Going Long (Waiting on the Sidelines #2)(53)
Chapter 11
Nolan
It took me a few minutes to figure out where I was. The smell was familiar, the shirt I was wearing…different, but familiar all the same. My head was throbbing, and my ears were being hit with a constant drumming. My stomach felt empty, but also like it had been through a boxing match. I was destroying myself!
I pushed myself to a sitting position and cracked my eyes open ever so slightly, confirming my suspicion. I was in Reed’s bed. I looked around for any sign of him, but he wasn’t there. I could tell he hadn’t been. I must have been a mess—made quite a scene, I thought. I remembered most of it, up until he threw me in the Jeep and hauled my ass home.
I could hear the clanking of dishes downstairs and the faint sounds of some voices, though I wasn’t sure who it was. I thought briefly about fashioning Reed’s sheets together so I could repel out his window, but I didn’t have my car here. I’d need to walk home. And I was in no condition to go for a stroll through the desert. Knowing I had to live up to my walk of shame, I worked to find my footing to stand.
It was late morning, maybe 11, so there was a chance most of the guests had left, and Reed and Trig were already on their way to campus. My feet were gripping at the carpet by the bed, and I was puzzling at my lack of pants when there was a light knock at the door.
“Hey…you awake?” Reed said as he stuck his head in slowly.
Embarrassed, I just pulled the covers over my lap and smiled softly.
“Yeah, uh…you sort of barfed all over your clothes,” he said, chuckling a little and looking down at his feet.
“Oh God!” I thought.
He slid completely in the room, holding a small bag and a juice, closing the door behind him. “I got you a muffin,” he said with a half smile, approaching me like I was an injured puppy. “Oh, and some juice. Thought you might be hungry? Or thirsty?”
I just stared at him, trying to make sense of his behavior. “Thanks,” I said, my voice a little crackly from the rough night. I pulled the muffin from the bag, and picked small pieces off it and ate—not really hungry, but also unsure of what else to do in front of him; suddenly, everything about me felt raw and on display. I just looked back up and smiled. “It’s good. Blueberry.”
“Yeah. I know it’s your favorite,” he said, leaning against his opposite wall. We just stared at each other while I ate. Finally, he pushed off the wall and looked at his watch. “Hey, so, I have to get going with Trig. We have light practice today. But you’re going to the game, right? You’ll be there?”
He seemed intense all of a sudden, almost worried. Why was it so important to him that I was there now, after missing so many weeks? I shrugged a little and nodded. “Yeah, I’m going with Sarah,” I said, my insides sick that there was no way out of this now. I’d have to go—worse yet, the deep-down part of me really wanted to be there.
“Good,” he nodded once before coming over to stand right in front of me, my heart speeding up with every step he took. He put his hand on my shoulder and put his fingers under my chin to tilt my face up to look at him. He was holding his breath. He was…nervous? What the hell type of paradox had I fallen into? What the hell happened after I got in that Jeep last night? Then he leaned forward and placed his lips on my forehead. His soft touch made me shut my eyes to savor it. I also wanted to cry, something that seemingly happened at the drop of the dime lately. I just left my eyes shut, while he backed away, opening them to see him smiling at me again softly. “Okay, well…see you after the game.”
After Reed left the room, I sat on the bed and picked at the blueberry muffin a little more before attempting some of my juice. My stomach felt raw, so I didn’t force much down. I had lost a little weight over the last few weeks, and my clothes weren’t fitting like they were supposed to. When I realized that I didn’t have any clothes, I panicked a bit, and stood up to spin around the room to find a solution. My eyes zeroed in on the neat pile of my clothes from the night before folded on top of Reed’s dresser. There was a tiny note on it that read cleaned last night.
My heart skipped for a moment, an unfamiliar feeling in contrast to the gut-wrenching ache I’d been nursing. Unsure how I’d gotten here, both physically and emotionally, I did what I always do in these situations—I called the girls. We made plans to meet up at Becky’s, and Sarah agreed to come pick me up from Reed’s, though I couldn’t ignore the odd hesitation in her voice.
Once dressed and looking semi-decent, I cracked open Reed’s door to make my way downstairs, holding my breath as the kitchen came more into view. My stomach sank when I saw Jason’s back to me at the kitchen island. I hadn’t had much interaction with him over the years, but the last 24 hours would hold me for a while. I took in a deep breath and forced myself the rest of the way down the steps taking comfort that Sarah would be at the door any minute.
I didn’t make eye contact, only reached up to the cabinet to grab a coffee mug. But Jason wasn’t going to let me go without conversation.
“Hey, good morning, sunshine. Quite a display you put on last night, with your near strip tease,” he joked, holding his coffee just far enough away from his lips so he could spit out his biting comment.
I just turned and shrugged, a bit embarrassed. I wasn’t going to engage. I’d learned one thing from Reed about his brother over the years—Jason liked to spar. And if you didn’t put up a fight, he got bored quickly, and moved on. I turned back to the coffee and started pouring my cup.