Texting Titan: A Second Chance, College Football Romance

by Kaci Rose

  Now I’m home and getting ready for tonight. Kelsey and I have the radio cranked up as we do our hair and makeup. Ollie is coming over and staying here to be my back up plan and having them here makes me feel a bit better but with Denver’s track record of canceling dates lately, I am just trying to stay positive.

  The doorbell rings and I rush to answer it thinking it’s Denver, but it’s Ollie instead with bags of food in each hand.

  It’s then my phone goes off and my eyes meet Kelsey’s and we both know. We just know what that text is. I want to ignore it because then I can pretend it’s not real.

  Denver: God, baby, you are going to hate me, but I have to cancel tonight. I swear it’s for a good reason and I promise to tell you everything when I get back. Please, Avery, wait for me. Please.

  Chapter 24

  Denver

  I toss my phone in the passenger seat and hit the steering wheel. I had the perfect night planned for us, for her, to show her how much I love her. I planned to tell her that tonight. It’s cheesy I know. It’s been so hard not telling her.

  Then my mom called. She’s panicked. Her stalker seems to be back and making himself known around her house daily. It started with notes on her back porch, so I came down to secure the back yard with locks and motion lights. Then notes showed up on her car both at home and work. But when she got home tonight, he had been inside her house. Mom swears all the doors and windows were locked and closed which seems to only rile her up more. If I can’t find someplace for her to stay, I’m going to make her take some time off work and come back with me. I can’t leave her here alone after this.

  I’m on my way to her now. I’m pissed the cops have done nothing to help my mom and I’m pissed this guy found her again. We thought he had given up after I moved her. I put the rental agreement in my name, and it’s been quiet ever since.

  I have an hour drive and my thoughts get the better of me. I’ve canceled a few dates with Avery over the last couple of weeks and made the drive to my mom’s when she was scared. I helped amp up her security, more locks and some motion lights at her house and spent the night a few times when I didn’t have early classes just to make sure she was okay.

  I know Avery is hurting, I am too and it’s killing me. I have to take care of my mom, I won’t turn my back on her, but Avery means just as much to me. That’s why I haven’t told her what is going on with my mom. I don’t want her mixed up with this and my mom doesn’t want to worry her either.

  In truth I’m scared if Avery shows up at the house the guy will turn his attention on her as well. He’s made it known he’s been watching my mom with comments on how he likes certain shirts she has worn or doesn’t like others. Avery is a beautiful girl and who knows what this guy would do if he saw her. I can’t let that happen.

  Once I’m about twenty minutes out I call my mom again, but she doesn’t answer and my stomach sinks. I try not to let the worst-case scenario enter my head, but this guy had been in her house. There were no signs of a break in, just a rose and his usual letter. My mom won’t call the cops, they haven’t even come out to take a report saying there is no threat the last three times she called. They came out the first two but still did nothing.

  I don’t know what I’m going to do, but she can’t stay at the house any longer, and I can’t go back to school until she is safe. I can’t fix things with Avery until I can grovel face to face when I get back to school.

  I pull up to my mom’s house and my stomach sinks. The front door is open, and I don’t even turn my truck off before I’m out and running up the front porch.

  I’m barely inside the front door when I hear a male voice. I pull out my phone and dial 911. The second the dispatcher answers, I rattle off my mom’s address and tell her a man broke in and is attacking my mom. I don’t hang up I just leave my phone on the end table by the door.

  The house is trashed, furniture flipped over, broken picture frames, and glass from the front window all over the floor. There is a hole in the living room wall and below it the coffee table is smashed up. The bathroom door is hanging off the hinges. I’d say a tornado went through here if I don’t know any better.

  The sounds are coming from the kitchen and I walk in and see my mom being pinned to the refrigerator by her throat.

  “Get your hands off her,” I yell, and move toward the man.

  “I wondered how long before you got here.” My father turns and sneers at me, and my stomach sinks.

  “You’ve been doing all this?” I slowly make my way around the kitchen taking in my mom. She has a busted lip and a cut on her cheek, she looks terrified.

  “Who else? You blew me off so easy I knew the best way to get your attention was through her. Of course, she was mine first. I thought I’d have some fun with her too.”

  “Put her down and let talk this out, man to man.”

  He steps back from my mom but still has her pinned to the fridge by her neck.

  “Nah, I think this is a good way to make sure you do exactly as I say.” He tightens the grip on my mom making her eyes bulge and that’s when I lose it.

  I lunge for him and he so shocked he drops my mom who gasps for air and calls out my name. I land on top of my father on the floor and get one good punch in and hear his nose break and blood goes flying.

  “Mom, go wait outside for the cops.”

  I don’t have time to look up and make sure she goes before he lands a punch to my cheekbone. I’m almost double his weight, but it seems I’ve underestimated his strength. I won’t do that again.

  “You think you can run off and become this famous football star and not pay your dues to your own father? Not going to happen. You have half my DNA, so I say that means I get half the glory and money you make. “

  “You get shit. You ran off before I was even out of diapers, you get exactly nothing.” I land another good punch to the side of his face before he manages to get me off balance enough to roll us over, causing me to hit my head on the site of the counter.

  He gets two more good hits to my face my before I’m able to get my hands around his neck and slam him to the floor. In the distance, sirens ring out.

  “You actually called the cops? You little shit.” He starts to flail around more, trying to getaway.

  My guess is he probably has a few warrants out for his arrest and of course two new assault charges now. I sit on his chest while keeping my hands on his throat, silently enjoying his gasping for air like he made my mom do.

  I don’t move until the cops come running in, yelling at both of us to lie face-down on the ground with our hands behind our heads. I obey, but my father is stupid enough to think he can try to get out the back door. They have him tackled before he even gets it open.

  “My mom, did someone get to her? Is she okay?” I ask as the events start to catch up with me.

  “Yes, there is an ambulance on its way now. Are you Denver Bolter?”

  Great just what I need for this to make the papers.

  “Yes,” I sigh.

  “Sit up back to the counter I have to cuff you, per protocol,” I nod and do as he asks. I answer all his questions and tell them about the stalking from the beginning and how many times I’ve moved my mom, how many complaints we tried to file, and how we couldn’t even get a cop out to the house.

  Another cop takes my mom’s statement outside, but we aren’t allowed to see each other. The cop in here with me tells me they are taking her to the hospital to check for internal injuries.

  I rest my head back against the cabinet and close my eyes trying to keep the tears at bay. I don’t care that my shoulders hurt from being pinned behind me. I care that my mom has to head to the hospital alone. I care that Avery is at home, hating me because I ditched her on Valentine’s Day. I hate my father for all this.

  I’m broken from my thoughts when the cop speaks.

  “Listen, my old man used to wail on my mom when I was a kid and my family never did anything. It’s why I became a cop, I want
ed to help people. I just never realized how much my hands are tied by the law. It isn’t always right. I’m a big MGU fan and I will work this case myself and do my best to keep it from the papers.”

  He uncuffs me and I rub my wrists and move my shoulders to work out the stiffness in them.

  “On the record, I have to say you shouldn’t have stepped foot in the house. You should have stayed on with the dispatcher and done as you were told. Off the record, I’m so damn proud of you coming to stand up for your mother like that. Now I need to take you down to the hospital and have you checked out. That’s not optional. I will take you in myself and straight to the back.”

  I just nod. He hands me his sunglasses, a hat I didn’t notice him holding, and my cell phone before he guides me to the back of his car.

  I foolishly check my phone, of course, there is nothing from Avery.

  ✽✽✽

  We ended up spending four hours in the hospital. I made them do every test in the book to make sure mom was okay and she insisted on the same for me. We both walked out with a bunch of bruises and scrapes.

  Before we left, the cop who drove me to the hospital stopped in and said my father did have a warrant for his arrest on some drug and robbery charges. He was also being booked on double assault charges and I was cleared. He assured me again that he’s doing his best to keep it all out of the papers.

  At that moment I thanked him, but I couldn’t care less. Mom is going to be okay, but my heart is bleeding over how Avery must be feeling right now. I should be worried about myself, but whenever I have a free moment, my brain goes back to her. I want to call her and beg her to forgive me, but I know she won’t pick up and she deserves this face to face.

  Thankfully one of mom’s friends from work, Allie, is willing to let her stay at her place until mom’s house is cleaned up. She picked us up and took us back to grab our stuff. They can carpool to work together and that makes me feel a bit better.

  I’m helping mom pack when I look at her.

  “Since you have Allie and are okay, I need to head back to school. I need to let coach know I won’t make practice for a few days and I need to do it in person. I need to also apologize to Avery. “

  “Baby, I am so sorry about all this. I am so thankful you were here, but I wish you had stayed at school and stayed out of all this. I don’t like you driving right now, did you take the pain pill they gave you?”

  “No, I’ll take it when I get home. I promise I’ll call when I get there.”

  She gives me the mom stare, but she can’t change my mind. I need to get to Avery.

  “Okay, you win that girl back and let me know if I need to talk to her.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” I hug her and head out.

  The whole drive home all I can think about is how I’m going to win her back. I’m about twenty minutes from campus when the pain starts to really hit me. I know I can’t go to Avery like this, I need to heal.

  I head straight to my room take a pain pill and head to bed with the plan to talk to her in the morning.

  Chapter 25

  Avery

  I spent Valentine’s Day as the third wheel and drank way too many shots of vodka last night.

  Ollie and Kelsey were so sweet. They tried to include me and kept the kissing to a minimum. I got so wasted that Ollie helped me to bed, made sure I took some aspirin and drank water.

  It doesn’t help that I still have a pounding headache which is only made worse when the front door slams shut. A moment later Kelsey comes bouncing into my room with a bag of tacos. My go-to hangover food.

  Thank God.

  She hands me more aspirin and water which I gladly take before scarfing down two tacos.

  “How bad are you feeling?” Kelsey finally asks.

  “Bad enough to skip class, but good enough to go pound down Denver’s door and demand answers.”

  “Want some company?”

  “No, just take some notes for me in class. I’m ahead on my work so I’m not worried about missing a day.”

  “I will be here for a girls’ night tonight. I’m all yours. Ollie agreed.”

  “I owe that man, big time. Would it be weird to have you tell him his next orgasm was my thank you?”

  “Yes! I’m not doing that!” She laughs.

  “Yeah, I’m not thinking straight.”

  “Eat up, buttercup, go do your thing and take a nap. There are more tacos in the fridge for lunch, take some more meds with them.”

  I finish my morning tacos and get up and get ready. Nothing fancy, just sweats and a T-shirt and toss my hair up in a messy bun before I’m out the door.

  I decide to walk to the football house. It’s several blocks, but the cold fresh air is just what I need to get my brain clear before I talk to Denver.

  I love him. I admitted it to myself last night and I know that is what is making all this even harder. It’s making it hurt even more.

  As I walk up the steps to the front door, Todd, one of the sophomore football players, walks out.

  “Hey, Avery!”

  “Hey, Todd. Is Denver in there?”

  “I think he got in real late last night, so I doubt he will be going to class today.”

  I nod and thank him before making my way inside.

  I say hello to a few of the other guys before heading to the third floor.

  I stand outside his door for a minute and take a deep breath before and pounding my fist against it.

  Nothing.

  I pound again and this time there is shuffling on the other side, so I wait for him to open the door.

  When he does, he takes my breath away. He’s obviously sleeping because he’s in just a pair of sweatpants, his hair is tousled, and he has an amazing stubble on his jaw. But what catches my eye is all the bruises. Black eyes, and marks on his chest.

  “What the hell happened,” I grit out.

  He doesn’t answer me at first, and I can tell by his shifty eye that whatever is about to come out of his mouth isn’t going to be the truth.

  “I was in a fight.”

  “And…”

  He winces from pain or being caught in the lie, I’m not sure. My head hurts too much to try to figure it out, so I throw my hands up.

  “It doesn’t matter, I can’t do this. I won’t be lied to again. I’m done.” I turn and start walking away.

  “Avery!”

  I don’t even stop and turn around. I run down the stairs and out of the house, the cold air piercing my lungs.

  Instead of heading home, I take the long way and head to my favorite burger stand and get the greasiest burger they have with extra fries. I walk a few blocks to a small park that is mostly empty and sit under a tree to eat.

  I don’t care how cold it is outside I just want to eat and be left alone. I finish off my burger as my phone pings.

  Titan: Please tell me you made it home okay.

  I’m not talking to him. Why does he care if I made it home when he hasn’t cared what happened to me in weeks? I munch on my fries and watch a few people jog around the walking trail before my phone pings again.

  Kelsey: Hey, I’m home from class, you okay?

  Shoot, I’ve been sitting here for over an hour now. The cold that my thoughts have kept at bay slowly starts to seep in, so I stand up and start making my way home.

  Me: Yeah, heading home now.

  Kelsey: How did the talk go?

  Me: He lied, I left.

  I walk into the house and take off my shoes.

  “Let me take a quick shower to warm up and get into Pjs, then I’m all yours.”

  “Deal. Ollie wants to know if you want cupcakes or donuts?”

  “Yes.” I reply simply, unable to choose.

  I hurry through a shower and getting dressed before plopping down on the couch just as Ollie shows up with donuts and cupcakes.

  “You might as well stay and enjoy the Avery drama hour,” I say to him, rolling my eyes.

  He looks at Kelsey who shrugs.
“I might need help getting her to bed again.”

  “Okay, let me know when you are hungry, pizza is on me tonight.”

  I recap my short conversation with Denver and the bruises on his face and ribs.

  “A fight? You sure he was lying?”

  “Yes, his eyes get all shifty and he makes this face. I know he was in a fight, but he wasn’t willing to give me any details.”

  “No, that boy is crazy for you,” Ollie chimes in.

  We end up watching The Bachelor and playing a game Kelsey invented where we take a shot of wine every time, they talk about how much of a connection they have.

  But the end of the night we are both pretty buzzed and once again Ollie helps me to bed, makes me take some aspirin and water before I pass out.

  Chapter 26

  Denver

  I wake up and feel like utter shit. My body hurts, my head hurts, and my heart hurts, and I don’t know which one is going to kill me today, but the pain from one surely will eventually.

  When I got home from my moms, I took a painkiller and passed right out. I woke up around 6 a.m. used the bathroom and took another one.

  Then Avery showed up. I was so out of it from taking the pain pill on an empty stomach I wasn’t thinking clearly and answered the door with my bruises on full display. Then instead of telling her everything, I pushed her away.

  This time I’m pretty sure I’ve pushed her away for good. There are only so many times you can mess up with a girl who has trust issues.

  Well, my chance is completely gone.

  When my head cleared yesterday, I went to talk to coach and explained what happened. He listened then lectured me for an hour on what I should have done, how I could have been hurt even worse, and how proud of me he was of me for protecting my mom.