“Say what?” I raised my eyebrows.
“I'm just saying.”
“What do you mean Jay is trying to keep us away from each other?”
“He doesn't want me with you because he wants you all to himself.”
“That could be true, but let's focus on the reality, Cynthia. Jay has the right to say you can’t come.”
“How?”
“He's paying for my ticket and worried about Pipe. Neither one of us is thinking that this is a road trip of fun. We're both focused on Pipe.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right. You’ll end up finding Pipe and then partying off in Miami as usual.”
“Let's drop this.” I returned to packing.
“You shouldn't be alone with him. You know how you are when he's around.”
I grabbed a mini black dress and an aqua-colored bikini.
“You shouldn’t wear that,” she continued. “Jay is being outrageous.”
Never had I dealt with a situation like this. Men had been easier in high school. I dated them, had fun, and broke up. In college, it didn’t get that much more complicated. After I ended it with a guy, we saw each other around town or on campus, but no problem ever occurred.
Since getting in that trio with Jay and Cynthia, I learned a whole lot about how someone can fuck up the peace in their life. These two never left after the breakup. Instead, they came at me harder. A lot of it was my fault if I had to be real with myself. I should've never kissed Cynthia back.
Who knew my slutty little lips would gain me stalkers?
Cynthia hugged herself, which worried me more than anything. I didn't have time for an emotional breakdown. Thankfully, her uncle had stopped calling her since she filed the police report. Her whole family knew about the abuse—although none of them, especially her mother and aunt, thought she was telling the truth. Those were the type of people who were in charge of loving her—women who would rather choose to believe she lied about being molested than to sit down, consider the facts, and face the truth of her pain. An investigation was launched into her accusations. Her uncle was popular enough for the media to raise concerns in the state of Florida and the fashion world. Cynthia had a lawyer file a case in civil court and a therapist she saw twice a week.
She’ll be fine. I can’t be her goddamn guardian angel anymore.
Regardless, none of that stopped her nightmares or the fact that she found most people's touch uncomfortable. Well, besides mine. After a major nightmare, I let her sleep with me until the last few nights where her arms kept crossing over my waist and her body began to smooth in too close to mine.
If I was fair with myself, she creeped me out daily. Jay's confession served as the stamp of confirmation on the looney document. Yeah. I have to nip this in the bud. She’ll be fine. We’ll have a woman to woman talk. The whole ride back to my dorm, I considered moving out of my room immediately, maybe even crashing with one of my buddies until another room became available.
I hated to do that, but just because I spotted a friend going down in a sinking boat didn't mean I had to jump in the vessel and drown with them. I could jump off, swim back to land, and phone for help.
I can help her from a distance. I won't leave her alone, but I won't be chained to her crazy ass either.
“I have no problem flying down with you.” Cynthia hurried to her dresser as if there was no need for an invitation when it came to my goings and comings. “Jay isn't the only one with some extra cash. I can't get a flight tonight, maybe not the same one, but we can share a hotel room. I bet that would just piss him off. He would be screaming how I'm cock-blocking. Whatever, like you always say—”
“Cynthia!” I raised my hands to my forehead and closed my eyes. “Let's just stop right here. You're not going with me.”
“What do you mean?”
Jesus. Why do I feel like a cheating husband talking to his annoying wife as he packs to go off and be dirty?
“Jay and I are going to find Pipe. I'll see you when I get back.” I massaged my temples.
“And...so now you're also saying I can't come? You do realize that Miami is a free city for anyone to go to?”
I opened one eye. “Come again?”
“I'm just saying. Neither one of you can stop me from going to check on Pipe.”
“You’ve gotten cocky, Cynthia.”
“A lot has happened this school year.” Sometimes she cried herself to sleep, and I believed she whispered her father’s name. But my sympathy for her decreased the more uneasy she made me.
I won’t let her bulldoze me into coming along. Stand strong.
Sighing, I dropped my hands and opened the other eye. “You're not going to Miami. If you choose to go, just because the spirit has overtaken you, then I advise you to do so...in a way where I don't bump into you.”
She formed her lips into a straight line.
Fine. You're mad. I'm scared about Pipe, so I'm not in the best mood either. Let's stop now.
Cynthia shook her head. “Can you explain to me why I can’t—”
“Really?!”
“You're not even letting me finish.”
“Take a hint.”
“Jay has just gotten in your head and—”
“What the fuck, Cynthia? Why fight to make people invite you?”
“Because one of my friends could be in danger of having a douchebag hover over her the whole trip.”
“That douchebag you're talking about is also my best friend for many years.” I held my finger up. “Be careful.”
“He hurt you too.”
I pointed at her. “And you had a part to play in that hurt.”
Her face tinted to red. “I...”
Well, since we're going there.
“Jay said you stalk me. Is that true?” I asked.
She parted her lips, but no words came out.
“Granted, he said that he saw you stalking me because he was also stalking me. That's not really the point. Why are you following me around?”
“Sometimes, I'm bored.” She placed her hands behind her back. The whole time she looked at an area over my shoulder instead of targeting her gaze to my eyes.
“You follow people around when you're bored?”
“No.” She stepped forward. “I follow you around when I'm bored.”
I edged back. “That's weird. I don't like it.”
She got closer. “I'll stop.”
The unease still didn't leave my chest. “I...umm. You know what? We have to talk more about this later. I can't deal with this now, but...things are going to change.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think that our closeness has created some confusion around us.”
“I'm not confused.” She stepped toward me again.
What is she doing? If she comes closer, I'm going to sock her. I can't deal with this now. I need to find Pipe.
For a quick second, my thoughts shifted to Pipe. In my head, he’d raced out of the hospital wearing a huge black cape that rippled at the end. In my vision, the perverted caped crusader rushed away past sleeping nurses. Haunting music played in the background. It rained. Lightning crackled. Thunder boomed. Shadows shielded his face as he escaped.
“Evie?”
I returned my attention back to Cynthia. “What?”
“What are you confused about?”
I tapped my chest. “I have to admit that I’m a bit uneasy around you.”
“Why?”
“Your stalking is a good example of what makes me nervous.”
“I said I was bored.” Her bottom lip shivered. That meant she was either about to have a mental breakdown or lying.
I was glad I was leaving soon.
“Don't follow me anymore,” I said.
“Okay.”
“I also think we will not...well, we shouldn't...”
“What?”
“Be roommates anymore. It's just that this is starting to get uncomfortable.”
“What do y
ou mean?” She came closer. Barely half a foot existed between us.
Who stood so close like that but a person ready to swoop in for some dramatic kiss? Right when I decided to tell her to back up, she soared down on me with puckered lips and closed eyes.
Okay. I need to explain this differently.
I punched her.
My fist connected with soft flesh. Her eyes opened. She fell back with an open mouth. Hurt swam in her gaze. Guilt filled my core, but I ignored it. Sometimes words couldn't break down the truth of the matter. Other times, force had to be used to make the message clearer. Mom said I resorted to my fists too much. Sometimes people ignored my statement but had a strong understanding of my punch.
Mom shook her head. “You're so violent. You keep punching people all the time, and you'll have no friends.”
“Who cares?”
“I do. I'll end up having no grandkids.”
“How do grandkids even factor into that statement?”
“No man wants to be with an abusive woman.”
“I'm not that violent.”
“I regret the day Jay taught you how to right hook people. You completely just went with it. Didn't you?”
“Ah!” Cynthia gasped and fell back to her bed. There was no way I had hit her that hard. Granted, I'd been ready to unleash a big one. Stress raged throughout me, and the last thing I needed was to have some odd conversation with her.
“You hit me!” Cynthia rubbed her stomach.
“You were trying to kiss me.”
“But—”
“I'm moving out of this room,” I blurted out.
“What? That's not fair. Why are you moving?”
“This is weird.”
“But Evie!”
“You just tried to kiss me!”
“We’ve done it before.”
“And I said I didn’t mean it.”
She rang her fists into the air. “I can’t help how I feel.”
“Me either, Cynthia, and my feelings don’t run your way.”
A gasp escaped her mouth. And then the tears came.
Let’s just set the stage for a big production. I don’t know what you got from your dad, but you picked up your acting from your mother.
She buried her face into her hands and cried. “What’s going to happen to me?”
Another fist to your face, if you try to kiss me again.
“I just can't do this right now.” I put my back to her and shoved more things into my bag—books, socks, panties, and anything else I could rush to get my hands on.
“Can we...” Cynthia choked on her own tears. “Can we discuss this more before you go?”
No way. That's the last thing I want to do. She was going to kiss me. Has she completely lost it?
“Evie, you have to hear me out.” She got on my side. “I was just so stressed out that you were leaving all of a sudden, and I figured maybe I could just—”
“What, kiss me? What would that even get you?”
“I just wanted you to see how important I am to you.”
“By kissing me?” I zipped up my bag. Who even knew if everything I needed was in the luggage. Jay said he'd be back in thirty minutes. Time had flown by after coming into my room, hurrying to explain everything to Cynthia, and then the crazy discussion ensued.
Jay would be back soon.
“I kissed you because I like you. There.” Cynthia captured her bottom lip with her teeth. “I like you a lot.”
“Cynthia, I don't see you that way.”
“But we kissed in Miami.”
“I was drunk and anxious. I saw you were a hurt person who needed me. I don't know. We don't try to rationalize why I kiss people when I'm drunk.”
“But you did kiss me.”
I blew out a long breath. “And I regret it.”
Silence balanced on a shaky, invisible string between us. I'd been in some moments where tension built. That instant rose to the highest level of holy-shit-can-I-get-the-hell-out-of-here-before-I-vomit moments.
“Seriously?” Water glazed over those beautiful blue eyes. “You regret kissing me?”
“Yes.”
“Evie, it was so good.”
I attempted a bad joke. “I'm a pretty good kisser.”
More tears spilled from her eyes.
I shouldn't have made the joke. That was such a Jay thing to do. Try to make light of a serious situation. I'm so bad at this shit.
She rose and stormed off. My body filled with sand or some hard thing that made it difficult for me to move or breathe. The bathroom door slammed behind her. Sobbing blanketed the space. Her cries swarmed around me as I finished up. High pitched noises shifting into muffled groans.
I should knock on the door and console her, but then that’s going to make her think I'm being more of a friend.
I'd been that woman. A guy broke my heart, then rushed to hold me. The whole time his arms wrapped around mine, on the inside, I figured there was a little spark of hope for us to reunite.
No. This is fucked up. I should just leave her alone. I have to make this clear. Stop punking out all the time, Evie.
Nina Simone singing “Sinnerman” filled the room. I quickly checked my phone.
Jay: I'm parking. I'll be up in a sec.
Me: No. Don’t come up. I'm ready. Give me a minute. I'll come down.
Jay: Let me help u.
Me: I got it, Prince Charming.
Jay: Ur a hard woman to please.
Me: I'm just one of the boys. Ur buddy. Nothing else.
Jay: The hell u are!
An exasperated breath escaped my lips.
Now I have to deal with this one. Let’s hope I don’t have to punch him too.
Chapter Five
Everything was a fast-paced chase.
In the cool night's wind, we rushed to pack our bags in Jay's car, raced down the highway, and ran through the airport just in time to go through all the bullshit airline things and barely make it to the gate.
I would've worn sneakers if I'd known it would be a marathon. Instead, I'd dressed for comfortable traveling—Einstein T-shirt that smoothed to my body due to so much wear, tiny shorts I usually slept in or wore when I was bumming around town, and flip-flops adorned in mathematical equations, another Pipe just-because gift.
Jay and I thought alike. A green and yellow T-shirt covered his upper body. Cat claws ripped through the letter C. Under that pesky shirt, I guessed his shorts hung low and showed off the delicious curves of his lower abdominal muscles. He also wore Reebok flip-flops. He was a cheerleader's wet dream all packaged in muscle and heated testosterone.
We'd both been checking each other out throughout the whole rushed process, a few glances from me here and there when I thought he wasn't looking. His gaze decorated my flesh with longing. Each time he studied my thighs, my skin warmed. Every time he peered at my breasts, he grunted and looked the other way.
This is going to be a long trip.
Once in the gate, we jogged onto the plane. Our missing the flight had been that close. I hadn't even had time to check our seat numbers and assumed Jay bought typical coach seats.
“No, Evie. You’re going too far down. Right here.” He pointed to the third row in first class. A plush seat big enough to sit two people stared back at me.
“How much did these cost?” I asked.
“Not much.” He gestured for me to get in.
“They had to be a lot. I know this is a red eye flight, but—”
“My money is fine. We're being inconvenienced a bit with this emergency. Why not enjoy this trip together?”
“Together?”
He sighed. “We are two people on a trip to see if our best friend is okay. That's it.”
My phone beeped. Getting into my seat, I hurried to check it before the Nazi Stewardesses forced me to turn off all electrical devices. Giddiness rushed through me when I spotted the name.
Lamm: Are we skyping tonight?
Me: I can't. So so
rry. I'm going to Miami to check on my friend.
Lamm: Everything okay? Can I help?
I grinned.
Me: Ur too sweet. No. Everything should be ok. I'm on the plane now. I'll text u when I get to Miami.
Lamm: Be safe. There will be a video in ur inbox by the time U arrive in Miami.
My body numbed into a delicious sensation. I leaned into my seat and licked my lips as I texted him again.
Me: U spoil me.
Lamm: U deserve it.
“What type of video?” Jay loudly asked.
I turned. Jay had leaned all the way into me and plastered his gaze on my phone's screen.
“Excuse me?” I hid my phone’s screen.
His voice came out low. “What type of video is Mary’s Little Lamb sending you?”
“None of your business.”
“So he's spoiling you, huh?” The line in Jay's jaw twitched as he fell back into his seat. “That's what you like nowadays? Guys jacking off in your inbox? That's spoiling you, huh?”
“What?” I scrunched up my face in horror. “Why would you say guys are jacking off in my inbox?”
“I'm not dating, but I am in the locker room. Everyone's always sending videos to chicks of them jacking off. Looks like your little lamb is going to shoot a load into your email, tonight. How romantic.”
“You're disgusting.” I rubbed my tongue on the roof of my mouth as if something disgusting clung to my mouth. “Lamm would never do that.”
“Then what is the video?”
“None of your business.”
Jay grabbed the phone from me.
“Give that back.” I hit his hard arm.
He held the phone out of my reach. “What’s the video about?”
“You have serious, serious problems. The video is him playing the piano. He's a music major, asshole. He knows how much I love it when he plays for me, so he asks me to tell him songs I want to hear. He spends a few days learning them, and then he records himself doing it.”
He handed the phone back. “Piano playing?”
“Yes. Unlike you and your pervert squad of football players, there are men who exist in the world who can play with other things besides their dicks. And these guys think with something else besides their dicks when courting a woman.”
“Sure, because that's exactly what I did, right?” He twirled his hand in the air. “I just wagged my dick around and mumbled impure statements.”
The COMPLETE Coventon Campus Series: Books I, II, & III Page 34