Going Long (Waiting on the Sidelines #2)(21)

“Whatever,” he wasn’t even phased.

Stuffed on Rosie’s amazing breakfast, I brought my plate to the sink and was rinsing it when I heard feet sliding down the stairs. I did a double take when I looked up, and it took a few seconds for my eyes to finally focus and relay the message to my brain of what I was seeing.

“Good morning,” Dylan said as she passed me and went to the fridge to pull out the carton of orange juice. She turned around while she was shaking it. “Glasses?”

I just stood there dumbstruck, my brain unwilling to make the connections of what likely had happened last night. I motioned to the cabinet next to the fridge, and Dylan just nodded and turned to get her glass. While she was pouring her juice, I looked over at Jason who still had his f*cking nose in the newspaper. I pushed the pages from his hands flat to the counter and mouthed, “What the f*ck?” to him. He just smiled and shrugged, then picked the paper back up.

Dylan slid a stool over next to him and turned sideways to swing her legs over his lap, which was maybe the only thing that finally got him to put his paper down. When he leaned over and kissed her and smiled as she nestled into his neck, I was floored.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?” I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“What does it look like?” Jason said, sliding his coffee cup over to me and motioning for me to fill it up. “You mind?”

I just shook my head, my eyes bulging from my face, I was sure. I grabbed his mug and filled it with what was left of the morning’s brew. I slid it back to him and then looked again at Dylan, who was now hiding her face a little from me, perhaps a little embarrassed.

“Reed, I hope you don’t mind, but I borrowed one of your shirts,” she said, pulling up the collar a bit to show me.

I just stared, speechless, and turned for the living room. I flopped on the couch and put on Sports Center to take my mind away from the soap opera that was no doubt unfolding in the kitchen, somehow my future tangled up with it, too. “Fucking Jason,” I thought.

I zoned out for about 45 minutes before I heard the sound of the breakfast stools skid on the floor and turned to see Dylan cleaning up the counter, her bare legs barely covered in my long shirt. I had to admit, I understood why Jason couldn’t help himself. But I would never quite understand what was in it for her. I turned back to the TV and then glanced down at my watch.

“Is it seriously 11 already?” I asked, stretching and getting to my feet.

“Yeah, you slept most of the morning away,” Jason said, folding up his paper and pushing it into the recycle bin. “You get a day off, and you waste it.” His tone was condescending.

My jaw clenched and I held my response in. “I’m just waiting for Nolan,” I said, realizing she probably should have been here by now.

“Oh! I totally forgot,” Dylan said, wiping down the counter and not really paying attention to me. “She came by this morning. Early.”

I was waiting for her to tell me more, and when I realized she wasn’t going to, I urged her on. “Uh, yeah? What did she say?” I had my hands held out to my sides, waiting.

“Nothing. It was really early. I was the only one up, so I told her you were still sleeping,” she started toward the stairs. Suddenly, a suspicion flared inside me.

“Hey, Dylan? Were you in my shirt when you went to the door?” I asked, already knowing but hoping nonetheless.

“Uh, yeah,” she rolled her eyes at me and darted up the stairs.

“Shit!” I pulled my phone from my pocket and saw a text from Nolan.



So much for never.



“Goddamn it!” I grabbed my keys from the counter and rushed to the door, sliding into a pair of flip-flops. Jason had put it together, too, and just started bellowing with laughter, like it was the f*cking funniest thing he’d ever seen. I really did hate him.





Reed


I must have dialed Nolan’s phone 20 times during my drive to her dorm, each time it clicked right to voicemail. I knew it would. Why I kept hoping for a different result each time I pressed her number, I don’t know.

Two girls were working at the front desk in her dorm, and thankfully, they were too distracted by their own conversation to pay much attention to me when I blew right past them and charged up the stairs. I got to her room and knocked lightly at first; I could hear the light murmuring of her television so I knew she was there. I waited for a few long seconds and didn’t hear any movement so I knocked louder. When I still heard nothing, I reached for the handle and started to turn it when suddenly the door flew open, making me stumble.

The tall, skinny tattooed guy staring back at me was not what I expected, and I had to shake my head a little, worried that perhaps somehow I’d barged into the wrong room. When I heard Nolan call my name, I was even more confused. I sucked my top lip in a bit and let my vision bounce between Nolan and the strange guy who was in her room…in his socks? He looked waaaayyy too comfortable to be in here.

“Uh, and you are?” I folded my arms in front of me and stared him down. Unfazed, he just reached out a hand for me to shake it.

“Hi, I’m Gavin. I live upstairs,” he said, like everything here was normal. I didn’t shake his hand and instead just pushed by him and made my way to Noles who was lying on her bed, her head propped up with pillows and her favorite blanket wrapped around her feet.