Summer Fling (Players of Marycliff University Book 1)

by MacMillan, Jerica

  When he finally turned to look at Abby, there were tears glittering in her eyes. She smiled at him, and he pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her, burying his face in her hair.

  He held her for a moment, and then lifted her chin to kiss her. He could taste the salt of her tears on her lips.

  He broke away and looked into her eyes. "Goodbye, Abby. I—" He stopped, warring with himself over what to say next. He swallowed. "I'll miss you."

  She kissed him once more. "Goodbye, Lance. I'll miss you, too."

  She pulled back, and walked to her car. He watched her climb in and pull away with a wave. He held up his hand and then got in his own car.

  Looking in the direction she drove away, he said what he'd almost said to Abby. "Goodbye, Abby. I love you."

  * * *

  Abby heard a groan when she opened the door to her apartment.

  She flipped on the light switch by the door and the groaning doubled. "Dude! Turn off the lights!"

  Matt was the one who'd spoken from his place on the floor. He rolled onto his side and pulled Megan's fuzzy green blanket over his head.

  Chris was moaning on the couch, covered by the comforter from Megan's bed, with his arm thrown over his face.

  Abby took pity on them and turned off the lights again, plunging the room back into gloom. Chris and Matt both let out moans of relief.

  A thud came from the direction of the bedrooms, and then Megan walked into the living room. She leaned against the wall, taking in Abby's messy hair and puffy red eyes. She didn't say anything, just walked over and put her arms around Abby, pulling her into a hug.

  The show of concern was all it took to push Abby over the edge again, and the tears began to flow. She'd only made it a few blocks from Lance's house before she had to pull over because she couldn't see through her tears. She'd sat on a side street in a random neighborhood sobbing. She didn't know how long she'd sat there waiting for the worst of it to pass so she could drive the rest of the way home. She'd managed to hold back long enough to get home, but now she couldn't any more. She didn't need to.

  After a few moments, Abby felt another pair of arms slide around them from behind her. They were muscular and a little hairy. The smell of stale beer and the feel of a large body pressing into her made her lift her head and look over her shoulder. Chris smiled, and gave a little squeeze. She managed a slight curve of her lips in return.

  Then Matt was there, wrapping his arms around all of them, and Abby let out a choked laugh through her tears.

  Megan pushed the guys off. "Alright, alright. Let's give the girl some room to breathe."

  Chris and Matt dropped their arms and backed up a couple steps, Chris unashamedly scratching himself before heading to the bathroom. Abby watched him walk off while Matt dropped onto the couch to lie down again.

  Abby managed to muster up a little curiosity. "What are they doing here?"

  Megan shrugged. "We were at a party and they said they couldn't go home. I figured we could do an exchange. Since you were at their house, they came to ours."

  Abby nodded as though that made perfect sense. Then she looked Megan over again. She looked tired, but without the usual wince that occupied her face the day after a party. "Why don't you have a hangover like they do?"

  Megan smiled. "I was the DD. I figured you'd need me today, and I'm useless with a hangover."

  Abby felt more tears gathering in her eyes at Megan's thoughtfulness. Megan reached out and rubbed her arm. Then turned her head and shouted, "Hey! You guys can go home now."

  Matt flinched in his spot on the couch. "Shit, Megan. Why so loud?"

  Megan went and yanked her comforter off him. He reached out for it, but she flicked it out of reach. "Because if I'm loud, you'll be more likely to leave just to save yourself."

  Matt sat up, running a hand over his face, grumbling to himself. Megan went over and banged on the bathroom door. "Move your ass, loser! My girl's home, so that means you can have your place back. Go piss and moan there."

  Chris opened the door and gave Megan a death glare. She just smiled brightly at him. He retrieved his shirt from the corner of the living room and put it on. He picked up his keys and wallet from the kitchen table. "C'mon, Matt. Let's get out of here before she starts bitch slapping us to make us leave."

  Megan laughed loudly, and both guys winced. They groaned at the sunshine when they opened the front door, but left without further protest.

  "Alright, the boys are gone." Megan pushed Abby onto the couch, took the keys out of her nerveless fingers, and the flip flops off her feet. She put them into Abby's bedroom. "So, what do you need? Ice cream? Wine? Beer? Something harder?"

  Abby just leaned her head back against the couch with her eyes closed, letting more tears slip out. Megan made a low sound of distress and climbed onto the couch next to Abby, pulling her into another hug and rubbing her back. "Let it out. You'll feel better if you just let it out."

  Abby clung to Megan, and did what she said.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  "There you are."

  Lance pocketed his phone and turned to face his mom. "Hey, Mom. What's up?"

  She closed the door to the home office behind her then stood there, eyes searching Lance's face. "I looked around and couldn't find you. It's your welcome home party. Why are you hiding out in here?"

  Lance shrugged and looked away, clenching and unclenching his teeth, trying to keep his frustration inside and not take it out on his mom. It wasn't her fault he felt like this. "I told you I didn't want you to set me up, but you've been running girls at me all night."

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking up at him. Lance had been taller than his mom for years, but she still gave him that look that made him feel like a misbehaving little boy. "I was trying to invite people your age. Some of them are young women. I've never known you to be unhappy about having attractive young women talking to you."

  He looked away again, not knowing what to say.

  "Who is she, Lance?" Her voice was soft and knowing.

  His eyes snapped back to his mom. "What do you mean?"

  "Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what I mean. You've been home for a week now, and grumpier than I've ever seen you. Except sometimes you're looking at your phone when you think no one's watching, and you have this smile on your face. You look so happy. And now you're being almost rude to the young ladies here that are trying to get to know you. The only thing I can think is that you met a girl this summer that you didn't bother telling me about. So, you're going to sit down and tell me now. Who is she?"

  His mom's soft voice held an unmistakable command, so Lance sat down in the desk chair, his head in his hands. He waited for her to pull out the folding chair they kept in there before he started talking. "Her name's Abby."

  "Where did you meet her?"

  A faint smile ghosted his lips. "At a party. She spilled her drink all over both of us and I offered her a ride home. She had said she was ready to go, but hadn't driven herself."

  "When was that?"

  "Mid June."

  His mom let out a soft gasp. "June? You've been seeing this girl since June?" She waited for his nod of affirmation. "And you never said anything. Why would you keep this from me when I ask every single week?"

  He ran his hands through his hair and sat back in the chair. "Why bother, Mom? It couldn't go anywhere. She still has two years left of school and I had to come back here to work with Dad." He couldn't keep the bitterness from biting into his tone.

  His mom's eyes narrowed. "I know you were never excited about coming back here to work with your father, but—"

  "But what, Mom? The deal was that you guys would pay for school if I came back. You held up your end of the bargain, so now I'm holding up mine." He spat out the last sentence, then looked away from his mother's reproachful face. He felt like an ass for taking out his anger on her, but couldn't stop himself.

  "Lance, I taught you better than to interrupt me
when I'm talking to you." He still wouldn't look at her. "Look at my face." He raised his head, taking in her flaring nostrils and the thin set of her lips.

  "Why do you think I asked you that question every week?" He shrugged. "When you went away for college I told your father, 'That boy is going to find someone while he's gone, and it'll be the worst thing we ever do if we make him come back.'"

  Lance leaned forward in the chair again, his elbows on his thighs, his head hanging down, unable to maintain eye contact while his mom told him this. But she wouldn't let him off the hook that easily. He knew it, and so he wasn't surprised when she walked to him and put her hands on his shoulders. She cupped his jaw in her hand and gently lifted his face. "Do you love this girl, Lance?"

  "Yes." There. He'd finally admitted it out loud to another person. Not the person who should've heard it first, though.

  His mom's eyes examined his face. "Does she love you?"

  "Yes."

  She pulled her chair closer to him and sat back down. "Tell me all about her. I want to know everything."

  Lance couldn't help smiling a little, thinking that she might not want to know everything, but pulled out his phone to show her pictures and tell her about their summer together.

  She asked questions, pushing for more details sometimes, wanting to get a clear picture of the woman her son had finally fallen in love with.

  After a while she looked at the clock. "Look at that! We've been up here for an hour. I'm surprised your father hasn't come looking for us. We'd better get back to the party. But, Lance? You either need to go back to her or get her to come down here."

  Lance shook his head. "She can't come here. She still needs to finish school, and her mom …"

  She nodded. "Okay, then. You'll go back there. We'll start planning after everyone goes home tonight."

  "But, Dad—"

  "You let me worry about your father." With a final pat on the cheek, she left him sitting in the office, feeling dazed by what had just happened.

  * * *

  Abby dropped her bag on the floor and flopped down on the couch. Thank God it was Friday. Megan had connected Abby with the temp agency she'd worked for all summer, and today was the last day of Abby's temp job. She'd decided she wasn't going to take another one. Classes were starting again in just over a week, which meant her job with the Foreign Language Department would start again. She wanted a week to just relax before getting back into everything.

  She was exhausted. The temp job had served its purpose as a distraction since Lance left two weeks ago. The extra cash had been nice, too. But working constantly in an unfamiliar environment, trying to stay on top of someone else's job while they were out, and not enough sleep had made her so she just wanted a nap.

  The sound of the front door closing startled Abby awake. "Hey, Abs, you hungry?"

  Abby blinked and rubbed her eyes, trying to gather her bearings after being woken up from her unexpected nap on the couch. "Yeah, I could eat."

  Megan breezed past the couch into the kitchen, opening the fridge. "Great. There's nothing here. Let's order a pizza and then we'll go to a party after."

  Abby groaned. "Megan, I'm really not in the mood to go to a party tonight."

  Megan cast a look back at Abby over her shoulder while she filled a glass of water. "You're never in the mood for a party. But you don't have a choice. I'm not taking no for an answer." She walked back into the living room and stood over Abby, who had toppled over sideways on the couch in silent protest. "Don't make me drag your ass to the car when the time comes."

  "You're not strong enough. I'll go limp and you won't be able to move me." Abby's voice was slightly muffled from speaking into the couch cushion.

  Megan paused, seeming to contemplate Abby's pretend threat. "True. I'll just call the guys then." She turned and walked toward her bedroom.

  Abby sat up. "What guys?"

  "Chris and Matt."

  Abby followed Megan into her bedroom. "You're still talking to them?"

  Megan nodded. "We text sometimes. They let me know about good parties. Like the one tonight." Megan leveled a glare at Abby. "And you're going, so quit whining and just pick out some clothes."

  "I thought we were going to order a pizza first."

  "We are. I'll call in the pizza in a minute. But if I know you, you'll try to wear your Pluto t-shirt, and I'll have to make you change. So pick out something now so I can veto it before the pizza gets here."

  Abby wandered to her closet, hearing Megan's voice on the phone with their favorite pizza place. Well, second favorite. Their favorite didn't deliver.

  Abby slid some hangers around in her closet, not really paying much attention. She figured that Megan was right. She'd just veto anything Abby picked, so she might as well just wait for Megan to come in and pick for her.

  A minute later Megan was leaning in the doorway. "Well?"

  Abby gestured at the closet. "You pick."

  Megan raised her eyebrows at her, but didn't say anything. She slid some hangers around and then pulled out a light blue sleeveless top with a scooped and gathered neckline. She held it out to Abby. "Here. Wear this with your black Bermudas and some sandals."

  Abby didn't take the shirt. It was the one Lance had bought for her after he'd destroyed the one she'd worn the night they met. "I don't want to wear that."

  "Why not? It's cute and it brings out your eyes." Megan shoved it into her hands and turned to leave. Abby wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a knowing smile on Megan's face. She had no idea what that was about.

  A couple hours later, Abby closed the lid on the leftover pizza and slid it into the fridge for later. She turned and saw the extra bag over Megan's shoulder. "What's that for?"

  "The last time I dragged your ass to a party, you spilled your drink all over yourself and bailed early. It's a change of clothes in case you get clumsy again."

  Abby furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to protest, but Megan turned and headed for the door before she could say anything. Abby shrugged and followed along. Megan would do what Megan wanted regardless of what Abby said, especially in her current mood. Arguing was beyond pointless.

  They climbed into Megan's old red Honda and were on their way.

  Abby wasn't really paying attention to where they were going, assuming it was at some random person's house. The sun was already setting, the earlier onset of twilight one of the hallmarks of August and the end of summer. It seemed strange to her that sunset moved up an hour in just two short months. When she'd met Lance it was light until well after nine. Now the sun was going down by eight.

  She recognized that Tudor style house on the corner. And that other house with the ugly bass fish mailbox. They were on the way to— "Megan, why are we going to Lance's house?"

  Megan glanced at Abby out of the corner of her eyes. "I told you Chris and Matt told me about the party tonight. It's at their house."

  "Didn't you think it might be hard for me to be there since I'm still getting over Lance?"

  Megan shrugged. "I thought you might like it better if you were at a party where you knew your way around and knew someone else besides me. And it's not like getting over Lance is going all that well by staying away. Have you heard from him lately?"

  "We've been texting and talking on the phone some. He's been home late the last couple nights and hasn't been able to talk."