New Love

by Alyson Reynolds

  “We didn’t want to tell you because you seemed so happy,” Brooke said, looking over at Caroline. “We’ve been talking, what do you think about coming to Texas for the summer?”

  I couldn’t afford that. There was no way. I started to shake my head.

  “Before you say no, we’re paying for everything,” Caroline said. “I want you to really think about this. It’ll be good for you to get away.”

  “You guys, that’s really sweet, but I can’t.” My eyes burned from trying to hold back the tears. I didn’t know if they were because of Caroline and Brooke’s kindness or because I had a lying cheating prick for a boyfriend. “I need to work during the summer. I can’t expect for my parents to foot the bill for everything next year. They’re helping as much as they can, but I don’t want to graduate with a huge amount of student loan debt.”

  Caroline gave me a sad smile. She wouldn’t push the issue, and for that I was incredibly grateful. “How about we see if Cora and Olivia want to leave for Charleston today instead of in the morning?”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, trying to sound more upbeat.

  Fake it until you make it, right?

  I started to text Cora when she and Olivia walked in the door of the café. They waved and went up to the counter to place their orders.

  “Don’t tell them about Chance,” I hissed. “I want to talk to him before we get our friends involved.”

  They both nodded, but neither looked like they wanted to go along with my idea. They probably wanted to get the girls opinion on if Chance was a cheating asshole or not. Cora and Olivia sat down and looked between the three of us.

  “What did we miss?” Olivia asked. “You guys look like we kicked your puppy.”

  Caroline and Brooke shared a look.

  “Ask her,” Brooke said, pointing in my direction.

  I took my time taking a long sip of my iced frappuccino. “It’s nothing.”

  Cora raised an eyebrow. “Did you forget we lived together for ten months? I know you better than that.”

  I shook my head. “Can we leave for Charleston tonight? I think it would be fun to have a girls’ night there instead of waiting until tomorrow morning.” I turned pleading eyes on Olivia. She would be the first one to cave.

  “Of course, but is everything okay? I feel like we’re missing something important,” she answered cautiously. “The guys can have a boy’s weekend or something. They’re pretty good at entertaining themselves when they need to. Chance went to the gym with them this morning.”

  I practically choked on my drink at the mention of his name. He always felt like Finn and Nate were trying to kill him at the gym. Personally, I thought they both had a sadistic infatuation with trying to make him puke when he joined it. The bastard deserved it.

  “Okay, you’ve got to tell us what’s going on,” Cora demanded. “And something is going on because when Olivia mentioned Chance you freaked out. I don’t like being left out of the loop.”

  I sighed. “Everything is fine. I didn’t choke because Olivia mentioned Chance.” I winced at his name. “I just…swallowed wrong.”

  Cora narrowed her eyes.

  Fuck it.

  “Fine,” I finally said. “Everything isn’t alright. I think Chance cheated on me.”

  Cora and Olivia sucked in a breath. “What? He’s so smitten with you,” Olivia said.

  “Not to mention he worked his ass off trying to convince you to go out with him,” Cora said.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and balled my fists up against them.

  I would not start crying over this jerk.

  “Remember how we were supposed to go to Niagara Falls for spring break? And then how it kept getting pushed back?” They both nodded. “We were supposed to go during summer break, but that didn’t happen. Chance freaked out that we were moving too fast and called off the trip. I ended up going to see my parents instead. I was ready to break up with him, but he convinced me that it was just a momentary freak out. We’d only been dating for a few months, so I decided he wasn’t completely out of line.” I sighed. “Last night, some of Lila’s friends were at the party. They must have seen me and Chance together and started running their mouths.”

  “Caroline and I heard one of the girls bragging that she’d slept with Chance recently. She mentioned a specific party, and Hannah was able to figure it out when we told her,” Brooke said, fisting her hands.

  “Asshole needs to get a taste of his own medicine,” Caroline muttered.

  Olivia and Cora looked bewildered.

  “Yes, Chance was a manwhore before he met you, but all he talks about it you. I—” Cora cut Olivia off.

  “Wait, who did you guys hear this from? What did she look like?”

  Caroline tilted her head to the side. “Red head, like dark burgundy red. She was wearing a black dress and ridiculously high heels last night. The girl looked like she was going clubbing, not hanging out at a house party.”

  “Lila,” Olivia spat out. “That bitch used to feed the drama between me and Nate. I can’t believe she’s still on this campus after everything she’s done. She’s a nasty piece of work and I’d probably kick her ass if I ran across her alone in a dark alley.”

  “Why would she say it if it wasn’t true?” I asked.

  “To get under your skin.” Cora reached over and patted my hand. “Honey, women are jealous bitches. They’ll do anything to get what they want, including spreading lies about someone they want to sleep with.”

  “Do you think there’s a chance that he’s innocent?” I was scared to even hope. This guy was sweet and he liked me. I really wanted him to be a victim in all this. Lila didn’t have the best track record, so it was highly possible that she was jealous.

  Olivia gave me a hopeful smile. “It’s very possible. Let’s go to Charleston tonight. I’ve got a few friends around campus that would like nothing more than to take down Lila Tate. We’ll get to the bottom of this, sweetie.”

  ____

  The girls were true to their word. We drove to Charleston listening to every ‘90’s girl power ballad we could remember. I found myself smiling instead of on the verge of tears, and I couldn’t be more thankful for their intervention. As much as I hadn’t originally wanted to tell Cora and Olivia about what was going on, I was thankful that they were so perceptive of my mood. They were better friends than I gave them credit for. Without Caroline and Brooke, I’d felt lost in Raleigh, but here with Cora and Olivia, I felt like I had a support system.

  Just like when I left Will. All my other friends thought I was stupid for leaving a seemingly perfect relationship. Sure it looked great from the outside, but in reality, it was a clusterfuck of epic proportions.

  Will was sweet in the beginning, but as time went on in our relationship, he became clingier with each passing day. I could barely go to class without him showing up to walk me to my next one. Girls’ nights were out of the question. It got to the point where if I wanted to do anything by myself he accused me of cheating on him. Then came the berating comments trying to keep me in line. Maybe it was small changes and that’s why it took me so long to pick up on the fact he was controlling my entire life. Or maybe it was because all of my friends saw his as a doting, committed boyfriend. Either way, it wasn’t a good situation and I couldn’t be happier to be out of it.

  “We’re almost to the hotel,” Olivia said from the front seat, pulling me from my memories. “Do we want to stop for dinner first, or go straight there?”

  “Straight there so we can get ready for dinner and clubbing,” Brooke chimed in.

  I arched an eyebrow at Caroline, who was sitting next to me in the back seat. She grinned and mouthed girls’ trip to me. Of course Brooke wanted to go out and have fun.

  “I think we should dress up Hannah and show her a good time,” Cora said smirking. “Fuck all this drama. She needs some fun.”

  I started to shake my head, but Caroline and Olivia both nodded in agreement. My fate was seale
d. That’s how I found myself in a short jean skirt and cowboy boots. Between all the girls, Texas and South Carolina combined, we all had pairs of boots and agreed that we needed to find a country bar to go dancing. I wasn’t expecting to be dressed up like a slutty country Barbie doll, but I decided to go with the flow tonight. Shy Hannah could take a backseat for one night.

  As we stood at the bar waiting for drinks, a cute guy with blonde hair and a gorgeous smile walked up. I stepped back to let him move forward, but he turned to grin at me. His green eyes flashed as he looked me up and down. Amazingly, it wasn’t done in a creepy way. The look on his face said he appreciated what he saw. He held his hand out to shake mine.

  “I’m Corbin.”

  I flushed. “Hannah.”

  Cora hooked her arm in mine and gave me a sly smile. “Hannah was just saying how much she wanted to dance.”

  “I don’t—that is—” I stammered.

  “It’s a good thing I like to dance then.” Corbin winked and took my arm from Cora. “I promise I’ll take good care of your friend.”

  I let him lead me out to the dance floor. The shushing sound of our boots against the hardwood was almost comforting. That is if I wasn’t dancing with a complete stranger and mortified that Cora had pimped me out. Caroline and Brooke both gave me thumbs ups as his back turned towards them. My face flushed and Corbin smiled again.

  “Are they telling you they approve?” he teased.

  “Oh god, I need new friends.”

  He laughed. “No, it’s awesome that they look out for you. I’m here with a few friends of my own, but they aren’t nearly as awesome. We saw your group walk in and I planned to buy you a drink, but—”

  “Cora embarrassed the hell out of me first.”

  He smiled. “Something like that.”

  I fought back my answering grin. Corbin really was handsome. He had the small town boy look down pat. As the music slowed down he pulled me in closer. For a second I panicked, thinking about Chance, but when I realized I didn’t know what Chance and I were anymore, I relaxed against Corbin.

  “You’re a good dancer,” I said softly. “Not many guys I know actually like to dance.”

  He gripped my hips a little tighter. “My last girlfriend hated it actually.”

  I frowned. “That’s stupid. A guy who likes to dance and is good at it is a unicorn. She should’ve been happy as hell to be so lucky.”

  “If I call her, will you tell her you said that?”

  I laughed. “Only if you tell my ex that dancing won’t kill him and it tends to get guys laid more often.”

  Corbin’s eyes flashed.

  Son of a bitch.

  “I didn’t mean—”

  He smiled again, showing off his perfect teeth. “It’s fine. I know what you mean. Most women like a guy that can move.”

  The song ended and I reluctantly pulled away. I felt bad. Where was my loyalty to Chance? I wasn’t even certain he’d cheated on me. This guy was an unknown and I certainly shouldn’t be flirting with him. It’s not that I was doing anything wrong dancing with someone else, we weren’t even all that close, but shouldn’t I be feeling guilty or something?

  “You and your friends are welcome to join us,” I said as we walked back towards the bar. “Half of our group is taken, the other half is free to flirt.”

  He cocked his head as he looked at me. “And what about you, Hannah?”

  “Me?” I squeaked.

  He laughed. “I did just walk up to you out of nowhere and ask you to dance.”

  I grinned. “Technically Cora put you on the spot.”

  “Are you avoiding my question?”

  “Maybe.” I sighed. “There’s a guy back home. This night is sort of for me to feel better about the shit going on with my…boyfriend.”

  He grabbed at his heart playfully. “Why are all the gorgeous girls always taken?”

  I gave him an awkward smile. “I’ve got two gorgeous friends sitting at that table over there.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but there’s a reason I walked up to you.”

  God, this guy was a charmer. Or just really skilled at getting into girls’ panties. Either way, he was saying all the right things.

  “I should probably go find my friends,” I said softly.

  He nodded and I turned to walk away. “Hey Hannah?”

  I turned back.

  “Don’t put up with this guy’s shit. If he doesn’t realize what he has, dump his ass.”

  I grinned. “Thanks Corbin.”

  Chance

  When I still hadn’t heard from Hannah the next day I started to panic. Surely if she’d heard something she would ask me or let me tell her my side of the story? Nate and Finn did have the decency to tell me that the girls had ended up driving to Charleston the night before in Finn’s new Denali. I decided instead of pathetically waiting around for Hannah’s call I would go running to clear my head.

  I was out of the apartment in minutes after sliding on my running shoes and shoving earbuds into my ears. The muggy day was miserable. I took off my shirt and tucked it into my back pocket after only a mile. As miserable as it was, I kept running. At the end of four miles I was dead on my feet. The only thing that would cool off this heat was a summer storm rolling in from the ocean and that probably wouldn’t happen for another few hours.

  There was a place on the beach that we went for bonfires and for some reason I was craving the lulling sound of the waves rolling in. It took me a few minutes to jog the last few blocks back to my apartment to grab my keys. My roommates were still asleep when I left for the second time. No wonder frat guys had such a horrible reputation. It was almost two in the afternoon and they were still out. Most of them had been drunk by nine last night and I would bet this month’s rent that the same thing would happen again tonight. I shook my head. Thank goodness I’d outgrown that bullshit. I stopped short when I realized that Hannah was the reason I’d pulled myself together.

  As soon as I hit the sand, I pulled off my shoes and carried them to the old logs we’d drug out onto the small patch of beach we frequented. It was ten degrees cooler here with the breeze coming off the ocean. The remnants of a recent fire were in the big pit, probably another group of undergrads making memories.

  I smiled as I thought back to the first night I’d met Hannah. She looked like she was having fun, but something about her was more reserved than every other drunken college kid around the fire. I watched her carefully as the night went on, wanting to know more about her. Finn had got pissed at me for talking to Cora, but all I was trying to do was find out who her gorgeous roommate was. He’d threatened to knock me out if I hurt Cora. It was the first time I realized he had a huge thing for her.

  Cora was a kindred spirit though, not someone I was attracted to. Some people hate the peace and quiet. I’m one of those people and something tells me that Cora’s the same way. Sometimes you see a darkness in her eyes when you don’t expect it. There are all sorts of reasons people choose not to live in those quiet moments. I didn’t talk about mine. Ever. It belonged in the past, but some days, no matter how hard I tried, those memories crept up.

  I sat down in the sand and leaned back on one of the big logs; running my fingers into the sand and letting it soothe me. Today was one of those days that the memories were fighting to come out with a vengeance. And for some reason I felt like indulging in the self-pity and hatred I normally kept at bay. I closed my eyes and let the nightmares take over.

  Clarissa stared at me from over the top of my car with her big brown doe eyes, tempting me to say yes. It was hard for me to tell her no for anything. But I knew I shouldn’t be driving, not after the four beers I’d had. We were celebrating; it was prom night, no harm in a few drinks as long as we weren’t dumb about it. She’d had a few herself, which is why I wouldn’t let her drive home. I might have been stupid for drinking underage, but I wasn’t completely irresponsible.

  I tossed my keys over the car to Miles.
r />   “Make sure she gets home safe.” I turned back to my beautiful girlfriend. “Baby, I’ll be there first thing in the morning and we can tell your parents your decision about school. I’m so happy that you’re going to Duke with me.”

  She circled around the end of the car and pulled me into a hug. “I’m really excited for our future. Plus, they’ll deal better if we tell them about married student housing together.”

  I grinned. “Your daddy’s gonna kill me.”

  She giggled and ran her nose up the column of my neck before placing a soft kiss under my ear. “Maybe, but just think of the fun we’re going to have.”

  Miles made a fake gagging sound. “Can you two stop with the cutesy stuff for once? We all know you’re the perfect couple. Enough already.”

  “You’re just jealous,” I said, tucking Clarissa under my arm.

  He grinned. “Of my best friends finally making the right decision about their future?” He acted like he was thinking. “Of course I am you idiot. You guys have to find me a girlfriend.”

  “Deal,” she said, her eyes lighting up.

  I shook my head, fighting back a laugh. “You guys need to go. Clarissa’s parents said she needed to be home by two.” I kissed her forehead. “And if we’re going to have some serious conversations tomorrow, we should probably follow the rules tonight.”

  She pouted, but I could tell she was teasing. “Call me as soon as you wake up tomorrow?”

  “The second.”

  I opened her door and made sure her dress stayed inside as I closed it after her. Miles leaned on the roof of the car. “You guys have something that some people never find in their lifetime.”

  “Thanks for being DD tonight.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t drink, you know that.”

  Nope, not after all the shit that his alcoholic father pulled. I doubted I would ever see a drop of alcohol pass his lips.

  “Let’s go play basketball tomorrow afternoon, if I can get away from Clarissa’s parents that is.”