in fourth grade.
We grab drinks and then a seat where we can watch the brave souls taking a run down the slip and slide. Note to self: swimsuits shift into some really inappropriate positions while slipping and sliding.
“This cup stinks,” Blair says and looks down into her drink. “And I think it has a floater in it. I’m gonna get a new one.”
She heads back to the keg and Vanessa and I watch a girl in a string bikini run and slide boobs first down the yellow tarp. When she stands, one nipple is showing and the bottoms are shoved up her crack like a thong. And of course there’s a guy holding his phone up presumably getting the entire thing on video.
“Dirty cups, guys videoing nipple slips, and this beer is warm. College is stupid.”
“Bite your tongue.” Vanessa turns to me with an appalled frown. “The beer is free, and that girl probably went and asked him to tag her in his Insta story.”
I look over and sure enough, she’s chatting him up with a big smile.
Vanessa continues, “If you really believed that, you’d be in Phoenix with your hot man. You’ve just lost sight of what makes college so amazing. It is whatever you make it. If you want to be a sorority girl who’s a little bit promiscuous – be it. You want to be the girl who shows her assets at a frat party – more power to you. A jersey chaser who keeps a steady rotation of hot athlete boyfriends – own that shit. Jock, nerd, virgin. You can try all the labels on or none of them. It’s about choice. There is no right or wrong, it’s just what makes you happy. And I think you let your happy leave without locking that shit down.”
“So you’re saying I can be the college girl in a long-distance relationship?”
“No, I’m saying you can be the fine as fuck college girlfriend of the hottest new member of the NBA.” She knocks her knee against mine. “Or you could bump uglies with that dude wearing a beer belt because he’s giving you come-hither eyes.”
“I miss Zeke. Why’d I have to waste three years hiding away when I could have been spending them with him?”
“Or you could look at it from the Blair perspective that you got a couple months and that’s better than nothing.”
Blair plops down beside us. “Okay, first of all – that is so not what I would say to that and secondly… okay, there is no second. That’s terribly depressing, V.”
“What can I say, I’m a realist.”
“So what would you say?” I ask Blair. If anyone can make me feel better, I know it’s her.
“I’d say, I’ve never seen you or Zeke happier than I have the last month and that I think you’re great together.”
“Okaaay, where’s the positive spin?”
“Oh there’s no positive spin, there’s ‘you’re an idiot for not going with him’ or at least telling him you’re in love with him.”
“But you said you were afraid I’d get hurt.”
“That was before the man professed his love. You think guys like Zeke just come along every day? Take a look around, my friend.” She leans in close and points to a guy a few feet away smashing a beer can on his forehead. “They do not.”
Vanessa cackles and throws her head back. “Well shit, I didn’t realize we were going with honesty.”
“You agree with her?”
“Yeah, pretty much. Zeke is hot, he just signed a multi-million-dollar contract, and he wants to share all that hotness and money with you. It seems like a no-brainer to me.”
“I don’t care about the money.”
“Which is why you’re perfect for him. You’re not a shallow bitch. He’s going to be fending those off with a stick.”
A pang of jealousy hits my chest. Fuck, did I screw this up?
“Yes!” they say in unison. Apparently I said that out loud.
“But how would that work? Valley has been my dream forever and Zeke might only be a couple hours away, but he’s going to be busy. When would we see each other? How would that work?”
“We can’t answer that for you, but don’t you at least want to try?”
I do. I really, really do.
“I gotta go.” I push my cup toward Blair and stand. I stop when I realize I don’t know how I’m going to get to him. “I think I’m gonna need your guys’ help.”
41
Zeke
“Getting settled in?” Jason Harris asks as he takes a beer from the six-pack he’s carrying and then drops the rest on the counter. Harris was the Suns’ second-round pick, coming all the way from Vermont.
He takes a seat on the couch in my new living room. The small furnished apartment is bursting with guys on the team. If the guys in Valley could see me now, they’d die from shock that I’m hosting a party.
“Yeah, I think so.” I take a swig of my own beer and glance out at the night skyline. It’s only been a few days, but the team have been welcoming and everything has basically been taken care of for me.
Several of my new teammates live in the building. They traded their small furnished one-bedrooms that are standard for new recruits, for larger units upstairs, but the proximity to the training center and the views of downtown are hard to beat.
It’s weird without Wes, Joel, and even Nathan. My mom was right, they were like family – are like family.
“What about you? How are you liking Phoenix?”
“The heat is going to take some getting used to,” he admits with a shake of his head. “I left a plastic Starbucks cup in my car yesterday and the damn thing was nearly melted when I went back four hours later.”
Coming from Illinois, I had the same reaction when I first moved to Valley, but now the heat feels like home.
“You’ll get used to it,” I offer.
Harris’ phone sounds with a text and he shakes his head. “Every girl I’ve ever kissed has blown up my phone since the draft to reconnect. Ain’t that some shit.”
Kevin O’Stark, a five-year veteran, laughs. “Being single in the NBA is rough. I suggest you pick one of those and marry her. If she kissed you before you were in the league, then at least you know she isn’t just into you because of the money.”
Harris nods and points his beer bottle in my direction. “What about you, Zeke? Got a girl you left behind?”
The beer turns sour in my mouth. “Yeah, kind of.”
“I get it, you want to keep your options open.”
I don’t correct his assumption, just nod solemnly. Gabby has texted every day since I left, but I can’t bring myself to respond. Each one is so happy and upbeat about the whole situation and I guess I should be glad that she’s being so cool about it, but I don’t want to be a guy she hooks up with when it’s convenient for our schedules. I want to f
it everything else in between moments with her.
Maybe when I get a free weekend I can drive down to Valley and tell her that. My throat feels tight and my palms sweat just thinking about the possibility that she might turn me down again.
“Excuse me,” I say and head for my bedroom. I close myself in and grab my phone from the nightstand.
I tap out a text to Gabby but then close out before I send it. Another day or two and maybe I’ll have the right words. “Maybe I’ll grow some balls by then,” I mutter to myself before tossing my phone on the bed and heading back out to hang with my teammates.
Harris and O’Stark are setting up the Xbox when I come out.
“You in, Superstar?” O’Stark asks. He’s been calling me that since I arrived, but I can handle the ribbing and Lord knows I dished it out to the rookies at Valley.
“You know it, old man.” I hold my hand up with a smile and he tosses me a controller.
* * *
Gabby
I turn the engine off and press my head against the steering wheel. The reprieve is short-lived as the sweltering heat beats down on the car without the AC running. I double check the address and look up at the tall building across the street.
“This is it,” I say to no one.
I grab my phone and purse and walk toward the building. Sweat trickles down my back and I think I might be hyperventilating. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Perhaps I should go back. All it takes to keep me moving forward is remembering the look on Zeke’s face when I told him I wouldn’t go with him.
The doorman eyes me suspiciously. I can’t blame him; I probably look sketchy all strung out on emotions and sweating profusely.
“Can I help you, miss?”
“I’m visiting a friend. Apartment 303, Zeke Sweets.”
I try and look sweet and innocent as he takes me in. “Elevators are to the left.” He waves a gloved hand in that direction and I wonder if he’s sweating his ass off in his formal uniform of all black from head to toe. I focus on that, on trying to imagine alternate uniforms if I had my own building with doormen, instead of the fact I’m about to come face to face with Zeke.
I’ve got it narrowed down to all white with a black bow tie or swimsuit attire when the elevator arrives at the third floor. I’m certain my throbbing pulse is visible as I knock on the door.
There’s no answer, but I can hear the faint sound of music from inside, so I press my ear to the door in time to hear a laugh that isn’t the deep chuckle I know as Zeke’s. I’m ready to retreat to my car and call off operation girlfriend when the door flies open.
My gaze travels up to the top of the doorframe and Kevin O’Stark, the Suns’ star player and leading scorer, looks down at me with intrigue and confusion. I’ve done my research on Zeke’s new teammates, but now I wish I hadn’t because I’d love to be blissfully unaware that I’m standing in front of an NBA All Sar.
“I’m sorry, I think I have the wrong apartment.”
O’Stark opens the door wide and calls out, “Yo, Superstar, you got a visitor.” Then he extends a hand. “Kevin, nice to meet you.”
“Gabby,” I say meekly as I shake his giant paw.
“Gabby?” Zeke’s surprised voice draws my attention to where he stands in the living room.
I enter the apartment and walk past basically the entire Suns’ roster. The room has gone quiet and I can feel their eyes bounce between me and Zeke.
“Hi.” I give him a small awkward wave as he crosses the room to meet me.
Some of my nerves fall away as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me tight against him. “What are you doing here?”
“I, uh, made you a playlist.”
His hand goes to the back of my head and then smooths down my hair. I hear him chuckle softly. “You came all this way to give me a new playlist?”
“Did she say playlist?” someone asks and then another voice adds, “Speak up, we can’t hear you.”
Zeke’s laughter vibrates against my chest. “Guys, this is Gabby. Gabby, these assholes are my new teammates.”
I brave a glance around the room and offer the guys a small smile. “You guys mind if I steal Zeke for a few minutes and, uh, maybe change the music?”
They don’t answer, just grin like idiots, until one of the guys unfolds himself from the couch and grabs his phone and the speaker pumping out music. He looks at Zeke with a teasing smile before setting the speaker on the counter. “Speaker name is Harris Jams.”
Zeke pulls me by the hand to his room. He closes the door and presses me against it. “God, I missed you,” he says just before his mouth descends on mine. His lips are soft but demanding as he kisses me like it’s been years instead of a few days.
I pull away just enough to speak. “Wait, I need to tell you something.”
“What’s that?” he asks and fuses his mouth to mine again.
His mixture of sweet and tender with hard and demanding makes the world stop. It’s just me and him and everything else that I thought mattered just doesn’t. I told him once that it was the moments spent with other people that mattered and I was right, but the people you give your time to matter more. A million nights with people who only know me from the surface are worth so much less than one night with Zeke who sees me for everything I am and everything I am not.
“What did you want to tell me?”
“Hmmm?” I’m still lost in his kiss when I realize his lips are no longer on mine.
I open my eyes to find his golden browns smiling at my love-drunk face. The words are stuck in my throat, so I pull out my phone and connect to Harris Jams. We sit on the edge of the bed and as Beyoncé starts singing Zeke cocks a brow. “I dig Beyoncé.”
The error in my first song selection isn’t obvious until I realize Zeke has no idea what I’m trying to say. I skip past “Crazy in Love” and let the next song play. Zeke’s head bounces softly to Rihanna, but he’s totally clueless.
I press skip again and groan. Blah, blah, blah, Selena, get to the chorus. When she finally gets there, Zeke’s expression goes serious and I can almost see the hope building, but he doesn’t speak right away. He waits until she’s all the way through the chorus a second time before one side of his mouth lifts in a smirk. “You love me like a love song?”
“I’m so sorry I let you leave without telling you. Of course, I love you.”
His grin grows wide. “You made me an I Love You playlist?”
My grand gesture is starting to feel like a giant flop. I knew I should have gone with a whipped cream bikini or a tattoo on my vag that says ‘Property of Zeke’.
“I don’t know how this is going to work, but I want to try because I love you so much. You were not part of the plan, Zeke Sweets.”
He laughs. “You either.”
There’s pounding on the door. “Yo, Superstar, pizza is here.”
More voices are crowded around the door, attempting to whisper and failing miserably. “Leave him alone, he’s having naked time with his girl.”
“Ask him if I can get that Selena Gomez remix. I love her.”
“This is not how I would have imagined spending the weekend with you, but my new teammates are as nosey as the last ones, so I don’t think they’re going away anytime soon.” He jabs a thumb to the door.
“It’s okay,” I say, stand and pull his hand. He stands and wraps his arms around my lower back. “I’m yours until Monday.”
He pulls back and narrows his gaze. “Wait a minute, how did you get here?”
“I drove.” Just saying the words brings a wave of nausea from the drive up. “Two white-knuckle hours, but I did it because you’re worth it.”
“Yeah?” He seems genuinely shocked by the sentiment.
“Yes, you and Cliff are totally worth it.”
“Uh-uh. Still no to Cliff,” he says, pulling me to the door and opening it. He drops a quick kiss to my lips. “But you and he can talk it out after the guys leave.”
Epilogue
; Gabby
Two Months Later
Nathan and I circle through the first level of The White House, a mixture of new and old faces. It’s the first week of classes and the energy and excitement for a new school year is at peak level.
“Alright, what’s your type? Blonde, brunette, redhead? Ooh, how about that girl over there with the pink hair?”
Nathan shakes his head for the billionth time tonight. “What if her natural color is awful, and she goes back to it a month after we’re dating?”
“That is strangely insightful.” I glance around the room and my eyes fall on a tall blonde with striking features and legs that seem to stretch on forever. “You’re making it impossible for me to be a good wing woman being so picky. How about the girl in the yellow dress by the window?”
I move toward her before Nathan can respond. Number one, she’s standing by herself and number two she has a look of anticipation mixed with anxiety that tells me she’s either new or it’s not her usual crowd.
“Hi!” I sidle up next to her, but Nathan approaches her like a rabid coyote. “I’m Gabby. Are you new?”
She nods and turns her drink nervously in both hands. “Maureen.”
Nathan is trying his best to hang back, but I loop my arm through his and pull him toward my new friend. “This is Nathan.”
“So, Maureen, are you single? Do you think my friend here is cute?”
Nathan chokes on his beer beside me. “Excuse her, too much time sniffing glue as a kid melted her brain.”
“Whaaat?”
“You can’t ask people things like that,” he mutters to me.
Maureen giggles so score one for me and my nosiness. “At least she didn’t eat it.”
“I like her,” I say to Nathan but flash a smile at Maureen.
“And I’m single,” she offers and sneaks a quick glance at Nathan.
The Tip-Off: A Smart Jocks Novel Page 19