The Hardest Fall(8)

“How about we have that kiss now?”

My eyes bulged a little bit and my mouth dropped open, or maybe I choked; I’m not so sure on details. I didn’t look pretty though, I can tell you that much.

I noticed eyes on me, heard low murmurs, and my face started to flush again. Hugging my books closer as if they could protect me or stop me from heading his way, I kinda yelled back at him. “Sorry, I…I…have a boyfriend.”

“You think that would be lovely?” He took a step toward me.

Cheeky bastard.

“I said, I have a boyfriend!” And I did; I really did have a boyfriend. His name was Zack. Zoe and Zack—he thought it was fate. Me, not so much. He wasn’t the love of my life or anything like that, but yeah, we’d been on a few dates, and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t enjoy hearing about me kissing some random guy in the middle of campus.

Someone yelled, “Good for you!” Snickers arose from the crowd, and I flushed some more.

God? Hello? Please, do something. Smite me. Smite me right now.

“Ah…got it.” Dylan wasn’t yelling so much right then. He tucked his hands into his pockets, rocking in place, and I had to force myself not to drop my eyes down to what I already knew was a sizeable package. “We don’t have the best timing in the world, huh, Flash?”

What could I say? I nodded and forced a small smile on my face. Was that disappointment I was seeing in his eyes? And were those butterflies taking flight somewhere in my stomach?

He started walking backward, his steps light and easy, his eyes still on me. “See you around, Zoe. Third time is the charm, so maybe next time we’ll make it happen.”

I wouldn’t bet on that, I thought, but I didn’t say it out loud. I just lifted my hand and gave him a small wave.

He smiled that smile—that big, careless, oh-so-beautiful one—gave me a quick salute, and then turned around to jog away. Yup, it had been smart of me to choose not to jog—he would have totally caught up with me in no time.

The first time I’d parted ways with him, I’d done so with tears running down my face from the humiliation and shame. This time…this time I had all the smiles in the world.





Chapter Three





Dylan





One year later


It was ten PM on a Friday night, and I was dead on my feet, as I was almost every day. I loved it that way, lived for it.

I’d woken up at six AM as I did every morning so I could get in my first workout of the day before a quick breakfast and a team meeting. Straight from the meeting, I ran to make it to my first class. Around twelve-thirty, I usually had an hour to grab some lunch and just be a normal college student instead of an athlete. After lunch, depending on the day, I either had another class or went straight to get in my second workout in the weight room. After that came three hours of practice, which sometimes went an extra hour or so. After a thirty-minute break that included a smoothie and a sandwich, I’d found myself in the library trying to finish an assignment that was due the next day. On my way over there, the busy day starting to slow me down, I had texted my girlfriend, Victoria, to see what the plan was for the night. Before I knew it, three hours had passed, and I still hadn’t heard back from her.

I shared a house a few minutes away from campus with four of my teammates: Kyle, Maxwell, Benji, and Rip. If they hadn’t decided to throw a last-minute party for Maxwell’s birthday, I could’ve spent my night in peace in my room with Vicky, maybe watch some Netflix and fuck around in bed. After a long day of getting ready for the season, that was usually all the energy I had left in me. But, knowing that wasn’t possible, I decided to check out Vicky’s dorm room first to see if we could avoid the party altogether and chill in there instead, even though I knew it would mean she’d be pissed at me.

Unlike me, she always had an abundance of energy and time for parties, but I also knew how to convince her to stay in. As much as she loved drinking and dancing, she loved what I could do to her body even more.

We’d been dating for five months. Two months of that we’d spent apart, FaceTiming and texting non-stop over summer break, and everything seemed to be going well. She didn’t mind that I had to spend most of my time out on the field or in the gym because her own time was filled with classes, sorority meetings, and an internship. She was supportive, caring, and, well, truth be told, she had been completely unplanned.

My original plan had always been that I wasn’t going to date during my last year.

Focus on the game.

Sharpen your skills.

Be the best on the field.

Make the time to study.

Those were just a few of the things on my priority list, and a girlfriend wasn’t one of them. My plate was already full—actually, it was more than full; it was overflowing. With all I had going on—and I had a lot going on—I just didn’t have enough time left in the day to handle that kind of commitment. Eventually, despite my busy schedule, Vicky had managed to wiggle her way into my life, and to my complete surprise, I liked having her there. Seeing her after a long, tiring day wasn’t the hardest thing, and as far as I knew, she liked being with me even more.

In the past, when I was late for one of our dates because practice ran long or couldn’t go to a party because I had to sit my ass down and study, she never complained. She gave me calm (not always) and balance (again, not always), and I tried to give her whatever I had left to give of myself at the end of the day. To be fair, that might not sound like a lot, but she always told me I was more than enough, always said I made her happy and she couldn’t imagine being with someone else. I believed her—why wouldn’t I? She definitely didn’t mind having a boyfriend who was expected to be drafted in the top twenty, and I’d have been lying if I said I didn’t enjoy seeing her face light up with excitement and joy whenever the media talked about me. I wasn’t exactly planning on asking her if she wanted to come with me if I did indeed manage to get drafted at the end of the year, but she had hinted rather heavily a few times that she was game to travel wherever after graduation. So, I was thinking maybe if things kept going the way they were, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to ask her.