by Hannah Gray
I go to punch Mason in the arm, but he catches my hand before I can.
“What did you say to me?” I yell. Not like the nickname Red bothers me that bad. I just sort of feel like he’s making fun of my hair when he says it.
In one swift move, he’s got me pinned down on my back, and he’s hovering over my body. He starts tickling my stomach. I hate being tickled because I am so damn ticklish that I could basically pee my pants. Thank God I just peed before he barged in here. Now, that would be awkward.
I laugh so hard that my stomach hurts. “Stop it, dickhead! Hey! Cut it out right now. I’m going to knee you in the nutsack.”
He finally stops and stares down at me. Every cell in my body is wide awake now. So aware of the fact that his leg is between mine and that his hands are touching my hips. He’s so close right now. And my body craves more.
His eyes go from being playful to glazing over to something different. Something … predatory. This tension between us? Well, you could cut it with a knife. We want each other so badly. But neither one of us wants to take that leap of faith. I’m enjoying his company. Sex would surely complicate that. Yet I find myself constantly wondering, What if …
His breathing becomes harder, and his pupils dilate. He rolls his tongue over his lips. I can feel him growing against my stomach. I glance down at his lips. Full, sexy lips that I know would feel soft against mine, having me aching with desire. I should just take the plunge. Why not? It might be the best thing I ever did. I sigh and am about to lean in closer.
As if on cue, there’s a loud knock at the door.
“Yo, Mase. You in there?” Lane yells from the hallway.
Mason closes his eyes for a moment. His brow furrowing. He’s clearly irritated with Lane’s timing. But we both know he saved us from doing something we might regret.
“Yeah. What’s up?” he says, his voice sounding raspy and strained. He opens his eyes, watching me.
“Headed to practice in fifteen. We riding together?”
“Yep. I’ll be ready,” he grumbles and slowly climbs off of me.
“I’ll head to the hospital to be with Cameran while Trent goes to practice. I’d better go now. Lord knows he won’t leave her till someone’s there.” I push myself to stand and put my blue Chucks on.
Mason nods. “All right. I’ll see you when you get back this afternoon?” he asks like a question, not a statement.
I walk up to him. Stopping, I stand on my tippy-toes and press a kiss to his cheek. His stubble feels so sexy. “Sounds good. Thank you.”
He looks confused. “For what?”
“For letting me stay here. It means a lot.” And then I walk around him and head outside to my car.
On one hand, I’m grateful that Lane intervened. Because Lord knows that if we had stepped over the line and taken things too far, that would have turned this friendship upside down.
But on the other hand, I’m extremely annoyed at the amount of sexual frustration I have in my body.
And I have to ask myself, Is he feeling any of these feelings that I am?
twelve
Anna
Iwalk into Cameran’s hospital room and spot Trent. I point my finger from him to the door. “You go. You’re about to be late for practice. Besides, I need time with my best friend. Beat it.”
Reluctantly, he nods. He bends down and kisses her forehead. “See you after practice. I’ll bring food.” He walks by me and heads out the door.
I pull out the nail polish I brought in my bag. “Okay, chicky. Which color?”
She grins and picks light pink. Just like I knew she would. “Oh, Anna, what would I do without you?”
I look at the chipped polish on her toes. “Have ugly feet,” I deadpan.
She giggles. “Yeah, you’re totally right.”
“So, how are you feeling today?” I ask her.
Her strength truly amazes me. She’s so incredibly strong. After what she went through, she’s still her amazing self. It’s like she’s freaking Wonder Woman. Only the blonde version.
“Not too bad. Sore, but that’s to be expected.”
I nod and finish removing the old polish.
Before I start painting her nails, I reach in my purse and hand her a bag of Sour Patch Kids. “Almost forgot these.”
Her eyes light up. “I don’t deserve you, Anna Eubanks, but I sure love ya.” She wastes no time in ripping the bag open and chowing down the candy I’ve noticed she’s obsessed with.
She deserves me and the world. She’s someone who I can be myself around. She never judges, no matter how crazy my ideas are. I’m so lucky to have found a friend like Cameran. She calms my crazy. She’s the sweet to my sassy.
I debate on telling her that I’ve been staying at Mason’s but decide against it. I can’t explain our relationship to anyone because I don’t even get it myself. It’s hard to say that we’re just friends. Because I want to bang him. But seriously, we’re just friends. But I imagine licking his abs. But again, friends. Yeah, I know it doesn’t make a bit of sense, so I’m not going to bother Cameran with it. Besides, she has enough of her own shit going on.
Speaking of her shit, I guess I really have no reason to be upset that she withheld so much from me about her life when I have held back so much as well. She doesn’t even know Mason and I already knew each other prior to this year. And she sure as hell doesn’t know the details of how rotten my family is. I’m always afraid once I spill those secrets, I’ll be looked at differently. It’s embarrassing to say. Besides, having a stalker ex who tries to kidnap you is way worse than my parents not loving me.
So, why would I bother her with my small potatoes? Even if, sometimes, it makes me feel like I’m living under a dark cloud.
I’ll get through it. I always do.
Just like clockwork, Trent is back in the hospital after practice. I knew he would be. The way he loves Cameran, it’s sweet, but it also makes me wonder if I’ll ever be loved like that.
“Jeez, did you even give yourself time to shower after you got sweaty at practice? I sure hope so. We don’t want this room to smell like ass,” I playfully toss at Trent.
His hair is wet, so he obviously showered, but I can’t help but to call him out on rushing over.
Ignoring me, he leans down and kisses the top of Cam’s head. “You can go now, Red. Mason’s probably at home, waiting for you.”
I hold my middle finger up as I stand up and grab my coat. Hugging Cameran, I say, “Call if you need anything. At. All. Okay?”
She nods and smiles. Her blonde hair is braided off to the side, as usual. “I will. Thanks for coming by. I needed it.”
“Anytime, chick. Love ya.” I glance at Trent. “See ya later, asshole.”
This time, he gives me the finger, but I can see his mouth trying not to smile. He and Mason couldn’t be more different. He’s Mr. Serious, and Mason is … well, definitely not serious.
I walk out of the hospital to find Mason standing beside my Jeep. I tilt my head to the side. “Did you ride over with Trent?”
He nods. “Yeah. I told him not to tell. I wanted to surprise you!”
“That’s why he rushed me out.”
I figured he just wanted to be alone with Cameran. Though I’m sure that was a big part of it.
I shiver. The temperature dropped while I was in the hospital. He pushes off my Jeep and takes a few steps toward me before engulfing me into a hug with his huge arms.
“Cold?” he murmurs against my hair.
I shrug, suddenly feeling warm everywhere from having him this close. “A little.”
He rubs his hands up and down my arms. His chest rattles as he says, “What do you want to do now?”
There are a million things I want to do … with him. But I know those wouldn’t be appropriate to say.
A small smile creeps onto my lips. “I do want to go somewhere.”
“Oh yeah? Where to? Name it.”
I back away from him and make my way t
o the Jeep. I yell over my shoulder, “Get in, and you’ll see!”
Flipping through the tattoo book, I search endlessly for something with significance. I want this tattoo to mean something. Nothing stands out though. Nothing seems fitting enough to brand myself for life.
I’m close to giving up and saying to hell with it when my eyes land on one that instantly speaks to me. I smile as I run my fingers over the image. Feeling it coming to life under my touch.
This is it. This is the one for me.
“This one. Here it is,” I whisper to Mason, pointing to it.
He puts the book on his lap and looks at the picture I selected.
“Roses, eh? That’s sort of old school, isn’t it? Like a punk rocker or something.” He chuckles at his joke.
I glare at him and twist his nipple, causing him to yelp like a baby. “No, dickwad. It’s perfect.” It really is too.
I remember being at my mom’s parents’ house when I was little. My grandparents were always so sweet. Like my parents, they were wealthy. But unlike my parents, their lives didn’t revolve around social status and money. I miss them so damn much. My grandmother was weeding in her garden, and I was walking around and looking at the flowers. The rose bushes looked so overtaken by weeds. She’d say how it was a full-time job, just to keep up with weeding them. I remember looking at the beautiful roses budding despite the vines being wrapped around them, trying to squeeze the life out of them and stop their growth. They thrived anyway; they blossomed. That is just how I felt. My mom, dad, and sister were the vines. Always trying to wrap around me and tear me down. They might have left some scars and imperfections, but they couldn’t stop me from growing, from blossoming, no matter how incredibly determined they were. I realized how crazy I was to compare myself to a damn flower being attacked by a weed. But I don’t know; it made sense. It spoke to me. It was then that I knew, maybe not that day, maybe not anytime soon either, but one day, I’d blossom.
“All right then, roses it is, beautiful.” Mason winks and calls to the tattoo artist.
A scrawny guy with a beanie and a nose ring makes his way over to us. I show him the picture, and he nods and begins getting his tools ready.
He calls over his shoulder, “Where is this going anyway, doll?”
I frown. I didn’t think of that yet.
Mason playfully nudges me. “Yeah, where are you going to put it? You could always do it on your asscheek.”
“No, dumbass. I want it …” I think for a moment about where I want this tattoo. It has to be in the perfect spot. Pulling my sleeve up, I point to the inside of my wrist. “Here. I want it right here.”
Another thing for my parents to hate me for. But at this point, I don’t think it really matters, does it? They are going to hate me either way. This is something I can do for myself, so damn it, I’m doing it.
thirteen
Mason
With thirty-six seconds left on the clock, we’re tied with Ohio State. It’s a home game, and just like always, I can feel the energy at NEU Stadium. That’s one thing about our fans: they fucking bring the spirit.
We huddle up and all look to Trent for the call.
“All right, boys, this is our time to get a touchdown and bring home another win. We need to score. We don’t want to go into overtime and give them a chance to get a touchdown. Let’s run Atlantic 35. All right?”
We all nod in unison.
Trent steps back. “All right, one, two, three.”
“Eagles!” we all yell together before breaking out of our huddle and heading onto the field to finish the job we started.
Moments later, Trent takes a step back and looks around, trying not to let our competitors know where the ball is headed. I need to be in position and ready to catch that ball and run like hell, like my life depends on it.
He launches the perfect spiral into the air, and I catch it, tucking it in under my arm, and haul ass. I roll off of one of their defensemen. Another comes out of nowhere, and I get around him. It’s so close that I can taste it. I can feel this win.
Leaping over the line and ending up in a ball on the ground, I hear the ref yell, “Touchdown!”
I jump off of the ground. My teammates run at me, smacking our chests and helmets together. We know with four seconds left on the clock, there’s no way they can tie this one up.
There’s no feeling like it. No feeling at all.
Our team’s kicker kicks in the field goal, and just as always with that talented son of a bitch, it’s good.
I’ll look back on these times one day and miss the hell out of them.
The boys all cheer in the locker room. Another win down. Still going strong with that undefeated season. But this is a marathon, not a sprint. And there’s a lot of good teams yet to come.
I see Trent running around to get out of here. Ever since his girl got shot, he rushes out pretty fast to get home to her. I know he’s bummed she can’t come to the games. But he understands she’s still healing.
“Good game, brotha. You coming to The Atlantic for a few brews?” Lane asks and slaps me on the back.
“I’ll probably stop by, my man. Helluva game out there tonight, you fucking machine you.”
He grins. “Hell yeah, brother. You too.”
I walk out of the locker room, and as usual, I see the reporters waiting. I used to love this part. It made me feel so fucking big after a game, talking about the details. They’d eat up whatever shit I spewed at them. Like I was a fucking celebrity or something. But now that I see Red up ahead, leaning against the wall, waiting for me, I want to say fuck these reporters and rush right to her.
That’s not an option though. It’s all part of it. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Once I make it to the NFL, it’ll be like this all the time, only way worse. Pulling out my phone, I shoot her a text.
Me: Hang tight. This won’t take long.
Anna: All right, superstar.
I chuckle and tuck my phone into my pocket. Eager to get these interviews the fuck over with and spend the rest of the evening with Anna and the guys at The Atlantic. She’s quickly becoming one of my best friends. So, I know I can’t fuck it up with sex. I know once I have one taste of her, I’ll never want to stop. And I can’t do that. I’m going to get drafted into the NFL, and I’ll soon be traveling the country. No sense in getting tied down now. Even if she is the coolest, sexiest chick I’ve ever met in my life.
But I’m going to enjoy the hell out of her wiseass while I can. Even if it means being friends and having my dick hate me for it.
I’m realizing she means more to me than just sex. A whole lot more.
fourteen
Anna
There’s a chill in the air that only New England can bring. Cameran and I make our way back from the costume store. October has always been my favorite month here. The leaves change into bright orange and yellow with even some reds and maroons mixed in. There’s a certain crisp air that’s so refreshing to breathe in as I walk across campus. Everything seems calmer. It feels sort of like a fresh start, though I have no idea why.
Most of the other students are complaining because they know what comes after autumn. Winter. Which can be a bit of a bitch at times around here. But I honestly enjoy it. It’s so cozy, waking up and looking out the window to see a fresh foot of snow on the ground and to find an alert on your phone that classes have been canceled for the day. I love all of the seasons New England has to offer. Other than spring. Spring brings allergies and high pollen counts. Spring can suck it.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Cameran laughs as she peeks in her bag while waiting for me to unlock our dorm.
We moved back here from Mason and Trent’s a few weeks ago. After—yep, you guessed it—Cam and Trent had another fight. Insert eye roll here. But they are too adorable to stay mad at.
Mason and I still hang out a lot. Though I think we’ve reached a silent agreement that we’re just going to remain friends. Anythi
ng else would complicate things. I enjoy his company too much to mess it up over sex. Even if it would likely be the hottest, most intense orgasm I’ve ever had. Maybe even life-changing.
I value the friendship we have more than any other relationship I have right now. Aside from Cam, of course. He brings so much light and laughter into my life. Which is much needed and so welcome.
We walk in and dump our costumes onto the bed. I point my finger at her. “Oh, cut it out, whiny ass. You’ll thank me when Trent throws you over his shoulder like a caveman, carries you to his room, and pounds you into the headboard.”
Her cheeks redden. She’s not half as crude as me. They’ve only just recently had sex for the first time, though as much as she’s been sneaking over there, I suspect there’s been many more times since then. Plus, she has that glow like she’s getting laid. Which I’m obviously lacking.
“Oh, stop it. With all the floozies running around with their boobs out, he’ll probably hardly notice me,” she says, and I’m sure she actually believes it. Self-esteem isn’t her strongest trait.
I like to come off as very confident. Though under the surface, I know it isn’t real.
I roll my eyes, unable to stop myself. She’ll never see the way Trent looks at her. I wish someone looked at me like that. I envy it. I long for it even.
“Oh my God. Shut up right now before I take your costume back and make you be a naughty nurse instead.”
She was very against being anything overused like that.
“You never give me any sexy details. I’m desperate here. I need a man’s touch.” I pretend to cry.
“I feel like Mason could give you that though?” she says, though it’s more of a question.
“Pfft, yeah, right. I told you. We’re friends; that’s all. Sure, there’s been sexual tension.” I pause. “A lot of sexual tension. But we both know sex would complicate our friendship. I need to find a new prospect.”
Shaking her head, she murmurs, “And here I thought, my love life was difficult.”