Diving in Deep (A Bay State University Novel Book 2)

by Katie Holland

  “Don’t think I forgot you didn’t answer my question,” she said.

  I decided to play dumb. “What question?”

  “I know you know what I’m talking about, but I’ll ask you again. Do you have a problem with Anthony because you have feelings for Karma? And don’t bullshit me, Bodie.”

  “No. I have a problem with Anthony because I don’t trust him. I get the feeling he’s up to something and Karma’s going to get caught in the middle. I just can’t prove it though.”

  “I thought you were just jealous,” she said.

  “Truthfully, I’m a little of that too.”

  “I knew it,” she said with a grin. “Have you said anything to her?”

  I snorted. “Are you crazy? There’s no way I’ll ever say anything as long as she’s with him. Guy code and all.”

  “But you don’t even like him?”

  “I won’t be the guy who makes her choose, I’ll lose. If she changes her mind, I’ll be there but for now, I’ll be there as her friend.”

  “Wow,” Tiffany said. “That’s … that’s very mature of you.”

  I laughed. “You sound surprised.”

  “It’s certainly different from my first impression of you. You’ve changed lately.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “You sound disappointed,” she said with a laugh.

  “I’ve never pretended to be anything but a player since high school, so it’s a little different actually caring about someone.”

  “What if she ends up spending the rest of her life with him?”

  “She won’t. Right now, she’s infatuated with him. She’ll eventually see who he really is.”

  “How are you so sure he’s not what he appears to be?”

  “I’ve known people like him my whole life and I have a pretty good sense of who people are.”

  “And what sense do you have about me?”

  “Hardworking, loyal, fun, driven.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well thank you.”

  “Are you blushing?” I asked.

  “Probably. I’m not used to a lot of compliments.”

  “You’re a beautiful woman Tiffany. I’m sure you get compliments all the time at the coffee shop.”

  “Occasionally some guy, or old man, will say something, but I don’t think much of it. I guess it means more when someone says something about you that has to do with the type of person you are and not your appearance.”

  “I can understand that.” I pulled up in front of her building. “Have fun with your friend.”

  “Now that I’ve had time away from her situation, I’ll be better. And Bodie, don’t give up on Karma. If you two are meant to be together it will happen. Love always finds a way.”

  “Isn’t that from a song?”

  Tiffany smacked my arm. “I’m being serious.”

  “Okay, I’ll do my best.”

  “I’ll take it for now. Good night.”

  “Good night.”

  Once I made sure she was safely in the building, I started driving. Instead of going back to the university, I went to the beach. The sand was cold on my feet, but hearing the waves relaxed me. I admitted out loud that I liked Karma as more than a friend and it didn’t scare me as much as I thought it would.

  I thought back to the start of the school year. I’d been positive that I would fuck my way through every college girl I could find, and I was well on my way to doing that until I’d had sex with Karma. One person shouldn’t be able to change you that much, but it seemed to have happened to me. I’d been too much of a chicken shit to do anything about it before, and now she was with Anthony, and might never be mine. The best I could do was be her friend. That sucked but it was all I had for now.

  The wind picked up coming off the ocean and I started to get cold. I went to my car and drove back to the university. Once I was in the dorm, I started working on my economics assignment that was due tomorrow.

  “Hey,” Major said, when he walked in.

  “Hey.”

  “That was an interesting dinner huh.”

  I shook my head. “I really dislike that guy.”

  Major laughed. “I think you mean you fucking hate him.”

  “Yeah, that, too.” I was quiet for a minute, then decided to tell him something important to me. “Major, I like Karma, like really like her and I hate the fact that she’s with that douchebag.”

  He grinned. “It’s about damn time you admitted it. You know your timing sucks, right?”

  “I know.”

  “So, what are you going to do about it?”

  “What can I do? Nothing but wait, I guess. I’m just hoping he royally fucks up or she sees who he really is.”

  “And if that doesn’t happen?” he asked.

  “Then I find a way to get over it.”

  He shook his head, walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Good luck with that man.”

  Luck was something I was definitely going to need if I even had a chance to be with Karma.

  Chapter 30

  Karma

  The next two weeks were extremely busy. The professors were piling on the work and we also had a meet to get ready for. Now that we were on top of the points standings our coaches were working us even harder. Any free time I had I spent with Anthony. Even though I was at his place a lot, most of my time was devoted to schoolwork. I was really grateful he’d gotten me that laptop to work on. It allowed me to do my work and cuddle up next to him while I was doing it.

  It was Saturday morning and Anthony had just dropped me off at the swim complex. I hugged Kayleigh when I saw her in the locker room.

  “We’re going to be great today,” I told her.

  She smiled. “I hope so. I really want to win this year. Wouldn’t that be a great way to end our first year on the team?”

  “We’re going to kill it.”

  “What are you doing tomorrow?” she asked me.

  “I don’t know. Probably hanging out with Anthony.”

  “Oh,” she said, looking disappointed.

  “Why?”

  “I thought we could spend some time together since you aren’t coming home with me for Spring Break.”

  I felt guilty as hell when I realized I’d become one of those women who got a boyfriend and never saw their friends anymore.

  “I’m sorry, Kayleigh. I’ve been a shitty friend lately. I promise we’ll do something tomorrow. Maybe we can grab Gabbi and Tiffany and go get a pedicure or something.”

  “That would be great,” she said. “I’ll call Tiffany after the meet.”

  “Cool, I’ll talk to Gabbi.”

  It was time to get into competition mode. I changed into my suit and put in my ear buds until it was time to announce the teams. The order for competing changed every meet and I was up first this time. I climbed the ladder for the platform and waited a moment before I went any further. I took a deep breath, blew it out and walked to the end of the platform. I centered myself and dove. When I landed, I knew it had been good, I could feel it.

  My team cheered when my head broke the water. If we kept this up there was no way the other college could beat us.

  A few hours later, we waited for the points to be totaled. When it was announced that Bay State was the winner the entire place went up in a cheer. I found Kayleigh and hugged the crap out of her. In between my dives I was able to see a couple of her races. She had done an outstanding job.

  The atmosphere in the locker room was loud and upbeat. Someone put some dance music on, and it was like a party as we all showered and got dressed.

  I wasn’t surprised to see Anthony waiting for me, but I was surprised that he was holding a bouquet of flowers. He didn’t really seem like the type to do that, so I appreciated the gesture.

  “Congratulations. You were outstanding,” he said, pulling me into a hug. “Are you up for celebrating?”

  “Yes, of course. And thank you for the flo
wers, they are beautiful. What did you have in mind?”

  “I think I’ll leave it as a surprise. You can get ready at my place, okay?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  All he told me was that we had to be there at 7:00 and we’d have to leave at 6:30. That gave me just over three hours to get ready.

  “If this is a surprise dinner, how will I know what to wear?” I asked, when we walked into his living room.

  “I’ve already picked out your outfit for the night,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  “The evening requires a certain attire, so I took the liberty of choosing something for you to wear.”

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I was getting a little Christian Grey vibe at the moment.

  “Before you say anything, go see what it is. It’s hanging in the closet.”

  If I was going to throw a fit, I’d at least see what I was “supposed” to be wearing. I walked into the bedroom and went straight into the walk-in closet. I stopped when I saw the outfit that he was referring to. It was a floor length royal blue evening gown with an intricate pattern of beading down the front of it.

  “Wow, Anthony, it’s absolutely beautiful.”

  “I thought it would look stunning on you, especially with your red hair.”

  “It’s very elegant. What kind of dinner are we going to?”

  “Nope, not telling. You said you wanted to be surprised. So, will you wear this dress for me?”

  “Of course, I will. I can’t wait to put it on. I better start getting ready. And yes, it’ll take me that long.”

  He grinned at me, gave me a kiss and left the bedroom.

  At 6:00, it was time for me to put on the most gorgeous dress I’d ever seen. Before I took it off the hanger, I sent a picture of it to Kayleigh. I slipped it on, did it up as far as I could and looked in the mirror. I couldn’t stop the grin from forming on my face. It was like it was made just for me.

  “Anthony, can you come here please,” I called to him.

  A minute later, he was in the bedroom. “Hey. Wow, Karma, you are stunningly beautiful.”

  My grin got bigger. “Thank you. Can you help me with the zipper?”

  I turned around and he finished doing it up.

  “I’d rather be taking this off of you than doing it up,” he growled in my ear.

  That made me shiver from head to toe. “Later you can do whatever you want to this dress.”

  “I’ll hold you to that,” he said. “I have something for you. It goes with the dress. I’ll be right back.”

  I went to the closet and found a pair of black stilettos. By the time I had them on Anthony was back.

  “Close your eyes,” he said. I did and I felt him put something around my neck. “Okay, open them.”

  I looked in the mirror and saw that I was now wearing a necklace that was probably worth the same as a new car. It sat just below my throat and was made of diamonds and sapphires. “Anthony, this is amazing, but I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”

  “Of course, you can. Just look at how beautiful it looks on you. Please Karma, tell me you’ll wear it.”

  With the look he was giving me there was no way I could say no. “Okay.”

  “Thank you. Are you ready? Our ride is waiting.”

  “I am. Let’s go. By the way, you look hot in that tux.”

  A deep rumbling laugh erupted from him. “They’re just going to love you tonight.”

  “Who is?”

  “Surprise, remember? And here’s the first surprise of the night.”

  We rounded the corner and there was a limo in the driveway.

  “Are we really taking a limo?”

  “Yes.”

  I giggled. “I feel like a princess on the way to a ball.”

  “You look like a princess,” he said.

  The chauffeur opened the door. Anthony got in, then took my hand to help me. The door was closed, and Anthony handed me a glass of champagne. I took a sip and the limo started moving. I was really curious as to what Anthony had planned.

  ****

  Bodie

  I watched as Karma left with Anthony. He’d brought her a bouquet of red roses, how very unoriginal. Major said something but I wasn’t paying attention. I was focused on Karma leaving the building.

  “Huh?”

  “I said, you’re coming with us tonight,” he repeated.

  “I’m not going to be the third wheel,” I said.

  “You can’t say no when you don’t even know what we’re doing.”

  “Fine, what are you idiots up to?”

  “I take offense to that,” Kayleigh said, from the other side of me.

  “Sorry. I thought he was talking about just him and the boys.”

  Major smacked my arm. “You need something to take your mind off certain things.”

  I couldn’t disagree with him. “So, what are we doing?”

  “That’s more like it,” Major said. “I thought we’d go try out that 7D Experience at Pier 39. We’ve been talking about it for a while and if we go with a group it’ll be more fun.”

  “That actually sounds like a good idea.”

  “You sound surprised,” Major said, with a laugh.

  “The last time you had an idea I ended up in a dress, so I’m a little cautious now.”

  “Oh, don’t think betting is off the table. We’ll find something to wager on.”

  I knew that was a true statement. I just hoped I wasn’t the loser this time.

  Major and Kayleigh started making calls and within the hour they had everything set. I was going to pick up Tiffany and we’d meet everyone there.

  She was waiting outside her building when I pulled up.

  “Hey,” she said, when she got in. “I think this is going to be fun. Have you done this before?”

  “Nope. We’ve talked about it, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

  “According to their website, they say it’s like a roller coaster and 3D video game combined.”

  “Cool huh,” I said, with a smile. “I know we get to shoot things so don’t be surprised if we make a bet about the loser having to do something.”

  “You guys play video games all the time. I don’t think that’s really fair to us girls.”

  “Maybe we can do guys vs girls. Whatever we do it’ll make it more fun.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, for the winner. But I’m up for the challenge.”

  Major, Kayleigh and Gabbi were already there when we arrived.

  “I paid for the whole room,” Major told me when I went to pay. “Actually, since each game is only fifteen minutes long, I booked three in a row. We get to shoot zombies, werewolves and killer robots. I figured we’d really get the competition going when we play.”

  “Sounds good to me. I know you have something else in mind,” I told him. “What’s the bet?”

  He chuckled. “Three games means three winners and three losers. I think the winners get to choose what the losers have to do.”

  “Within reason,” Tiffany said.

  “Yeah, I agree with her,” Kayleigh added. “We’re new to this whole betting thing.”

  “How about this,” I said, “each loser has to stand up in a crowded restaurant and yell the winners name and tell everyone they are the greatest gamer in the world, and everyone should strive to become that person.”

  “So,” Tiffany started, “you mean, if you win and I lose I have to yell to a crowd of people that Bodie West is the greatest gamer in the world and everyone should strive to be Bodie?”

  “Yep,” I said, with a grin.

  “I think I can handle that. Girls?

  Both Kayleigh and Gabbi agreed. Just before seven Zach and Chad got there, then it was game on.

  I had no idea what this was going to be like, but I was ready to find out. We were shown to the room and told to pick any seat and do up the seatbelt. I rolled my eyes at that, but the guy told us it wouldn’t run if we didn’t. So, I buckled up, put on
the 3D glasses, and picked up the plastic laser gun.

  As soon as it started, I heard one of the girls scream, but I didn’t have time to figure out who it was. I was surrounded by zombies and it took everything I had to try and shoot them. I was surprised at how realistic it was. My heart was racing like the zombies were really going to eat me.

  “That was awesome!” Chad said, when it was over. “And look, Kayleigh was the winner.”

  “But you were the loser,” I yelled to Chad.

  “Whatever,” he said, but I could see he was smiling.

  The next two rounds were just as much fun. I won against the werewolves and Gabbi lost. And when it came to the killer robots Major came out on top and Tiffany lost.

  When we were done, we found a restaurant that was close and got a table. It was super crowded, which was great since the losers of the bet were going to have to do their thing. After we ordered our drinks, it was time to honor the bet. Chad was the first one to stand on his chair and tell the entire restaurant that Kayleigh was the best gamer in the world. We all laughed so hard, that at least half of us had tears. Gabbi and Tiffany were good sports and did the same thing.

  “We have to do that again,” Tiffany said.

  “Even though you lost,” I teased.

  She grinned. “Yeah. That just gives me incentive to win next time. It’s too bad Karma isn’t here.”

  “Her loss,” I said, not really meaning it. I knew she’d have loved to do this tonight.

  Tiffany smiled at me like she knew what I was thinking. Hell, for all I knew she did.

  The rest of dinner was loud and fun. We laughed, made fun of each other and talked about stupid things we did as kids. It was exactly what I needed. The only thing missing was Karma.

  Chapter 31

  Karma

  The ride in the limo was fun, but I still had no idea where we were going. I looked out the windows and saw we were downtown. Finally, we pulled up in front of a fancy hotel.

  “Are you ready?” Anthony asked me.

  “I guess so. This seems a little over the top for dinner though.”

  “We’re here for dinner, but not just dinner. It’s a fundraiser for a children’s charity. Dad is a sponsor so that’s why we’re here.”

  “Oh.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.