“I need a drink,” murmured Reid. “We going out?”
He started removing his shoulder pads, and grabbed a towel. I stood up, and moved towards the locker I used to keep a change of clothes in. “Yeah, I think we all need it.”
“You bringing Amy?” He asked.
My brows furrowed. “No, why would I be?”
He snorted. “You’ve been spending almost every night at her sorority house haven’t you? That’s who you’ve been fooling around with?”
I’d forgotten about that. Everyone had assumed I had been ‘seeing’ Amy, and the only one who actually believed it was Amy. It didn’t really bother me, because I knew the truth, but for some reason this time it didn’t sit well with me.
“I’m not in the mood for her tonight,” I replied, avoiding his question. “I just want to hang with the guys.”
And see Kennedy later.
“Sounds good, man. I’ll meet you outside in a bit.”
Reid walked away, and I took a few minutes to catch my breath, and clear my head. I hadn’t been in the best frame of mind after my father’s visit, and losing the game made it worse. Maybe a night out was exactly what I needed. I hadn’t done anything other than study, attend practices, and even when I was tired to the bone, I saw Kennedy. Every night.
I got dressed, and went outside to wait for Reid. The tunnel was just now starting to quiet down when I spotted Kennedy and Jade at the end. Amy was standing there too, and she was exchanging some heated words with Jade, while Kennedy just looked down at the floor. She must’ve felt my eyes on her because she looked up, and sought me out through the thinning crowd. Her eyes found mine, the look on her face unreadable. I frowned, and she looked away.
What’s up with that?
“Just walk away you stupid tramp!” Jade’s shrill voice made me straighten. I struggled to hear what Amy said, but I could see that it had upset Kennedy. My first instinct was to protect Kennedy from Amy’s vicious tongue, but I held back. What would they think if I suddenly came to her defense?
I held back, and when Amy walked in my direction, a smug look on her face, I tensed. Kennedy looked at me, and then Jade ushered her away. I wanted to ask her what happened, to make sure she was okay, but there were too many things holding me back.
I was so fucking confused.
“Hey baby,” cooed Amy. She gave me a sexy grin, and I immediately compared it to the way Kennedy’s mouth turned up when she was being sexy without even trying.
“What was that about?” I asked, tilting my head in the direction Jade and Kennedy had just left.
Amy rolled her eyes, and started rubbing my arm. “Nothing serious. Jade was overreacting, as usual, and I set her straight.”
I didn’t believe a word this girl was saying, especially after seeing Kennedy’s expression when she turned away from me.
“We’re having a party at the house,” Amy continued, “You’re coming right?”
I needed to be done with this girl. I might’ve been unsure about what was happening between me and Kennedy – because I could feel it changing – but I didn’t need Amy around anymore. Her rumors were just that, rumors, and I didn’t want anyone to keep thinking there was something between us when there wasn’t. The scariest thought, however, was that I no longer wanted Kennedy to see Amy hanging all over me in the cafeteria or on campus. I wasn’t even going to try figure out why I felt that way.
“No, I’m going out with the guys.”
I pushed her hands off me, and stepped back if only to get some space. “You need to stop telling people we’re together. You know we’re not, and I sure as fuck haven’t been in your bed in the last month, let alone this past week.”
Amy’s mouth opened, but she was interrupted when Reid walked out of the locker room. His brows scrunched when he saw her, but he spoke to me. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “Let’s get out of here.”
What I wanted to do was go straight to Kennedy’s, but that would have looked suspicious.
“You can’t just end things,” said Amy. Her mouth twisted like she’d eaten something sour. “We’re going to talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about Amy. You can’t end something that never started.”
She said something but I was too busy taking my phone out to text Kennedy to pay attention. I was done with her. I had been since the night Kennedy burst into my apartment, and interrupted my party. I hadn’t touched Amy, or any other girl for that matter, since then.
I tapped away at my screen as I followed Reid to his Range Rover.
Everything okay?
I waited for her response and climbed into the passenger seat. Reid was already pulling out of the lot when my phone finally beeped with an incoming text.
Who is this?
Ouch.
Obviously Kennedy hadn’t saved my number after I used her phone to call mine.
Dane.
Seconds passed.
Oh. Yeah, everything’s good. Have a good night.
I scowled at the screen.
She’s dismissing me?
I typed back.
See you later?
I waited, realizing that I was holding my breath.
Those three dots appeared on my screen as Kennedy typed.
I don’t think that’s a good idea. I have to go. X
She was dismissing me, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all.
“Why are you looking at your phone like that?” Asked Reid. I was so absorbed with my phone that I’d almost forgotten he was next to me.
“Nothing,” I replied. I pocketed my phone, and leaned my head against the headrest. Reid remained quiet, and I think we were both content with the quiet.
We’d been at the pub with the rest of our team for over two hours. It was late, and I was tired. I was also pissed, and not the drunk kind. I tried not to worry about Kennedy, and why she’d brushed me off, but it was all that I could think about. It was driving me crazy, and I really only saw one solution.
She was going to see me whether she wanted to or not.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Dane
I DIDN’T BOTHER letting Kennedy know I was on my way. If I had, she probably would have locked her door. Reid had had too much to drink, so I drove us home, and when I was sure he was asleep, I snuck next door. Jade and Ashley’s doors were both closed and there were no sounds coming from the inside of their apartment. Kennedy’s door creaked slightly, but I managed to get inside her bedroom without waking anyone up.
Her room was dark, but I could still make out her sleeping form in the center of her bed. She was a sound sleeper, and always ended up curling into herself. Subconsciously I thought it was a defense mechanism, a symbol of how she kept herself guarded, but I’d come to realize that the only time she wasn’t guarded was when she was asleep.
Her hair was fanned out on the pillow holding her head, her lashes fluttering against her cheeks. She pursed her lips, and her brows puckered. I stopped next to her bed, expecting her to wake up, but she just rolled on to her back. She was dreaming.
I smiled when I saw she was wearing one of the shirts I’d accidentally left here in the last few days. I liked seeing her in them, maybe a little too much. But I didn’t want to think about that now. I didn’t want to think about anything, let alone what it was that we were doing.