“Same here, chica!”
“I brought bagels again,” Skyler says, tossing the bag in my lap. I’m still trying to process the fact that I have two girls in my bed right now.
“You da real MVP,” Shawna says, rummaging through it like a raccoon, hair a mess, mascara smeared from having my dick rammed down her throat last night.
Again, still processing here.
“How was the tournament?” I ask Skyler, propping my pillow up behind me.
“Long, but I won.” She waggles her eyebrows and I throw her a high five. “More importantly, how was the fucking Fratalina Wine Mixer?! Tell me everything.”
“Well, let’s see.” I rub my chin, the pieces of last night slowly coming together. “We had slap the bag tournaments. Ashlei and Bo actually won, believe it or not.”
“Those girls can drink some wine.”
“Indeed. And your Little showed up with that dude who bought her at the auction. She was dressed way differently than she usually is — all black, leather jacket, crazy makeup. Turned a lot of heads.”
“My Little?”
“Yep.”
“Cassie.”
“Cassie.”
Skyler chews on that for a moment. “Interesting.”
“Yeah. Your boyfriend was here, too,” I add, shifting a bit.
“Really? That’s awesome. I was afraid he wouldn’t come since I didn’t.”
“I think he enjoyed himself.”
She smiles. “That’s good.”
What I don’t tell her is that I didn’t just see Adam. In fact, I had a pretty drunken heart-to-heart with him after seeing the scene between him and Cassie unfold. I don’t know where the kid’s head is at, but I know for fucking sure that I’m not going to sit back and watch him dick Skyler or Cassie around — and I told him that. He assured me he would never hurt either of them, but I could see it on his face — confusion. Adam Brooks is caught up in a game I’m not even sure he knows he’s playing. By the time he left, I know I had his wheels spinning. I just hope he takes the time to think about what he wants right now.
“What about Ex?” Skyler asks as Shawna passes her the bagel bag, licking cream cheese spread off her fingers.
Focus, Bear.
“Yeah she was here for a while. She mostly hung around that dude from the auction.”
“She’s been weird lately. Distant. More controlling than normal.”
I laugh. “Is that possible?”
Skyler shakes her head. “I wish I was joking.”
The girls start talking about how Skyler got into poker and I take my opportunity to relieve myself. When I’m behind the bathroom door, I remember the interaction between Erin and me last night. She practically avoided me all night, which isn’t anything out of the normal, really, but when we did end up in the same place and I tried talking to her, she teared up, running out of the room without so much as a word.
And she was worried about me after we hooked up.
There’s a reason everyone calls her Ex.
I wash my hands and make my way back into my room, casually picking up the random trash from the night before. Skyler and Shawna are cuddled up, staring at something on Shawna’s phone and laughing.
“Are you cleaning?” Shawna asks.
“Just picking up a little.”
“Oh, can you put on a little apron?” Shawna sits up in bed, excited.
“Maybe use one of those little feather dusters?” Skyler adds.
“Yes! And talk with a French accent.”
They high five and I just stand there gaping.
“Shit,” I murmur, scrubbing my hands down my face. “I’m in real trouble with you two, aren’t I?”
They both giggle and settle back into the sheets, their direction fixed on the phone again. I shake my head just as a loud knock sounds at the front door.
“No making out while I’m gone.” I say pointedly, mostly to Skyler.
“No promises.” She winks and Shawna holds up two fingers, lewdly waving her tongue between them.
Lord help me.
I can’t quite shake that image from my head as I walk down the hall, but when I wade through the brothers sleeping on the floor and the trash spread everywhere and find Alec on the other side of the peep hole, my stomach drops.
Squinting at the sun as I open the door just a fraction, hoping to hide the mess inside from the one alumni who’s managed to shut us down for half a semester, I force a smile.
“Hey, Alec. What brings you by?”
His jaw is set, mouth in a thin line, and it dawns on me that I probably don’t want to know the answer to my own question.
“We need to talk.”
I’M DYING.
Death by sinus infection.
Rest in peace. And mounds of tissues.
When I woke up yesterday morning with a stiff jaw and heavy head, I knew I couldn’t push off going to the doctor any longer. If my voice wasn’t an indication that there was way too much mucus happening in my head, my puffy cheeks definitely were. So, after I helped Cassie channel her inner Christina Aguilera circa 2002, I dragged my snotty ass down to the health clinic and faced my verdict.
Severe sinus infection.
And, because my luck is just the best, I made it to the campus pharmacy six minutes after they’d closed for a mid-semester celebration, whatever the fuck that means. So not only did I have to miss the Fratalina Wine Mixer because I felt like shit, but I also couldn’t even get the meds started to make me feel better.
Perfect.
But, finally, here I am — in line to pay for my antibiotics and a can of condensed soup so I can start getting my life back on track. Spring Break is in a week, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be a snot head in a bikini come then.
“Jess?”
Shit.
Shit shit shit.
I don’t even want to turn around, but at this point, I’m busted. Moving slowly as if I’m in the presence of a poisonous snake, I force a smile, cringing simultaneously at the thought of what I look like right now just as Jarrett’s face comes into view.
Pissed is an understatement.
I wait for him to yell, scream, ask me why the hell I’ve been ignoring him — but instead, his eyes rake over my body, catching on the pharmacy bag clutched in my right hand.
“You’re sick.”
I chew my lip in response and he blows out a breath, closing his eyes for a short moment before springing into action. Snatching the soup from my hand, he walks it back to its place on the shelf with me trailing behind.
“What are you doing?”
“You don’t need to eat that processed shit if you’re sick.”
“It’s just a sinus infection.”
Setting the can back on the shelf with more force than necessary, Jarrett takes a breath before turning to face me. “Don’t argue with me right now, Jess.”
I swallow.
“I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you.”
“Is this why?” he asks, his expression pained.
“Mostly, yes.”
“Mostly?”
Ugh, this is the last thing I want to do right now. I was so close to soup and Netflix.
Jarrett runs a hand over his bald head before grabbing my hand. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” I ask, not really minding as long as I can have this view of Jarrett’s tight ass in the basketball shorts he’s wearing.
“We’re paying for your script, going to a real grocery store, and then back to my place.”
“Wait,” I interrupt, tugging my hand out of his grip. “Jarrett, I’m sick. I don’t want to…” I trail off. How do I say this lightly?
Hey Jarrett, can we lay off the fucking until I can breathe through my nose again? Kay thanks.
“We’re not going to,” he says as we reach the counter, taking my script from my hand and plopping it down in front of the cashier. She’s a student, probably a senior, with dead eyes that light up just marginally when
she sees Jarrett.
“I don’t understand.”
Jarrett pays for my script and then grabs my hand again, leading me out the door without another word.
I’VE BEEN IN JARRETT’S APARTMENT several times — hell, it’s practically the only place we can hook up outside of his truck or my car or some random public place. I’ve slept over, we’ve made breakfast together — but no matter what, it always began or ended with fucking each other senseless.
So being wrapped in his goose down comforter on his couch, homemade soup in hand while he finds a movie on Netflix and pulls me close to him, I’m a little uncomfortable.
My appetite has been virtually nonexistent for weeks now, but when I take the first bite of Jarrett’s homemade potato soup, I moan at the creamy deliciousness.
“This is amazing,” I mumble around my next bite. “Thank you.”
“It’s my mom’s recipe.”
I pause, spoon halfway to my mouth. “Really?”
He nods. “She, uh,” he pauses, sniffing. “She gave me the recipe before she passed.”
The air in his apartment takes on a heavier weight and it’s too much to even hold my spoon up. Letting it drop back into the soup, I reach out and gently touch his arm. “I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”
Jarrett covers my hand with his own and squeezes. “It’s all good, I was young. She had cancer. Classic kid-with-a-dead-parent sob story.”
I frown. “Don’t be like that.”
“Sorry. I’m fine, really. Honestly, I came to peace with my mom’s death a long time ago. What I can’t understand in this moment is why you’ve been ignoring me.” His dark eyes are hard on mine. “You said it’s mostly because you’re sick. What else?”
I take another bite, mainly to buy myself another minute to think. “Well, remember how you fucked me into admitting I was jealous over Spencer?” He nods. “I, uh, I saw you two together. At Pie Heaven.”
Jarrett sighs, rubbing his face. “I told you she’s just my boss’ daughter. We surfed that morning and grabbed lunch after.”
I shake my head. “Stop. You don’t need to explain yourself to me. I know we’re not together, and that’s why I’ve been avoiding you, because I shouldn’t feel jealous over who I see you with, Jarrett. Jealousy is dangerous. It leads to more intense feelings.”
He watches me carefully, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Come here.”
“Ew, I’m so gross right now.”
Jarrett fights a smile. “Jess, come here.”
I’m hesitant, but eventually comply, setting my bowl on the coffee table and maneuvering until we’re both lying on the couch spooning. Jarrett wraps his arms around me, tight, pulling me into him and kissing my bare shoulder. “You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met.”
I snicker, pulling the blanket up under my chin. “How long before I chase you away?”
He’s quiet for a moment, his free hand running through my hair, lulling me into a sedative state. “You can’t chase someone who’s not running.”
My heart accelerates at his words, but before I have the chance to call him out, he pushes play on the remote and we fall into a comfortable silence.
And that’s how the rest of the afternoon and night go. We cuddle, watch movies, talk, eat when necessary, and eventually crawl into bed around midnight. Jarrett tends to my every need, making sure I’m comfortable, bringing me my medication with a fresh glass of water when the time comes and making sure I eat. When he flicks off his bedroom light and slides into the sheets next to me, pulling me until I’m resting on his chest, and kisses my forehead sweetly, I feel it all press in around me.
I thought I would feel the fall. I thought I would crash on the cold hard ground and look around wondering what the hell happened. But the truth is, I fell slowly, softly — like a feather floating down, down, down into an undiscovered world.
And now, I’m scared there isn’t an option to go back to the person I was before.
Don’t forget to tweet about episode 3 using #PalmSouth and join the Facebook Discussion Group here.
Palm South University: Season 2, Episode 4
Kandi Steiner is a Creative Writing and Advertising/Public Relations graduate from the University of Central Florida living in Tampa with her husband, Ryan Steiner. Kandi works full time as a social media specialist, but also works part time as a Zumba fitness instructor and blackjack dealer.
When Kandi isn't working or writing, you can find her reading books of all kinds, talking with her extremely vocal cat, and spending time with her friends and family. She enjoys beach days, movie marathons, live music, craft beer and sweet wine - not necessarily in that order.
Connect with Kandi:
www.KandiSteiner.com
www.facebook.com/KandiSteiner
www.twitter.com/KandiSteiner
If you loved this book, please take a minute to review it on the site where you purchased it. Your time and thoughts are greatly appreciated and valued.
Palm South University: Season 2, Episode 3 (Palm South University #2) Page 4