Shutout (The Core Four Book 4)

by Stacy Borel

  “Don’t go there. Wrigley has never and will never flirt with me.”

  She tossed my phone back on the bed and walked over to finish what she’d started. “I’m going to make your cup a little stronger, ’cause you clearly need to wake up. Do you wanna know what the last text said?”

  Of course I did, but then again, I didn’t. “What?”

  “He said he was on his way over.” A devilish grin appeared on her face.

  “You’re lying.”

  “No, I’m not. Check.” I must’ve had a look of sheer panic on my face because she laughed and said, “Well, that reaction right there tells me that you do, in fact, like him.”

  I ignored her and walked over to my phone. Fine, I liked him. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped liking him. I’ve attempted many times over the years to unlike Wrigley Brooks, and it has been failed efforts on my part. I’ve simply taught myself how to live with it, and how to hate-like him. It was a thing. Picking up my phone, I went to the texts and read the last message.

  Wrigley: Hadley I know UR awake by now. You have ten min to text back or I’m coming over.

  Oh shit. I looked at the time on the top of the screen. When was this text sent? My eyes darted all over the screen. I had one minute to spare. As quickly as I could, I typed back to him. Doing my best to sound nonchalant, and unaffected.

  I just woke up.

  I added the sleeping emoji for good measure.

  No need to come over but good morning.

  I nodded. There, that didn’t sound needy or dumb.

  “Did you dodge the bullet?” Aurora seemed pretty pleased with herself as she slipped on a tank top that had been laying on the floor, then poured a cup of coffee.

  I gawked at my phone. Three little dots showed up indicating he was typing back. “Huh?” I couldn’t pry my eyes away. “Oh, uh yeah, I think so.”

  When she flopped down on her bed, she said, “If he’s coming over, you need to tell him to bring Bishop with him. But I’m going to need ample warning. The coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, and he woke me about three hours too early. There’s dark circles under my eyes.” She pointed at them as if I’d see something that wasn’t there.

  I waved my hand at her to hush. “He’s not coming over. He was joking.” Why aren’t those dots going away or words appearing? What was he saying?

  Wrigley: I’m here

  There was a knock at the door seconds after the message flashed on the screen. Aurora sat up, and I twisted around so fast, I hopped. “Oh my god!”

  “That asshole, he didn’t even give me a chance to finish my first cup.” She stood up to go answer the door.

  I held my hand out. “No, don’t.”

  She paused. “What?”

  “Don’t open it,” I whispered.

  Laughing, she put her hand on the knob. “He knows you’re in here, silly.”

  “No, he doesn’t. I could have gone out for a jog. Yes, I’ll text him back and tell him I’m out for a run and he can’t come over.” My rattled brain was rolling through as many excuses as I could, trying to find one that was feasible.

  She sighed. “Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”

  I truly wasn’t ready to see him again so soon. My entire life, I’d never been around him as often as I had been since school started. It was a foreign concept and not a welcomed one. Aurora chose to ignore me as she opened the door. There he was in all his glory. Not a single soul on this planet should look that good this early in the morning. I’ve seen it many times before, but never once was it with him staring in my direction, grinning like an idiot, holding two cups of coffee. He had on a basic, white shirt that was loose around the waist, but tight on his arms, and board shorts that had some wild colors and designs on them.

  “Ladies,” he said in greeting, stepping inside. “I took the liberty of grabbing some coffee on my way over here. I wasn’t sure if either of you had any yet this morning.”

  Aurora snagged a cup, like she was a starving woman and he was dangling a burger in front of her face. “Perfect! This one over here,” she nodded her head towards me. “Apparently likes to drink the grounds.”

  I gaped at her. “I tried.”

  She chortled and walked past me, slapping my butt on the way to her bed so she could sit down. It made me jump. While she was looking adorable as ever, I was currently wearing a long t-shirt that had a pink Power Ranger and the words, ‘I fight mornings’. I was sans bra, and my nipples were at attention, which I was painfully aware of. My hair was a tangled mess that I know was sticking up on one side, and I had on my oldest pair of shorts, which I was pretty positive had a small hole on the seam right on the butt. I could do nothing but stand there looking at him, a picture of perfection, while my less than enthusiastic self wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. I’d been embarrassed before, but never like this. What’s worse was I hadn’t had a chance to brush my teeth. Clamping my mouth shut, I tried hard not to breath.

  Wrigley took a couple steps in my direction and had his hand with the other cup of coffee extended. I took it from him and took a tentative sip. It was hot on my tongue, but absolutely perfect. He’d added a little creamer and a small amount of sugar. I used my arms to cover my nipples while I held the cup to my lips, trying to play it off like I wasn’t doing it on purpose. He glanced down, and I knew he had seen them. More than just the coffee was warming my cheeks.

  “I figured you didn’t take it back.” A small smile played on his lips.

  “You figured right. Thank you.” It was all I could say.

  His eyes wandered around our small space, taking in all of our decorations, and how we lived. My over dramatic attempt to have an adult space, and Aurora’s child-like purple explosion. I was not super uncomfortable with him looking at my things, but it made me feel exposed. Honestly, my side of the room didn’t say much about who I was. It was generic and not personalized at all. Well, with the exception of a small frame of my parents on the nightstand next to my bed. It had been taken two years ago before I went to my Junior prom. I hadn’t wanted to go, but my mom had told me I needed to experience it. I didn’t go for myself, I went for her.

  But it wasn’t a bad memory exactly. My mom had been overjoyed at the opportunity to style me for the prom. I had played dress-up and let her pick everything out. When I’d left for the dance that evening, I didn’t actually end up going. I drove myself to the local drive-in movie theater and watched the new X-Men movie. I’d had no one to hang out with and refused to be the girl who sat at the table alone, because nobody wanted to dance with me.

  I had no clue if I should be going to get dressed, or if he was simply stopping by to prove a point that he keeps his word. The coffee was a nice gesture, but not needed. While I wasn’t particularly happy that he’d showed up unannounced, my inner girly side was relishing in it. He truly looked incredible.

  There was an awkward silence, which followed after he’d handed me coffee and I couldn’t help but notice he wouldn’t take his eyes off me. I squirmed, shifting from one leg to the other and casually attempted to comb down my hair. He was picking up on my discomfort and played on it.

  “Nice shirt. I don’t remember us playing Power Rangers as kids.”

  I bit down on the side of my lip. “That’s ’cause we didn’t.”

  “The pink girl, she was the hot one.” He was looking directly at my chest.

  “I wouldn’t know,” I replied. I tried to cross my arms to divert his attention, but wasn’t doing a very good job of it while holding a hot cup of joe.

  He chuckled.

  “Alright Captain Pervert, now that you’ve sufficiently gotten an eye full and made Hadley all weird, what are you doing here this early in the morning?” Aurora asked, stepping up in my defense. “Your texting this morning nearly got you killed…by me…with my bare hands,” she said between sips. “The coffee is all that is saving you right now. So what gives?”

  He walked over and plopped down on my bed as if he
’d done it a thousand times before. “Well, I’m here to get you both into your bikinis so we can do a wet t-shirt contest and vote whose ass is the roundest.”

  I coughed loudly, while Aurora busted out laughing. No freaking way. Who in the hell did he think he was?

  Aurora made a loud buzzing sound. “Try again. I see you’re in swim trunks but what are you really wanting us to do?”

  “Okay, okay. One of the guys can use his dad’s pontoon boat and we are towing it to the bayou to do some swimming and bridge jumping. Figured it would be a fun thing do to on a hot day and I came to drag you ladies out for a day off campus.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t do bridge jumping. And do you know what lurks in bayous?”

  Wrigley raised a confused brow. “Fish?”

  Was he stupid? “Alligators. Freaking alligators with sharp teeth the size of my fingers.” I held up my hand and wiggled them to drive home my point.

  He grinned. “Hadley, I had no clue you were such a damsel in distress.”

  “I’m not in distress. I’m not going,” I stated firmly. Meantime, I saw my roommate happily going through her drawers and pulling out her bright green bikini.

  He stood up and came over to me. Placing his hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eyes, I held completely still. His touch was warm, and his scent was washing over me like a blanket I could wrap myself in. I had to try to not lean forward and bury my nose in his neck.

  “Bathing suit, Hadley. Now,” he demanded. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  I jerked my head back. “You can’t boss me around.”

  His head cocked slightly to the side. “Really? I’m nearly twice your size, and will muscle you over my shoulder and kidnap you.” He arms dropped. “Besides, we have that new best friend status. So let’s roll, Bestie.”

  I shifted and gave him my back. “You can’t seriously be considering going.” I knew the answer because Aurora gave me a look. “Gators, Aurora. And who knows what else is in there. This won’t be like swimming in a chlorinated pool.”

  “Nope, it won’t. It’ll be much more fun. Have you ever jumped off a bridge?”

  “Well, no.”

  “Have you ever been on a boat full of hot guys?”

  I blushed. Why did she always have to be so brazen? “No,” I spoke softly.

  “You think I’m hot,” Wrigley teased Aurora.

  “Meh. You’re alright.” She looked at me and winked.

  Wrigley clutched his chest. “Ouch. Bullet straight to my heart.”

  “Drama queen.”

  “You think I’m hot, don’t you Hadley?” He put me on the spot.

  Okay, as much as I would shout it from the rooftops that yes, I think he is the hottest guy on the planet, being asked that question by the object of my affection made me clam up. My poor palms got sweaty, and I shut my mouth. I willed my face not to turn bright red, and I wanted more than anything to not give myself away.

  “You’re not her type, Romeo,” Aurora laughed as she came to my rescue.

  “Damn. Tough crowd,” he said, but he was looking at me like he was still waiting for an answer. An answer I knew that he knew. He wanted me to say it, but I would rather die than give him the satisfaction of knowing that I found him attractive. He had all the females under the sun expressing their interest in him. I wouldn’t become one of the ‘Wrigley loving sheep’.

  “I’m not going swimming.” I protested, pathetically attempting to change the subject back to the important one.

  Wrigley narrowed his eyes at me. “Hadley, find your sun screen, get your bathing suit on, toss on some flip flops because I’m leaving in ten minutes. Nobody said you had to swim, just that you’re tagging along, now, let’s go. I’m not walking out of this door without you.”

  I guess the new best friend rules state that he gets to boss me around. I could have stood there looking like a hot mess, attempting to argue with him for the rest of the day, but I knew I wasn’t going to win. I think he really meant it when he’d said he would throw me over his shoulder. I also knew my roommate would be of no help. She would likely have her phone recording the whole thing to post on Instagram.

  I dropped my shoulders and my defensive mode disappeared. I guess my day was planned for me. Pontoon boating with Wrigley’s friends. Sighing, I left the room briefly to go to the bathroom, comb my hair, brush my teeth, and snag my sunscreen from under the sink. When I came out, Wrigley was still sitting on my bed. I tried not to make eye contact with him, as other ideas were lurking in my mind about him being there. Wouldn’t it be nice to lie down next to him for the entire day. The errant thought made me blush but I’d say that would be a better day spent, than getting pink under the sun with strangers.

  When I pulled my suit out of my top drawer, Aurora whistled, “Ooh la la. That’s super cute.”

  “Thanks,” I said, keeping my head down.

  My bathing suit was a cute, black two piece with fringe across the low cut top. It wasn’t super revealing like a string bikini, but it wasn’t modest like a one piece either. One thing I’d never really felt self-conscious about was my body. While I may be short, and my thighs touched at the top, I was thin around my midsection. My boobs weren’t small, requiring me to wear a training bra or anything, but I also wasn’t so large I needed to wear a bra all the time for support. I was fit, and my body showed it.

  “I have a beach bag if you want to toss your stuff in it.” Aurora offered as she folded a towel and put it inside. I nodded and dropped my things in.

  Standing up, Wrigley seemed quite proud of himself. Rubbing his hands together, he said, “Ladies… let’s go.”

  Outside, I recognized Wrigley’s car parked in the lot. It was a blue, four door Jeep Wrangler. His parents had gotten it for him when he’d turned seventeen. He would have gotten one sooner, but from what my mom had said, he failed his driving test twice, and Paul wouldn’t let him take it again until he was certain he’d pass the third time. Jeeps were his family’s thing. Donna had one, and so did Turner. I’d had no clue he’d driven it here from Georgia, but I wasn’t surprised. Inside, it was very clean and still had a new car scent. How on earth did it still smell like that when it was over a year old? And as a typical eighteen-year-old, weren’t boys supposed to be gross, with soda cans lying all over, and gym bags?

  “Did you just get this detailed?” I asked curiously.

  I’d chosen to sit in the back, feeling entirely too uncomfortable being in the front next to him. He looked at me through the rearview mirror. His brows drew together. “No, why?”

  I glanced around. “It’s awfully clean in here.”

  “I’m a clean guy.”

  I scoffed, “No guy is this clean.”

  We had already started off down the road, and Aurora was staying quiet in the front seat as she flipped through texts on her phone.

  Stopping at a light, he twisted to look at me. “Hadley, I’ve never been a messy person. You’ve been in my room dozens of times. Have you ever seen it dirty?”

  I thought about it. “No, I just assumed your mom made you clean it before you had company or she did it herself.”

  The side of his mouth tipped up. “Nah. She got after my brothers all the time for their messes, but never me. I just prefer it this way.”

  Hmmm, yet another thing I didn’t know about him that I felt I should have. Not that it was a big deal, but I used to feel like I knew him better than most. Now he’d admitted two new things about him in as many days and I wondered how much I didn’t know about him. We drove a couple of miles and I wondered where we were going. I wasn’t familiar with the area since I had yet to really wander off campus. But were we going to his place, his friends, or straight to the boat dock? My question was quickly answered as we pulled up to a park that had a parking lot meant for boat trailers. The water in this area of the Gulf was dark, and deep. The park had kids running around playing, and boats were being trailered into the water. I looked around for a bathroo
m that I could change into my swimsuit. There was a public one up on a small hill.

  When we parked, Wrigley said, “I’m going to go help the guys get everything ready. Make sure you have everything and we will load up and head out.”

  There was a Ford truck with a large pontoon party boat attached and four guys mingling around it. Wrigley headed straight for it, and I looked to Aurora to see what she’d wanted to do. She was staring at the group of guys and smiling.

  “Oh good, he’s here,” she said, pleased.

  I assumed she meant surfer guy who was play boxing another guy. We both had the same thing in mind to go change into our bathing suits and walk over to the group. I carried the bag just to have something to do with my hands so I didn’t feel useless standing there. And heaven forbid I start clicking my nails. So there were six of us. I didn’t feel too weird since we were the only girls. It was females I felt the most uncomfortable around because they were the ones who judged me more than most.

  “Hadley, Aurora, these are some of the guys I play with every day. Austin, Bishop, Matt, and Christian, but we call him Chris.”

  They all politely smiled and nodded as each one’s name was said. While they were all attractive, Wrigley was still the best looking of the five. They were all pretty typical looking baseball players, with tanned skin, and brown messy hair. The only exception being Bishop. He was the blond with longer hair. I could understand why he’d gained Aurora’s attention. I found it funny that these boys had probably spent every waking minute together and they’d already picked up each other’s behaviors.

  “Hey, everything is set, I’m going to back it into the water.” Matt said to the guys. “Wrigley, can you stay in and unhook it?”

  “Yep!” He hollered as he climbed into the boat.

  They all did their thing as the boat got put in the water, Matt went and parked the truck, and Wrigley pulled up to the dock so we all could get in. Austin gave Aurora and me a helping hand, and I found a seat just behind the driver’s side.