A wide body towered over me, followed by Bryce's griping. "Bro, we need to talk."
"No," I answered without looking up. "We don't."
"He's right." In my peripheral vision, Cole's thick eyebrows furrowed. "You can't let some chick-"
The whine in his voice pulled my eyebrows together. "Distract you from football?" I finished for him. "I agree."
His frown deepened before my diversion registered. "Not what I meant."
Not that football players should hide behind this excuse but, collectively, we were a slow-processing group. The guys needed a few days to realize I was serious. Past Bryce the idiot and Jackson the desperate to impress, who was lucky his ass wasn't here, Cole was the most upset. "Bullshit," he grumbled from behind his orange juice glass.
"Won't change your parties, Jenks." I suppressed an eye roll. Classic rich kid ignored by overworked parents. "People will still hook up in your poolhouse, so chill."
"You chill. Not sure what you did with the old Logan Hightower," he grumbled. "But I miss him. Can we get him back?"
His butthurt scowl prompted my warning. "Don't test me." My purge of their game would avoid getting caught, provided no one did something stupid, like -
I elbowed Bryce. "Can I borrow your phone?"
His sheepish grin and guilty eyes signaled, 'something stupid.' He unlocked his phone and handed it over. I cursed at another list created by Jackson. The very first entry was no surprise.
Eleanor - hot | virgin | Jake Harrison's sister (trifecta) - Hightower
These fucking idiots made it personal. I deleted Ellie's name, then Jackson's spreadsheet. Fuck, that little shit pissed me off. "I said quit this bullshit." I lifted my eyes to half-guilty, half-irritated expressions around the table. "And how do you know she's a virgin?"
Josh laced his words with a not-at-all-subtle warning that matched his glare at me. "Fair assumption that Jake would murder anyone who touched her."
I ignored him and stared at the eggs that now tasted like cardboard on my tongue. My blood rushed up into my face, heating my cheeks. A slow-simmering rage festered in my chest. It increased as I squeezed my fork. Whose eye would I jab first to make them listen to me? Beyond disrespecting me as their captain, Ellie's V-card was no one else's fucking business except hers. Fuck, they were too bored. We needed to get home and start the season.
"Don't end the game when things get started." Bryce's face scrunched into a scowl. "Your girl caught our attention."
"Stay away from her," I warned him, as well as all the eavesdroppers.
Josh's skeptical eyes lifted from his cereal bowl. His spoon hovered and dripped a few milk drops. I was a chill guy, but this crawled under my skin as if an ant colony lived there. It wasn't the first time we'd had this conversation and I was tired of them not listening.
"How's that protective-hero approach working out for you?" Bryce glanced at his screen, typed in something, then slipped the phone out of my sight.
Like that move didn't raise any warning bells. "Fine." I scoffed with feigned indifference. Only Josh knew I'd gotten nowhere with Ellie.
"She's hot..." Cole eavesdropped from his seat across from me. "Eleanor."
Given the number of curious eyes, that creep wasn't the only one interested in Ellie. Labeling her trifecta was throwing a bucket of chum to a family of sharks. "Hard to get ups her score."
I narrowed my eyes at Bryce's ridiculous claim. Harrison alone made her a challenge. My challenge. "No fucking scores."
"What?" He threw up his hands. "You're not getting anywhere. Let the rest of us have some fun."
"No." I glared daggers at the table. "That one's mine."
Josh's eyes snapped up and one corner of his mouth tugged into his cheek. Fuck, I shouldn't have said that. It's not like I meant it, but I didn't want these buffoons harassing her. Nothing more. Irritation seeped into my veins and both my chest and fists tightened. I was one comment away from doling out black eyes and broken noses. With a grunt, I shoved my tray and stood up.
Bryce pointed at my abandoned plate. "You gonna eat that?"
I frowned and shook my head. My chest heaved as I breathed against the anger twisting my stomach. These fucking idiots. When would they learn? "It's all yours." The walk to my room was shortened by my long, stomped steps. I squeezed my fists until my skin stretched tight. Inside, I flopped stomach-down on the world's squeakiest bed. My phone chimed over the bedsprings' squeals.
AlexHenderson: First book club meeting in 2 weeks. Santa Cruz Library, 2 pm, Pride and Prejudice.
"Pride and Prejudice?" That was a chick's book. And Saturday? Annoying but at the moment my single in-person connection to Ellie.
AlexHenderson: Ellie's favorite, as you know.
"Good to know." I texted his thanks with a thumbs up. "Pride and Prejudice it is."
With heavy fingers, I contacted my source for all things book-related.
Me: I need to read Pride & Prejudice for school.
She took a few minutes but responded... with her usual explosion of unnecessary emojis.
Mom: First of all, hi! I hope camp is going well. 👋😍❤️
Mom: Thanks for finally contacting me, more than a week into camp. Did you call Brody? Are you eating? And using deodorant? 🤔🤪🦨🤢
Mom: I'm bowling right now. Your Mom's on 🔥 tonight. ❤️🎳💪🏋️♀️
I pinched my nose and sighed.
Me: The book Mom.
Mom: Already have it on my reader. 😉👍📖 ❤️ One of my favs, I'm so impressed that you're...
I shut off my phone before she won the Guinness record for the most emojis used. The bed frame dipped and squeaked as I rolled over and leaned against the headboard. With a sigh, I stretched my legs and crossed my ankles. The ceiling's cracked paint was no help in figuring out how to best wedge me onto Ellie's radar. Too bad I didn't go to her school. Brody did though.
A heavy, long sigh left me as my shoulders relaxed and I closed my eyes. With a slow, deep breath, I threaded my hands behind my head and fanned my elbows. No girl should influence my mood this much. Ellie was only a means to Jake's end.
Nothing more.
After a few days, I went from pumped to chomping at the bit to start. At every snap, every handoff, every throw, I strove for perfection. My stronger muscles tightened my throws. I wouldn't ever be the fastest guy on the field, but I was damn impossible to take down. It felt good to pound the turf.
"Hightower, Allen, Jenks... Connors..." Coach offered a sadistic grin between each name. "Congratulations, starters. Don't expect a fruit basket."
As if there was any question.
After practice, I palmed the cool, hard tiles and dipped my head down. Searing hot water dripped over the tip of my nose, seared my neck and shoulders, and relaxed my tired muscles. The letdown rush of adrenaline sagged my aching limbs, but impatience coated my skin. My fingers tapped the shower wall. Unlike Josh, I wasn't about to jerk my edge off with my hand. Instead, I released all my frustration pounding the turf, at the expense of the turf pounding me back.
I groaned at the cucumber melon scent on my towel. Damn laundry day. With my towel wrapped around my waist, I stopped at another fucking coat hanger on our door handle. Again?
The cool wall pricked my damp, warm back. I rubbed my hands through my damp hair and ran through half our offensive plays for a mental distraction until Josh's red and satisfied face cracked open the door. I pushed past him into our room. "Gross."
The smell from our dirty clothes mixed with his spray-on Ava-stink cover-up made me cough. By the time I slipped on my boxer briefs and tossed my towel on the dirty pile, Josh sat on his bed.
"Thank fuck the JV guys left," he muttered and plugged in his phone. "I have ten messages from those guys. Hope they don't think we're friends when school starts."
"We'll set them straight." For now, I focused on two things: finishing camp and taking Ellie on a date. Yep, date. She denied me a kiss, so I would cash in on that date... And enjoy Harrison's aneurysm when I picked her up.
As soon as I finished the historical chick book. It sent me right to sleep. Courting? Snagging a husband? Nineteenth-century vocabulary and this bitchy, self-righteous Elizabeth character? Snoozefest struggle.
Except for checking if Ellie unblocked me, I didn't push my luck with her. Four days passed since our last exchange, so it was time to reconnect. "You owe me for the privacy." I pointed at Josh's phone. "Is that clean?"
"Yeah." He frowned and handed it to me. "Delete whatever shit you send."
Me: Baby, you can't leave me hanging.
Me: I need to know you're still in love with me.
I was pleasantly surprised when she responded.
Unknown number: Never was.
"Hi." A grin spread across my face. A face-to-face conversation was preferable, but she hadn't ghosted me yet. Or, blocked Josh-me.
Me: There you are. I missed you. 😉
Unknown number: Can't say I feel the same.
She walked herself into my setup.
me: We'll need to change that.
me: When's our date?
She was silent for a few minutes, during which I wasn't sure if she laughed or swooned.
Unknown number: Half past never.
me: Terms and conditions, baby.
As I expected, Ellie didn't answer. All I needed was the idea planted in her head. The rest would fall into place. Book club meetings would start our connection, and Jake's anger would be his demise.
"Dude. Are you... studying?" Josh's voice filled with honest, unfiltered shock.
"I was." At his wide-open mouth, I closed my AP chem textbook. "What's wrong with getting a head start?"
"Nothing, you giant nerd. Trying out for the science club again?" Josh's cheeks turned pink and his shoulders shook with loud, hearty laughs.
I frowned. People assumed that I was a dumb jock, or that the big guy couldn't be careful around chemicals. Wrong, Science was my favorite subject. Surprise.
With naïve excitement, last spring I attended Salesian's Science Club meetings. After the genius kids' shock wore off, they were cool. Word spread of my extracurricular interest and giggling girls studied me. So, I quit and kept in touch with the guys during class.
"I'm going to miss you swatting girls away." He grinned. "Once Ellie takes you off the market."
"No." The corners of my mouth twitched down. Two could play the insult game. "It's been twenty minutes. Do you need me to leave so you and Ava can have phone sex?" He couldn't go two days without releasing himself. Their phone sex was daily, and I never wanted to see a coat hanger again.
"Don't be jealous because your girl hates you." His smirk faded. "Walk away and leave her alone... avoid another Chloe fuck up."
Total lack of faith in me. I clenched my stomach hard and sat up. He started calling Ellie 'my girl,' probably to see how far I ground my teeth down. The two weeks out here in the middle of nowhere had also given me time and space to find clarity about what to do with both situations. "When we get back, I'm going to apologize to Chloe."
"Two years too late," he replied in a dry, flat tone. "Hope she doesn't run away."
I did too. Understandably, Chloe avoided me using blocked and dropped calls, retreated steps, and doors slammed in my face. I threatened every guy on this year's team in a rage-fueled witch hunt. Everyone denied sharing her photo outside the team again. I would've suspected Bryce if he knew how to use a web browser.
The last time I saw my ex, the bright and bubbly girl dissolved into a quiet, antisocial ghost. Her hazel eyes dulled and stared at the floor. Her skin paled, to disappear into Salesian's white hallways and classrooms. With me, she froze and ran. "I thought I respected her wishes," I felt pathetic admitting that. "Giving her the invisibility she wanted." Now that her photo resurfaced, the last thing I wanted was me to be rebranded as a stud and her a slut. I couldn't do anything from here, except what I'd put off.
"Such character development," he teased and wiped a pretend tear from each eye. "Next, you'll finally call your Mom."
He had a point. Twenty-six messages harassing me later, I broke down and picked up my phone to call her. This one was better off done in a louder area, giving me an out if I needed it, so I went down the hall to the dorm's rec room. A few guys played ping pong and others watched TV, so I plopped down in a corner chair and braced myself for the inevitable overreaction.
"Logan!! You're not dead!" she chirped so loud, I moved the phone off my ear. "So good to hear from you, sweetie!"
"Not dead." I rolled my eyes and turned down the volume. With a grunt, I propped my feet on the nearby coffee table. "But now I'm half-deaf."
"Logan Alexander Hightower, how are you calling me just now? I thought you were dead in a ditch, dehydrated, or run over by a bus."
My palm hit my forehead. "I'm none of those."
"I wouldn't know." Her indignant huff was audible two rooms over. "Brody's called me four times."
"I'm calling now," I deadpanned. Already the urge to end this conversation crept in.
"I miss your big, dumb butt," her voice relaxed. "It's so quiet here. Smells better though."
When I inhaled to gather my response, she launched a full one-eighty. "When you get home, you have to make some changes, Mister. My biggest worry is you're a Loose-hips Louis. Shape up and start using some basic human decency, Logan. You're handsome and you think you're charming, but you can't -"
"Mom, stop," I spoke through clenched teeth and rubbed my forehead. Loose-hips what? How long had she thought about this? "I don't know what you're saying, but please, just... stop."
Her telling me to quit doing awful shit involving girls was unnecessary. If she saw any of the game's evidence... Yeah, the 'pics or it didn't happen' aspect looked awful, but it wasn't the full picture. They weren't any of my pictures or of girls I'd been with, but my phone was now clean. I deleted every dirty picture, including Chloe's. I should've wiped them years ago. "Whatever you're thinking, it's not true. And what you think you saw on my phone, Mom... it's gone. I'll show you at home."
"It'd better be." She sniffled. "If you didn't give me so much ammunition from sheer stupidity, then -"
"I'm hanging up now, Mom," I interrupted and ended the call with a groan.
Thankfully, no one overheard that conversation. And she wondered why I hadn't called. I paced the hall until Josh's brown-haired head peeked out. A wide grin spread across his relaxed face as he snatched the coat hanger off the door handle. Fuck, I was ready to go home.
"Chill." He sat on his bed. "Are you pissed off after striking out with Ellie?"
"No," I muttered and plugged in my phone. "I'll take it she didn't text me through you."
I clenched my teeth at his shaking head. She stopped responding to me. Fuck, I hated chasing girls. Embarrassing. "You should leave that one alone." His eyebrows raised. "Ava's already got a new lineup anyway. Plenty of other distractions."
"No distractions." I sat down with an eruption of squeaks and frowned. "Especially one of Ava's."
I'd already indulged in those kinds of distractions. They were shallow, unfulfilling, and tiring. Never again. "I'm not as miserable being single as she thinks, Josh." I paused. How could I explain this? "They're all the same. They want the label, my jacket, class ring, or arm at rallies or Homecoming." A girlfriend who cheered during my games because she was proud of me, not because my skills were 'hot,' was a false hope. Girls liked me for what I was, not who.
His frown dissolved into a smirk. "I meant a distraction from Ellie."
Fuck, he wouldn't let this drop. "I told you, Josh. Harrison's my focus. As I told you eighty-seven billion ties, she's the step between me being bullied to 'don't fuck with me and my team,' that's all."
His mouth opened when his phone buzzed. "You'd better up your game then." He chuckled and dropped the phone on his bed. "Because you have some competition."
What the hell was he talking about? My eyebrows lifted at his cryptic warning. "What?"
Josh's phone buzzed again. "Jackson."
I tipped my head back and laughed. "He's no competition." Jackson had more fluff than a dandelion. Any girl who couldn't see through his idiocy deserved him. His score pictures were badges of honor, with a certain look. Ellie's look was... sweet and wholesome. Beautiful, not, 'look at my boobs.' Although, I bet hers-
"And Christian." buzz. "And Sebastian."
"What are those JV idiots doing?"
Whatever he read, it made Josh's eyes crinkle at the corners. "Standing in front of your girl, if you believe them."
I sat upright with a bed squeak and palmed the flimsy blanket. "Yeah, right."
He looked up from his phone with a smirk. "Your girl works at Pizza Palace, right?"
"Stop calling her that. I guess?" My eyes widened at the blurry picture he shoved under my nose. Ellie wore the ugliest red and white uniform I'd ever seen and stood behind a counter. Her long hair hung in a ponytail out the back of a black baseball cap, and she flashed a polite smile.
A weight sunk in my stomach. Fuck, it was her! How had they found her already? These horny idiots would bother her at work if they hadn't already done so. Heat rose under my skin. I shot out of bed like my ass was on fire, and my feet hit the floor with a thud. Fuck, they could ruin everything. And I was stuck here one more night.
I grabbed Josh's phone, my other hand in a tight fist. Strings of curse words left my mouth as I paced between our beds. I wanted to tear something apart. What could I do? How to intercept?
Ellie didn't deserve to be bothered by these guys, not while working at a shitty job. She could chew up anything those three said and shred their cocky asses like a meat grinder, but she shouldn't have to. While those three tools deserved anything that Ellie dished out, they made one thing painfully obvious: "I need to up my game."
"Leaving?" Josh asked with raised eyebrows and a grin.
I cut my gaze to him. "Why?"
"I'm calling Ava in an hour..." He reached over the bed, then waved a coat hanger. "You're welcome for letting you use my phone until then."
"Fuck, didn't you - never mind." I slammed the door. My feet led me around the corridor back to the common area. I found my same empty corner chair, so my Ellie plans didn't unravel before they started.
Here goes nothing.